1. Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga

Last year’s televised show celebrating the work of the late great Sondheim was a real thrill and this month stars including Peters and Salonga perform some of the composer’s best-loved songs alongside Haydn Gwynne (The Welkin, National Theatre), Janie Dee (Follies, National Theatre) and Jac Yarrow (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, London Palladium). Runs at the West End’s Gielgud Theatre 16 September through 6 January 2024. Tickets Update: Performances now begin 21 September without Gwynne. Review

• Read on for reasons including Patsy Ferran in Pygmalion, Andrew Scott’s Vanya and Kylie album Tension

2. Patsy Ferran at the Old Vic in Pygmalion

Ferran – 1 of our favourite actresses – very much saved Rebecca Frecknall’s A Streetcar Named Desire which transferred from the Almeida to the West End this year and here returns as Eliza Doolittle opposite Bertie Carvel (The 47th, Old Vic) in Bernard Shaw’s play. Runs 6 September through 28 October 2023. Tickets Review

3. Jake Shears and Self Esteem join Cabaret

Usurped in our affections as London’s best revival by Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre and La Cage Aux Folles at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, this casting of 2 of our favourite pop stars has captured our attention. Shears released an album this year and toured but has musical theatre form after playing in Kinky Boots on Broadway. Self Esteem, or Rebecca Lucy Taylor as she is known here, is less well known for theatre and recently sang on the Lionesses’ World Cup song. They appear together from 25 September through 20 January 2023. Tickets Review of Shears and Taylor Previous Cabaret stars in this production have included Eddie Redmayne, Callum Scott Howells and Aimee Lou Wood.

4. Andrew Scott’s Vanya

Scott won our Best Theatre Actor monsta for his Hamlet which transferred from the Almeida to the West End and here gives us a 1-man version of the Chekhov classic which we saw most recently at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2020. Opens off West End at Richmond Theatre in August before transferring to the Duke Of York’s Theatre 15 September through 21 October 2023. Tickets

5. New Kylie album Tension

Padam Padam was a song of the week for us and Kylie’s biggest UK hit since All The Lovers made number 3 in 2010. 16th album Tension is out 22 September and Minogue has co-written 8 of the 11 songs. She’s also playing a Las Vegas residency and we hope that means there’s also a UK and European tour about to be announced soon. Tickets Tension review

6. Death Of England: Closing Time at the National Theatre

Clint Dyer and Roy Williams bring us the final standalone chapter in the monsta-winning Death Of England series which has worked so well at this venue. You join us as, grieving the loss of the family shop and their dreams destroyed, Denise and daughter-in-law Carly are left to pick up the pieces of their relatives’ mistakes. Runs at the Dorfman Theatre at the National 13 September through 11 November 2023. Tickets

7. Debut Mae Muller album

Sorry I’m Late is the title of Muller’s debut solo LP which is out 15 September and includes Eurovision entry and top 10 hit I Wrote A Song and current single Me, Myself and I which was a song of the week for us. Reportedly, her film career is taking off which means that her headline tour including a gig at London’s Camden Roundhouse that we were supposed to be seeing this November has been cancelled. Tickets Update: this album is now due to be released 29 September

8. Beautiful Thing at Theatre Royal Stratford East

Before Heartstopper author Jonathan Harvey gave us the working class love story of boys Ste and Jamie on a south London estate. Raphael Akuwudike and Joshua Asaré play Ste and Jamie in this 30th anniversary production featuring peppermint foot lotion and Mama Cass at Theatre Royal Stratford East. Runs 8 September through 7 October 2023. Tickets

9. Gals Aloud in the West End

This drag tribute to Girls Aloud includes within its ranks RuPaul’s Drag Race UK stars Cheryl Hole (Dick Whittington, Phoenix Theatre) and Kitty Scott-Claus (RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, London Palladium). We haven’t seen them as Gals Aloud since the Underbelly Festival in 2019 and they play the Lyric Theatre in the West End on the evening of Saturday 16 September 2023. Tickets Review

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Delfont Mackintosh Tickets
• Have you seen a Sondheim show before and are you going to see Old Friends?
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