What’s next for The Phoenix?

It's a really great house. Bedknobs would be great in there for sure.

It's one of the couple remaining ones I've never actually been in. Will rectify that before come from away closes

MrB any hints what we can expect here next?

Out of those, Bedknobs, Animal Farm and What's New Pussycat? would fit as it's not that big a theatre.

Would work for bedknobs to land just as Poppins left?

Bedknobs would work really well in the Criterion - it's not a flashy show really, it'll work a lot better in a smaller house. Whether we need it immediately after Poppins when they're essentially the same thing, I'm not sure.

Groundhog Day in the West End is a long way off (there's a big plan for its further life post Old Vic 23 but it's not immediately back to the West End) and Hadestown wouldn't be the right fit for it (and I think it'll be limited run when it comes back tbh)

I reckon it'll be a play (we absolutely do not need the embarrassment that is Boy in the Dress in the West End - hated it with the intensity of a thousand suns, hated it even more than I hated DEH !)

And I'll just throw this out there as a wish....as NEXT TO NORMAL has never played London it would be great if the current Barcelona production with Alice Ripley and Adam Pascal could make the Phoenix it's home for a limited engagement.

I've covered this in the Next to Normal thread. A replica of the original production was moving forward, slowly, behind the scenes through 2019-2021. It's now dead in the water, the people attached have now written it off.

The rights owners have made it notoriously hard (notorious in the producing business, I mean) for this to be staged in the UK.

From what I've heard, they are insisting on an open-ended West End run, with full retention of the original creative team, executive veto on casting, and very hefty licensing fees. They won't even *talk* to you without proof of funding and a venue lined up which meets their criteria.

Unless their stance changes completely in the coming years, I don't think this will ever get a UK run. People have put in thousands of man hours just trying to get the thing staged, with some very big producers/directors attached.

Whilst they've released the amateur rights in the US and licensed it all over Europe, they are incredibly protective over the legacy of the original Broadway production. I think the main concern is that a flop/dud UK production could seriously harm the IP's reputation when it comes to reviving it on Broadway.

I'd love this, though think it would make more sense at the Noel Coward, but it is going to be dependant on the name's availabilities. 

Too small for mean girls ??

They have their eye on the Adelphi and are waiting for BTTF to vacate

I wouldn’t be surprised if it just does Manchester now. It flopped on Broadway (lack of Tony noms) and it is genuinely awful anyway.