Picture: Simon Turtle
Danny Dyer will star as Hollywood Producer and Jo Brand as The Critic in the London run of Nativity! The Musical at the Eventim Apollo, from 19 to 31 December.
Jo Brand will also star as The Critic when the show heads to the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh from 28 November to 2 December. Dyer is currently best known for his role as Mick Carter in BBC1’s EastEnders. Jo Brand is a renowned English comedian, writer and actress.
Dyer and Brand will be joined by Simon Lipkin (Avenue Q) who returns in the role of Mr Poppy after delighting critics and audiences in the show last year. Lipkin will star alongside Scott Garnham (Billy Elliot The Musical) as Mr Maddens and Ashleigh Gray (Wicked) as Jennifer Lore.
The rest of the cast includes: Andy Barke, Andy Brady, Jamie Chapman, Jemma Churchill, Oscar Conlon-Morrey, Gary Davis, Kade Ferraiolo, Ashleigh Graham, and Helena Pipe.
They will be joined by a cast of 20 children aged 9 to 12 from across the Midlands as the pupils of St Bernadette’s School. In addition to this, following successful open auditions, the following children from London and surrounding areas will star as students of Oakmoor School. Sienna Austen, Adelaide Barham, Brian Bartle, Aliya Bashir, Sophia Beswick, Gretel Bradwell, Charlotte Breen, Thalia Jada Charles, Jacob Dennison, Louis Dennison, Maddie Evans, Talia Etherington, Jack Forino, Liberty Greig, May Greta Haywood, Gabriel Illesley, Matthew Illesley, Lily Jackson, Darcy Kelly, Rosie Gell-Marquez, Elliot Morris, Maddison Olatunji, Regan Parker, Bella Perdoni, Aoife Reilly, Azaria Sharpe, Ellicia Simmondwood, Nina Stevenson, Aaliyah White and Sophie Woods.
The role of Hollywood Producer will be played by former Emmerdale star Adam Thomas making his stage debut in the show when it plays Liverpool (31 October-4 November) and when it arrives in Stoke (5-8 December).
EastEnders’ Janine Butcher, Charlie Brooks, will step into the role for the Nottingham run (21-25 November) while fellow EastEnder Jake Wood will take on the role in Oxford (11-15 December).
Produced by Jamie Wilson, Entertainment One, Ramin Sabi and Belgrade Theatre Coventry, the world premiere run of the musical version of the hit 2009 festive family tale of the ultimate school Nativity play made its debut at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in October 2017.
Already a staple of the Christmas TV schedules, the film version of Nativity! starred a pre-Sherlock Martin Freeman as teacher Mr Maddens who reluctantly takes on the job of producing a musical Nativity with the help of the exuberant Mr Poppy and a host of enthusiastic kids.
Written and directed by the film’s creator Debbie Isitt with music and lyrics by Nicky Ager and Isitt, the production is choreographed by Andrew Wright and designed by David Woodhead. Lighting design is by Tim Mitchell with sound design by Tom Marshall and musical supervision and orchestrations by George Dyer.
After opening at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry on Tuesday 23 October 2018, the show is due to visit Liverpool, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Stoke, and Oxford before finishing the tour with its second Christmas season at The Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith from 19 until 31 December.
Angela Thomas
Tickets for Nativity! The Musical at the Eventim Apollo are available HERE
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