London Theatre

Following the success of Connie Fisher in The Sound of Music, ITV and BBC are set to go head to head in a ratings war to find new stars of the stage.

Simon Cowell's offering is Grease is the Word, searching for a Danny and a Sandy to take the lead roles in the ever-popular musical. The BBC and Andrew Lloyd Webber will search for a Joseph, in Any Dream Will Do.

Along with the anticipated hype with each show, the West End is no doubt having a revival, as its gone from slightly stale and predictable to vibrant and fashionable in a short space of time.

The great classics are still performing well, with no interest lost in the long runners, such as Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. But it is the great selection of new shows which are not only captivating the West End audiences; they are bringing with them whole new audience members.

Avid theatre-goers and new audiences alike will be impressed by the excellent standards of some of these shows and the whole theatre experience and will almost certainly remain loyal theatre goers for many years to come.

New shows include The Untold Story of the Witches Of Oz, Wicked, which after great success on Broadway has now moved successfully into the West End and the quite unbelievably popular Stage adaptation of Dirty Dancing, which is selling out to enthralled, excitable crowds nightly.

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