Avenue Q, Sister Act close tonight

The West End bids farewell to long-running shows Avenue Q and Sister Act tonight, 30 October 2010.

Patina Miller, Simon Webbe and Sally Dexter will perform for the last time tonight, Saturday 30 October, at the London Palladium as a packed house will cheer out Sister Act after 17 months in town.

The hit musical, based on the movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, opened on 2 June 2009 with Patina Miller as nightclub singer Deloris van Cartier and Sheila Hancock as Mother Superior. Whoopi Goldberg also played the role of Mother Superior for short stints in August and October this year, alongside regular Superior – Sally Dexter.

The show will vacate the Palladium leaving a three month gap before The Wizard of Oz opens at the theatre in February 2011.

Sister Act will move to Broadway following its London closure, with Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks (The Addams Family) taking the director helm. The show will open at the Broadway Theatre on 20 April 2011.

And over at the Wyndham’s Theatre, cult Broadway show Avenue Q will also bow out of London today, after opening on 1 June 2006 at the Noel Coward Theatre.

The musical had been scheduled to close at the Noel Coward in March 2009 but a surprise surge in bookings led producer Cameron Mackintosh to keep it going, transferring the show to the Gielgud Theatre. It made a further move to the Wyndham’s Theatre, its current home, in March this year.

The show won three Tony Awards on Broadway and continues to run off-Broadway in New York. The London cast saying farewell tonight include Delroy Atkinson, Cassidy Janson, Rachel Jerram, Sion Lloyd, Tom Parsons, Paul Spicer, Jacqueline Tate, Irene Alano-Rhodes, Alan Pearson, Amanda Posener, Jaygann Ayeh, Sam Harrison and Maria Lawson.

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Sister Act: big changes for Broadway

West End musical Sister Act to move to Broadway; Jerry Zaks to make changes to the show.

Sister Act, based on the hit film, is moving to Broadway following its closure at the London Palladium on 30 October.

The Broadway version will get a new director, with Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks (The Addams Family) taking the helm. He is set to make substantial changes to the show and has immediately brought in Douglas Carter van Beane (Xanadu) to write a new book (and new jokes!) for the musical.

Stage Entertainment, owned by Dutch entertainment billionaire Joop van den Ende, will produce the show on the Great White Way, alongside the original star of the film Whoopi Goldberg.

Sister Act will open at the Broadway Theatre on 20 April 2011. Casting is yet to be announced. The New York theatre is currently home to Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth.

In London the show currently stars Patina Miller, Simon Webbe and Sally Dexter. It will vacate the Palladium in October, leaving a three month gap before The Wizard of Oz opens at the theatre in February 2011.

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Dexter acts superior in Sister Act

Sally Dexter will join the cast of Sister Act next month at the London Palladium when she becomes the third actress to play Mother Superior in the hit musical.

The multi-talented actress will join the cast of the show following Whoopi Goldberg’s current run in the role.

Dexter, who has appeared in numerous plays and musicals including Billy Elliot and Bad Girls, was last at the Palladium playing Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s 1994 production of Oliver!

The show is slated to end at the London Palladium on 30 October 2010, earlier than its original 1 January closing date. It will make way for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s big-budget new production of The Wizard of Oz. Sister Act is expected to go on to Broadway.

The part of Mother Superior was originated by Sheila Hancock in the musical, which is based on the hit movie.

Special offer: Save £24 on tickets to Sister Act at the London Palladium