Alan Parker

The Commitments, the hugely successful and popular film by Sir Alan Parker based on the bestselling book the same name, is heading to the stage. The story of working-class Dubliners who form an unlikely soul band appears to be a perfect fit for the West End stage, and you'd be forgiven for assuming it's already a musical, so why has it taken some 25 years to get it there?

One huge reason is that writer Roddy Doyle thought he did not like musicals. "I'd never been to one," he said whilst announcing the show in London this week. The Booker prize-winning novelist said he'd had something of an epiphany when he began attending musicals once his children grew up. "I think the first was The Producers. It was quite a revelation because the film is terrific and I was wondering why would you want to do a musical? And actually it was great, it was very funny and sharp and you forgot about the film quite quickly," he told reporters at the announcement.

Continue reading: Want To Know Why It Took 'The Commitments' 25 Years To Get To The West End?

Ukrainian dance star Sergei Polunin has walked out on the cast of the major new ballet show Midnight Express just days before its UK premiere at London's Coliseum. The production, based on Billy Hayes's 1977 Turkish prison story, was due to open on Tuesday (April 9, 2013), though Polunin - its primary draw - has dropped out.

The production's director and choreographer, Peter Schaufuss, said Polunin failed to turn up for rehearsals on Wednesday. A statement put the departure down to "unforeseen circumstances," which essentially means nobody has a clue what's going on or where he is. Johan Christensen will take over the title role of Billy Hayes.

This is familiar territory for the Ukrainian star, who unexpectedly quit the Royal Ballet last year. At 19, he had become the company's youngest male principal though shocked the dance world by quitting before he was due to appear in a production of The Dream, later telling the BBC that he was no fan of rehearsing and that it was only when performing that he enjoyed to dance. Fair enough.

Continue reading: Got Tickets For Sergei Polunin In Midnight Express? You Might Wanna' Read This...