Biggest celebrity names coming to the West End from Wicked star to ex Doctor Who lead

As the oldest and most iconic theatre scene in the world – sorry Broadway! – the West End has always had a strong gravitational pull for film and TV actors.

Whether it's younger performers wanting to cut their teeth in front of an audience, or old-hats looking to return to their roots, the London stages are so often jam-packed with celebrities, and 2025 is no different. Over the next two years, we're seeing a slew of much-loved BBC stars, iconic comedians, and even Oscar winners hitting the West End stage.

Highlights include the Doctor himself, Ncuti Gatwa, Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander, Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, and Stephen Fry as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.

Below, you'll find a full list of the best and brightest names coming to London this year and into 2026, plus how and when you can see them.

Jump to:

• Celebrities in upcoming London West End shows at a glance
• What celebrities are in West End theatre shows in 2025?
• What celebrities are on the West End stage in 2026?

Celebrities in upcoming London West End shows at a glance:

• Vanessa Williams in The Devil Wears Prada | from £28
• Ncuti Gatwa in Born With Teeth | from £39
• Brendan Gleeson in The Weir | from £28
• Joe Locke in Clarkston | from £25
• Olly Alexander in The Importance of Being Earnest | from £18
• Stephen Fry in The Importance of Being Earnest | from £18
• Alicia Vikander in The Lady from the Sea | from £42
• Joe Alwyn in The Lady from the Sea | from £42
• Andrew Lincoln in The Lady from the Sea | from £42
• Minnie Driver in Every Brilliant Thing | from £30
• Toby Jones in Othello | from £31.25
• Nicola Coughlan in The Playboy of the Western World | from £43
• Cynthia Erivo in Dracula

What celebrities are in West End theatre shows in 2025?

Vanessa Williams in The Devil Wears Prada

• When can I see Vanessa Williams? Until 18th Oct 2025
• Where can I see Vanessa Williams? Dominion Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Vanessa Williams before? Vanessa Williams is best known for her roles in Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty.

Williams stars as Miranda Priestly in the brand-new musical adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada. Like the original 2006 movie, the show follows Andy Sachs, a salt-of-the-earth journalist who bags a job at the biggest fashion magazine in the world: Runway.

As second assistant to the Editor-in-Chief, Andy fails to understand the glamorous world she finds herself in and struggles to meet the demands of her boss. Yet, as time goes on, Andy becomes seduced by the life she once despised and begins to lose herself on the way. You can read our full review of The Devil Wears Prada here.

Buy The Devil Wears Prada tickets from £28 at TodayTix

Ncuti Gatwa in Born With Teeth

• When can I see Ncuti Gatwa? Until 1st Nov 2025
• Where can I see Ncuti Gatwa? Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Ncuti Gatwa before? RadioTimes.com readers will most likely know Gatwa for playing the Doctor in Doctor Who, and the Rwandan-Scottish actor is also recognised for his roles in Sex Education, Barbie, and new movie The Roses.

We love a William Shakespeare adaptation here on the Going Out team, especially one which banishes the sanitised versions of Tudor history like this one! Liz Duffy's two-man show stars Gatwa as Christopher Marlowe and Edward Bluemel – of My Lady Jane and Killing Eve fame – as Shakespeare, and it promises to delve into a world of sex, scandal and spying... Intrigued? Be sure to read our Born With Teeth review, too.

Buy Born With Teeth tickets from £39 at TodayTix

Brendan Gleeson in The Weir

• When can I see Brendan Gleeson? Until 6th Nov 2025
• Where can I see Brendan Gleeson? Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Brendan Gleeson before? You'll most likely recognise Brendan Gleeson from the BAFTA award winning The Banshees of Inisherin, Golden Globe award winning In Bruges, and 28 Days Later.

To see an actor of this standard — an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe nominated and Emmy winning star — on the West End stage is no average trip to the theatre, and we're not surprised to see a slew of five star reviews for The Weir.

The Weir tells a gripping story which blends human emotion and the supernatural in a location we often frequent: the pub! The story follows four men who spend their evening at a local pub, and when a newcomer (played by Peaky Blinders's Kate Phillips) joins them, the men try and impress her with their stories.

Buy The Weir tickets from £28 at TodayTix

Joe Locke in Clarkston

• When can I see Joe Locke? Until 22nd Nov 2025
• Where can I see Joe Locke? Trafalgar Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Joe Locke before? We've seen Joe Locke in Heartstopper and Marvel's Agatha All Along.

This is Locke's West End debut, so if you're a fan of the Heartstopper actor, be sure to snap up tickets for this limited-time-only show before it sells out. The play is written by Samuel D Hunter (the man behind the Academy Award winning The Whale), and it follows travelling man Jake who meets Costco worker Chris in rural America, and we see their friendship grow on stage.

Buy Clarkston tickets from £25 at TodayTix

Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry in The Importance of Being Earnest

• When can I see Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry? Until 10th Jan 2026
• Where can I see Olly Alexander and Stephen Fry? Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Olly Alexander before? Olly Alexander is the frontman of the band Years & Years, but you would've seen him on the silver screen in It's A Sin.

