[Clockwise] Julian Ovenden, Gina Beck, Rob Houchen, Joanna Ampil, Lee Ross and Sera Marhara will feature in South Pacific at Sadler’s Wells and on tour
Lee Ross (EastEnders, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Birdsong) will take on the role of Luther Billis alongside the previously announced returning original cast members Julian Ovenden (Merrily We Roll Along, Grand Hotel) as Emile de Becque and Gina Beck (Matilda, Show Boat) as Nellie Forbush, Joanna Ampil (Avenue Q, Miss Saigon) as Bloody Mary, Rob Houchen (Les Misérables, The Light in the Piazza) as Joe Cable and Sera Marhara (Warrior Queens, Carmen) as Liat.
After featuring in the 2021 Chichester Festival Theatre production David Birrell (Wendy and Peter Pan, Oh! What A Lovely War) will also reprise his performance as Captain George Brackett, with Stephen John Davis (The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!) joining the cast to play Commander William Harbison and Antoine Murray-Straughan (& Juliet, The Lion King) taking on the role of Stewpot. Another returning cast member Charlie Waddell (Passion, Bernstein’s Mass) will play Professor and Olly Christopher (Pretty Woman, Sweet Charity) will complete the principal cast as Sergeant Johnson.
They will be joined by Iroy Abesamis, Feline Andersson, Charlotte Coggin, Annabel Edwards, Leslie Garcia Bowman, Sergio Giacomelli, Ellie Jane Grant ,Josh Kiernan, Matthew Maddison, Rachel Jayne Picar, Kate Playdon, George Renshaw, Pierce Rogan, Charlotte Scott, Trezel Sergeant, Nikhil Singh Rai, James Wilkinson-Jones and Eleanor Wright.
Presented by Jamie Wilson, Jonathan Church Theatre Productions and Gavin Kalin, and directed by Chichester’s artistic director Daniel Evans, the touring production will launch at the Manchester Opera House on 16 July 2022 ahead of a London season at Sadler’s Wells from 27 July until 28 August.
The production will follow its Sadler’s Wells season by heading for Dublin, Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow, Cardiff, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Canterbury.
Set and costume design is by Peter McKintosh, with choreography and movement direction by Ann Yee, with musical supervision by Nigel Lilley, musical direction by Cat Beveridge and new orchestrations by David Cullen. Lighting design is by Howard Harrison, sound design by Paul Groothuis, video design by Gillian Tan, with additional arrangements and ‘Happy Talk’ orchestrations by Theo Jamieson, casting by Charlotte Sutton and additional children’s casting by Verity Naughton.
Originally due to be the centrepiece of Chichester Festival Theatre’s 2020 season, South Pacific was the reopening production at the popular venue last summer.
Based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, South Pacific boasts music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, and a book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan.
The musical premiered on Broadway in 1949 with a production that garnered ten Tony Awards including wins in all four acting categories – a first for any musical – and also took home the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama. The 2008 Broadway revival won seven Tonys including the award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Featuring some of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most memorable songs including ‘Some Enchanted Evening’, ‘Happy Talk’, ‘There’s Nothing Like a Dame’ and ‘Younger Than Springtime’, the musical debuted in the West End with Broadway’s original leading lady Mary Martin starring as Nellie Forbush in 1951.
South Pacific is the second consecutive new production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic at the prestigious venue following on from the 2019 hit production of Oklahoma!
Angela Thomas
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