Full Casting Announced For LADIES' DAY At Wolverhampton Grand Theatre

Today, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre announced the full casting for the in-house production of Amanda Whittington's LADIES' DAY from Friday 13 - Saturday 28 July 2018.

LADIES' DAY will star Cheryl Fergison as Jan, Deena Payne as Pearl, Emma Rigby as Shelly, Roisin O'Neill as Linda and Sean McKenzie in multiple roles.

The music of legendary singer Tony Christie features in the production and Tony will be in attendance at the official press launch on Monday 23 April at Wolverhampton Racecourse.

Cheryl Fergison is perhaps best known for playing Heather Trott in EastEnders between 2007 - 2012. Her theatre credits include Man Of The Moment (Gielgud Theatre, directed by Alan Ayckbourn), Measure For Measure and The Blue Angel (Royal Shakespeare Company), Dance Of Death (Almeida Theatre), Robert Lindsay's production of Cyrano De Bergerac (Haymarket Theatre), a Season at London's South Bank open air venue The Scoop, appearances in Chicago and The Wind In The Willows, National Tours of Menopause - The Musical, playing One Round in the first all female production of The Ladykillers (Lyric Theatre, Belfast), topping the bill in a number of pantomimes. Cheryl's TV work includes Big School opposite David Walliams, Doctor Who, Little Britain, The Life And Times Of Vivienne Vyle, Casualty, Little Miss Jocelyn, Allo Allo, Middlemarch, Cold Enough For Snow and Eskimo Day.

Deena Payne is best known for playing Viv Hope in Emmerdale, a role she played for 18 years, making her one of the longest serving female cast members in the shows history. Deena originally trained at Arts Educational, and her career started in 1968 as a dancer performing in many TV shows. She appeared in the original West End cast of They're Playing Our Song by Neil Simon. Stage musicals include: Noel Pearson's The King, Big Sin City for Bill Kenwright Ltd, Leiber & Stoller's Only In America at The Roundhouse directed by Ned Sherrin, Beehive for Northern Stage, One Careful Owner for Bill Kenwright Ltd, and Who's A Lucky Boy at The Royal Exchange.Deena appeared in three tours of the acclaimed play Calendar Girls, produced by David Pugh and in 2017, Deena enjoyed a very successful UK tour playing Kath in the award-winning musical Our House.Her other television credits include: The Bill and Tales Of Sherwood Forest for ITV, and Crime Stories as Irene. She also appeared in the films Valentino directed by Ken Russell and The Music Machine directed by Ian Sharp.

Emma Rigby is known for her role in hit series Prisoners Wives and The Red Queen in ABC's Once Upon A Time in Wonderland as well as in films Actors Anonymous, The Physician, The Counselor and most recently The Festival.

Roisin O'Neill trained at the Bow Street Academy for Film Acting. Her stage credits include Breaking Dad (Landmark Productions); The Plough & The Stars (The National); The Ballad of Charlie Cate (Barecheek); Between Trees & Water (Painted Bird Productions); Sive (The Abbey Theatre); Best Man (The Project Arts/Everyman Theatre) and The Boys (The New Theatre). Television credits include Doctors (BBC); Father Brown (BBC); Holby City (BBC); Jack Taylor (TV3/Telegael); We're Doomed! The Making of Dad's Army (BBC); Deception (TV3) and Rosin's film credits are Darkest Hour (Working Title Films); Love Eternal (Sakura Productions)

Sean McKenzie trained at RADA. His theatre credits include Two by Jim Cartwright (Derby Theatre), the world premiere of Ali Taylor's Goth Weekend, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice Alan Ayckbourn's 60th Anniversary Gala, A Brief History of Plays (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) Rev Peters/Station Policeman/ Uncle Terry/Ensemble in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time (Frantic Assembly/National Theatre production in the West End); Sgt Thunder in War Horse (National Theatre, UK and International tour - MTA Winner); Sgt. Lugg in The Magistrate (National Theatre). Sean's television credits include: Emmerdale, Billionaire Boy, Truckers, Vera, Birdsong, Trollied, Downton Abbey, Shameless, John Adams, Mrs Inbetweeny, Miss Florence, City of Vice, Honest, Wild West, Coogan's Run, Lost Time, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Golden Hour, Holby City, EastEnders, Casualty, Red Cap, The Peterloo Massacre, The Royal, A Line in the Sand, Crime and Punishment, Sword of Honour, City Central, The Bill, Heartbeat, London's Burning and Jackanory. Sean's film credits include: Send Her Victorious, Deano Small in Girl Shaped Love Drug, 24 Hour Party People, Old Borrowed Blue, Jude and Go Now, directed by Michael Winterbottom, Poor Wee Me, Still Crazy, Lucky Break, Vanity Fair and A Martial Kind of Man.

LADIES' DAY is an exuberant comedy about four likely lasses who work at a fish factory on a day trip to the races. Work, love and life are just one long, hard, slog for local fish-filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda. Will their fortunes change when they head to Ladies' Day at Wolverhampton Racecourse?

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre's production of LADIES' DAY is produced in association with Wolverhampton Racecourse and media sponsored by Free Radio.

Wolverhampton Racecourse welcomes over 120,000 visitors each year to enjoy an exhilarating and memorable experience. Hosting around 80 race fixtures a year, including popular themed Music Live Saturday evening events, conferences, meetings and events.

Racing began in Wolverhampton in 1825 and moved to the current racecourse site in 1888, the first race meeting being held on 13 August. In 1994, HRH Queen Elizabeth II re-opened the new Wolverhampton Racecourse as it stands today.

LADIES' DAY is written by Amanda Whittington who is one of the most widely performed playwrights in the UK. Her plays include Be My Baby (Soho Theatre, 1998), Satin 'n' Steel (Nottingham Playhouse, 2005), Ladies' Day (Hull Truck, 2005) and its sequel Ladies Down Under (Hull Truck, 2007), The Thrill of Love (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, 2013), Kiss Me Quickstep (New Vic Theatre, 2016) and Mighty Atoms (Hull Truck, 2017). She has adapted Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, My Judy Garland Life and Tipping the Velvet for the stage. She writes regularly for BBC Radio 4, contributing to the Woman's Hour serial and Afternoon Play slots.

Adrian Jackson, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre said; "the casting for Ladies' Day is very exciting, bringing together a variety of talents from stage, screen and the music industry. I look forward to working with the cast and creative team to make something very special for the people of Wolverhampton and beyond. This production will be created here at the Grand Theatre and I look forward to sharing it with everyone in July."

Tickets for LADIES' DAY are now on sale at the Grand Theatre Box Office in person, by calling 01902 42 92 12 or online at grandtheatre.co.uk.

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