13 new West End shows we’re most excited about coming to London in 2026
Here are the must-see shows to book over the coming year.
While Christmas is a time for rest and reflection, the beginning of the New Year is time to look forward. And what are we most looking forward to in 2026? All of the wonderful theatre shows coming to the West End, obviously.
2025 was a great year for the UK's biggest theatre scene, packed with history-defining productions like Evita and Paddington the Musical, new musicals like The Devil Wears Prada and The Great Gatsby, and celebrities including Ncuti Gatwa and Imelda Staunton.
However, with a star-studded roster of shows already set, 2026 is looking like it's going to give the previous year a run for its money.
We've rounded up the shows we're most looking forward to in the new year, from Shakespeare revivals to brand-new musicals.
To help you out just that little bit more, we've scoured the internet to find the lowest ticket prices for each show. Obviously ticket prices will vary depending on the seats you choose, but there are plenty of options here for anyone whose New Year resolution is to stick to a budget!
In 2025, we reviewed over 30 London theatre shows, musicals and plays; here's our official 2025 London theatre shows ranking.
Jump to:
- New West End shows at a glance
- Best new West End shows coming to London in 2026
- Limited-time West End shows
- Shows with big-name celebrities
- New West End musicals
- What other West End shows are rumoured for 2026?
New West End shows at a glance
- Dracula, from £30
- Jesus Christ Superstar, from £27.50
- Inter Alia, from £27
- Grace Pervades, from £36
- Avenue Q, from £30
- Kinky Boots, from £24
- The Last Five Years
- Romeo and Juliet, from £18
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, from £30
- Marie and Rosetta, from £36
- Teeth 'n' Smiles, from £25
- 1536, from £25
- Beetlejuice, from £24
Best new West-End shows coming to London in 2026
Limited-time West End shows
Teeth 'n' Smiles
Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem, is taking to the West End stage once more, after her sizzling role as Sally Bowles in Cabaret. This time, she'll be playing Maggie Frisby, a rock singer struggling with addiction.
This production will mark 50 years since David Hare's play first premiered at the Royal Court Theatre.
- Buy Teeth 'n' Smiles tickets from £25 at ATG Tickets
- Buy Teeth 'n' Smiles tickets from £25 at SeatPlan
1536
1536 started off at the Almeida Theatre and has proved to be so popular that it's now transferring to the West End in May 2026.
This is a historical drama with a modern edge focusing on three women in Tudor England, whose lives begin to echo those of the scandalous contemporary royals Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
Buy 1536 tickets from £25 at ATG Tickets
Shows with big-name celebrities
Dracula
From Kip Williams, acclaimed director of The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook, comes Dracula starring Cynthia Erivo.
In a similar style to Williams's previous production, all 23 roles in Dracula will be played by Erivo. This is a great chance to see a legend on stage.
Buy Dracula tickets from £30 at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
The Last Five Years
After her history-making run in the lead role of Jamie Lloyd's Evita last year, Rachel Zegler truly is at the top of the world. Now you can see her along with fellow Broadway musical theatre royalty member Ben Platt.
As this is running for just five days at the London Palladium, the show sold out almost instantly. You'll be hard-placed to find tickets, but we couldn't put together a list that didn't include this.
Jamie Lloyd's Evita may be over, but we'll be talking about its cultural impact for years to come; here's our five-star Evita review.
Grace Pervades
Legend of the stage and screen Ralph Fiennes is returning to the West End stage with David Hare's latest play Grace Pervades.
This story follows the lives of acclaimed Victorian actors Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, and is transferring to the Theatre Royal Haymarket after an acclaimed run at the Theatre Royal Bath.
Inter Alia
Inter Alia is a true theatrical tour de force; in fact, we loved the original National Theatre production so much that we gave it a five-star review.
Now the drama by Suzie Miller, the playwright behind Prima Facie, is transferring to the West End. Don't miss out on this one.
