A Doctor and a Queen, namely Waitress’ Gavin Creel and Six The Musical’s Alexia McIntosh, were on hand today to announce the 2020 Olivier Awards nominations, just a month before the ceremony takes place on 5 April at the Royal Albert Hall. So now the celebrations have begun, particularly in the & Juliet, Fiddler On The Roof, Dear Evan Hansen and Mary Poppins camps, all of which have received plenty of love from the nominating panel. So who are you hoping leaves with the big prizes on the day?

Sometimes it’s hard for dreamers but it’s paid off for the team behind the successful touring production of Amélie The Musical as it journeys to London’s The Other Palace for a festive season, running from 29 November 2019 to 1 February 2020, with Audrey Brisson reprising the title role.

First it was exciting that London audiences were going to finally get a chance to see a full staging of Craig Lucas and Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, starring Renée Fleming and Dove Cameron, no less. Now the anticipation has intensified with the news that Rob Houchen, Celinde Schoenmaker, Liam Tamne, Malcolm Sinclair and Olivier-nominated international soprano Marie McLaughlin have also been cast in the production which runs for just 20 performances from 14 June to 5 July 2019.

Perhaps best known to UK theatre-goers for her roles in The Grinning Man and La Strada, French-Canadian actress Audrey Brisson has been cast as the iconic Amélie Poulain in the musical stage adaptation of Amélie The Musical, beginning a UK tour in April 2019 at the Watermill Theatre, Newbury. Are you feeling romantic?

There’s something old and something new when it comes to the musicals lined up for Chichester Festival Theatre’s Festival 2019 and just look at the casting. There’s the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Oklahoma! starring Josie Lawrence as Aunt Eller alongside Hyoie O’Grady and Amara Okereke (Les Misérables) as Curly and Laurey. Plus Tim Firth’s first original solo musical This Is My Family features the talents of James Nesbitt, Sheila Hancock and Clare Burt. Bring on the summer…

Newbury’s Watermill Theatre will host Amélie The Musical, an adaptation of the much-loved 2001 French movie hit, from 11 April to 18 May 2019 before the production embarks on a major UK tour from 20 May. So who do you see playing the title role?

Bravo to the Playground Theatre for featuring two musicals in the venue’s first full autumn season, running from October 2018 to January 2019: the world premiere of Matt Board and Reina Hardy’s Fanatical the Musical and a jolly Christmas revival of Mary Rodgers and Marshall Barer’s musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress.