This is particularly true of shows which haven’t opened yet. Given these shows are new and may be unfamiliar to you, we thought we’d take a closer look at shows in the New Year Sale which are opening in the coming months…

January

Gerry & Sewell opens on 13 January. This heart-warming comedy about friendships and underdogs follows two Newcastle United fans desperate to get a season ticket. After a sell-out run in the North East, the play transfers to the West End for only two weeks.

Chichester Festival Theatre has a strong record of West End transfers – think Half A Sixpence, Quiz, revivals of Gypsy and Caroline, Or Change – and it shows no signs of slowing down.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry is a new musical based on Rachel Joyce’s profound and funny novel, with music by indie musician Passenger. It had rave reviews in Chichester last summer and transfers with original cast members Mark Addy and Olivier Award winner Jenna Russell, with previews from 29 January and New Year Sale prices in February, too.

Theatre company Frantic Assembly celebrate their 30^th anniversary with a new play, Lost Atoms, written by Anna Jordan who wrote episodes of Succession and One Day. The play charts the life-changing relationship of Jess and Robbie and focusses on how differing memories can change our stories. It runs at the Lyric Hammersmith from 30 January – 28 February, taking part in the New Year Sale for February performances.

February

For one night only, X Factor contestant turned West End star Lucie Jones is Live At The London Palladium. Blending her live gig roots with the drama of her stage career, including regular performances in Les Miserables and the leading role in Waitress, this will be a unique concert that showcases her incredible vocal talent. Expect surprise appearances and unique collaborations. 16 February only.

Evening All Afternoon is a brand new play by American playwright Anna Ziegler, who had a hit on the West End with Photograph 51, starring Nicole Kidman. This play explores the relationship between a stepmother and stepdaughter, confronting the human dilemma about facing loss and opening up to new connections. The play runs from 19 February – 11 April at the Donmar Warehouse, an intimate and compelling space with a storied history.

March

Sibling duo Nina and Moses Raine (Consent and Donkey Heart, respectively) team up for a new translation of Summer Folk, by Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky. 1905 was a hot, beautiful summer in Russia, but while the elite wine and dine, a storm is on the horizon. The story is fitting for the Raines, whose great uncle was Boris Pasternak, author of Doctor Zhivago. Summer Folk runs from 12 March – 29 April at the National Theatre.

While you can find opera and ballet at the London Coliseum for much of the year, London’s largest theatre stages a big musical each summer. This March will see the first West End revival of Kinky Boots.

The show is based on the British film and true story of a Northampton shoe factory that hits hard times, then takes a chance on becoming a specialist in shoewear for drag artists. With music and lyrics by pop star Cyndi Lauper and a book by Harvey Fierstein (La Cage Aux Folles), this production will be led by Strictly Come Dancing’s Johannes Radebe in the role of Lola.  It runs from 17 March – 11 July with New Year Sale offers on most April, May and June performances.

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s highly-anticipated Cinderella will be coming to London, stepping into the shoes of the hit musical at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in September this year. Before the opening, the venue will undergo a seat upgrade and further refurbishments.

The brand-new show is a complete reinvention of the classic fairytale based on an original idea from the Emmy Award-nominated writer of Killing Eve, Emerald Fennell.

After gallantly stepping into the role of Thénardier in the new production of Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre, Matt Lucas has sadly had to take his final bow after sustaining a back injury. He took the role after Gerard Carey was unable to perform due to a vocal injury caused by contracting pneumonia.

But the show must go on and Ian Hughes will slip into the role from today (Friday 10 January) until the end of February when Gerard Carey is expected to return to the role as originally announced. Ian recently starred in the current sell-out UK and International tour of Les Mis so the role is in very good hands.

Star power is the name of the game for Hello, Dolly! which today announced that Andy Nyman and Jenna Russell will be joining the legendary Imelda Staunton in the upcoming production at the Adelphi Theatre.

Andy Nyman – who will play Horace Vandergelder – recently starred in the critically acclaimed Fiddler On The Roof. He also penned the West End fave Ghost Stories and won an Olivier Award in 2006 for Something Wicked This Way Comes.

Olivier Award-winner Jenna Russell will play Irene Molloy. Jenna’s prolific career includes the sold-out Fun Home at the Young Vic, Merrily We Go Along, and her award-winning performance in Sunday In The Park With George at the Menier Chocolate Factory (a performance she later reprised on Broadway).

New year, new cast for last year’s Best New Musical Olivier-winner Come From Away who has announced its 2020 line-up which features the beloved Alice Fearn known for playing Elphaba in Wicked.

From Monday 10 February 2020, the joyous show which tells the story of 7,000 passengers stranded in Newfoundland after the 9/11 attacks will star: Tarinn Callender (Bob and others), James Doherty (Claude and others), Alice Fearn (Beverley/Annette and others) Kate Graham (Diane and others), and Alasdair Harvey (Nick/Doug and others), with Ricardo Castro, Stuart Hickey, Sorelle Marsh, Micha Richardson and Matthew Whennell-Clark.