Buy Inter Alia tickets from £27 at LOVEtheatre
Romeo & Juliet
Romeo & Juliet, ever heard of it? Shakespeare's classic is once again returning to the West End, this time starring Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and directed by the legendary Robert Icke.
Buy Romeo and Juliet tickets from £18 at LOVEtheatre
Are you a Sadie Sink fan? Here's how you can see her in Stranger Things with our season 5 release schedule and runtimes.
New West End musicals
Avenue Q
Though at first glance it may look sugary sweet and wholesome, Lopez, Marx and Whitty's puppet musical is a lot closer to The Book of Mormon than it is to Sesame Street, humour-wise.
We're talking foul-mouthed puppets bemoaning their current state of affairs. It's a parody of both gritty realism and children's puppet shows, and the result is a truly hilarious and rude show.
Kinky Boots
With a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, this musical is sure to have you rushing to put on your dancing boots!
This production will run at the London Coliseum and star Johannes Radebe of Strictly Come Dancing fame.
Buy Kinky Boots tickets from £24 at TodayTix
Strictly fans simply have to take a look at our look at the Strictly Come Dancing 2025 semi-finals songs and dances.
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar was last performed on a major London stage at the Barbican in 2019, and we're delighted to see it back again.
This time, Eurovision's Sam Ryder will be taking the titular role of Andrew Lloyd Webber's epic show, which will be running at the London Palladium.
Buy Jesus Christ Superstar tickets from £27.50 at LW Theatres
Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice the Musical has proven to be a smash hit on Broadway, and is now making its way across the Atlantic.
Beetlejuice was nominated for a whopping eight Tony awards, and is sure to strike a chord with the most weird and wonderful among us. Be sure to get your hands on tickets for Beetlejuice – uh oh, that's three times we've said it now!
Marie and Rosetta
Before there was Elvis Presley and Little Richard, there was Marie Knight and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. This musical production brings their stories to the forefront of the conversation, where they rightfully belong.
This production will run at Soho Theatre, where the rock'n'roll legends will be played by the iconic Beverly Knight and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu.
Buy Marie and Rosetta tickets from £36 at SeatPlan
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
The novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry saw a movie adaptation in 2023, and now it's heading to the stage.
Original author Rachel Joyce has adapted her story for the stage, featuring a musical score by chart-topping musician Passenger. What better way to celebrate the story of Harold, who spontaneously decided to walk the length of England to reconnect with someone from his past.
Buy The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry tickets from £30 at SeatPlan
What other West End shows are rumoured for 2026?
As is always the case with the world of theatre, there are plenty of rumours circling around about which show will be next to make an appearance on the West End.
One that everyone's talking about is the West End transfer of Death Becomes Her. This musical received an impressive 10 nominations at the 2025 Tony Awards, and UK demand has been steadily growing. Word is that the musical will be transferring in late 2026/early 2027, and a certain tall, beautiful blonde Olivier host's name has been mentioned in connection with it...
Less of a rumour and more of a fact, there's a new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in the works. Speaking to the 2025 Tony Awards press pool, Lloyd-Webber revealed that it's called The Illusionist and will feature Jamie Lloyd and Michael Harrison on the creative team. He also mentioned September 2026 as a possible opening time.
It has also been confirmed that a new English-language stage production of Death Note is in the works over at Trafalgar Entertainment in partnership with Japanese entertainment company HoriPro. While no release date has been revealed, we do know that the musical features music by Frank Wildhorn of Jekyll and Hyde fame.
Plus, we've got some great news – well, rumoured news – for Wicked fans. According to Deadline, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey could be reuniting on the London stage, in a production of Sondheim's Sunday in the Park With George slated to run at the Barbican in 2027 (yes, we know that the Barbican isn't technically West End, but we couldn't help talking about this one!).
Be sure to check back on this page so we can keep you up-to-date about all the latest West End gossip.
Check out our five-star review of Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre.
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