Alex Young will take over as Nellie Forbush part way through the Chichester Festival Theatre’s eagerly-anticipated production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic South Pacific when original leading lady Gina Beck leaves to await the birth of her second child.
The special job share arrangement will mean Beck will rehearse and open in the role as planned in performances from 5 July 2021, including the press night on 13 July, with Young sharing the role from 5 August before taking over full-time from 23 August until the end of the run (currently booking until 4 September).
Announcing the casting change, the production’s director CFT artistic director artistic director Daniel Evans said: “It’s utterly joyful news that Gina is expecting her second baby and that her long-awaited Chichester debut in the role of Nellie will take place as planned from 5 July. I know that Gina is as delighted as I am that Alex Young will share the role with her at certain performances from 5 August, and take over full-time for the final weeks of the run to allow Gina to focus full-time on her next production!
“Our amazing company – of 31 adults, six children and 15 musicians – starts rehearsals today. We are looking forward to exploring this great musical – which invites us to confront the differences within and outside ourselves – through a contemporary lens, and revealing its pertinence to our times.”
Expressing her gratitude for CFT’s decision to allow her to continue in the production, Beck said: “I’m so excited to be finally playing Nellie at Chichester, and am so grateful to CFT for all their support. I’m hoping their trailblazing attitude will spread across the industry to create a future which accommodates those women who want to start a family.
“When carrying my first child, I became unemployable and unpaid for six months of my pregnancy because I looked, well…pregnant. Like most women, I wasn’t unable to work during this time, but because of some of the industry’s more conventional attitudes, financial pressures greatly impacted my choice to return to work when my daughter was just four months old.
“Thanks too, and huge respect to my dear friend and fellow mum Alex Young for taking over the reins later in our run, when even I think eight shows a week may be too much!”
Young added: “I’m so delighted to be returning to Chichester and joining the extraordinary company of South Pacific. To be sharing this gorgeous role with Gina is a huge honour; she is someone I respect and admire enormously as a woman, actress and fellow mother. I’m very grateful to Dan and the team for creating a safe, sensitive and generous environment for parents in the industry. Being a working mum is a challenge, whatever line of work you’re in, but could feel almost impossible when you work in the arts, so I’m thrilled this important progress is being made.”
The star of the Festival Theatre’s hit 2018 production of Me and My Girl, Young previously appeared together in Evans’ Show Boat in Sheffield and the West End.
The opening cast will be led by Beck (Matilda) as Nellie Forbush, Julian Ovenden (Merrily We Roll Along, Grand Hotel) as Emile de Becque, Joanna Ampil (Avenue Q, Miss Saigon) as Bloody Mary, Rob Houchen (Les Misérables, The Light in the Piazza) as Joe Cable and Keir Charles (Company, Come From Away) as Luther Billis.
They will be joined by Iroy Abesamis, Lindsay Atherton, Carl Au, Rosanna Bates, David Birrell, Leslie Garcia Bowman, Taylor Bradshaw, Bobbie Chambers, Charlotte Coggin, Danny Collins, Oliver Edward, Sergio Giacomelli, Shailan Gohil, Adrian Grove, Zack Guest, Cameron Bernard Jones, Amanda Lindgren, Matthew Maddison, Sera Maehara, Melissa Nettleford, Rachel Jayne Picar, Kate Playdon, Pierce Rogan, Clancy Ryan, Charlie Waddell and James Wilkinson-Jones. The children’s roles will be played by Lana Lakha, Kami Lieu, David Ngara O’Dwyer and Alexander Quinlan.
Originally due to be the centrepiece of the 2020 season, the production is due to be the reopening production at the popular venue, launching the summer season from 5 July until 4 September.
Set and costume design is by Peter McKintosh, with choreography and movement direction by Ann Yee, musical direction by Cat Beveridge, with musical supervision by Nigel Lilley, orchestrations by David Cullen, lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Paul Groothuis, additional arrangements by Theo Jamieson and casting by Charlotte Sutton.
Based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, South Pacific boasts music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, and a book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949 with a production that garnered 10 Tony Awards including wins in all four acting categories – a first for any musical – and also took home the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama. The 2008 Broadway revival won seven Tonys including the award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Featuring some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most memorable songs including ‘Some Enchanted Evening’, ‘Happy Talk’, ‘There’s Nothing Like A Dame’ and ‘Younger Than Springtime’ , the musical debuted in the West End with Broadway’s original leading lady Mary Martin starring as Nellie Forbush in 1951.
South Pacific is the second consecutive new production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic at the prestigious venue following on from the 2019 critic and crowd-pleasing production of Oklahoma!
Tickets for CFT’s South Pacific initially went on sale for performances in a reduced capacity auditorium (approximately 900 rather than the usual 1,300) to ease congestion in the foyers and public spaces. The venue plans to move to full capacity as soon as Government guidelines allow. However, there will still be one specially designed Covid-secure performance every week for theatregoers who prefer to remain socially distanced.
The production will be streamed live on 4, 9, 14, 18, 21, 26, 31 August and 3 September. There will be a Dementia-Friendly performance of South Pacific on 1 September at 2.30pm for individuals living with dementia and their friends, families and carers.
Angela Thomas
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