The Almeida Theatre’s artistic director Rupert Goold will direct the world premiere production of Tammy Faye, a new musical from Elton John, Jake Shears and James Graham.
Due to debut at the popular London venue from 13 October until 3 December 2022, the musical which takes its inspiration from the life of colourful American Tammy Faye Bakker features music by John, lyrics by the Scissor Sisters’ Shears and a book by award-winning writer Graham.
Olivier Award winner Katie Brayben (Beautiful: The Carole King Story, Aldwych Theatre, Girl From the North Country, Gielgud Theatre) will take on the title role alongside Tony Award nominee Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon, Broadway, The Boys in The Band, Broadway) as her husband Jim and Olivier Award nominee Zubin Varla (Fun Home, Young Vic, Ghost Quartet, Boulevard Theatre) as Jerry Fallwell.
They will be joined by Kelly Agbowu, Amy Booth-Steel, Ashley Campbell, Peter Caulfield, Danny Collins, Richard Dempsey, Fred Haig, Georgia Louise, Robyn Rose, Nicholas Rowe, Martin Sarreal, Steve John Shepherd and Gemma Sutton.
Goold heads a creative team that includes choreographer Lynne Page, designer Bunny Christie, costume designer Katrina Lindsay, lighting designer Neil Austin, sound designer Bobby Aitken, musical supervisor, co-orchestrator and arranger Tom Deering, co-orchestrator Mark Dickman, video designer Finn Ross, musical director Oli Jackson, casting director Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher.
The Almeida’s autumn 2022/spring 2023 season will also include the UK premiere of The Secret Life of Bees. Based on the best-selling novel by Sue Monk Kidd, the musical features a book by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage (Sweat), Tony Award-winning composer Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) and Tony Award and Drama Desk-nominated lyricist Susan Birkenhead.
Directed by Whitney White, the South Carolina-set story of a group of women fighting for their rights in 1960s America will run from 4 April until 27 May 2023.
The world premiere of the musical in New York in 2019 was presented by Atlantic Theatre Company. The development of the musical was supported in part by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre’s National Fund for New Musicals.
Announcing the new season, which will also include Almeida associate director Rebecca Frecknall’s new production of A Streetcar Named Desire, Goold said: “After a wonderful, if challenging, year since reopening we are thrilled to be presenting this exciting season of work that builds on relationships we have with artists new and familiar, our local community, and above all with the audiences that continue to discover and cherish the uniqueness of our building.
“It was inspiring to experience the responses to Spring Awakening last Christmas – it seemed that audience members reacted strongly to a musical that chimed so powerfully with contemporary feeling. So we’re very excited to be producing two new musicals, from two sets of powerhouse writers, that also speak clearly to the present day.
“Our associate director Rebecca Frecknall made her name with her extraordinary award-winning production of Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke and now she’s taking on another Williams classic A Streetcar Named Desire with a blindingly good cast…
“Following the success of The Key Workers Cycle earlier this year which featured an 80-strong community cast, we’re also announcing a trilogy of community productions taking place over three years, exploring the real Islington featuring people who live and work here.
“We continue our commitment to offering affordable tickets – our tickets start at £10, with £5 tickets available to 25s and under, in addition to our Almeida For Free performances on all productions.”
The Almeida has also announced a new annual playwright commission in memory of director Roger Michell created in response to the many friends and family who asked if they could make a charitable donation in his name following his death in 2021.
The Roger Michell Commissioning Fund at the Almeida will support an annual commission for a playwright with a fresh and unique perspective on the world to develop a play alongside the Almeida.
The first artist supported by the Roger Michell Commissioning Fund will be announced in the next few months.
On behalf of Roger’s family, Roger’s son Harry Michell said: “We are incredibly touched by the sheer number of people who have contributed to the fund, a testament to the relationships Roger forged throughout his career, and are pleased his name will continue to be associated with new work and new writers at the Almeida.”
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.