A tight 5: January 29

Holly Burn has been cast in an all-female stage production of Cyrano De Bergerac. The comedian will take several roles in the show, which opens at London's Southwark Playhouse on February 18. It is adapted by Glyn Maxwell and stars Katherine Hunter in the lead role. Details .

PHOENIX Nights cast members Dave Spikey, Ted Robbins, Janice Connolly and Steve Royle are staging a benefit gig for flood victims. The matinee gig at Chorley Little Theatre at 4pm next Thursday, comes as Rory Bremner announced a short tour of fundraisers for the same cause.

THE team behind Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt are piloting a new series for CBS. The Kicker, from Tina Fey, Jack Burditt and Robert Carlock, is about an oddball American footballer who drives family, friends and strangers insane after he is unexpectedly cut from his football team, Hollywood website Deadline reports.

THE first shows have been announced for this year's Udderbelly and London Wonderground festivals, with Nina Conti, Jason Byrne and Reginald D Hunter and the No Such Thing As A Fish podcast among the comedy highlights. Other shows over the festivals, which between them run from Aprol 7 to September 25, include Close Up, from circus company Circa, Aacapella show Gobsmacked!, all-male burlesque from Briefs and 'bearded, bonkers, sexy circus' in Barbu.

ANDY KARL, who has previously appeared in the Broadway musicals Rocky, Legally Blonde and 9-5, has been cast in the lead role in Tim Minchin's Groundhog Day, when it opens in London in July ahead of its New York run next year. Karl will play weatherman Phil Connors, the role made famous by Bill Murray in the 1993 movie, both sides of the Atlantic.

Published: 29 Jan 2016