Casualty’s Suzanne Packer will be heading home to Cardiff to take on a leading role in the premiere of Tiger Bay the Musical at Wales Millennium Centre this November.
Packer will join the previously announced West End and Broadway actor John Owen Jones (Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera), former Hear’Say singer and local boy Noel Sullivan (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and We Will Rock You – UK tours), recent Welsh College of Music and Drama graduate Vicki Bebb and local young actresses Ruby Llewellyn and Louise Harvey. Further casting will be announced at a later date.
Produced in association with Cape Town Opera, the Wales Millennium Centre production will run from 13-25 November with a press night on 15 November.
Set in the Welsh City’s most vibrant area, Tiger Bay the Musical is the creation of an award-winning creative team including composer Daf James, writer Michael Williams and director Melly Still.
A fictionalised tale of working men and women in the docklands area of Butetown at the turn of the 20th century, the musical features an eclectic mix of characters drawn from the area’s past at the heart of the coal industry.
Revealing her attraction to the role that will take her home, Packer said: “I was drawn to Tiger Bay the Musical as it tells a particular untold story in a colourful and entertaining way. Growing up in Cardiff I knew a little about its multicultural history; it’s only now through the vibrancy of the music and captivating storyline that I am learning more about it.
“It’s far better than any history lesson. This musical has such a great sense of some of the local history but it’s a universal story. Nobody gets away from heartbreak and there are themes throughout – class divide, loss, conflict – that everyone will connect with.”
Sullivan, whose grandfather worked on Cardiff’s docks, has said: “It is time Cardiff and Wales were recognised on the world stage for its musical theatre talent. A production like Tiger Bay the Musical, conceived, created and produced in Wales, deserves all its hopes for a bright future. I’m very honoured to be on that journey.”
Angela Thomas
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