They join Jenna Boyd (Beulah and others), Mary Doherty (Bonnie and others), Mark Dugdale (taking over the roles of Kevin T/Garth and others), Jonathan Andrew Hume (Kevin J/Ali and others), Harry Morrison (Oz and others), Emma Salvo (Janice and others), Cat Simmons (Hannah and others) and Chiara Baronti, Alexander McMorran and Jennifer Tierney.

Alice Fearn will be replacing Rachel Tucker who also found fame while playing Elphaba on the West End. 

Dear Diary, today the winner of The Curtain Up Show‘s Best Cast Recordings 2019 was revealed. The winner? Heathers The Musical! 

With 25,000 public votes, 2019’s best London, Broadway and Solo recordings were decided. Taking home the West End win was the stage adaptation of the 1980s cult film which featured starlet Carrie Hope Fletcher and Jamie Muscato. The announcement comes just months ahead of Heathers’ UK tour which kicks off in May.

Moulin Rouge! took the title for Best Broadway and John Owen-Jones’ sixth studio album, Spotlight, scooped Best Solo Album.

The Broadway win bodes well for the upcoming production of the film-to-stage show Moulin Rouge which is set to open at Piccadilly Theatre next year. Oh, la, la!

On 22 January, Thriller Live will be turning 11. To celebrate its birthday, the Michael Jackson tribute show will be hosting its first-ever singalong performance.

For one night only, audience members will be invited to join the cast in chorus as they perform the MJ and Jackson Five classics. Sadly, you won’t be invited to moonwalk onto the stage but fans will have the freedom to hum, sing or yell along to their favourite hits without their seat neighbour clearing their throat, elbowing them or calling an usher for assistance.

A spokesperson said: “MJ wrote some of the most iconic songs of the 20th century and they mean so much to fans of Thriller Live who have celebrated them at over 4,000 West End performances to date. For many, the temptation to join in with the show’s catchy hits including ‘I Want You Back’, ‘ABC’, ‘Rock With You’ ‘Can You Feel It’, ‘PYT’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Man In The Mirror’, ‘Billie Jean’, ‘Thriller’,‘Bad’ and ‘Black or White’ can be almost unbearable. Our Singalong night will be a celebration of that and a chance for our energetic, passionate audiences to be a step closer to our talented cast. This unique performance promises to be a night at the theatre, a party and a rock concert all in one!”

The show marks an exciting return for Jenna to the Menier, where she has previously starred in Sondheim musicals Merrily We Roll Along and Sunday In The Park With George. For the former, Jenna received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical – and for the latter, she won the award.

This new production marks the UK premiere of The Bridges Of Madison County, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and a new staging directed by Trevor Nunn. The show adapts Robert James Waller’s bestselling novel of the same name.

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Jenna will play Francesca, an Italian immigrant housewife living a happy life on a farm in the American Midwest. But a chance encounter with Robert Kincaid, a photographer filming bridges in the area, develops into a passionate affair – with devastating consequences.

The musical previous won the Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Orchestrations. And now, UK audiences will have the chance to witness some of Jason Robert Brown’s masterful music.

Performances begin at the Menier Chocolate Factory on 13 July, running until 14 September. Tickets are available on the Menier Chocolate Factory website.

Kaisa Hammarlund, who was recently nominated for a UK Theatre Award for Sweet Charity at Exchange Theatre Manchester, will lead the cast as Alison, whose memories of family life Fun Home centres upon. Eleanor Kane (Assassins) will play Medium Alison.

Stage favourite and Olivier Award-winner Jenna Russell (Sunday In The Park With George, West End) will play Helen, with Ashley Samuels (Motown The Musical) as Roy, Mark and Jeremy; Cherrelle Skeete (Harry Potter And The Cursed Child) as Joan; and Zubin Varla (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s Globe) as Bruce, Alison’s father.

Based on Alison Bechdel’s brilliant 2006 graphic novel, Fun Home explores the memories of Alison’s uniquely complicated family at three different stages in her life – her volatile, brilliant, enigmatic father, mother and brothers – that connect with her in surprising new ways. Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, wholly original musical about seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

Playing at the Young Vic from 18 June, Fun Home marks director Sam Gold’s West End debut. Gold previously directed the musical on Broadway, where the show won five Tony Awards in 2015. It is the final show in David Lan’s last season as Artistic Director of the Young Vic.

Casting for Small Alison, John and Christian will be announced at a later date.

The London premiere is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Fox Theatricals and Barbara Whitman. Choreography is by Danny Mefford, set and costume design by David Zinn, light by Ben Stanton, sound by Kai Harada, music supervision by Chris Fenwick, music direction by Nigel Lilley and casting by Julia Horan CDG.

Fun Home will play until 1 September, with tickets available through the Young Vic website.