Olivier Award winner Patricia Hodge (Money, Private Lives) is among the latest star additions to the cast of next month’s 50th anniversary concert production of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O Hirson’s Tony Award-winning Pippin.
The stage and screen star who created the role of Catherine in the original 1973 West End premiere of the musical, will play Berthe in the anniversary production at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 29 and 30 April.
Hodge’s original role of Catherine will be taken by Lucie Jones (Waitress, Wicked) with Olivier Award-nominee Cedric Neal (Guys & Dolls, Back to the Future) co-starring as Charlemagne, Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins, Strictly Ballroom) as Fastrada and Jac Yarrow (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends) as Pippin. They will join the previously announced Alex Newell (Shucked, Glee) as Leading Player. The cast is completed by Ryan Heenan as Theo and Idriss Kargbo as Lewis.
Directed by award-winning director Jonathan O’Boyle (The Last Five Years, Hair), the concert presentation will feature the 25-piece London Musical Theatre Orchestra and 50-strong choir.
Produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Carter Dixon McGill Productions, the creative team for the production also includes musical director Chris Ma, set and costume designer Polly Sullivan, lighting designer Jamie Platt, sound designer Adam Fisher with orchestrations by Simon Nathan based on the original orchestration by Larry Hochman and casting by Jane Deitch.
Commenting on the production, multi-award-winning composer Schwartz said: “Although there have been some excellent recent productions of Pippin in the UK, the show never gets to be heard with a full live orchestra and choir. This concert, with a cast led by the astonishing Alex Newell and produced under the always first-rate auspices of Katy Lipson’s Aria Entertainment and Carter Dixon McGill, promises to be a once-in-a-blue-moon event. I for one cannot wait to experience it!”
Due to artist scheduling issues, the two concerts have been moved from their original venue, the London Palladium and the dates have also been changed.
The story of a young prince in search of true happiness, the musical was written by Roger O Hirson (Walking Happy, Broadway, A Woman Named Jackie, TV mini-series) with a score by Schwartz (Wicked, The Prince of Egypt). Pippin was originally produced on the Broadway stage in 1972 by Stuart Ostrow in a production directed by the legendary Bob Fosse. The 2013 Broadway revival directed by Diane Paulus won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.
Angela Thomas
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