Juan Jackson will lead the 16-strong cast assembled for Sasha Regan’s new production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic masterpiece H.M.S Pinafore when the latest production from Regan’s award-winning all-male company sails into Wilton’s Music Hall next month.
Jackson (Five Guys Named Moe, Gatehouse Theatre, Artaban The Musical, The Actors’ Church) who will take the helm as Captain Corcoran will be joined by all-male G&S regulars Sam Kipling (Lady Chatterley’s Lover – The Musical, Shaftesbury Theatre) as Josephine; Richard Russell Edwards (Pinocchio – The Greatest Wonder of the Age, Lyric Belfast) returning to the role of Cousin Hebe; David McKechnie (The Pirates of Penzance, Palace Theatre) reprising his performance as Sir Joseph Porter; Matthew Facchino (The Regulars, Hope Mill Theatre) as Ensemble/cover Ralph); and the producer of the popular Roles We’ll Never Play concert series, Tom Duern, as ensemble/cover Buttercup.
They will be joined by new shipmates Danny Becker (The Prince Of Egypt, Dominion Theatre) as lovestruck hero Ralph Rackstraw; Scott Armstrong (Motown the Musical UK tour) as Little Buttercup; Jazz Evans (Madagascar tour) as Dick Deadeye; Matthew McDonald (Little Miss Sunshine UK and Ireland tour) as Boatswain/cover captain; Zac Adlam (She Loves Me, Sheffield Crucible) as dance captain/swing/ensemble/cover Boatswain); Royal Conservatoire of Scotland 2021 graduate Trevor Lin Roles We’ll Never Play: Emerging Talent Concert, Union Theatre) as swing/female ensemble; Oliver Ramsdale (White Christmas UK tour) as assistant choreographer/ensemble/cover Dick Deadeye; Patrick Cook (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Union Theatre) as ensemble/cover Sir Joseph Porter; and Gareth Evans (In My Skin, BBC) as ensemble/cover Josephine). The cast will be joined on stage by musical director Ashley Jacobs.
Produced by Regan De Wynter Williams Ltd, the nautical adventure will play the East London venue from 16 March until 9 April 2022 before heading for the Theatre Royal Winchester from 21-27 April.
The production will be directed by Regan and choreographed by Lizzi Gee with design by Ryan Dawson-Light, lighting design by Ben Bull and casting by Adam Braham Casting with marketing and public relations by Fiona Lockley and graphic design by Spiff.
Set in the hold of a Second World War ship, Regan’s re-imagining of one of librettist W.S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan’s most enduringly popular works features a cast of 16 players who switch between burly sailors, in the working underbelly of the vessel, to lady visitors.
A comic opera in two acts, H.M.S Pinafore or The Lass That Loved a Sailor was first seen at Opera Comique in London in 1878. Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth operatic work became their first international success.
Angela Thomas
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