Peter Davison and Jill Halfpenny are to join the increasingly high profile cast of Legally Blonde The Musical, which opens at the Savoy theatre on 13 January after previews from 5 December.
Former Doctor Who star Davison and EastEnders’s Halfpenny, who is currently in Calendar Girls, join Sheridan Smith, Duncan James, Alex Gaumond, Aoife Mulholland and Susan McFadden in this UK production of the Broadway hit which is based on the 2001 film.
Davison, who is to play college sweetheart Elle Woods’s Harvard lecturer Callahan, is best known for his extensive television credits including All Creatures Great And Small, The Last Detective, A Very Peculiar Practice and At Home With The Braithwaites, in addition to his time as the fifth Doctor during the 1980s. On stage he appeared in Chicago at the Adelphi theatre in 1999 and, more recently, as the third King Arthur in Monty Python’s Spamalot at the Palace theatre.
Halfpenny takes the role of beautician Paulette. The actress has been a regular on our TV screens since appearing in Byker Grove as a teenager, before going on to star in EastEnders, Waterloo Road and reality dance show Strictly Come Dancing, which she won in 2004. As well as many regional theatre credits, she has previously appeared in the West End in the musical Chicago, and can currently be seen playing Cora in Calendar Girls at the Noël Coward theatre, where she remains until 31 October.
The rest of the cast of Legally Blonde The Musical comprises: Emma Bateman, Dan Burton, Darren Carnall, Chris Ellis-Stanton, Nadine Higgin, Ibinabo Jack, Caroline Keiff, Amy Lennox, Andy Mace, Sorelle Marsh, Suzie McAdam, Matthew McKenna, Sean Mulligan, Roxanne Palmer, Sergio Priftis, Tamara Wall and Ed White.
The story centres on Sheridan Smith’s character Elle Woods – played by Reese Witherspoon in the film – a homecoming queen who doesn’t take no for an answer. When her boyfriend Warner (James), dumps her for someone serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books and heads for Harvard Law.
The stage adaptation is directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, who received a Tony Award nomination for his choreography of the Broadway production. As well as numerous credits on the Great White Way, his choreography can be seen in the current production of Hairspray at the Shaftesbury theatre.
Legally Blonde The Musical comes to the Savoy following 60s musical Dreamboats And Petticoats, which ends its limited run on 31 October.
CB