Friedman, Carey et al. Lead INVISIBLE MAN at Menier; Previews 11/13

Rehearsals begin today, Monday 11 October, for Ian Talbot's production of Ken Hill's The Invisible Man at the Menier Chocolate Factory. The cast is Michael Beckley, Gerard Carey, Natalie Casey, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Maria Friedman, Christopher Godwin, Teddy Kempner, John Gordon Sinclair, Jo Stone-Fewings and Gary Wilmot.

The Invisible Man previews from 13 November with press night on 24 November and is booking until 13 February 2011. Illusions are by Paul Kieve, with set designs by Paul Farnsworth, costume designs by Matthew Wright, lighting by Jason Taylor, music by Steve Edis, sound by Gareth Owen and choreography by Sam Spencer-Lane.

H.G. Wells's classic tale is retold in a joyous, comedy music hall spectacular, packed with magical entertainment. Set in the rustic village of Iping, the local inhabitants recount the mysterious happenings of the week that the sinister Griffin arrived wrapped in bandages and with a distinctly
unsociable manner.

Michael Beckley's UK theatre credits include Cabaret in the West End, Merrily We Roll Along for Derby Playhouse and Breakfast with Jonny Wilkinson for the Menier Chocolate Factory. For the Sydney Theatre Company his credits include Antony and Cleopatra and A Little Night Music. He
is best known on television for playing Rhys Sutherland in Home and Away.

Natalie Casey is best known on television for playing Donna in the BBC's Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. On stage she has been seen in Oklahoma for Chichester Festival Theatre, Well at the Apollo Theatre and Hobson's Choice at the Watermill Theatre. Her other television credits include Hollyoaks, Head Jam, Girls Night In and Chopratown.

Geraldine Fitzgerald has most recently been seen in the international tour of Mamma Mia. She played Edwina Currie and Margaret Cook in Life After Scandal for Hampstead Theatre and has been seen in Dancing at Lughnasa at the Lyric in Belfast, The Cripple of Inishmann at Leicester Haymarket and An Ideal Husband at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. On television her credits include Doctors and Chalk.

Triple Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman was last at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Maria Friedman Re-Arranged. She has most recently been seen on stage in The King and I and the
Sondheim Prom, both at the Royal Albert Hall. She has played Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd at the Royal Festival Hall, Marian in the West End and Broadway productions of The Woman in White,
Mother in Ragtime at the Piccadilly Theatre, as well as Roxie Hart in Chicago at the Adelphi Theatre, Sukie in The Witches of Eastwick at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane and was seen in Blues in the Night at the Piccadilly Theatre and Donmar Warehouse. As well as many recordings including Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along and Maria Friedman and Maria Friedman Live, she has performed many times in concert internationally.

Teddy Kempner is currently appearing in A Month in the Country at the Chichester Festival Theatre. His West End credits include Pacific Overtures and Company both for the Donmar Warehouse, Never Forget at the Savoy, The Solid Gold Cadillac at the Garrick Theatre, Kiss Me Kate at the Victoria Palace Theatre, Les Miserables at the Palace Theatre and Snoopy The Musical at the Duchess Theatre for which he was Olivier award nominated.

Jo Stone-Fewings' West End credits includeTwelfth Night Royal Shakespeare Company at the Duke
of York's Theatre, Dancing at Lughnasa at the Old Vic, The 39 Steps at the Criterion, The Country Wife for the Theatre Royal Haymarket and See How They Run at the Duchess Theatre.

John Gordon Sinclair is best known on film for playing Gregory in Gregory's Girl. His theatre credits include Absurd Person Singular at the Garrick Theatre, The Producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Sweet Panic at the Duke of York's Theatre, Burning Issues for Hampstead Theatre, The Real Inspector Hound for the Young Vic, She Loves Me at the Savoy and When I Was A Girl I Used To Scream and Shout for the Bush Theatre. On television his many credits include Rab C Nesbitt, Welcome To Strathmuir, Mad About Alice, AKA AlBert Walker, The Canterbury Tales, Frank
Stubbs Promotes, The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends and Your Cheatin' Heart. His other film credits include AKA, Gregory's Two Girls, The Brylcream Boys, Erik The Viking, The Girl in the Picture, Local Hero, Britannia Hospital and That Sinking Feeling.

Gary Wilmot's extensive musical theatre career includes The Wizard of Oz at the Royal FestivAl Hall, Half A Sixpence and Oliver on tour nationally, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang at the London Palladium, HMS Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance at the Open Air Theatre Regent's Park and Me and My Girl at the Adelphi Theatre. His television appearances include New Faces, The Bob Monkhouse Show, The Keith Harris Show, Aspel and Company and Showstoppers.

Ian Talbot, former Artistic Director of Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, was awarded the OBE in the 2007 New Year's Honours List. At the Open Air Theatre he produced over 75 productions, directing many, including High Society, Lady Be Good, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Boy Friend. As an actor he was most recently seen as Wilber Turnblad in the West End production of Hairspray. Talbot is currently directing Lend Me a Tenor which opened at the Theatre Royal Plymouth earlier this month to followed by a West End run.

Ken Hill's adaptation of The Invisible Man received its world premiere at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1991. Hill previously had a long association with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at Stratford East, where many of his plays were premiered, such as The Count of Monte Cristo, Dracula and The Land of the Dinosaurs. He was principally known for his irreverent and inventive stage adaptations of well known literary works, the most successful of which was The Phantom of the Opera. First performed in 1976, his own 1984 production of Phantom opened in
Newcastle, transferred to Theatre Royal Stratford East and then toured for over two years in the USA, followed by a UK tour and West End run. At the time of his premature death in 1995 Ken
was rehearsing his version of Zorro at Theatre Royal Stratford East. The production went ahead as a fitting tribute to his significant contribution to popular theatre.

Stage and screen illusionist Paul Kieve's many theatre credits include The Lord of the Rings and The Witches of Eastwick both at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Our House at the Cambridge Theatre, Theatre of Blood for the National Theatre, Scrooge at the London Palladium, The Invisible Man at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and in the West End and Improbable Theatre Company's Cinderella at the Lyric Hammersmith. On film his work includes Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As well as extensive opera and dance credits, Kieve is a consultant to Derren Brown and David Copperfield and is a member of the Magic Circle.

Call the Box Office for tickets at 0207 907 7060, or visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com. £2 transaction fee on phone bookings.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.