Stefanie Powers and Clive Francis Star In New UK Tour Of 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD

Cambridge Arts Theatre today announces a new UK tour of James Roose-Evans' adaptation of Helene Hanff's novel 84 Charing Cross Road, in collaboration with Lee Dean and Salisbury Playhouse. Richard Beecham directs Stefanie Powers as Helene Hanff and Clive Francis as Frank Doel. The production opens at Darlington Hippodrome on Wednesday 23 May before touring to Wolverhampton, Malvern, Richmond, Oxford and finishing in Cambridge Arts Theatre on 30 June.

A tender and heart-warming tale of transatlantic friendship, 84 Charing Cross Road is a bittersweet comedy based on the extraordinary true story of the remarkable relationship that developed over 20 years between a vivacious New York writer and a London bookseller. Through their exchange of humorous and often intimate correspondence a snapshot of Britain from the post-war 1940s to the swinging 60s is revealed, alongside a touching human story that still resonates today.

Helene Hanff (1916-1997) was an American novelist and screenwriter whose principal works include 84 Charing Cross Road, Q's Legacy, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street and Underfoot in Show Business.

James Roose-Evans founded The Hampstead Theatre in London and The Bleddfa Centre for the Creative Spirit. His numerous credits also include a landmark adaptation of Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie; and directing Sir John Gielgud's last appearance on the London stage. He is the first British theatre director to be ordained a non-stipendiary priest, and has preached in Westminster Abbey, Winchester, Chichester, Gloucester, and Norwich cathedrals.

Stefanie Powers plays Helene Hanff. Powers is best known for her role opposite Robert Wagner in Hart to Hart, which ran over 5 series and 8 TV movies between 1979 and 1996. Theatre credits include Gotta Dance (BOA Theater, Chicago), On Golden Pond (UK tour), Sunset Boulevard (Ogunquit Playhouse), and The King And I (US and UK tour). Her extensive film and TV credits include McLintock!, The Magnificent Seven Ride Again, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man and The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.

Clive Francis plays Frank Doel. Recent theatre credits include An Inspector Calls (Playhouse Theatre), Les Blancs (National Theatre) The Slaves of Solitude (Hampstead Theatre) and Thark (Park Theatre). For television his credits include The Crown, The Queen New Tricks, My Family, Wycliffe, Sharpe's Company and The Ten Percenters and; for film The Masterful Hermit, Mr Turner and The Lost City of Z.

Richard Beecham directs. His theatre credits include Broken Glass (Watford Palace Theatre), Driving Miss Daisy (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), Rose (Home, Manchester) Playing for Time (Sheffield Theatres), Dancing at Lughnasa, In Praise of Love, Humble Boy (Royal & Derngate, Northampton), Rutherford & Son (Northern Stage), Red Light Winter, In A Garden, Henry IV Part 1 (Theatre Royal Bath), The Invention of Love, The School for Scandal, The Miser, Side by Side by Sondheim (Salisbury Playhouse), A Taste of Honey, Neville's Island, How The Other Half Loves (Watford Palace Theatre), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Private Lives, Charley's Aunt, Black Comedy/Real Inspector Hound (Northcott Theatre Exeter) and Entertaining Mr Sloane, Early One Morning (Octagon Theatre Bolton). Beecham also curates large cultural events including the National Commemorative Event for Holocaust Memorial Day (Newcastle Theatre Royal), and The Human Cost (Young Vic London). He is an Associate Artist of HighTide Festival Theatre. For film, his work includes The Guitar.

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