Upcoming Empty Theatres

Autumn announcements seem to be sluggish this year. You usually have a good idea of Sept / Oct shows by the end of May but still no confirmation for many theatres.

 A lot of theatres already have their Autumn shows, the Delfont Mackintosh playhouses have their next few shows, the Harold Pinter has the Pinter plays, The Duke of York's has King Lear until November so I expect they won't announce what is after Lear until July or August. The only ones that haven't are the Garrick, Haymarket and Trafalgar Studios 

I don't see theatres becoming free as a bad thing, surely it's better to have a West End that refreshes itself with new shows rather than the same old shows clogging up theatres.

It's only the beginning of June so I expect we'll have announcements fairly shortly for the first three, Ambassadors is iffy as it's likely to close so they can begin work turning it into the Sondheim. The Vaudeville is going to be doing a season of Shaw plays but I don't expect they'll announce that for a while, likewise with Duke of York's since it won't be free until November, they have plenty of time to announce what's going in

The last London run only did 3-4 months at the Novello, so unless theatre owners are really desperate, it’s unlikely

^ I would also throw the Cambridge Theatre with Matilda into that list too. It’s still very popular and holds it own in the West End and on tour, too.

I would imagine that Thriller will eventually lose momentum but perhaps not for another year or two and I’m not sure for how long TCAABR can keep filling the Criterion for. That doesn’t scream long-runner to me, whereas TPTGW at the Duchess does.

Sometimes I feel sad that I can't ever go to particular theatres unless I want to see the long-running show that's currently in residence, because if I wanted to see that show, I'd've seen it already. But the nice thing about the Lyric is the way they run things like The Tiger Who Came To Tea or The Gruffalo's Child during school holidays, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by Thriller's continued existence. No such luck with the Lyceum though, if I ever want to get through the door there, I probably am going to have to suck it up and see The Lion King at some point. They don't even seem to do a backstage tour for heaven's sake.

Whoops forgot Harry Potter and Matilda and agree both will not close anytime soon. Thanks for both those.

Be interesting to see if the Criterion does come free, small theatres are underrepresented in the West End, with long runners in other theatres, (Fortune, Duchess), so if the Criterion comes free and now with the Ambassador free, gives more scope for small shows to come in, also go the new nimax theatre opening next year.

I wish I could share your enthusiasm for Thriller, I would like to see it gone, but realistically I know it won’t close, with tourists shelling out and it’s low operating costs who adds to its longevity and our misery.

Does the Lyceum ever host anything else on Mondays? I went once (20 years ago though) for a Steve Coogan touring show.

Comedy I wouldn't be surprised if it closes in the next year or so, it does seem to discount a lot although the Criterion isn't exactly sought after so they may be able to chug along for a bit longer.

firefingers mentioned on the Thriller thread that the show has stopped turning a profit so I reckon they'll get it to the 10th anniversary in January 2019 then close shortly afterward.

Which is exactly why I fully intend to take advantage of some theatre deals this summer! 

I wonder if 'What's in a Name?' with Nigel Harman and Sarah Hadland is still waiting to transfer from the Birmingham REP last year into one of these empty theatres - I'd imagine a small playhouse, so maybe the Garrick for a limited run? I remember Harman saying in an interview that he was doing a play in the West End some point this year after directing Big Fish and Shrek, so I'm guessing he was talking about this.