LONDON
NEWS AND REVIEWS

Ewan McGregor, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Zoe Wanamaker, Simon Russell Beale, Eileen Atkins, and Michael Ball light up the London stage.

Alan Dale (© ABC) Alan Dale, best known as Bradford Meade on ABC's Ugly Betty, will join the London cast of Monty Python's Spamalot as King Arthu

Marin Mazzie goes to London to play Lady of the Lake in Spamalot.

If theater goers are looking to see a pantomime -- or panto, as the Brits clip it short, the one likely to get the most immediate attention is Cinderella at the Old Vic (December 4-January 20). That's because polymath Stephen Fry, the author of any number of novels and essay collections, has written this version. Little question that the wry Fry will make the wordplay and physical play memorable. It stars Pauline Collins, who was the adorable Sarah in the great Upstairs Downstairs TV series.

Love Stories

Marianne Dreams (Almeida Theatre, December 13-January 19) is expressly crafted for the family Christmas crowd, and is based on Catherine Storr's novel of the same name as adapted by Moira Buffini. Will Tuckett directs and choreographs. Additionally, watch for Herge's Adventures of Tintin at the Playhouse (December 6-January 12), adapted by David Greig and the unusually creative Rufus Norris from the popular comic strip. Norris directs, and that's a true promise of something to see.

Time to Say Ado

Janie Dee Following a sold-out engagement at Wyndham's Theatre (ending December 15), the revival of William Nicholson's award-winning play Shadowlands, ...

A scene from Desperately Seeking Susan Desperately Seeking Susan, the new musical based on the 1985 MGM film of the same name set to the greatest hits

Eileen Atkins (Joseph Marzullo/Retna) Full casting has been announced for the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company's production of Edward Bond's The Sea, January 1