Best known for playing Maxine “Max” Mayfield on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Sadie Sink began her career in community theatre in her native Texas. She made her Broadway debut in Annie, in which she progressed to the title role, followed by playing Princess Elizabeth to Helen Mirren’s Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. Following TV stardom, she went on to make a powerful impression in the Broadway premiere of John Proctor Is the Villian, for which she received a Tony nomination

Now aged 23, Sink again plays a teenager as she takes the role of Shakespeare’s Juliet, directed by Robert Icke. She says: “I was a Broadway kid, so I’ve always dreamed about doing a show in the West End. London theatre has this incredible energy, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

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Like his co-star Sink, Noah Jupe also began his career as a child actor. He played the son of Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in The Undoing, and Natalie Portman’s son in Lady in the Lake, and he can currently be seen in the BBC’s The Night Manager (with Hugh Laurie playing his father) and as Hamlet in Hamnet (his younger brother Jacobi plays the title role).

It’s therefore fitting that the 20-year-old Jupe’s West End debut is in Shakespeare, and Jupe and Sink are sure to bring plenty of youthful energy to Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers.

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Born in South Africa, Johannes Radebe first worked as a dance teacher and as a performer on cruise ships. As a competitive dancer, he won the Professional South African Latin championships twice. He joined the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2018 and quickly became one of the show’s most popular professional dancers. He was runner up with chef John Whaite in 2021 and came fourth with tennis star Annabel Croft in 2023.

Last year, Radebe made his professional theatre debut touring the UK as big-hearted drag queen Lola in Kinky Boots. Nikolai Foster’s production transfers to the West End this spring, with Radebe reprising his role and making his West End debut. His dance skills and endearing personality have made him a TV star – let’s see him strut his stuff as a musical theatre artist!

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Sam Ryder initially made a name for himself on TikTok during the Covid-19 lockdowns, where he became the most-followed UK artist on the platform. He represented the UK in the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, in which he finished in second place with his song “Space Man”. He released his debut album the same year and became the first Eurovision alumnus to be nominated for Best New Artist at the Brit Awards.

This summer, Ryder will have heaven on his mind as he stars in the title role in a revival of Tim Sheader’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Jesus Christ Superstar at the London Palladium. It’s a huge challenge, let alone for an acting debut – and Ryder’s talent and commitment (and his Christ-like look!) is sure to shine through in a divine performance.

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A major Hollywood leading man makes his London debut this summer. Chris Pine is perhaps best known for his action-packed roles as James T. Kirk in the Star Trek reboot series and Steve Trevor in Wonder Woman. He has twice appeared on stage at Los Angeles’s Geffen Playhouse, and in 2010 he played Padraic in The Lieutenant of Inishmore at the Mark Taper Forum.

Pine most entertainingly pastiched his macho image as Cinderella’s Prince in the film version of Into The Woods, which is currently playing at the Bridge Theatre where Pine is due to star in the title role in Chekhov’s Ivanov in a new version by Simon Stone. Actors who have previously played the role include Kenneth Branagh, Ralph Fiennes, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Kline, and John Gielgud – it’s a hugely challenging role and Stone has remarked that “not only is [Pine] a thespian from way back but he's uniquely sensitive and brilliantly intelligent too”.

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Thank goodness that the rumours about Wicked and Wicked: For Good stars Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey teaming up again for Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George are true! The golden pair are set to lead the production directed by Marianne Elliott at the Barbican Centre in what will undoubtedly be one of the most sought-after tickets of 2027.

Grande made her Broadway debut in Jason Robert Brown’s 13 in 2008, prior to achieving success as a teen TV star. She released her debut album in 2013 and has sold over 90 million records to date. Her performance as Glinda was both hilarious and heart-rendering and we can’t wait to see her in action as Dot, one of musical theatre’s most endearing heroines.

Check back for Sunday in the Park with George tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.