London Datebook: Roll the Dice with Guys and Dolls, Meet the Beales in Grey Gardens & More

It’s a New Year, and with it comes a wealth of fresh enticements on the London stage, from two Broadway musicals reborn in Britain to the premiere of a new play by arguably England's most adventurous playwright. For more on these and other shows to brighten our theatrical spirits for 2016, read on.

JANUARY 4-10
Make Our Gardens Grow: January 7 is the opening night of the European premiere of the much-laureled musical Grey Gardens, starring Jenna Russell and Sheila Hancock in the roles of the Beales, daughter and mother, that brought 2007 Tony Awards to Christine Ebersole and Mary-Louise Wilson.; Thom Southerland directs at the Southwark Playhouse, where he last summer directed a sellout revival of an earlier Broadway hit, Grand Hotel.

JANUARY 11-17
Chemistry? Yeah, Chemistry: This is the full post-opening week at the Savoy Theatre of the new West End revival of that beloved musical favorite Guys and Dolls, which rarely seems absent from the London stage for long. Future Harry Potter star Jamie Parker plays Sky Masterson, with David Haig and Sophie Thompson as Nathan and Adelaide. Gordon Greenberg directs and Cuban dance legend Carlos Acosta is the choreographer.

Also: Previews begin January 14 at west London’s Orange Tree Theatre for The Rolling Stone, the Chris Urch play about the consequences of being gay in Uganda. Ellen McDougall directs. And there’s a January 16 start of performances at the Royal Albert Hall of Cirque du Soleil’s latest London offering, Amaluna, directed by Tony winner Diane Paulus.

JANUARY 18-24
Great Escape: Previews start January 21 on the Royal Court main stage of Escaped Alone, the new play from Caryl Churchill, who at 77 is arguably the most consistently audacious and challenging living British playwright. The all-female cast includes Linda Bassett, Kika Markham and Deborah Findlay. James Macdonald, himself a Churchill regular, directs.

Also: The original Carrie in the legendary (some would say infamous) musical of that name, Linzi Hateley, comes to the Crazy Coqs cabaret venue near Piccadilly Circus for three nights in concert January 19-21. The wonderful Anne-Marie Duff, currently on screen in Suffragette, talks about her starring role in the D.H. Lawrence-inspired Husbands & Sons at the National Theatre on January 18.

JANUARY 25-31
Seeing Red: No, not the Tony-wining play by John Logan but a return visit, this time to the West End, of Lolita Chakrabarti’s acclaimed 2012 play Red Velvet about the American-born London stage actor Ira Aldridge played by the author’s husband, Adrian Lester. The production was seen at New York at St. Ann’s Warehouse in spring 2014, but is now getting a London upgrade as part of the Kenneth Branagh-sponsored season of plays at the Garrick Theatre.

Also: A full week of previews at the Old Vic for the Broadway-bound revival of Ibsen’s The Master Builder, in a new version by David Hare and starring Ralph Fiennes, Linda Emond, and Sarah Snook. Old Vic artistic director Matthew Warchus is at the helm. January 26 is opening night at the Bush Theatre of Pink Mist, a play about the physical and mental scars of war from the Welsh writer and poet Owen Sheers.