Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre reveals Drew McOnie’s inaugural season

Artistic director Drew McOnie’s inaugural season opens with the UK premiere of musical comedy Shucked. The season also includes adaptations of Noughts & Crosses and Brigadoon.

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre has announced artistic director Drew McOnie’s inaugural season, which opens with the UK premiere of musical comedy Shucked.

Transferring from an acclaimed Broadway run, the musical will run from 10 May – 14 June and stars Ben Joyce (Back to the Future the Musical), Sophie McShera (Downton Abbey), and Georgina Onuorah (Hamilton) in the lead roles.

Award-winning musical theatre choreographers Julia Cheng, Shelley Maxwell, and Kate Prince will collaborate to reimagine the dream ballets from Allegro, Oklahoma!, and Carousel in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Dream Ballets: A Triple Bill, which runs from 19 – 22 June.

This is followed by the stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s novel Noughts & Crosses, which runs from 28 June – 26 July. The novel has been adapted by Dominic Cooke, and will be directed by Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s Associate Artistic Director Tinuke Craig.

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s Brigadoon will run from 2 August – 20 September, in a new adaptation by Scottish playwright Rona Munro. Directed and choreographed by McOnie, the adaptation will be the first major London revival in over 35 years. Danielle Fiamanya (Mandela) will star as Fiona, while Louis Gaunt (Bridgerton) plays Tommy.

Families will also be well catered for with musical The Enormous Crocodile, based on Roald Dahl’s much-loved children's book. The production returns to Regent's Park from 15 August – 7 September following a run in 2024, and has a book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra, music by Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab, and additional music and lyrics from Tom Brady.

The Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production of Fiddler on the Roof from the summer 2024 season will also transfer to the Barbican Centre for a strictly limited 8-week season from 24 May – 19 July, ahead of a UK and Ireland tour, while a reimagined version of the 2022 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre musical production of Dodie Smith’s classic book 101 Dalmatians will play from 18 July – 30 August at London’s Eventim Apollo.

McOnie said, “After what has without doubt been one of the most thrilling incubation periods of my creative career, I am so proud of the season we are now able to announce. Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre offers its own unique opportunity to engage with stories under a shared sky and my ambition is to honour that legacy as we move into this new artistic chapter.

"Every member of the Regent’s Park team and the many artists that are coming together to share their imaginations with us, will put our audiences, both new and returning, at the centre of their process and it's an honour to work alongside them in delivering my debut season for this much-loved venue.”

Full creative teams and casting for all productions are yet to be announced.

Check back for shows at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, including Shucked, on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: James Pidgeon and Drew McOnie. (Photo by David Jensen)