Watch out for . . .
MICHAEL SHEA, who will play the title character (and a few others) in Peter And The Starcatcher. Rick Elice (who wrote Jersey Boys) re-imagined Peter Pan into a jolly grownup entertainment, and I had a jolly good time when I saw it a few years ago in New York. The late Roger Rees codirected the piece with Alex Timbers. However, for the UK premiere, producer Paul Taylor Mills has signed up Luke Sheppard to direct. Shea, pictured above with Evelyn Hoskins (who will also tackle a number of roles), will be joined by Greg Haiste as cunning pirate Black Stache, in the tale of a lost map and treasure. The cast will also include Marc Akinfolarin, Lewis Griffin, Ian Harris, Tendayi Jembere, Michael Matus, William Pennington, Dan Starkey, Sebastien Torkia and Miles Yekinni. The show runs at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton from November 29.
THOmAS ScHumAcHER, who runs the Disney theatre organisation. He’s the man behind The Lion King, Aladdin and all the productions around the world that carry the Disney theatrical brand. However, if he ever wanted to give it all up, he could probably make a living as a stand-up. For a full hour, probably more, he was in (amusing) conversation with broadcaster Paddy O’connell at Bafta in central London. I asked him about the musical Newsies, which has yet to play the uK. He didn’t know when that would happen, but was excited about the original Broadway company shooting a film version (there will be screenings here soon).