Menier Chocolate Factory Announces Casting For The UK Premiere Of Gerard Alessandrini's SPAMILTON: AN AMERICAN PARODY

With the UK première of The Grönholm Method running at the Menier, Travesties running on Broadway and The Color Purple on tour in the US, the Menier Chocolate Factory today announces the cast for UK première of Gerard Alessandrini's Spamilton: An American Parody which opens at the theatre on 24 July, with previews from 12 July and runs until 8 September. Alessandrini directs Marc Akinfolarin, Jason Denton, Eddie Elliott, Liam Tamne and Julie Yammanee, with special guests Sophie-Louise Dann and Damian Humbley. The production renews Alessandrini's collaboration with the Menier following Forbidden Broadway which ran both at the theatre and in the West End.

Hamilton - Olivier, Tony, Pulitzer and Grammy Award-winning musical. Very few tickets available.

Spamilton: An American Parody - Hamilton and much more. With tickets available...

Gerard Alessandrini brings his singular wit to the all-conquering musical Hamilton - in the words of its creator Lin Manuel Miranda, "I laughed my brains out". Following the success of Forbidden Broadway, Alessandrini returns to the Menier to lampoon the multi-award-winning Hamilton, with Spamilton: An American Parody, which not only takes target at Broadway's biggest export, but a host of the theatre world's biggest names and musicals.

Described by the New York Times as "smart, silly and convulsively funny", Spamilton: An American Parody makes its UK debut at the Menier Chocolate Factory, where unlike the Victoria Palace, there are tickets available -- at a fraction of the price.

Marc Akinfolarin returns to the Menier, where he previously appeared in Assassins and The Color Purple. His other theatre credits include Spamalot (UK tour), Peter and The Starcatcher (Royal and Derngate, Northampton), Floyd Collins (Wilton's Music Hall), Jesus Christ Superstar (UK tour), Sweeney Todd (English National Opera), Porgy and Bess (Royal Danish Opera), A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep), Soul Man (Stephen Joseph Theatre), Smokey Joe's Cafe (Landor Theatre) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UK tour).

Sophie-Louise Dann returns to the Menier where she previously appeared in both productions of Forbidden Broadway. Her other theatre work includes The Girls (Olivier Award nomination), Bend it Like Beckham (both Phoenix Theatre), Oliver! (Grange Park Opera), Made in Dagenham (Adelphi Theatre), Closer than Ever (Jermyn Street Theatre), Hairspray (Curve Theatre, Leicester), The Kitchen Sink (Hull Truck), The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Kensington Gardens), Lend Me a Tenor (Gielgud Theatre - Oliver Award nomination) and The Music Man (Chichester Festival Theatre). For television, her work includes Trapped! Forever After, Goodnight Sweetheart, My Summer with Des, Julie and the Cadillacs and Charlie Come Home; and for film, The Phantom of the Opera.

Jason Denton's theatre work includes The School of Rock (New London Theatre), Showboat (New London and Sheffield Theatres), Save The Last Dance For Me (UK tour), Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Stephen Ward (both at the Aldwych), Hot Stuff, Hello Dolly!, Piaf (Curve Theatre, Leicester), Britain's Got Bhangra (UK tour), I Was Looking at the Ceiling and Then I Saw The Sky (Theatre Royal, Stratford East), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (UK tour) and Much Ado About Nothing (Complete Works Theatre Co).

Eddie Elliott's theatre work includes Motown (Shaftesbury Theatre), Dry Cleaned (Intermission Theatre), Cinderella (Hackney Empire), South Pacific (Barbican and UK tour), Five Guys Named Moe (Theatre at the Mill), We Will Rock You (UK tour), The Music Man (Chichester Festival Theatre) and The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre).

Damian Humbley returns to the Menier Chocolate Factory having appeared in Merrily We Roll Along (also Harold Pinter Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company, USA), Life of the Party (also TheatreWorks SV - Bay Theatre Award), Forbidden Broadway (also Vaudeville Theatre) and The Last 5 Years. His other theatre work includes Lend Me A Tenor (Gielgud Theatre), The Woman In White (Palace Theatre), Fiddler on the Roof (Savoy Theatre), Dickens Abridged (Arts Theatre), Putting It Together, Songs for a New World (St James Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Salisbury Playhouse), Company (Sheffield Crucible) and Little Shop Of Horrors (UK Tour).

Liam Tamne's theatre work includes Working (Southwark Playhouse), The Rocky Horror Show (UK tour), The Phantom of the Opera (Her Majesty's Theatre), Departure Lounge -- the Musical (Perfect Pitch), Hair (Gielgud Theatre), Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Wicked (Apollo Victoria Theatre).

Julie Yammanee's theatre credits include And the Winner Is (Vaults Festival), Lazarus (King's Cross Theatre), Priscilla Queen of The Desert (international tour), Here Lies Love (National Theatre), Avenue Q (UK tour), The World Goes Round (Yellow Glass Theatre) and Rapunzel (Theatre Royal Stratford East). For television, her work includes The Sleepover Club.

Gerard Alessandrini is best known for creating and writing all 25 editions of Forbidden Broadway in New York, Los Angeles, London and around the world. He features in the original 1982 cast of Forbidden Broadway, and can be heard on four of the show's twelve cast albums. He also sings on the soundtracks of the Disney classics Aladdin and Pocahontas. Television credits include writing comedy specials for Bob Hope, Angela Lansbury and Carol Burnett. Directing credits include Maury Yeston's musical In the Beginning, and a revue focusing on Yeston's songs Anything Can Happen (In the Theatre). Recent musicals which he co-wrote and/or directed include Madame X (NYMF 2011) and The Nutcracker and I (a complete Tchaikovsky score with all new lyrics by Alessandrini). He is the recipient of an Obie Award, two Lucille Lortel Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Drama League and seven Drama Desk Awards - including two for Best Lyrics, and two Special Lifetime Awards. He was also awarded an Honorary Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre.

Choreography is by Gerry McIntyre, set design by Morgan Large, costume design by Dustin Cross, lighting design by Tim Lutkin, sound design by Gregory Clarke and Jonathan Everett, musical arrangements by Fred Barton and musical direction by Simon Beck.

Spamilton is presented in association with John Freedson, David Zippel and Christine Pedi.

Box Office: 020 7378 1713 (£2.50 transaction fee per booking)

Website: www.menierchocolatefactory.com (£1.50 transaction fee per booking)

Tickets: Prices vary, as below from discounted preview tickets to premier seats. With the emphasis on 'the sooner you book, the better the price.'
Prices from £19.50

A meal deal ticket includes a 2-course meal from the pre-theatre menu in the Menier Restaurant as well as the theatre ticket.

www.menierchocolatefactory.com