Olivier Award-winner John Dagleish will take on the title role in the award-winning musical The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the Ambassadors Theatre from 10 October.
An Olivier Award winner for his portrayal of Kinks’ frontman Ray Davies in Sunny Afternoon, Dagleish (Sylvia, The Old Vic) will star alongside a number of ensemble performers from the acclaimed Southwark Playhouse run in 2023. They include Matthew Burns (Once The Musical, UK tour, The Wind in The Willows, New Vic Theatre), Jonathan Charles (The Wicker Husband, Watermill Theatre, The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, Birmingham Rep), Oonagh Cox (Footloose, UK/international tour, Matilda The Musical, Cambridge Theatre), Anna Fordham (Fantastic Mr Fox, Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour, The Good John Proctor, Jermyn Street), Philippa Hogg (The Enormous Crocodile, Leeds Playhouse, The Jungle Book, Watermill Theatre), Damien James (Fun At The Beach Romp-Bomp-A-Lomp!!, Southwark Playhouse, Camelot, Watermill Theatre), Ann Marcuson (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, National Theatre/Gielgud Theatre/tour, The Family Reunion, Donmar Warehouse), Jack Quarton (Amélie, Criterion Theatre, The Wicker Husband, Watermill Theatre) and Benedict Salter (A Little Night Music, Watermill Theatre, The Score, Theatre Royal Bath). They will be joined in the ensemble by Elliot Mackenzie (The Lord of The Rings, Watermill Theatre, Million Dollar Quartet, tour).
Further casting will be announced at a later date.
Inspired by F Scott Fitzgerald’s haunting story of the man who ages in reverse and a love that defies the odds, the Celtic-flavoured musical features a book by Cornish writer Jethro Compton with lyrics by Compton and composer Darren Clark, and music by Clark.
Compton also directs and designs the stage, with co-music supervision, orchestration and arrangements by Mark Aspinall and Darren Clark, choreography by Chi-San Howard, costumes associate stage design by Anna Kelsey, sound by Luke Swaffield, lighting by Zoe Spurr, musical direction by Mark Aspinall and casting by Ginny Schiller.
Initially due to run until 15 February 2025, the musical which relocates Fitzgerald’s classic story to a fishing village on the north coast of Cornwall received a limited world premiere run at the Southwark Playhouse in 2019 before returning to the venue last year to play a sold-out run which earned it the Best Musical Theatre Production gong at the 2024 Off West End Awards.
Angela Thomas
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