Imelda Staunton and Lara Pulver will be joined in the London transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre hit Gypsy by the majority of the cast that made the musical such a huge success in West Sussex.
Gemma Sutton will return to the role of June in the show that boasts lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, with Dan Burton, Jack Chissick, Anita Louise Combe, Harry Dickman, Roger Dipper, Louise Gold, Clare Halse, Tom Hodgkins, Kieran Jae, Julie Legrand, Danielle Morris, Damien Poole and Natalie Woods all rejoining the production.
Newcomer Peter Davison, who replaces Kevin Whately in the role of Herbie, will not be the only newbie in the West End transfer, though, as Billy Hartman, Lucinda Shaw and Luke Street all join the cast too.
Gypsy, which won the Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards earlier this year, is a classic Broadway musical. Featuring a book by Arthur Laurents and music by Jule Styne it tells the story of showbiz mother Momma Rose who travels the length and breadth of America with her daughters, searching for success with their vaudeville act. But as vaudeville declines and the popularity of burlesque begins to rise, Momma Rose is forced to accept change and her daughter’s wish for autonomy.
Gypsy, which is directed by Jonathan Kent, is the latest hit production to transfer from Chichester to the West End. It follows shows including Love Story, Pygmalion, Another Country, Singin’ In The Rain, The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui, Private Lives, Taken At Midnight, The Pajama Game and Sweeney Todd, which also starred Staunton.
The production will arrive at the Savoy Theatre on 28 March, following another musical hit, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels The Musical. The Robert Lindsay-led tale of conmen vying for supremacy in the south of France brings its West End run to a close on 7 March.