Musical Rain-Making on the West End

LONDON-After a drought, suddenly a mini-deluge.

Just when it looked as if 2012 would go on record as the thinnest year I can recall for new musicals in London, a flurry are poised to open within the next month or so, with other major titles on tap for next year.

That news comes as a relief to those â€" count me very much among them â€" for whom musicals form an essential part of any theater capital. London is lucky in that the genre here co-exists with a steady diet of the classics and new plays, so that no one strand of activity is allowed to dominate local stages. Indeed, the talent moves frequently between straight-up drama and musicals, as we will be reminded in May when “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” comes to the West End starring Douglas Hodge, who is as at home with Pinter, Chekhov and Shakespeare as he is with “La Cage aux Folles.”

So it has been with some surprise to note that the first 10 months of this year have offered slim music al pickings. Nostalgists could choose between “Singin' in the Rain” at the Palace Theatre and “Top Hat” at the Aldwych â€" the former the better of the two by some measure. And Jonathan Kent's revival of “Sweeney Todd” (now closed) looks like the obvious frontrunner for the Olivier Award and other trophies still to come; if Imelda Staunton's Mrs. Lovett doesn't win every gong going, that will be a sorry oversight, indeed.

But new musicals, or even transfers from Broadway of already-established titles, have been all but nonexistent. To be sure, the first quarter of 2013 boasts an obvious pace-setter in the London premiere of “The Book of Mormon” â€" and let us hope that whispers of the Broadway performer Gavin Creel returning to the U.K. after stints in “Hair” and “Mary Poppins” to head the West End company of “Mormon” turn out to be true. A revival of “A Chorus Line” follows not far behind.

The year to date, though, has offered li ttle in the mainstream melodic sweepstakes beyond the derivative if perky “Loserville” (surely not the most auspicious title to put on a marquee) and the latest in a seemingly ceaseless cycle of Beatles tribute shows, this one titled “Let It Be.” In effect a staged concert that (perhaps wisely) drops all pretense of a story, the show pretty much does what it says on the tin, to co-opt a quaint English expression, even if, at the matinee I caught, some of the vocals were a tad tinny. (These shows are at the Garrick and Prince of Wales, respectively.)

Suddenly, though, the hills (well, stages) are alive, and not just with “The Sound of Music,” which, yes, will get another London revival next summer at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. This latest one, to be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, opens Aug. 5.