West End musical regular and Les Misérables’ original Enjolras David Burt is to join Olivier Award winner George Maguire and Lauren Samuels in The Buskers Opera at Park Theatre.
The star, who also boasts leading roles in The Woman In White, Closer To Heaven, The Far Pavilions and Candide, will play media mogul Jeremiah Peachum in Dougal Irvine’s musical that runs from 28 April to 4 June.
Comedian, actor and Shunt associate artist Simon Dylan-Kane has also joined the production as Mayor Lockitt.
Set in the London of 2012 in the run up to the Olympics, The Buskers Opera sees Peachum and Lockitt perfectly placed to use the sporting success for their own gains. Enter satirical busker Macheath (Maguire) and his Ninety Nine Percenters who are intent on bringing the fat cats down. But in a world of 24/7 media, has he bitten off more than he can chew?
In a unique initiative, The Buskers Opera’s producers have also launched a crowdfunding scheme to help stage the Park Theatre’s first relaxed performance on 2 June and distribute at least 100 tickets a week to charities, youth groups and outreach programmes.
Speaking about the decision, producer Michael Peavoy said: “Very early on in the early development stages of The Buskers Opera it was clear that a piece of theatre about society, that asked questions of us all and how we operate, had to involve everybody. I knew we had to make sure that all felt welcome to take part in that conversation and question with us regardless of their personal or financial circumstance. Four years on, we hope we’re now making small steps toward achieving that goal. If we manage to get even a handful of people in to the theatre that otherwise wouldn’t have come, and we can give them a top class show that makes them think about the world, or even forget about the world for a few moments, then we’ll have done our job.”
To contribute to the relaxed performance, visit the crowdfunding website.