I’ve spent the first few months of 2019 catching up on the new musicals showing on the West End. The start of 2019 saw many of the best hits from Broadway come over for a season in Britain, and I’ve rounded up my three favourites to book for a fun night out…

Come From Away – A touching true tale which documents the stories of the passengers from the diverted planes, who landed in Newfoundland after the 9/11 catastrophe. The music and lyrics are by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, and the characters are based on real Gander residents as well as some of the 7,000 stranded travellers they housed and fed. The musical is 1 hour and 40 minutes with no interval and is an emotional and uplifting show that engrossed me from the first note to the last.

Waitress – The broadway smash hit Waitress premiered on London’s West End at the Adelphi Theatre in February 2019. It is the first ever musical on the West End to be written, composed, directed and choreographed by women. The narrative follows Jenna (played by Smash’s lead Katharine McPhee), a waitress and expert pie-maker, who is trying to escape small town life and an abusive marriage. The set and score are fun with a vintage American charm.

9 to 5 – The 9 to 5 Musical by Patricia Resnick is based on the 1980 musical of the same name with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. The musical premiered in LA in September 2008 and opened last month at The Savoy Theatre on the Strand. Dolly herself flew to London for the Gala show to celebrate with the all star cast – starring Louise Redknapp, Caroline Sheen, Amber Davies, Natalie McQueen, Bonnie Langford and Brian Conley. The story is slightly bizaare, but if you can overlook this you’ll enjoy the upbeat songs sung by a very talented cast.