Wendi Peters will Star in MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD At Landor Theatre this Spring

In the 200th ANNIVERSARY YEAR of Charles Dickens' birth, Aria Entertainment in association with The Landor Theatre are pleased to present the London revival of Rupert Holmes' Broadway musical THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD at The Landor Theatre, London in April/May 2012.

The cast is headed by Natalie Day (Les Misérables, Queens) as Edwin Drood, Victoria Farley (Les Misérables, Barbican) as Rosa Budd and Daniel Robinson (Jekyll & Hyde UK Tour) as John Jasper; with former Coronation Street star Wendi Peters as Princess Puffer.

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD is a thrilling and comical play within a play, originally based on the unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. Full of intrigue and mystery, the story follows the exploits of the Theatre Royale Music Hall Company. Set against the backdrop of the Great British traditions of Music Hall and Pantomime, the Theatre Royale actors set about completing the story of Edwin Drood – with just a little help from the audience along the way. The Tony Award winning score is full of beautiful and evocative melodies, encapsulating the Victorian vaudevillian spirit of the show.

The Director for The Mystery of Edwin Drood will be Matthew Gould; Musical Direction is by James Cleeve with Orchestrations by Tony Osborne.

Loula Geater (Helena Landlass), David Francis (Neville Landlass), Denis Delahunt (Chairman), Richard Stirling (Reverend Crisparkle), Oliver Mawdsley (Horace), Mark Ralston (Bazzard), Paul Hutton (Durdles), Tom Pepper (Deputy), and Ben Goffe (Harry Sayle).

The show's Costume Designer will be Jean Gray; Set Design by Natasha Piper with Lighting Design by MaRia Kearney. Benjamin Newsome serves as casting director.

Wendi Peters, best known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in Coronation Street, is delighted to be returning to the stage as the Princess Puffer. She has also appeared in the hit ITV series Bad Girls and on Celebrity Masterchef, Soapstar Superstar and in Dictionary Corner on Countdown.

On the stage she has performed in a variety of productions including Brighouse's The Game, April In Paris, Cecelia Ahern's Mrs Whippy, Grumpy Old Women Live 2 – Chin Up Britain and Noises Off. Also no stranger to musicals, Peters has appeared in national tours of Hello Dolly! and Guys and Dolls, as well as The Scarlet Pimpernel, Into the Woods (Wolsey, Ipswich) and Follies In Concert (London Palladium).

Wendi became a fan of The Mystery of Edwin Drood after watching the 1986 Tony Awards on television and seeing the original Broadway cast perform; she is delighted to be playing Princess Puffer for this London revival. Peters says "I love the idea of old time Music Hall mixed in with Dickens. The score is so beautiful, a real mix of genres, from Music Hall through Broadway to almost Classical".

The role of Princess Puffer is one that Wendi has been keen to play for a long time. "Dickens creates such fabulous characters - they are so funny, he really was ahead of his time. They are almost 'soap' like".

"Since seeing the clips of the show in 1986 it's always been a role I've had my eye on, and now 26 years on I'm getting to the right age! She is a larger than life 'grande dame' of the Music Hall; playing a run-down woman who runs an opium den - I can't wait, but it's the show as a whole that's the real pull".

Having appeared in front of millions on television, Wendi is particularly looking forward to performing at The Landor Theatre.

"Having trained mainly in theatre and appeared in productions all over the country in the last 25 years, there is nothing like the buzz you get from a live audience. The Landor is a wonderfully intimate space and it is lovely as you are close enough to see people's reactions, and you really feel they are with you and, almost, part of the production".

Photo credit: Claire Bilyard.

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