Two Shows Extend in the West End

The Pitmen Painters and Matilda the Musical Add Extra Months to their Booking Periods

Two more shows have extended their stay in the West End recently and they are “The Pitmen Painters”, which returned to the capital in October, and “Matilda the Musical”, which transferred from the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre. The former now has theatre tickets on sale until April 2012 whilst the latter is booking to October 2012.

“The Pitmen Painters” joins “Billy Elliot the Musical” as a West End production from writer Lee Hall. It originally appeared at the National Theatre in 2009 and has also been seen around the country.

It concerns a group of miners in Ashington in the North East who, in 1934, hire a professor to teach them art appreciation classes in the evening. Pretty soon they give it a go themselves and this leads to their work being appreciated around the country and in a few years their art is part of prestigious collections, all the while continuing to work down the mine like the always have. The cast includes Michael Hodgson, Ian Kelly, Brian Lonsdale and David Whitaker.

It is now booking at the West End’s Duchess Theatre until Saturday 14th April 2012.

“Matilda the Musical” is the Royal Shakespeare Company musical that is based on Roald Dahl’s book, with a book by Dennis Kelly and comedian Tim Minchin providing the music and lyrics. Among the actors appearing onstage are Bertie Carvel, Paul Kaye, Josie Walker and Lauren Ward, all working under the direction of Matthew Warchus.

It concerns the girl with extraordinary powers of intellect, who reads every book in the library and uses her wits to ensure that those that do wrong get what they deserve. Soon these intellectual powers are joined with psychokinetic powers and people that do wrong suddenly have to watch their back.

The musical has been given critical praise ever since it opened in Stratford-upon-Avon, with West End and Broadway producers hoping for a transfer to the respective commercial districts. The West End version subsequently opened at the Cambridge Theatre in October, meaning that the venue’s long running production of “Chicago” had to relocate to the Garrick Theatre (it opened last month).

The musical is now booking at the Cambridge Theatre until Sunday 21st October 2012.