Screen and stage favourite Mark Williams will star in the major new production of Leslie Bricusse’s enduringly popular Doctor Dolittle when it takes to the road in November 2018 as part of the 1960s’ film’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
The star of The Fast Show, Father Brown and the Harry Potter films will take on the title role at the first ten venues in the touring production.
Presented by Music & Lyrics Limited in association with Churchill Theatre, Bromley, the lavish version of the classic story of the doctor with the magical ability to talk to the animals will launch in Bromley ahead of a UK and Ireland tour.
Launching in Bromley from 9-24 November 2018, the show will then visit Salford, Oxford, Wolverhampton, Newcastle, Hull, Aberdeen, Northampton, Nottingham, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Bradford, Dublin, Canterbury, Glasgow, Cardiff, Southampton, Blackpool, Wimbledon, Milton Keynes and Birmingham.
Further casting will be announced at a later date for the new production which will feature a reworked book by multi award-winning writer Bricusse. One of Britain’s most successful writers and composers, Bricusse has written the book, music and/or lyrics for more than 40 musical films and plays.
The winner of eight Ivor Novello awards, two Oscars and a Grammy, Bricusse’s impressive CV features stage musicals Stop the World – I Want to Get Off; Pickwick; Harvey; Goodbye, Mr Chips; Scrooge; and Victor/Victoria and songs including Bond themes ‘Goldfinger’ and ‘You Only Live Twice’, as well as hits ‘What Kind of Fool Am I’, ‘On A Wonderful Day Like Today’ and ‘The Candy Man’.
The creative team for the show will be headed by director Christopher Renshaw whose previous work includes hit shows We Will Rock You and The King and I, and designer Tom Piper, the former RSC associate designer who created the installation for the breath-taking Tower of London poppies and tours featuring the work of ceramic artist Paul Cummins. Musical supervision for the tour will be by Mike Dixon.
Based on the books by Hugh Lofting, first published in 1920, the musical Doctor Dolittle arrived on screen in the 1967 Twentieth Century Fox film in the shape of Rex Harrison. The musical version features the same songs including the Oscar-winning ‘Talk to the Animals’.
Dr Dolittle has also been played on screen by Eddie Murphy and on stage by Philip Schofield. It was recently announced that Robert Downey Jnr. would be the latest big screen incarnation of the good doctor in The Voyage Of Doctor Dolittle.
Angela Thomas
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