Opening this week
The gigs
Ellie Goulding
Tomorrow
02 Academy Brixton, SW9
The starry-eyed electropop singer, pictured, performs songs from her new album Halcyon. The premiere The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Tomorrow Odeon Leicester Square, WC2 Roll out the red carpet as Prince William attends the Royal Film Performance of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings prequel, with Martin Freeman and Sir Ian McKellen.
The first nights
Privates on Parade
Last night
Noel Coward, WC2
Michael Grandage kicks off his 15-month, five-play takeover of the West End theatre, directing the Evening Standard Theatre Awards’ Best Actor Simon Russell Beale as cross-dressing Captain Dennis in Peter Nichols’s camp comedy.
Viva Forever!
Tonight
Piccadilly, W1
The songs of Ginger, Sporty, Scary, Baby and Posh promise to Spice up our lives in Jennifer Saunders’s musical comedy.
In the Republic of Happiness
Tomorrow
Royal Court Downstairs, SW1
Dominic Cooke directs Martin Crimp’s satire about an ill-fated family Christmas.
Aladdin: A Wish Come True
Tomorrow
The Theatre at the 02, SE10
Lily Savage is sure to don her finest frocks for a Widow Twankey turn — oh yes she is.
