November on the London Stage: An Agatha Christie Thriller, a Curious Musical, an Oscar Wilde Romp and More

A Victorian classic gets a modern-day makeover, Benjamin Button sings, and a popular superhero gets a London stage outing: Those are among the highlights of a characteristically busy month on and off the West End. More than ever, the coming lineup offers something for everyone—not to mention London’s first Alexander Hamilton back on the boards, this time in a notably intimate venue.

‘BUTTON’-ED UP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button began as a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald that morphed into a glossy 2008 film starring Brad Pitt in the title role of the man who experiences life in reverse, from old age to infancy. Buzz has been building across two off-West End runs of a British stage musical of the same name, this time displaced to Cornwall in Southern England and now getting a commercial airing, opening November 6 at the Ambassadors Theatre. Olivier winner John Dagleish (Sunny Afternoon) has the title role.

“It’s encouraging, I think, to see these things come through and take their place on the West End,” Darren Clark, co-creator of the show with Jethro Compton, told Broadway.com of the uptick in British musicals from left field, including the Olivier-winning, Broadway-bound Operation Mincemeat. This show may be the least conventional of all: “It’s fairly rare that you get to see an entire life onstage over the course of an evening. Usually it’s just a moment in time, but here you really get to know these people.”

HERCULEAN TASK
One can never get enough of Agatha Christie’s ever-sly Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who has been played on screen by Albert Finney and Kenneth Branagh and remains indelibly associated with David Suchet’s TV version. Now comes Michael Maloney, who is fronting a U.K. tour of Murder on the Orient Express, playing Poirot. Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Dame Agatha’s thriller is directed by Lucy Bailey (Witness for the Prosecution) and reaches West London’s elegant Richmond Theater November 5 through 9 before continuing around the country through next May. How has Maloney, an alum of Victoria and The Crown on TV, taken to so illustrious a role? At store checkouts, he told Broadway.com, laughing, “I’m there with my packet of toasted almonds and bottled water and bow and say ‘merci.’” As for the character’s signature moustache, Maloney affirms that he’s grown his own. “I can curl it really well; I’m very proud of that.”

WOLF HALL
Three actors will be sharing one role in the forthcoming Bush Theatre premiere, the cryptocurrency-themed Wolves on Road, written by Beru Tessema and directed by Daniel Bailey (Red Pitch). Appearing for only the first two weeks is the mighty Jamael Westman, London’s first Hamilton in the musical of that name and not someone you might necessarily think to find at a West London new writing venue (the same playhouse, incidentally, where Baby Reindeer began). “Sometimes you can be shoehorned or typecast,” the ever-engaging performer told Broadway.com of his decision to share a part with two others who will step into his shoes later. “But I like the idea of playing against expectation. People think that you’re supposed to be a musicals person, and I think, ‘Oh, ok, I want to try something else.’”

A HANDBAG
The Importance of Being Earnest is regularly seen on the London stage but rarely with the star power of Max Webster’s coming production, opening November 28 on the National Theatre’s Lyttelton stage. Leading the cast are TV’s latest Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa, as Algernon, and Tony nominee and three-time Olivier winner Sharon D Clarke as the ever-formidable Lady Bracknell, a part previously taken at this same address (and on screen) by Judi Dench. How does the onetime star of Caroline, or Change feel about stepping into the wondrously witty world of Oscar Wilde? “I felt like the play was in the white canon of theater, so I never saw myself in the role until Max rang and said, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ and I utterly jumped at the chance.” With the production due to be screened on NT Live from February 20, 2025, how would Clarke characterize the experience so far? “It’s glorious fun to do, an absolute hoot,” she said. “We’re having the best time.”

YE GODS!
The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical played Broadway late in 2019 and now gets a London outing at The Other Palace, a venue long-associated with musicals. The role of the New York teenager who discovers kinship to the Greek god Poseidon has been handed to 27-year-old Englishman Max Harwood, a stunner in the title role of the 2021 film version of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, but only now making his stage musical debut. “My whole career feels like I’ve had to go and fill in some blanks,” Harwood said about landing a major film musical prior to a stage one. “This [show] is the sort of thing you would normally do before you get your big [movie] moment, so it’s a real treat for me; I’m super excited to get on stage.” Chris McCarrell, Broadway’s Percy, proffered his own advice to Harwood: “He sent me a lovely message talking about the stamina needed for a show in which I get maybe 40 seconds off stage.” Any specifics? “Don’t drink too much water; you might need to use the bathroom.” Opening night is November 28.