It's a veritable casting carousel this week, as shows chop and change their companies, and Broadway and West End producers exchange their biggest-hitting musicals.
Take the wonderful Menier Chocolate Factory revival of La Cage aux Folles, which is flying over to Broadway in early 2010. Lucky New York theatregoers will get to see Douglas Hodge back in his Olivier award-winning turn as Albin. The Menier's production of A Little Night Music won't be taking leading lady Hannah Waddingham, though: Equity rules mean there must be a compelling case for a Brit to take a role that an American could play. Ironically, the front-runner here is Marin Mazzie. Mazzie and Waddingham have swapped jobs before, switching from New York to London and vice versa when they both played the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot a couple of years ago.
Meanwhile, the Menier has announced that its all-singing, all-dancing Christmas extravaganza this year will be Sweet Charity. I'm told Josefina Gabrielle and Tiffany Graves will be joining Tamzin Outhwaite in the cast. Gabrielle, who will take the role of Nickie, is currently wowing audiences as Irene Molloy in the Open Air Theatre's beautiful Hello, Dolly! And Graves, who will be playing Helene, is about to begin another three-week run as Velma Kelly in Chicago. With a cast like this, the Menier's track record of staging fabulous small-scale musicals looks set to continue.
Hairspray is touring the UK next year, and it has just been confirmed that Michael Ball - recently departed from the London production - will be reprising his role as the agoraphobic hausfrau Edna Turnblad. London audiences, meanwhile, can see Brian Conley don the drag, at least until panto season begins. Then, if rumours are true, it seems Peter Kay will be stepping in. And Belinda Carlisle – yes, she of Heaven Is a Place On Earth fame – has been linked with the role of Velma von Tussle, the bitchy studio manager. The show's producers, however, are remaining tight-lipped, telling me only that, "casting for the tour and the cast change has not yet been confirmed".
Still no news from Legally Blonde. It opens at the Savoy theatre in December and has been heavily publicised, but with no announcement on who will play Paulette, the buxom beautician. This kind of delay – when all the other major casting decisions have been made public – usually means only one thing: a celebrity is getting ready to tread the boards. My money is on Denise van Outen or Mel B.
And finally, Jerry Springer, who made his London debut as Billy Flynn in Chicago this summer, is taking his very special interpretation of the role to America for a limited time only. He begins at the Ambassador on Broadway next week for a three-week spell, before joining the national tour for a fortnight in September. The correct response to this piece of news can only be to wish Springer all the very best of luck, in time-honoured tradition – "Go Jerry!"
