Olivia Colman Joins Cast of Musical Film LONDON ROAD

Last summer, BroadwayWorld reported that The National Theatre's "documentary-style" musical LONDON ROAD would be made into a feature film, with screenplay by playwright and book writer Alecky Blythe and director Rufus Norris. Composer Adam Cork adapted the score.

Now, the Daily Mail writes that actress Olivia Colman will play 'Julie' in the upcoming movie.

London Road is located in Ipswich, Suffolk, and the plot of the show takes place during the Ipswich serial murders and trial of killer Steve Wright in 2006. The musical follows the residents of London Road trying to rebuild their community after the killing of five women.

Julie is described as "the Neighborhood Watch event organizer who comes up with the idea for London Road In Bloom as a way of shooing the darkness away. Julie becomes the queen of the hanging baskets, and she sings about filling them with begonias, petunias and busy lizzies".

Batman star Tom Hardy will also play a small role in the film as: "Mark, a taxi driver who has one scene where he sings about a rather morbid passion he enjoyed as teenager." Also in the cast are Linzi Hateley, Anita Dobson, Eloise Laurence, and the ensemble from the original production.

The original production featured Clare Burt, Rosalie Craig, Kate Fleetwood, Hal Fowler, Nick Holder, Claire Moore, Michael Shaeffer, Nicola Sloane, Paul Thornley, Howard Ward and Duncan Wisbey, who played 70 parts between them.

LONDON ROAD originally opened at the Cottesloe Theatre in April 2011, then was re-staged with Norris directing at the Olivier Theatre in 2012. The production was nominated for 2012 Olivier Awards for Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical for Kate Fleetwood, Best Director for Rufus Norris and Best Theatre Choreographer for Javier De Frutos.

Colman's upcoming big screen projects include Pudsey the Dog: The Movie, The Lobster and the TV series Mr. Sloane. She has also appeared on TV in Broadchurch, Twenty Twelve, Rev., Exile, Beautiful People and more. She has appeared in the films Locke, The Iron Lady, Tyrannosaur and many more.

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