Offie Award-winning actor Bart Lambert (Thrill Me: The Leopold & Loeb Story, Hope Theatre) will take on the title role in Dorian A Rock Musical, a new stage version of Oscar Wilde’s haunting novel The Picture of Dorian Gray which will be launched on stream.theatre a month later than planned.
Lambert will take over the central role after original star Keith Ramsay became unavailable for the production which will now be made available to stream online from 16 July until 12 August 2021.
Commenting on his involvement in the production, Lambert said: “I’m so excited to be part of this project, it’s always a pleasure to shed a new light on a classic story, and the evocative world of Dorian Gray is the most pleasurable of them all. After the year we’ve had I think we can all do with a bit of Rock and Roll right now!”
Lambert will join previously announced cast members John Addison (The Life, Southwark Playhouse; A Little Night Music, Garrick Theatre), Fia Houston-Hamilton (Mamma Mia! UK tour, Wolf of Wall Street, Immersive London), Robert Grose (Kinky Boots, Adelphi Theatre, EastEnders, BBC), Lewis Rae (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Mame, Hope Mill Theatre), Johanna Stanton (The Rocky Horror Show, UK tour, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, Apollo Theatre), Sophie Jugé (Coppelia, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Good Omens, BBC) and Tristan Pegg (The Merry Wives of Windsor, RSC, The Shape of the Impossible, National Theatre).
Written by Linnie Reedman with music by Joe Evans, the writing team behind Gatsby A Musical, Dorian A Rock Musical had been due to play The Other Palace in March last year, when the production was cancelled just two days before its opening night. The performance of the musical which originated as a reading at the Café Royal in the same room where Wilde staged his own readings, was filmed at a secret location in the heart of the West End.
The production is also directed by Reedman who heads a creative team that includes musical director Sophie Jugé, lighting designer Jamie Platt, costume supervisor Belle Mundi, movement director Anthony Whiteman with additional choreography by Penelope Simons, original set design by Casey Andrews, stage management by Freya Blackwell-Treasure, production management by Kate Edwards and artwork by Alex Jackson.
Commenting on the production, composer Evans said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to present Oscar Wilde’s iconic fairy tale in a timeless setting. Oscar Wilde, if not a rock star, would have definitely floated in those circles if he were around today. His Gothic prose lends itself perfectly to a rock score, without losing the sense of irony and fun inherent in the text. I am thrilled to be working with such a dream cast who will bring this musical to life.”
Inspired by Wilde’s only novel which was first published as a book in 1891, Dorian A Rock Musical takes Wilde’s gothic creation and turns it into a contemporary tale of a rock star and a dangerous music mogul.
Dorian A Rock Musical is presented by Ruby in the Dust, the company behind the successful digital concert version of Gatsby A Musical which was filmed at and streamed from London’s Cadogan Hall in February.
Angela Thomas
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