Lorna Want and Luke Brady Lead Cast of THE FANTASTICKS
By: Gabrielle Sierra Mar. 15, 2010
Up and coming stars, Lorna Want and Luke Brady will play the young lovers in this new production of The Fantasticks. They will be joined by a hugely experienced and impressive cast which includes musical theatre favourites David Burt and Clive Rowe in the roles of the two fathers, as well as Edward Petherbridge and Paul Hunter who will play the roles of Henry and his sidekick Mortimer. The character of El Gallo around whom much of the twists and turns of the plot happen will be played by Hadley Fraser and finally the role of the mute will be played by Carl Au.
Directed by Amon Miyamoto, a new production of this much-loved musical will invigorate and illuminate the show with fresh visual, emotional and musical energy. Designer Rumi Matsui joins Miyamoto on The Fantasticks following their previous collaboration on the Broadway production of Pacific Overtures for which Matsui's work was Tony Award nominated. Lighting design will be provided by 2009 Tony Award winner Rick Fisher.
The Fantasticks tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play The Romancers (Les Romanesques) by Edmond Rostand, concerning two neighboring fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they know children always do what their parents forbid. After the children do fall in love, they discover their fathers' plot and each goes off and experience the world. Finally they return to each other and the love they had, having learned from the world to recognize their true feelings. Elements of the musical are drawn from the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, its story winding its way through Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore and Rostand's play. Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's classic score features titles including Much More, I Can See It and the instantly familiar Try To Remember.
The Fantasticks first played in New York nearly fifty years ago and has since become the longest running show of any kind in the United States and the longest running musical in the world. It has played in over 2000 cities and towns in the States, and internationally, it has been staged in 67 countries.
This production is generously sponsored by Japan Airlines.
The Duchess Theatre, 3-5 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5LA
Box Office 0844 412 4659
Tickets £20 - £49.50
Performances from May 24th 2010
Monday - Saturday 7.45pm, Wednesday and Saturday at 3.00pm
Carl appeared in the London production of High School MusicaI at the Hammersmith Apollo. His other appearances include A Christmas Carol at Birmingham Rep and Sleeping Beauty at Oxford Playhouse.
Luke is making his West End debut in this production of The Fantasticks. He has previously appeared in Nightfall at the Edinburgh Festival and in Tarantula in Petrol Blue at Albeburgh Music in Suffolk.
David Burt
David is a veteran of the West End, National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company where he has appeared in such productions as: The Beggars Opera (Olivier Nomination), Merchant of Venice, Troilus and Cressida, Evita, Cats, Tommy, Les Miserables, Chess, La Traviata (Olivier Nomination), Edmund Kean (Evening Standard Award Nomination), Jesus Christ Superstar, Taboo, The Woman in White and Bad Girls: The Musical.
Hadley's West End credits include Les Miserables, The Far Pavilions, The Pirates of Penzance and Peter Pan. He has appeared in numerous regional theatre productions and in 2007 made his Broadway debut as the male lead in Boublil and Schonberg's The Pirate Queen.
Paul Hunter
Paul is an actor, director and writer and founder of the hugely successful theatre company Told by an Idiot. Recent appearances include: The Farenheit Twins at The Barbican, Troilus and Cressida and A Midsummer Night's Dream at Shakespeare's Globe and Noctural at The Gate Theatre.
Edward Petherbridge
A veteran of over 30 TeleVision Productions, Edward Petherbridge is one of the UKs most highly respected actors. His stage appearances include numerous West End, Royal Shakespeare Company and Chichester Festival Theatre Productions.
Clive Rowe
Has appeared in Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park. Other theatre credits include: Mother Goose; Dick Whittington; Jack and the Beanstalk; Aladdin (Hackney Empire); Chicago (Adelphi Theatre); Caroline, or Change (National Theatre); As You Like It (Ambassador Theatre Group); Simply Heavenly (Young Vic and Trafalgar Studios). He has played Morvin in Dr Who and Clifford 'Shrek' Beale in All The Small Things for the BBC. Other television credits include Tracy Beaker; Dalziel and Pascoe; American Voices; The Harry Hill Show. His radio credits include: Friday Night is Music Night; Member of the Wedding; Cymbeline; Four Sides of Sondheim.
Lorna Want
Lorna's first theatre credit was the role of Cosette in Les Miserables aged nine. Since then she has played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet The Musical, Ariel Moore in Footloose The Musical, The Mistress in Evita and Gabriella in High School Musical.
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