Danny Nattrass, Alex Lodge, Ryan Anderson, Jamie Chatterton and Joseph Peacock as The Osmonds. Picture: Oliver Rosser, Feast Creative
Ryan Anderson, Jamie Chatterton, Alex Lodge, Danny Nattrass and Joseph Peacock will play the famous singing siblings in The Osmonds: A New Musical when the bio-show receives its world premiere at Leicester Curve on 3 February 2022 at the start of a UK and Ireland tour which will run through to 3 December 2022.
Recently seen in the title role in the hit Charing Cross Theatre production of Pippin, Anderson (West Side Story, Leicester Curve) will play the group’s original lead singer Merrill Osmond with 2021 Arts Ed graduate Jamie Chatterton making his professional debut as Alan.
Alex Lodge (A Christmas Carol, Dominion Theatre, The Book of Mormon, Prince of Wales) will play Jay, the role he played during the development workshops for the musical. Danny Nattrass (Mamma Mia! Novello Theatre) will follow up his recent stint as understudy Joseph, in the London Palladium’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by stepping into the role of Wayne with Joseph Peacock (The Last Ship, US tour, Burnt Park Boys, Park Theatre) taking on the role of Donny.
Commenting on the casting, Jay Osmond said: “I am thrilled that we have found such dynamic and talented performers to play my brothers and me. We saw some brilliant actors in the auditions and I was so impressed at the work people put in throughout the process. When these five guys walked in, they lit up the room with their smiles and raised the roof with their voices; I knew we’d found our boy band.
“It is an honour to welcome Ryan Anderson, Jamie Chatterton, Alex Lodge, Danny Nattrass and Joseph Peacock to the family and I can’t wait for audiences to see what they can do. Their style, charm and talent will bring our music and story to a whole new generation and you will ‘love them (for a reason)’ as much as we do.”
Further casting is to be announced.
Originally due to launch at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre in August this year, the show traces the remarkable story of the five brothers from Utah who became one of the music business’ most famous families.
Following the Leicester dates, the tour will visit Ipswich, Glasgow, Oxford, Woking, Cheltenham, Wolverhampton, Dublin, Blackpool, Stoke-on-Trent, Belfast, Peterborough, Bromley, Northampton, Southend, York, Manchester, London, Torquay, Liverpool, Sunderland, Edinburgh, Brighton, Cardiff, High Wycombe, Hull, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Southampton, Dartford, Bradford and Llandudno.
Announcing the production last year, Jay Osmond said: “I’ve wanted to tell my story for such a long time and the opportunity to create this beautiful musical, a sort of ‘living autobiography’, seemed the perfect way to do so.
“I spent my whole life performing live – on stage, on TV specials, in arenas – so the buzz of live theatre felt like the perfect place for me. There were some difficult times in my life, and some big hurdles to overcome, and this musical will tell people things that will surprise them… but despite that trouble, when you look back and think of the fans, the music, the once in a lifetime things we did – it’s joyful.
“I guess I want to do this now to try to spread a little bit of that joy. I’ll know I’ve done a good job telling this story if I stand at the back of the theatre and see people waving their arms in the air, singing along and dancing in the aisles. I just want people to be enjoying themselves. I guess that is in the Osmonds’ DNA.”
Featuring a story by Osmond and a book by Julian Bigg and the production’s director Shaun Kerrison, The Osmonds: A New Musical will be choreographed and staged by Bill Deamer.
The musical will cover the family’s story both on-stage and off, taking in the older brothers’ residency on The Andy Williams Show in the 1960s through to the brothers and sister Marie’s 1970s heyday as TV and pop stars. The show will also reveal more about the real-life family behind the headlines.
With over 100 million records sold worldwide, the Osmond’s family’s hits included ‘One Bad Apple’, ‘Down by the Lazy River’, ‘Crazy Horses’, ‘Let Me In’, ‘Love Me for a Reason’, ‘Puppy Love’, ‘Long Haired Lover From Liverpool’ and ‘Paper Roses’.
The world premiere of The Osmonds: A New Musical is produced by Royo in partnership with Twins Entertainment, with Vicky Nojesproduktion, Krall Entertainment, Aria Entertainment and Guy James Theatrical.
Angela Thomas
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