Crooning X-Factor finalist Ray Quinn will join the cast of Grease this summer, playing T-Bird Doody between 16 June and 15 November.
Quinn joins as the cast is given a summer overhaul. While Danny Bayne continues in the role of Danny, original Sandy, Susan McFadden, leaves the company to be replaced by Nicola Brazil.
It has been a momentous two summers for Mountview Academy graduate Brazil. In 2007 she made her West End debut when she joined the cast of magical musical Wicked. Just one year later she takes on her first London lead role.
Also joining the cast this summer are Stuart Ramsay (Kenickie), Natalie Langston (Rizzo), Kristofer Harding (Roger), Emily Bull (Frenchy), Laura Wilson (Jan), Emma Stephens (Marty), Benjamin Ibbott (Eugene), Emma Green (Patty), Chloe Brooks (Miss Lynch) and Kristina Macmillan (Cha Cha). Bennett Andrews and Jason Capewell continue in the roles of Sonny and Teen Angel/Vince.
Quinn shot to fame in the 2006 series of The X Factor, going head-to-head with chart-topper Leona Lewis in the final. But the singer, who already has a platinum-selling album, Doing It My Way, to his name, is no stranger to acting; as a child he was a regular character on Liverpool-set soap Brookside.
Quinn will be the fourth reality television star to appear in the revival of hit musical Grease at the Piccadilly. Both McFadden and Bayne were voted into their roles by the television-viewing public as part of ITV show Grease Is The Word. They were joined in the original cast by Siobhan Dillon, who was a finalist in the BBC’s How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?
Grease, which came top of Channel 4’s 100 Greatest Musicals poll, is the tale of Danny and Sandy, school kids who meet on holiday and never think they will see each other again. When Sandy transfers to Rydell High she meets her young lover once more; this time, though, he is among his friends and has a reputation to protect.
First staged on Broadway in 1972, this tale of cars, cheerleaders, leather jackets and raging hormones was famously filmed in 1978 with new music added by the Bee Gees. The London production, which was first staged in 1993, features all these hit tunes, including You’re The One That I Want, Grease Is The Word, Hopelessly Devoted To You and Summer Nights.
From 16 June, Grease also changes the time of its early Friday performance from 17:00 to 17:30.
MA