Most Tuesdays, we like to let you know what's happening in the next seven days on London's cultural calendar.
With very little in the way of new openings in London this week, we've decided to look a little further ahead so you can plan your arty choices for the next 12 months. Here's what's new in 2011.
First up, there are at least five big new musicals coming to the West End next year. In February, Million Dollar Quartet comes to the Noel Coward Theatre; Betty Blue Eyes cashes in on Royal Wedding fever at the Novello in March; and Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest blockbuster The Wizard of Oz opens at the Palladium in April. Then Richard Blackwood, Nigel Lindsay and Nigel Harman bring Shrek The Musical to the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in May, and lastly (for now!) Ghost The Musical comes to the Piccadilly in June.
If you're the sort of person who likes to see "him/her off the telly" when you head to a London theatre, there are a few bookings you'll need to make in the coming months. There's Frankenstein at the National with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller from February. And Keira Knightley returns to the West End alongside Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men (making her West End debut) in The Children's Hour at the Comedy Theatre, also from February. Alison Steadman, Hermione Norris, and Robert Bathhurst all star in Blithe Spirit at the Apollo from March; James Corden stars in The Servant To Two Masters at the National from May; and Kevin Spacey is Richard III at the Old Vic in June.
For opera, we recommend Anna Nicole at the Royal Opera House from February (by librettist Richard Thomas, the guy behind Jerry Springer: The Opera), and The Mikado at the London Coliseum starring Alfie Boe and Sophie Bevan as Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum. And dance lovers must-see events include The Most Incredible Thing at Sadler's Wells (with music by the Pet Shop Boys), and new ballet Alice's Adventures in Wonderland created by Christopher Wheeldon for The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, both in March.
Big blockbusters for 2011 on London's art scene include Modern British Sculpture at the Royal Academy, opening later this month; Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World at the British Museum in March; Joan Miro at Tate Modern in April; and Beyond the Moulin Rouge, a look at Toulouse-Lautrec and his muse Jane Avril, at The Courtauld from June. Degas Dancers: Eye and Camera the first in Britain looking exclusively as his paintings of dancers, comes to the RA from September, and the first major retrospective of the work of Gerhard Richter in London for more than 20 years comes to Tate Modern in October.
Finally, the Dulwich Picture Gallery presents a cool idea to celebrate its Bicenterary: a Masterpiece a Month: Presiding Genius sees pictures by greats like Velazquez, Vermeer, Van Gogh and David Hockney on display at the gallery for a month at a time: check out the full list here.
What are you looking forward to in 2011?
