Samantha Womack, Michael Praed and Faye Tozer will step into Curve and Sadler’s Wells’ 42nd Street when the new production of classic backstage musical comedy heads out on tour this summer.
Womack (The Addams Family, UK tour, South Pacific, Barbican/UK tour) will take on the role of Dorothy Brock, alongside Praed (Aspects of Love, Prince of Wales Theatre, High Society, UK) as Julian Marsh and Tozer (Singin’ in The Rain, Sadler’s Wells/UK and Canada tour, Me And My Girl, UK tour) as Maggie Jones. They will join Les Dennis (Only Fools and Horses, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Hairspray, London Coliseum) as Bert Parry with Nicole-Lily Baisden (Anything Goes, Barbican Theatre and tour, The Book of Mormon, West End/tour) as Peggy Sawyer and Sam Lips (Singin’ in the Rain/Strictly Ballroom, UK/Canada) as Billy Lawlor.
The cast will be completed by Erica-Jayne Alden, George Beet ,Charlie Bishop, Kevin Brewis, Olly Christopher, Briana Craig, Jordan Crouch, Rhianna Dorris, Ashleigh Graham, Alyn Hawke, Aimee Hodnett, Connor Hughes, Deja Linton, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Greta McKinnon, Ben Middleton, Benjamin Mundy, Anthony Ofoegbu and Jessica Wright.
Presented by David Ian for Crossroads Live and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions and directed by Jonathan Church (Singin’ in the Rain, The Drifters Girl), the tour will open at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury on 13 July. The production will then visit Leeds, Bristol, Plymouth, Cardiff, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Liverpool, Manchester, Southampton, Newcastle, Woking and Belfast. Further locations will be added at a later date.
The creative team also includes Olivier Award-winning choreographer Bill Deamer (Top Hat), Olivier Award-winning designer Rob Jones (City of Angels), lighting designer Ben Cracknell, sound designers Ian Dickinson and Gareth Tucker and video designer Jon Driscoll. Musical supervision is by Jennifer Whyte and orchestrations are by Larry Blank.
Based on the 1932 novel by Bradford Ropes and the 1933 Warner Brothers film musical, 42nd Street is one of the most popular song and dance shows of all time. Debuting on Broadway in 1980, the musical has a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin. The original Tony Award-winning production was directed and choreographed by Gower Champion and produced by David Merrick.
Featuring musical theatre standards including ‘We’re in the Money’, ‘Lullaby of Broadway’, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’ and the title song ‘42nd Street’, the show tells the story of the chorus girl who steps into the spotlight when the leading lady is injured and becomes a star.
Angela Thomas