The actor, on a hot streak after “Wicked,” takes on his biggest stage role to date. In London, he plays Shakespeare’s unfortunate king as a flouncing sociopath.

Given the charm exuded in his turn as eligible bachelor Fiyero in Wicked and former eligible bachelor Lord Anthony Bridgerton in Bridgerton, the last place I expected Jonathan Bailey to properly stake his claim for a part in a summer rom-com blockbuster was in Richard II;

REVIEW: Bridgerton and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey stars as Shakespeare's Richard II at the Bridge Theatre, London.

Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.” OK, that’s the wrong play since it’s a line from “Macbeth,” but it best sums up Jonathan Bailey’s performance in the new London production of “Richard II”: The actor cranks up several gears the moment his character is forced by usurper Henry Bullingbrook to give

Richard II is played by Jonathan Bailey, whose past work includes Bridgerton, Fellow Travellers, Cassio in Nicholas Hytner’s National Theatre production of Othello and Edgar to Ian McKellen’s King Lear.