Full Cast Revealed For the World Premiere of Christopher J. Orton and Jon Robyns' THEN, NOW & NEXT

Full casting has been announced for the world première production of the heart-warming, original musical Then, Now & Next, written by Christopher J Orton (My Land's Shore) and Jon Robyns (currently playing the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera) in a first-time collaboration for the pair. The production opens at Southwark Playhouse, Borough on 28 June, with previews from 23 June, and runs until 29 July.

Julie Atherton directs Tori Allen-Martin, Justin Brett, Peter Hannah and Joaquin Pedro Valdes alongside the previously announced Alice Fearn. Ahead of previews, the cast will perform for the first time at this year's West End Live on 17 and 18 June.

Joining the company are stage manager Zoe Leonard, assistant stage manager Odette Robertson, and sound technician Amber Carey. In the band are musical director and keys player Honor Halford-MacLeod, guitarist James William-Pattison, cellist Alice Luddington and percussionist Tom Bennett.

Paul Virides says today “Chris and Jon have written the most beautiful show, complemented perfectly by Ben's stunning orchestrations. But no piece of theatre exists only on paper, and I'm thrilled at the team that have decided to jump in and join us on and off stage to give life to this 100% original, brand new British musical. Alice, Peter, Joaquin, Tori and Justin are individually and all together a fantastically talented group of people that bring so much to the table - and with Julie in the director's chair, audiences at Southwark are in for a treat!"

Cast: Alice Fearn, Peter Hannah, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Tori Allen-Martin, Justin Brett

Band: Honor Halford-MacLeod, James William-Pattison, Alice Luddington, Tom Bennett

Musical director: Honor Halford-MacLeod; Movement director: Alexzandra Sarmiento;

Set and costume designer: Bob Sterrett; Lighting designer: Adam King;

Sound designer: Raffaela Pancucci; Production manager: Titch Gosling; Dramaturgy: Kate Golledge; Stage manager: Zoe Leonard; Assistant stage manager: Odette Robertson;

Sound operator: Amber Carey; Produced and general managed by Paul Virides Productions.
 

Struggling with a difficult past, Alex Shaw is attempting to take steps forward. We follow her journey over twenty years, through two loves – young, adventurous idealist, Stephen, and the older, reliable and charming Peter –  as she gathers the scattered chapters of her life, in the hope of re-building her story and asking if she will ever be more than just “fine”.

Through Alex's experiences, her uplifting story questions how relationships can change over time and explores what it takes to truly heal.

Accept what was. Embrace what could be.
 

Christopher J Orton is an actor, composer, lyricist and writer. His writing credits include My Land's Shore, Grace Notes, The Gory Story of Edward Polidori, Dracula, This Time Next Week, B.O.A.T.S, The Road to the Port of Barry, Elephant Juice and Are you Sitting F**king Comfortably?. As an actor his credits include Tom (UK tour), The Hired Man (Leicester Curve), Spamalot (UK tour and Playhouse Theatre) and Oliver! (The Watermill Theatre).

Jon Robyns is an actor and writer. Then, Now & Next marks his debut project as a writer, and first collaboration with Christopher J Orton. As an actor, his credits include Les Misérables (Sondheim Theatre and Queen's Theatre), Hamilton (Victoria Palace), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre), Avenue Q (Noel Coward Theatre and Gielgud Theatre), Miss Saigon, Spamalot, Sister Act, (UK tour), Dessa Rose (Trafalgar Studios), Dickens Abridged (Arts Theatre), Legally Blonde (Curve Theatre), The Last 5 Years (Greenwich Theatre) and Dickens Unplugged (Yvonne Arnaud Theatre). He has released two albums, completing a sell-out UK tour of his most recent entitled Musical Direction.
 

Tori Allen-Martin plays Woman. Her theatre credits include Park Bench (Park Theatre), One Man Two Guvnors (New Wolsey Theatre/Nuffield Theatre), The Season (Royal & Derngate Theatre), Rock of Ages (UK tour), H.R.Haitch (Union and St Paul's Church), The Hardest One (The Other Palace), Wretch (VAULT Festival), Rent (Cockpit Theatre), Hair (European tour), and Zip: A Street Dance Musical (Camden Fringe). Her television credits include Mrs Sidhu Investigates, Significant Other, Clean Break, Unforgotten, Laundrette, Here We Go, Pandemonium, The Other Half, Plebs: Soldiers of Rome, The Flatshare, Back to Life, London Kills and Pure.

Justin Brett plays Man. His theatre credits include Jack and the Beanstalk (Newbury Corn Exchange), The Snow Queen (Park Theatre), Million Dollar Quartet (Noel Coward Theatre), Robin Hood (Theatr Clwyd), Dick Barton – Special Agent, Return to the Forbidden Planet (UK tour), Beauty and the Beast (New Wolsey), Cinderella (Oxford Playhouse), Blue/Orange (Bolton Octagon Theatre), East Lynne (New Vic Theatre), The Real Thing (Manchester Library), Strangers on a Train, Arms and the Man (Keswick Theatre), My Sister Sadie, This is Where We Came In (Steven Joseph Theatre), A Small Family Business (Leeds Playhouse), The Rivals (Theatre Royal Bath), Deirdre of the Sorrows (Riverside Studios), Jinx and Other Lives (Orange Tree Theatre), His television credits include Hilary Devey's Interns, Peep Show, Topsy and Tim, Pulling, Dombey and Son, The Queen's Nose, London's Burning and for film; War Horse, Gulliver's Travels, The Fallen and Brothers.

Alice Fearn plays Alex Shaw. Her theatre credits include Come From Away (Phoenix Theatre), Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre), Oliver! (The Watermill Theatre), The Woman in White (Palace Theatre), Les Misérables (Queen's Theatre), Into The Woods (Regent's Park Open Air Theatre) and Shrek (Theatre Royal Drury Lane).

Peter Hannah plays Peter. His theatre credits include The Oyster Problem (Jermyn Street Theatre), Into the Woods (Lyric Theatre/Northern Ireland Opera), Waitress (Adelphi Theatre), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, The 306: Dawn (National Theatre of Scotland), Cockpit (Royal Lyceum Theatre), Greater Game, One Arm (Southwark Playhouse), Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), Four Play (Theatre503), A Clockwork Orange (Nottingham Playhouse) and Mock Tudor (Pleasance Courtyard). His television credits include Six Four, Unforgotten, I Hate Suzie and Doctor Who, and for film; The Serpent Queen, Above the Clouds and Mr Turner.

Joaquin Pedro Valdes plays Stephen. His theatre credits include Killing the Cat (Riverside Studios), The Lion King (UK and Ireland tour), Heather the Musical (The Other Palace), Vanara The Legend (Hackney Empire), Miss Saigon, The King and I (UK and International tour), Fanny and Stella The Musical (The Garden Theatre), Matilda, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Red and The Last 5 Years (Manila Metropolitan Theatre).

Julie Atherton directs. Her theatre credits include Ordinary Days (Cockpit Theatre), Well Behaved Women (Cadagon Hall), Club Mex (Hope Mill Theatre), Cinderella (Capitol), Made in Dagenham (Mack Theatre), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Bernie Grant Arts Centre), Girlfriends, Deed Not Words (Karamel Club), Legally Blonde (Laines Theatre Arts) and The Hello Girls (St Peter's Arts Centre).

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