Where have I seen Stephen Fry before? Fry certainly has a number of accolades as an actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer, but you'll most likely recognise him from QI and from the comic act Fry and Laurie.

The sold-out production of The Importance of Being Earnest has transferred from the National Theatre to the Noël Coward Theatre for a limited time only, and it promises to be a joyful reimagining of Oscar Wilde’s play of the same name. The production depicts the affairs of two men who lead double lives to get out of social obligations, both going by the name Ernest, and all while wooing two young women.

Buy The Importance of Being Earnest tickets from £18 at LOVEtheatre

Alicia Vikander, Joe Alwyn and Andrew Lincoln in The Lady from the Sea

• When can I see Alicia Vikander, Joe Alwyn and Andrew Lincoln? Until 8th Nov 2025
• Where can I see Alicia Vikander, Joe Alwyn and Andrew Lincoln? Bridge Theatre near Tower Bridge

Where have I seen Alicia Vikander before? Alicia Vikander has starred in a number of movies like 2018's Tomb Raider, The Danish Girl, and Ex Machina.

Where have I seen Joe Alwyn before? Besides being known among a certain demographic as Taylor Swift's ex, Joe Alwyn has also acted in blockbusters such as The Brutalist, The Favourite and Kinds of Kindness.

Where have I seen Andrew Lincoln before? Andrew Lincoln is known for his role as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead and for being the man who holds up the sign to Keira Knightley in Love Actually.

The Lady from the Sea follows a married couple, and in particular, Ellida who is worried she's settled too comfortably into her routine as the wife of a well-off doctor. However, when a former lover shows up at Ellida's home, she has a very difficult decision to make: stay in the life she's built or choose the one she left behind a long time ago.

Buy The Lady from the Sea tickets from £42 at LOVEtheatre

For the latest ticketing news, check out how to get Doja Cat tickets.

Minnie Driver in Every Brilliant Thing

• When can I see Minnie Driver? Until 8th Nov 2025
• Where can I see Minnie Driver? @sohoplace in London's West End

Where have I seen Minnie Driver before? Minnie Driver's break-out role was in the 1995 film Circle of Friends, and she's since acted in Good Will Hunting, The Phantom of the Opera and romance movie Return to Me.

Every Brilliant Thing has featured an incredible rotating cast, including Lenny Henry, Sue Perks, and Ambika Mod, and now it's Driver's turn to perform from 13th October until 8th November this year. The one-act play is centred around a person who created a list of the best things in the world to cope with their mum's depression when they were a child, and in adulthood, they discover the significance that list has on their own life.

Buy Every Brilliant Thing tickets from £30 at LOVEtheatre

Toby Jones in Othello

• When can I see Toby Jones? Until 17th Jan 2026
• Where can I see Toby Jones? Theatre Royal Haymarket in London's West End

Where have I seen Toby Jones before? You'll probably recognise Toby Jones from dramas like Mr Bates vs The Post Office and 2025's Mobland, and the movie Mr Burton.

We told you earlier that we love Shakespeare adaptations! Like a lot of Shakespeare's dramas, there are themes of love, jealously and deception in Othello, and it follows the story of a celebrated general who secretly marries the daughter of a powerful senator, however, when his trusted ensign feels passed over for a promotion, he begins of a web of lies and manipulation.

Alongside Jones in this adaptation, we see the talented David Harewood (Homeland) making history as the first Black British actor to play Othello on this stage.

Buy Othello tickets from £31.25 at Headout

Check out our five star The Producers review and four star Punch review.

Nicola Coughlan in The Playboy of the Western World

• When can I see Nicola Coughlan? Until 28th Feb 2026
• Where can I see Nicola Coughlan? National Theatre in Waterloo

Where have I seen Nicola Coughlan before? Nicola Coughlan has been in TV series such as Derry Girls, Big Mood and Bridgerton.

Starring alongside Coughlan in this play is Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment) and Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls) in this production of youth and self-discovery. In this unusual story, a young man walks into character Pegeen's pub and claims to have killer her dad. However, rather than being shunned (as you'd expect for a murderer), the man is welcomed into village live. That is, until a second man unexpectedly shows up...

Buy The Playboy of the Western World tickets from £43 at TodayTix

What celebrities are on the West End stage in 2026?

Cynthia Erivo in Dracula

• When can I see Cynthia Erivo? From 4th February until 30th May 2026
• Where can I see Cynthia Erivo? Noël Coward Theatre in London's West End

Where have I seen Cynthia Erivo before? You'll probably know Erivo for her role as Elphaba, and she's one of the few people who have been nominated for an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award.

This production has certainly garnered a lot of attention, namely because Erivo is playing all 23 roles (including Count Dracula himself) in a never-before-seen reimagining of Bram Stoker's famous story. The person who is tasked with pulling off this incredible production is Kip Williams, the mind behind Sarah Snook's one-woman Dorian Grey play, so if there's one man who can do it, we're sure it'll be Williams.

At the time of writing (Friday 26th September), tickets for Dracula aren't available to the general public, but you can sign-up to stay up to date with alerts from sites like LOVEtheatre.

Check out Dracula tickets at LOVEtheatre

Make sure you also take a look at how TodayTix Rush tickets work and the best West End shows for non-celebrity performers, too!