Adam Cooper and Carly Mercedes Dyer will take the lead in Leicester Curve’s eagerly-awaited new production of classic Broadway musical A Chorus Line this Christmas.
Currently reprising his acclaimed performance in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Singin’ in the Rain at Sadler’s Wells, award-winning dancer and choreographer Cooper (Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes, Swan Lake and Cinderella) will take on the role of director and choreographer Zach in the production which will be directed by Curve’s artistic director Nikolai Foster.
Curve favourite Dyer will play auditionee and Zach’s ex-lover Cassie, following her performance in the current hit production of Anything Goes at the Barbican in London. Dyer previously starred as Shug Avery in the Curve at Home production of The Color Purple which was streamed online earlier this year and played Anita in the Made at Curve 2019 production of West Side Story.
Dyer will appear alongside fellow West Side Story company members Ronan Burn, Beth Hinton-Lever, Katie Lee and Redmand Rance for the new Made In Curve production which will also reunite Foster with choreographer Ellen Kane (they last worked together on West Side Story).
Running from 3 to 31 December, the production’s cast is completed by Emily Barnett-Salter, Bradley Delarosbel, Lizzy-Rose Essin-Kelly, André Fabien Francis, Ainsley Hall Ricketts, Joshua Lay, Kanako Nakano, Hicaro Nicolai, Jamie O’Leary, Tom Partridge, Rachel Jayne Picar, Chloe Saunders, Charlotte Scott and Taylor Walker as Larry.
The set for A Chorus Line will be designed by Grace Smart, with musical supervision from David Shrubsole, costume design by Edd Lindley, lighting by Howard Hudson, sound design by Tom Marshall and musical direction by Tamara Saringer. The show is cast by Curve associate Kay Magson.
Unveiling details of the cast and creative for the production, Foster and Curve’s chief executive Chris Stafford said: “Our A Chorus Line company of actors represent the very best talent working in the UK today. Led by our terrific casting director Kay Magson, we are thrilled to have brought together this astonishingly talented group of artists who will ignite this brand-new production, giving our audiences much to celebrate this Christmas.
“Just as the original production of A Chorus Line gave voice to the incredible performers who make every show possible, this cracking company of actors will rediscover this classic musical afresh. The incomparable Carly Mercedes Dyer and majestic Adam Cooper lead an outstanding cast, who will literally blow the roof off Curve this Christmas.
“We are looking forward to welcoming our communities and audiences from across the UK for a very special Christmas at Curve, with A Chorus Line’s astonishing Marvin Hamlisch score and Ellen Kane’s heart-stopping choreography.”
With a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line opened on Broadway in 1975 with a production directed by Michael Bennett who also choreographed the production with Bob Avian. A hit with audiences and critics alike, the production was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, winning nine, in addition to the prestigious Pulitzer Prize For Drama in 1976.
Featuring iconic songs including ‘One’ and the ballad ‘What I Did For Love’, the seventh longest Broadway show of all time debuted in the West End in 1976 winning the Olivier Award for Best New Musical and the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical. The 2006 Broadway revival and the 2013 West End revival were both directed by the original co-choreographer Avian.
A Chorus Line will replace the previously planned festive run of the regional premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version of The Wizard of Oz which has been postponed for another year to accommodate plans for a subsequent national tour of the production in 2023.
Angela Thomas
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