Jamie Lloyd will direct Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Tony Award-winning musical Assassins at the Menier Chocolate Factory this winter.
The latest Sondheim offering from the London Bridge venue – following last year’s critically acclaimed Olivier Award-winning hit Merrily We Roll Along, 2008’s A Little Night Music and 2005’s Sunday In The Park With George – will run from 21 November to 7 March with casting yet to be announced.
The quirky musical takes a look at the people throughout history who have tried – and in certain cases succeeded – to assassinate the President of the United States.
Featuring songs including Everybody’s Got The Right, Another National Anthem and How I Saved Roosevelt, Assassins premiered in 1990 and received a Broadway run in 2004 when it won five Tony Awards.
Hoping to replicate that success on the London stage is Lloyd, one of Theatreland’s most prominent and busiest directors. His work can currently be seen at both the Trafalgar Studios, where his high-profile Richard III is playing as part of his second Trafalgar Transformed season, and at the Palace Theatre with West End hit The Commitments. Forthcoming projects for the director also include this autumn’s West End transfer of Urinetown The Musical and 2015’s musical adaptation of Back To The Future.
Joining Assassins in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s winter season will be another US hit export, Jonathan Tolins’ Buyer And Cellar starring Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie.
Playing from 11 March to 2 May, the comedy tells the story of an out of work actor working in Barbra Streisand’s personal shopping mall in the basement of her California home.
Currently touring America following an acclaimed New York run, Urie reprises his Drama Desk Award-winning performance in the UK premiere of the one-man show following US stage credits including the Broadway hit How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.
Also announced by the venue today is a rare appearance by legendary actor Joan Plowright. On 14 September, An Evening With Joan Plowright will see the performer discuss her illustrious career with director Richard Digby Day.