Linda Nolan and Louise Jameson Set to Star in the Musical RUMPY PUMPY!
By: Nora Dominick Jul. 28, 2016
When Jean Johnson and Shirley Landels, two brave ladies from the Hampshire Women's Institute, decide to campaign for the decriminalisation of prostitution and to improve conditions for Working Girls everywhere, brothel madame, Holly Spencer, gets in touch. She has the perfect brothel these ladies could be looking for! Holly quips: 'You ladies make the tea and we'll bring the crumpets!' As the two conflicting worlds collide, comedy and chaos ensue in this very British comedy musical.
A true story, Rumpy! Pumpy!, with book, music and lyrics by Barbara Jane Mackie, starring Linda Nolan (The Nolans, Mrs Johnstone, Blood Brothers) and Louise Jameson (EastEnders, Doc Martin, The Mousetrap, 60th Anniversary UK tour), directed by Simon Grieff (Associate Director on The Rocky Horror Show Live), will play London's Union Theatre from Monday 14 - Saturday 19 November. It will open at
Windsor's Theatre Royal, Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 November.
Press night is Monday 14 November at 7.30pm.
Carnaby International are developing the film of Rumpy Pumpy.
Travelling to Amsterdam and to the Bunny Farm Brothel in Nevada, Jean and Shirley are universally unimpressed by working conditions. When they finally do find the 'perfect brothel' in New Zealand, stripped of pimps, crime or Madames, they decide to head home and set up their own mobile brothel on the streets of Winchester to change people's hearts and minds.
Writer and composer Barbara Jane Mackie was inspired by the story of their heroic campaign, one which took them around the world and which Jean Johnson is still fighting for to this day.
Mackie says: "I spent time with several brothel Madames, meeting their working girls and hearing their stories. I realised that the story of these girls would intertwine powerfully with the story of the two WI ladies, as all of these women wanted the same thing: the decriminalisation of prostitution. Rumpy Pumpy! is my way of wrapping up a complex subject and creating something fun and frothy with a gritty edge."
Other cast to be announced.
Director: Simon Greiff.
Musical Director: Paul Smith.
Musical Arranger: Steve Parker.
A Tea & Crumpets Production:
Producer: Barbara Jane Mackie.
Executive Producers: Terry Loveday, Michael Loveday and Tony Steyger.
Barbara Jane Mackie
Rumpy Pumpy! is Barbara's first Musical.
Barbara's screenplay, Cowboy Girls, a Western set in the 1880's, gained support from Anthony Minghella and her first screenplay Mimi brought her to the attention of Working Title Films. Producing many documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, Barbara, as Script Editor at BBC Birmingham Drama, developed the film Bad Company, the medical police drama series Dangerfield and Dalziel & Pascoe the much loved detective series. She produced the film Seed for BBC 2. She began her career in the Fringe Theatre working with comedians Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. Barbara is currently creating her second musical, Cowboy Girls, which will open 2017 at an Off West End Theatre. She is also writing the film, Roaring Girl, about the cancer campaigner Jayne Sullivan. Barbara's novel Eat the View is out on Amazon.
UNION THEATRE
Old Union Yard
229 Union Street
LONDON SE1 0LR
Box Office: 020 7261 9876
www.uniontheatre.biz
Monday 14 - Saurday 19 November
Monday - Saturday at 7.30pm
Saturday at 2.30pm
Tickets: £20.00 £18.00 (concs)
Theatre Royal, Windsor
32 Thames St, Windsor SL4 1PS
Box office:
01753 853888
www.theatreroyalwindsor.co.uk
Tuesday 1 - Saturday 5 November
Tuesday - Saturday at 8.00pm
Thursday at 2.30pm, Friday at 4.45 pm, Saturday at 4.45pm
Tickets: £15 - £31
Comments
Videos