West End stars and creatives will feature in a new pay-to-stream musical theatre flavoured web series presented by Adam Blanshay and The Theatre Café.
Launching with a pilot episode in September followed by a full season of nine episodes, The Theatre Channel will be available via a new platform hosted on The Theatre Café’s website.
Leading choreographer Bill Deamer will direct and choreograph the first episode with musical supervision by Michael England, set and costume design by Gregor Donnelly, lighting design by Jack Weir, sound design by Keegan Curran and videography by Ben Hewis.
The cast for the opening episode will include Tarinn Callender (Come From Away, Hamilton), Carrie Hope Fletcher (Heathers, The Addams Family), Olivier Award winner Matt Henry (Kinky Boots, One Night in Miami), Lucie Jones (Waitress, Legally Blonde), Oliver Ormson (Back to the Future, Book of Mormon) and Olivier Award winner Jenna Russell (Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George). They will feature along with four additional performers – ‘The Café Four’ – who will appear in each episode in variety of supporting roles.
Announcing the new project, Adam Blanshay said: “With our UK leaders encouraging the theatre industry to think innovatively in order to endure these unprecedented times, Ryan and I were adamant about creating an eclectic digital platform where we could create an ongoing stream of engaging content for theatre fans all over the Globe throughout the continued theatre closures.
“Using London’s beloved hub of all things theatrical – The Theatre Café – as our palette, The Theatre Channel aims to create a steady flow of work for artists and creatives over the next six months, and we’re hopeful it will grow beyond that. Combining performance with digital streaming is the way forward, and we hope to capture the hearts and minds of viewers hungry to satisfy their theatrical appetites.”
On behalf of The Theatre Café, Ryan Woods added: “Myself and Adam had an idea to use the café as a kind of working set to bring theatregoers a live style production to then watch online, which so many have looked to during these recent times to stay connected with theatreland. The Theatre Café has remained committed to bring our audience the best quality content to watch online. We believe, with this fabulous team now assembled, we can produce something really special!”
Featuring a different line-up of star performers and running for approximately 30 minutes each episode will include performances of musical theatre classics usually set in a café, bar or restaurant re-imagined and filmed within The Theatre Café space. Production will follow the Government’s safety guidelines.
Further information along with the opportunity to sign up for exclusive priority viewing can be found on the official Theatre Channel webpage.
Angela Thomas
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