Picture: Michael Wharley
Casting has been confirmed for the first UK and Ireland tour of the multi-award-winning West End production Come From Away. As previously announced following a successful London run where the critic and crowd-pleasing production played over 1,000 performances, entertaining over 850,000 people at the Phoenix Theatre, the tour will launch in Leicester from 1-9 March 2024.
The touring cast will include: Natasha J Barnes (Hex, National Theatre, The Witches of Eastwick, Sondheim Theatre) as Janice and others; Daniel Crowder (Mamma Mia, UK and international tour, The Mousetrap, St Martin’s Theatre) as Nick, Doug and others; Mark Dugdale (Come From Away, Phoenix Theatre in London/Abbey Theatre in Dublin, The Book Thief , Belgrade Theatre, Coventry/Curve Leicester) as Kevin T, Garth and others; Rosie Glossop (Kinky Boots: The Musical, Adelphi Theatre, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, UK tour) as Bonnie and others; Amanda Henderson (Casualty, BBC1, Oliver!, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) as Beulah and others; Kirsty Hoiles (Mamma Mia!, Novello Theatre, Spend, Spend, Spend, UK tour) as Diane and others; Oliver Jacobson (The Book of Mormon, Prince of Wales Theatre and Grease, UK tour) as Oz and others; Dale Mathurin (Frankenstein, UK tour, Evita, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) as Bob and others; Nicholas Pound (Cats, New London Theatre/UK/international tour, Elf, Dominion Theatre) as Claude and others; Sara Poyzer (Mamma Mia! Novello Theatre/UK/international tours, Billy Elliot the Musical, Victoria Palace) as Beverley, Annette and others; Bree Smith (Titanic The Musical, UK tour, The Color Purple, UK tour) as Hannah and others; and Jamal Zulfiqar (Migrations, Welsh National Opera UK tour, Tiger Bay, Wales Millennium Centre) as Kevin J, Ali and others.
They will be joined by Angeline Bell (Matilda, Cambridge Theatre, Mary Poppins, Prince Edward Theatre), Daniel Cane (The Country Wife, Southwark Playhouse, Spamalot, UK tour), Ashleigh Harvey (Mamma Mia!, UK/International tour, Heathers, The Other Palace), Alyn Hawke (Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, UK tour, 42nd Street, UK tour), Kathryn Pemberton (The Sopranos, UK/international tour, Catch Me, Upstairs at the Arts), and Kevin Yates (Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, Prince Edward Theatre, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, UK tour).
Following the Leicester run, the production will tour to Liverpool, Cardiff, Plymouth, Southampton, Oxford, Leeds, Birmingham, Hull, Dublin, Belfast, Ipswich, Sheffield, Llandudno, Newcastle, Bristol, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Nottingham, Wimbledon, Norwich, Wolverhampton, Canterbury, Chichester, Milton Keynes and Salford.
Inspired by the inspirational true story of the 7,000 stranded air passengers who found refuge in a small Canadian town in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terror attack, the show that celebrates man’s humanity at a time when the world was horrified by the depths of man’s inhumanity landed at London’s Phoenix Theatre in late January 2019 following a limited engagement at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
A hit with both audiences and critics, the multi-award-winning musical has celebrated record-breaking runs on Broadway and in Canada and embarked on a 60-city North American tour beginning in Seattle in October 2018. An Australian production opened in Melbourne in July 2019.
A Best Musical Award-winner across the world, Come From Away has won multiple awards including four Olivier Awards, the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for director Christopher Ashley, five Outer Critics Circle Awards, three Drama Desk, four Helen Hayes Awards, six San Diego Critics Circle Awards and three Toronto Theatre Critics Awards.
Featuring a book, music and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away is directed by Ashley, with musical staging by Kelly Devine, music supervision and arrangements by Ian Eisendrath, scenic design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by Howell Binkley, sound design by Gareth Owen, hair design by David Brian Brown, orchestrations by August Eriksmoen and casting by Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher. The creative team also includes associate director Tara Overfield Wilkinson and associate choreographer Richard Hinds.
Come From Away is produced in the UK and Ireland by Junkyard Dog Productions and Smith & Brant Theatricals.
Angela Thomas