June on the London Stage: War Horse Returns, Cabaret Welcomes Joy Woods & More

It’s been hot outside and temperatures are keeping pace on London stages, as well, with a host of high-profile performers in productions to match, alongside a welcome newcomer or two to brighten the theater during June. For further insight into the shows here and to come, read on.

Willkommen
It’s been five 5 1/2 years since Rebecca Frecknall’s revival of the 1966 John Kander-Fred Ebb musical classic Cabaret opened at the Kit Kat Club down by London’s Embankment. And this summer sees 2025 Tony nominee Joy Woods (Gypsy) stepping into the iconic role of Sally Bowles, “the toast of Mayfair” played by a fast-rising Broadway name who will be seen in New York in the fall in the new musical, Galileo. “I genuinely never thought I’d be doing this show; it’s not something I saw coming,” the instantly engaging Woods told Broadway.com, having joined the production opposite Jamie Muscato (The Great Gatsby) as its newest Emcee. Since signing on to the part, Woods reports “having really the best time I could have asked for: I have learned so much about myself and how I work.” What’s more, she has a concert gig happening during a Sunday off on June 14 at Cadogan Hall in Chelsea. “It’s terrifying,” she said of the prospect of welcoming the public as herself and not behind the guise of a character. “I have no idea if [audiences] will receive me for who I am or how I am, but this is something I’ve always wanted to do and I know that I’ll love it once I get there.”

Horse Play
War Horse remains one of the theatrical phenomena of our time, having traveled the world since its 2007 premiere at the National Theatre, to which it returns anew this summer for a June 2 opening in its original home, the Olivier auditorium. Tom Sturgess has the signature part of the Devonshire teenager, Albert, whose relationship with the equine Joey sits at the wounding heart of the play set during World War I. The adaptation of Michael Morpurgo’s novel “speaks to things that are maybe in danger and that we need to remind ourselves of,” an expansive Sturgess told Broadway.com—“the importance of community and hope and love and togetherness.” Sturgess will have been with the production some 21 months on tour and then in London by the time this current run ends. “The show finishes and people leave having been affected collectively,” he observed of the impact of the play. “We’re very individual these days, and separated from one another as people, and it’s incredibly special to be part of something that brings about a connection.”

Well Did You Evah?
Cole Porter’s High Society is an early example of a stage musical fashioned from a pre-existing film: in this case, the 1956 Grace Kelly/Frank Sinatra movie of the same title, which is itself based on an enduring title, Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story. The director Rachel Kavanaugh's current name-heavy iteration of it opens June 3 at the Barbican and stars Freddie Fox, Felicity Kendal, Julian Ovenden and, in the Kelly role, Helen George, reminding us that the onetime star of TV’s Call the Midwife trained at London’s prestigious Royal Academy of Music. How does George feel about inhabiting the elegant Long Island environs indicated in the show’s title? “Look, it’s not the coal mines, is it?” the charming leading lady replied with a laugh. “Of course it’s fabulous to live in this character [Tracy Lord]—and these costumes—but then I go home and put my kids to bed and have to deal with nappies and all the rest of it. So it’s far from my life, but I love the joy and frivolity of it.”

Equal Time
David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross is considered one of the defining plays of our time and was among the first shows I saw when I moved to London, in its world premiere National Theatre engagement. Here it is anew, recast entirely with women for an Old Vic run opening June 17. Patrick Marber, who directed last year’s Broadway revival of the same play with Kieran Culkin, is at the helm once more, this time with Rosa Salazar (High Noon) and Olivier winner Indira Varma (Present Laughter, Oedipus) heading the cast. “If we don’t take risks, we’ll always stay the same and we’ll atrophy,” the ever-expert Varma told Broadway.com of the appeal of an assignment that has seen no change in pronouns within the text. “Are women as competitive as men? Sure thing,” added Varma, who has been cast in the bravura part of Shelley “The Machine” Levene. “Seeing all these women swear and be assertive and be strong is not about being masculine; we’re just being ourselves. Ultimately, we are all humanity in a way: the play encapsulates survival, and it’s about survival of the fittest.”

Fly Him to the Moon
The gifted English actor-singer Joel Harper-Jackson (Cock, Daniel’s Husband) had come close to landing five shows in a row before the offer came through to play Ol’ Blue Eyes himself in Sinatra: The Musical, opening June 24 at the Aldwych Theatre. (An out-of-town production of this musical played in Birmingham, north of London, in 2023 with Tony winner Matt Doyle in the title role.) “So I went in ready to fight [for the part] and the response I got was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced; it was honestly one of the most fantastic days of my life. After all those no’s, I thought, ‘I know that I can do this.’” All of which bodes well for Tony winner Kathleen Marshall’s production, with Ana Villafañe and Phoebe Panaretos as two of the singer’s four wives. “It’s another world, really,” added the warmly spoken performer. “I can’t quite believe I’m doing this.” And doing it his way, as well, as Sinatra himself would surely have put it.