The Menier Chocolate Factory has confirmed the cast of Victoria Wood’s revival of her comedy with songs, Talent, which runs at the London Bridge venue from 17 September to 14 November (press night 23 September).
Leanne Rowe and Suzie Toase play Julie and Maureen, the pair of talent show hopefuls in Wood’s comedy, while the cast also includes Mark Curry, Mark Hadfield, Jeffrey Holland and Eugene O’Hare.
Talent is set in Butler’s nightclub where Julie and her chubby chum Maureen are waiting backstage for their turn to perform in the club’s talent contest. As they are plunged into a world of ukulele-wielding pensioners, crotch-grabbing compères and some long-buried personal history, Julie and Maureen have to decide how lucky they really want to be.
Both Rowe and Toase are making their Menier Chocolate Factory debuts. Rowe is currently playing the lead role of Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman in Dirty Dancing – The Classic Story On Stage at the Aldwych theatre, while Toase has previously been seen on the London stage in the musicals Guys And Dolls at the Piccadilly theatre, My Fair Lady and Singin’ In The Rain at the National Theatre and Into The Woods at the Royal Opera House.
Hadfield and O’Hare are both regulars on the London stage. Hadfield returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory after recently appearing there in Rookery Nook. His numerous London stage credits include, most recently, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Canterbury Tales for the Royal Shakespeare Company and Thérèse Raquin at the National Theatre. O’Hare was most recently seen in Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme at the Hampstead theatre and previously appeared in A Moon For The Misbegotten at the Old Vic and Translations at the National Theatre.
In Curry and Holland, the Menier has cast two individuals best known for their television work, though each has significant stage experience in regional theatre productions. Curry enjoyed a high profile stint presenting Blue Peter during the 1980s, while Holland played Spike in popular sitcom Hi-De-Hi, as well as roles in You Rang M’Lord and Oh! Dr Beeching.
The original production of Talent, in which Wood also starred, premiered in Sheffield in 1978, followed by a London transfer and a television adaptation which saw Julie Walters join Wood on screen for the first time.
CB