1. Dua Lipa releases Future Nostalgia LP

Lipa makes the leap from theatres to arenas with the release of this second LP out 3/4/20 although it was actually brought forward a week after it leaked. Her May gigs at London’s O2 have been rescheduled. Tickets The album is very well named as the 11-song collection weaves 80s hooks into radio-friendly dance floor classics. The sound of a coronavirus-beating summer perhaps? Current single Physical is available to watch below.

• Read on for reasons including Lady Gaga, Rumer, Jennifer Saunders, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Alphabeat

2. Lady Gaga’s Chromatica album

Was she right to allow her April album launch date be pushed back by the coronavirus crisis? Lady Gaga’s 16-track sixth studio album was to be released on 10/4/20 foreshadowed by the fine dance single above. There’s a UK gig scheduled for 30/7 at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium in north London although this will be subject to the summer status of the current pandemic. Tickets We last saw Gaga in 2015 with Tony Bennett at the Royal Albert Hall although she cancelled two O2 gigs in London we were supposed to see her at on the Joanne tour since. Here’s what we thought about her Oscar-nominated turn in A Star Is Born.

3. Rumer cries Nashville Tears

This British singer songwriter has always been so much more than a Karen Carpenter-soundalike and Rumer’s fifth album Nashville Tears is released on 24/4/10. We’ve already heard tracks Bristlecone Pine, Hard Time For Lovers (above) and The Song Remembers When. Plans for a UK tour in May including a gig at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall have been postponed. Tickets

4. Timothée Chalamet makes his West End debut at the Old Vic

This was originally to have been number 1 on our April list. Coronavirus may have shut London theatres but we’re not going to allow it to dampen our enthusiasm about the shows we were most excited for in April. Old Vic Artistic Director Matthew Warchus explained 4000 Miles starring Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, Little Women) and Dame Eileen Atkins (The Height Of The Storm, Wyndham’s, and Nothing Like A Dame) would be back despite cancelling its run beginning this month.

5. Jennifer Saunders stars in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit in the West End

We were due to see Saunders as eccentric medium and clairvoyant Madame Arcati in this Noel Coward classic comedy at the Duke Of York’s Theatre on its last night this month. We last saw her in Kathy Burke’s re-imagining of Lady Windermere’s Fan in the West End in 2018. We’re including it here because we’d love to see the show’s return once the West End opens again.

6. James Bond vs Fleabag

One of the first scheduling casualties of the coronavirus was the new Bond film. We’re not usually cheerleaders for the franchise but the promise of one of our favourite writers – Phoebe Waller Bridge – make this a much more interesting and relevant prospect. Its new release date is 12/11/20. Tickets Too long to wait? Waller-Bridge collaborator Vicky Jones debuts eight-parter Run on Sky Comedy and Now TV from 15/4 (trailer below).

7. Alphabeat play London’s Subteranea

Fascinating Danish pop band Alphabeat returned in 2019 after a six-year break with an east London comeback gig in June and a new 4th album. We said of Don’t Know What’s Cool Anymore: ‘If the album had a musical template, its golden thread seems to be tambourine-rattling, 60s beat combos with Goldmine sounding the most raw and recalling the pop prime of The Doors.’ April was to see them playing UK dates including a sold-out show at London’s Subterania. These have now been rescheduled for October. Tickets

8. Romeo and Juliet at The Globe starring Alfred Enoch

We last saw Enoch opposite Alfred Molina in Red at the Wyndham’s Theatre in 2018 and remarked then: ‘Enoch has his own showy moments and the sections where he reveals his own back story and where Rothko gives away a reason for seemingly unspeakable behaviour allow Enoch to show what a capable young actor he has become.’ Romeo was due to run 14/4 through 12/7/20. Tickets

9. The First Team at the BFI/Radio Times Television Festival

Last year’s festival was memorable for numerous reasons including an appearance ahead of both Emma and The Crown for Josh O’Connor, as well as Q&As from the casts of both Derry Girls and Unforgiven. We were most excited about The First Team as those behind The Inbetweeners turned their attention to football. More of that later. Stay safe everyone.

• Picture courtesy Old Vic. Tickets
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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