Picture: Tristram Kenton
Jodie Prenger will be hitting the road across the UK this summer in a revival of the acclaimed 2016 Watermill Theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s Tell Me On A Sunday.
Presented by Jamie Wilson with Kevin McCollum and Gavin Kalin, the UK national tour will launch at the Malvern Festival Theatre on 15 June 2021 before visiting Shrewsbury, Chelmsford, Canterbury, Nottingham, Birmingham, Sheffield, Grimsby, Colchester, Edinburgh, Leicester, Salford and Bury St Edmonds. Further dates will be announced soon.
Announcing the initial tour schedule, Wilson said: “We are thrilled that we are able to revive the acclaimed Watermill Theatre production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Don Black’s Tell Me On A Sunday to be able to play a part in the reopening of theatres around the UK. Tell Me On A Sunday, with its cast of just one actress, is probably the most naturally socially distanced musical in the world!
“We are delighted that Jodie Prenger is able to return to this role to reprise her incredible performance as ‘Emma’. This production is the perfect way for audiences to support their local theatre with this classic show.”
Prenger who won rave reviews for her performance in the Watermill Theatre production will reunite with the original creative team of director Paul Foster, musical director Francis Goodhand, musical supervisor Catherine Jayes, designer David Woodhead, lighting designer Howard Hudson and sound designer Tom Marshall for the touring production.
This new production for 2021 will include an intimate chat with Prenger and musical director Francis Goodhand about life, love and playing the role of Emma.
After first stepping into the musical theatre spotlight as the winner of the TV talent search for the actress to play Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s 2009 West End revival of Oliver! Prenger has starred in a series of West End productions including Spamalot and the recent National Theatre production of A Taste Of Honey. Prenger also starred in the world premiere production of Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends The Musical and in major national tours of shows including Annie and Calamity Jane.
Originally conceived as a television show, Tell Me On A Sunday marked the first time Lloyd Webber had worked with stage and screen lyricist Black. The work was first presented at the Sydmonton Festival in 1979 with Marti Webb stepping into the role which would make her a household name and successful recording artist.
A hit album followed, and the one-act/one-woman song cycle was then presented in the West End with a one act ballet under the title of Song and Dance with Webb starring once again as ‘the girl’. During the Palace Theatre run Lulu, Gemma Craven, Liz Robertson and Sarah Brightman also stepped into the role. A Broadway version starring Bernadette Peters resulted in ‘the girl’ being given a name – ‘Emma’.
Tell Me On A Sunday became a standalone production in 2003 with a rewritten version with five additional songs. With songs including ‘Take That Look Off Your Face’ and the poignant title track, the solo show provided the theatre comeback vehicle for Denise Van Outen who starred at the Gielgud Theatre in a production directed Christopher Luscombe. Other high-profile stars who stepped into the role include Faye Tozer, Patsy Palmer and Claire Sweeney who starred in another re-worked version of the show with the role re-written as originating from Sweeney’s hometown, Liverpool.
Angela Thomas
SHARE THIS POST:
Comments are closed.