Kevin Kennedy, best known for playing Coronation Street’s Curly Watts, is to lead the cast of West End rockathon We Will Rock You from 6 September.
Kennedy, who will play Pop in the Queen-inspired musical, reprises the role he played in the show’s touring production opposite Brenda Edwards, who will also join the London company.
Edwards, who rose to fame as a contestant on the X Factor, is already performing in the guitar-thrashing show at London’s Dominion theatre, providing maternity cover for former Killer Queen, Mazz Murray. She will take a short break from We Will Rock You at the beginning of September to appear in The Human Comedy at the Young Vic, returning to the musical on 20 September.
Kennedy and Edwards are joined in We Will Rock You by Ricardo Afonso, who returns to the role of Galileo that he played between 2007 and 2009, Sarah French (Scaramouche) and Rachel John (Meat). Alex Bourne and Ian Carlyle will continue as Khashoggi and Britney.
We Will Rock You, which opened at the Dominion theatre in April 2002, features the music of iconic rock band Queen set to a story by comedian, author and playwright Ben Elton. The show’s action takes place on Planet Mall, where rock music is banned, globalisation is complete and individuality is unthinkable unless you are a rebel, living in the underbelly and resisting the sterile world above.
The show is the longest running production in the history of the Dominion theatre, with more than 3,000 performances under its belt.
MA