Featuring rock anthems from Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Poison, Journey and Pat Benatar

The singer — who won the reality TV contest in 2005 and went on to an enjoy a number one hit with That’s My Goal — will take on the role of bad boy rocker Stacee Jaxx alongside Justin Lee Collins who has recently been cast as hippy nightclub owner Dennis Dupree.

Despite being dropped from Simon Cowell’s record label, Ward is proving there is more life in him yet stating: “I cannot wait to take to the stage for Rock of Agesl it’s an absolute thrill to have been chosen for this part and can’t wait to show a new side to my voice.”

A celebration of 80s rock culture, jukebox musical Rock of Ages will open at the Shaftesbury Theatre on September 27 with a run currently scheduled to end on February 11, 2012. The story of a bus boy with big dreams, set to a host of rock anthems from Bon Jovi, Whitesnake, Poison, Journey and Pat Benatar, the show promises to be a fantastic experience.

Book your Rock of Ages theatre break from just £123 per person including an overnight stay at a handpicked city hotel.

The show will open at the Shaftesbury Theatre this summer, though no official opening date or casting information has yet been released. Rock of Ages charts a love story between a small town girl and a rocker from glamorous L.A. Their progressing relationship is skilfully woven from a collection of 80s rock classics.

The music comes from the likes of Pat Benatar, Styx, Journey and Twisted Sister, making Rock of Ages serious competition for the long-running and dad-friendly Queen jukebox hit, We Will Rock You.

Before Rock of Ages sets up its amps and fills the dressing rooms of the Shaftesbury with a thick fog of hairspray, Derren Brown’s Svengali will have a short run at the London theatre, running from 8 June until 16 July 2011.

Derren Brown

Brown will bring his latest show, titled Svengali, to the Shaftesbury Theatre for a limited run opening on 13 June and running until 16 July 2011. The show’s short stint in the West End will follow a 73-date national tour beginning at the Theatre Royal Brighton in March.

Svengali promises audience participation, mysteries of the mind, wonders of the occult, and marvellous & startling feats. Just like The Mousetrap, Svengali audiences will be asked to keep the secret of the show to themselves, lest they spoil the fun for future audience members.

Brown’s previous live shows have earned him an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment (Something Wicked This Way Comes — 2006) and a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Solo Performance (Enigma — 2010).

Svengali seems an appropriate title for a Derren Brown show; Svengali was an evil hypnotist character in Trilby, a 19th century novel which went on to inspire The Phantom of the Opera.