Rising star Amara Okereke will follow in the footsteps of Julie Andrews and Twiggy to play the effervescent Polly in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s much-anticipated version of Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend.
Okereke, who graduated from the Arts Educational School just last year and went on to win The Stage Debut Award for Best Actress in a musical for her performance in Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre, is one of a number of principal cast members announced for the first major revival of the show in over a decade.
West End favourite Janie Dee (Follies, National Theatre, Hello, Dolly! Leicester Curve) will take on the pivotal role of Mme Dubonnet alongside comedian turned actor Adrian Edmondson (Twelfth Night, RSC, Vulcan 7, Theatre Royal Bath) as Lord Brockhurst and Issy van Randwyck (Rough Crossing UK tour, Dirty Dancing, Aldwych Theatre) as Lady Brockhurst.
Jack Butterworth (Billy Elliot UK tour, Hamilton, Victoria Palace) will play Bobby van Husen, with Tiffany Graves (The Producers UK tour) returning to the Menier after her appearance in Sweet Charity, to play Hortense and Dylan Mason (The Mikvah Project, Orange Tree Theatre, 42nd Street, Theatre Royal Drury Lane) will play Tony. Further casting is to be announced.
After taking charge of a number of previous Menier shows including She Loves Me, Candide and The Last Five Years, Matthew White returns to direct the production which will be choreographed by associate director Bill Deamer. The creative team also includes: designer Paul Farnsworth, lighting designer Paul Anderson, sound designer Gregory Clarke, hair and wig designer Richard Mawbey, musical supervisor and director Simon Beck and orchestrator David Cullen.
Following on from Menier’s hit productions of The Bridges of Madison County and Fiddler on the Roof, The Boy Friend will launch with previews from 22 November ahead of an opening night on 3 December. The production is due to play the prestigious venue until 7 March 2020.
Famously adapted into an award-winning 1971 film by Ken Russell starring Twiggy, The Boy Friend debuted on stage in London in 1953 before beginning a five-year plus West End run in 1954.
With a book, music and lyrics by English composer and lyricist, Wilson, the love-letter to 1920s musical comedies also debuted on Broadway in 1954 with a then unknown Julie Andrews giving a career launching performance in her first Broadway production.
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.