Final cast announced for Hello, Dolly!
For thirsty musical lovers, any update about Hello, Dolly! will make the wait for the iconic show a little less painful. So the final announcement of the cast is more than welcome.
Joining Imelda Staunton, Andy Nyman and Jenna Russell will be Clare Halse, Harry Hepple, and Tyrone Huntley.
Clare will be playing Minnie Fay. Her theatre credits include the lead role of Peggy Sawyer in the iconic Broadway musical 42nd Street at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, as well as Gypsy and A White Christmas.
Harry will play Cornelius Hackl, and previously appeared in Follies at the National Theatre and Romantics Anonymous at Bristol Old Vic.
And Olivier Award-nominated Tyrone will take on Barnaby Tucker. He earned his nomination for his performance as Judas in the widely acclaimed production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. He was also previously in the original London casts of Dreamgirls and The Book of Mormon.
The full cast will hit the stage when the show opens at the Adelphi Theatre on 11 August 2020. Got your tickets yet?
Ruth Wilson to star in the UK Premiere of The Second Woman at the Young Vic
Unique. A word that’s frequently used and often loses its meaning. Not this time. Nat Randall and Anna Breckon’s internationally acclaimed show The Second Woman is truly unlike any other live performance in London at the moment. And where better to perform it than the Young Vic in association with LIFT Festival.
Starring in the exciting show is two-time Olivier Award-winner, Golden Globe winner, and Tony and BAFTA-nominated actress Ruth Wilson. Ruth has recently starred as Mrs Coulter in the critically and audience acclaimed His Dark Materials which received a BAFTA nomination.
The Second Woman straddles performance, video and film. It invites 100 men to appear opposite Ruth Wilson who will play ‘Virginia’. She will perform the exact same scene again and again for a full 24 hours. That’s right. 24 HOURS.
The show takes inspiration from the 1977 John Cassavetes film Opening Night. An all-female-identifying and non-binary team capture and mix the action live from multiple cameras, in a piece of extraordinary theatre that shines a light on the nature of gender and power relationships.
About joining the production, Ruth said: “I am absolutely thrilled, and a little scared to be part of Nat Randall and Anna Breckon’s truly unique theatrical experience. I have a feeling that The Second Woman will challenge all norms of what it means to be actor and audience, to be performer and observer. And what better place to be breaking the mould, than at the Young Vic, in association with LIFT Festival. Please come share this weird and wonderful journey with me.”
The performance will take place from 4pm on 19 June to 4pm on 20 June. If you’re as hardcore as Ruth, you can buy 24-hour tickets or you can get tickets for specific time-slots. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 3pm. For more information, visit the Young Vic website.
Brand new musical Breakfast On Pluto is coming to the Donmar Warehouse
New week, another new show! This morning, it’s been announced that Donmar Warehouse will be hosting the London premiere of Bob Kelly’s Breakfast On Pluto, A New Irish Musical.
Based on Patrick McCabe’s novel of the same name, the comedy-drama follows Patrick/Pussy Braden who lives in the border town of Tyreelin at the height of the Troubles. The rural Irish town is no place for the unpredictable teen who’s struggling with small-town bigotry, religious repression and the IRA’s lack of fashion sense. Pussy – the illegitimate offspring of an errant priest and a long-gone local girl – ditches watchtowers and checkpoints for the faraway galaxy of 1970s London in search of her long-lost mother and a technicolour new life.
The Ferryman’s Fra Fee will be taking the lead as Patrick/Pussy, with Niamh Perry, David Ganly, Kate Gilmore, and Rickie O’Neill joining him on stage. Further casting will be announced closer to opening.
Directed by Des Kennedy (International Associate Director of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child), the show has garnered excitement and anticipation since it had a small work-in-progress showcase in Galway last summer.
Joining Kelly and Kennedy is Musical Director, Arranger, Orchestrator Jennifer Whyte, Choreographer Jennifer Rooney, Set and Costume Designer Katie Davenport and Lighting Designer Sinéad McKenna.
The Donmar Warehouse run will be part of the world premiere tour of the show which will visit five different venues around the UK.
Breakfast On Pluto will open at the Donmar Warehouse in October for a strictly limited seven-week run.
Christopher Matthews’ my body is an exhibition is opening at Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio
We here at Official London Theatre are always looking to the future of theatre. So, when companies like Sadler’s Wells put together programmes that nurture young talent, there’s a standing ovation in the office.
The Sadler’s Wells Wild Card programme is making a triumphant return with a brand new show from Christopher Matthews. The American-born, London-based artist has curated a special event in the Lilian Baylis Studio. my body is an exhibition will feature several movement-based installations which will tackle topics such as gender, class structure, intersections of the classical and contemporary, icon versus self, and pop culture.
International artists and performance-makers Phoebe Berglund (US), Fenia Kotsopoulou (Greece/UK), Bhenji Ra (Australia) and Fabritia D’Intino (Italy) will display video, photographic prints and live installations alongside body-focused prints from the Sadler’s Wells archive, as well as two of Matthews’ own works.
The show will take place on 14 May 2020. Visit the Sadler’s Wells website for tickets.