Layton Williams & Roy Haylock (Bianca Del Rio) to Reprise Their Roles in EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE at the Ahmanson

Layton Williams and Roy Haylock (also known as Bianca Del Rio, winner of "RuPaul's Drag Race") will reprise their roles in the hit West End musical "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" when it makes its North American premiere at the Center Theatre Group / Ahmanson Theatre January 16 through February 20, 2022. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

Inspired by a true story, winner of three WhatsOnStage Awards including Best New Musical and nominated for five Olivier Awards, this funny, fabulous musical sensation has thrilled audiences and critics alike since opening in 2017. Fresh and contemporary with an extraordinary mother and son relationship at its center, "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" celebrates acceptance, belonging, the power of unconditional love of a mother for her child and how good life is when everybody is the best they can be.

Jamie New (played by Williams) is sixteen and lives in public housing in Sheffield, England. Jamie doesn't quite fit in, he's terrified about the future and he's going to be a sensation. Supported by his loving mum; inspired by local legend Hugo and his alter ego Loco Chanelle (played by Haylock); and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" features catchy songs by Dan Gillespie Sells, lead singer-songwriter of UK rock band The Feeling with book and lyrics by writer Tom MacRae.

Director Jonathan Butterell saw the Firecracker documentary film "Jamie: Drag Queen at 16" the true story of Jamie Campbell and his mother, Margaret. This inspired him to create this musical which is a dramatized portrayal of a period in Jamie's life but is not a faithful account. Certain events and characters have been fictionalized.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" features design by Anna Fleischle, choreography by Kate Prince, lighting design by Lucy Carter, sound design by Paul Groothuis, casting by Will Burton and video design by Luke Hall. The musical supervisor is Theo Jamieson.

The Sheffield Theatres production of "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" is produced in the West End by Nica Burns, Ian Osborne, Paula Marie Black, Teresa and Craig Beech. "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" opened at the Sheffield Crucible in 2017 before moving to the Apollo Theatre in London's West End. In addition to receiving five-star reviews, "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" has won eight major theatre awards including the UK Theatre and WhatsOnStage Awards for Best New Musical and the Attitude Culture Award 2017 and was nominated for five Olivier Awards. Most recently the show won Best Original Cast Recording at the 2019 WhatsOnStage Awards.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" was screened live from the Apollo Theatre into over 500 cinemas across the UK, Ireland and select European territories on July 5, 2018, it was screened in cinemas across the US, Canada and Australia in November of 2018 and there was an encore cinema screening across the UK on January 29, 2019. "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" won the Event Cinema Campaign of the Year at the Screen Awards 2018. The official West End cast recording was released digitally worldwide and on CD in the UK on April 27, 2018.

"Everybody's Talking About Jamie" has been made into a major film by New Regency, Film4 and Sheffield based production company Warp Films starring Max Harwood, Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Adeel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, with Sharon Horgan and Richard E. Grant. The stage production's director, Jonathan Butterell, makes his feature-film debut as director. "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" will be released globally on Amazon Prime on September 17, 2021.

Tickets are currently available by subscription only. For more information call the exclusive subscription hotline at (213) 972-4444 or visit www.CenterTheatreGroup.org/Ahmanson. Groups of 10 or more may reserve tickets by calling (213) 972-7231. The on-sale date for individual tickets will be announced at a later date.

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