Photos: In Rehearsal for the UK Premiere of New Shakespeare-Inspired Musical, PLAY ON!

See photos from inside rehearsal for the UK premiere of Play On!, the jazz-fueled, Twelfth Night-inspired musical that will tour the UK from September 2024 – February 2025, including a winter run at Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. 

From Talawa, the UK’s outstanding Black theatre company, this joyous, musical retelling of Shakespeare’s beloved play brings to life the 1940s New York jazz scene, set to a timeless, toe-tapping Duke Ellington score.

Previously announced are director Michael Buffong (A Kind of People, Royal Court; Guys and Dolls, Talawa; Artistic Director, Talawa Theatre Company); choreographer Kenrick H2O Sandy (Artistic Associate, Barbican; Boy Blue; Free Your Mind, Aviva Studios) and musical supervisor Liam Godwin (The Big Life, Theatre Royal Stratford East; West End Musical Christmas, Adelphi Theatre; Bat Boy, London Palladium).

Joining them are associate director Rachael Nanyonjo (Recognition, Talawa; Newsies, Troubadour Theatre; Next Please, Almeida Theatre); musical director Ashton Moore (Get Up Stand Up!, West End; The Last Five Years, Buxton Opera House; Rent, Shaw Theatre) and associate musical director Luke Bacchus (Mandela, Young Vic; Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, Get Up Stand Up!, West End); associate choreographer Nicey Belgrave (Lil’ Simz, Glastonbury; Dua Lipa; Free Your Mind, Danny Boyle); Ivor Novello Award-nominated (Three Little Birds, ITV) orchestrator and arranger Benjamin Kwasi Burrell (Blues for An Alabama Sky, The Motive & The Cue, Small Island, National Theatre); Olivier Award-winning (Jerusalem, Royal Court) set and costume designer Ultz (Death of England, The Corn is Green, National Theatre; Skeleton Crew, Donmar Warehouse) with associate costumer designer Maybelle Laye (The Great, Starz; Silo, Apple TV; A Strange Loop, Barbican); lighting designer Johanna Town (Brassed Off, UK tour, Uncle Vanya, Orange Tree; Vardy V Rooney: The Wagatha Christie Trial, West End/UK tour); Olivier Award-winning (My Neighbour Totoro, Barbican) sound designer Tony Gayle (Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York), Next to Normal, Shifters, West End); and voice coach Joel Trill. 

This jazz musical is conceived by Sheldon Epps, with a book by Cheryl L. West.  In the Cotton Club, New York City, a young songwriter arrives ready to make her name – but disguising herself as a man will give her a better shot in a male-dominated music world.  As she meets the club’s world-famous songwriter The Duke and sensational singer Lady Liv, Vy is swept up in a syncopated symphony of melodies, mistaken identities and romance. 

The cast comprises Tsemaye Bob-Egbe (SIX The Musical and TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, West End) as Viola, who sets forth to make a name for herself in the New York jazz scene.  Lady Liv is played by Koko Alexandra (Lovin’ Vegas and We Are One, Carnival Cruise Line; Hairspray, Pratville Theatre), the star singer at The Cotton Club.  The club’s world-famous song writer The Duke is played by Earl Gregory (TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, West End; Kinky Boots, The Fugard Theatre).  Making up the cast are Llewellyn Jamal (TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, and Get Up, Stand Up!, West End) as Jester; Cameron Bernard Jones (Ain’t Too Proud, Prince Edward Theatre; The Burnt City, Punchdrunk; The Wiz, Hope Mill Theatre) as Rev; Lifford Shillingford (Britain’s Got Talent, ITV; Tarantino Live, Riverside Studios) as Sweets; Tanya Edwards (Sister Act The Musical, UK tour) as Miss Mary; and Gleanne Purcell-Brown (Living, Lionsgate UK; Curtains, West End; Spamalot, UK tour) as Ceecee.  

The ensemble comprises Natalia Brown (Sister Act The Musical, West End); Freya Karlettis (Sleeping Beauty, Ipswich Regent Theatre; Hairspray, Royal Caribbean Cruises); Amber Cayasso (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Bridge Theatre); Jarnéia Richard-Noel (SIX The Musical, West End; Madagascar The Musical, UK tour); Andre Coulson (Five Guys Named Moe, The Gatehouse Theatre; To The Streets!, China Plate/Birmingham Hippodrome); Alex Okoampa (TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, West End; Motown The Musical, UK tour; The Five, Sky); Spin (Sinatra, Birmingham Rep; We Will Rock You, UK tour); and Dylan Blake-Colbet in his stage debut. 

Play On! will tour to the Belgrade Theatre, Liverpool Playhouse, Salisbury Playhouse, Birmingham Hippodrome, Bristol Old Vic, and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre from September 2024 – February 2025.  Play On! is produced by Talawa Theatre Company and Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in partnership with J Clare Productions and Chuchu Nwagu Productions, with co-producers Birmingham Hippodrome; Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres; Lyric Hammersmith Theatre; and Wiltshire Creative, Salisbury.  Talawa and partners are proud that Play On! will provide opportunities for mid-career global majority talent to work on a large-scale production and tour.  In line with Talawa’s commitment to platforming African diaspora actors and creatives, the season’s Associate Programme and seed commissions address under-representation in the sector.

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