THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE Gets West End Opening Tonight, 10/20
By: Jessica Lewis Oct. 20, 2009
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is back in the West End in a new production to play a strictly limited engagement at the Vaudeville Theatre. The production opens tonight after running preview performances since October 8.
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a savage black comedy-drama about painfully shy, diminutive Little Voice (LV), who lives alone in the north of England with her mother, Mari. Mari's drunken, overbearing personality has driven LV into seclusion in her bedroom, where she listens to her late father's records and has perfected faultless impersonations of the greatest divas, including Judy Garland and Dame Shirley Bassey. When Mari's latest boyfriend, small-time working men's club impresario Ray Say, overhears LV singing, he puts in place a tragic sequence of events as he pushes her towards stardom she doesn't want and is literally terrified of.
Says producer Nica Burns: "There was no question of reviving this fabulous play in the West End until we had found our Little Voice. When Jim Cartwright, who originally wrote The Rise and Fall of Little Voice for Jane Horrocks, told me he had found the perfect girl - and then dragged me off to Wembley to see Diana Vickers perform as part of the "X Factor" tour, I thought he'd gone mad! But when I saw Diana I knew immediately he was right; she has a special quality. When she finally agreed - after much persuasion - to come in and read for us, we found out that not only can she sing but she was an intuitive actress as well."
Playwright Jim Cartwright said: "This young girl is a natural actress. The moment she read the part, it was magic. A frisson ran through the room. Diana Vickers is the real deal. She is Little Voice."
Nica added: "We are extremely grateful to Diana's record company for allowing her a break from recording her debut album to take on this exciting role in the West End. I know it wasn't part of her career plan after the "X Factor", but we are delighted she agreed to do it - even if it meant wearing my knees out begging her!"
The original production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice premiered in 1992 at the Royal National Theatre and before transferring to the West End's Aldwych Theatre. It was nominated for six Olivier Awards, and the play won both The Evening Standard and Olivier awards for Best Comedy of the Year.
Diana Vickers, born in Burnley, Lancashire, the sort of town where the play is set, has been singing since the age of 11. Her talent came to light when she entered the "X Factor" in 2008 and her journey saw her survive nine weeks of live shows. Diana is taking short break from recording her debut album to take the role in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. She recently signed a record deal to RCA Records and her debut album is due for release early 2010.
Playwright Jim Cartwright was born in Farnworth, Lancashire. His plays are consistently performed around the world and have won numerous awards. They have been translated into over 27 languages. His first play, "Road", opened at the Royal Court in 1986, and was subsequently revived that same year and again in 1987, before being taken on a nationwide tour. "Road" won the Samuel Beckett Award, Drama Magazine's Best New Play Award, and was joint winner of The Plays And Players Award and The George Devine Award. In 1988, "Road" was produced by The Lincoln Centre, New York. "Road" is now considered a modern classic. Other works include: "Bed" (Royal National Theatre), "Two" (Octagon Theatre, Bolton, transferring to The Young Vic, winner of The Manchester Evening News Best New Play Award), "Eight Miles High" (Octagon Theatre, Bolton, nominated for the TMA best musical award. In 1997 a production of the play at the Reykjavik City Theatre, Iceland, ran for a year, breaking box office records).
Director Terry Johnson has won nine British theatre awards including two Oliviers for Best Comedy, Playwright of the Year, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best New Play, two Evening Standard Theatre Awards, two Writers' Guild Award for Best Play, the Meyer-Whitworth Award 1993 and the John Whiting Award 1991. He has had many West End productions as director and/or writer including: "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", "Hitchcock Blonde", "Entertaining Mr Sloane", "The Graduate", "Dead Funny", "Hysteria", "Elton John's Glasses" and "The Memory of Water". His award-winning production of "La Cage Aux Folles" is currently in the West?End at The Playhouse and will open on Broadway in 2010.
Nica Burns is one of the UK's leading play producers. Her productions have won four Evening Standard Awards: "Medea" starring Fiona Shaw directed by Deborah Warner won Best Actress and Best Director (Queens and Broadway), "Feelgood" by Alistair Beaton, a play Nica commissioned won Best Comedy (Garrick) and "Kiss Me Kate" won Best Musical (Victoria Palace). Other productions include Christian Slater in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", David Suchet in "Man and Boy", "Who's the Daddy?" by Toby Young and Lloyd Evans, David Schwimmer in "Some Girl(s)" by Neil LaBute, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", the reprise of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" starring Christian Slater and Alex Kingston, "Breakfast with Mugabe" by Fraser Grace directed by Anthony Sher, "Fool for Love" by Sam Shepard starring Juliette Lewis, "A Moon for the Misbegotten" starring Kevin Spacey (Old Vic and Broadway), "Swimming with Sharks" (Vaudeville) by Michael Lesslie and starring Christian Slater and Helen Baxendale, "Rain Man" with Josh Hartnett and Adam Godley and "Three Days of Rain" with James McAvoy.
Further casting and full creative team will be announced soon.
Box office number: 0844 412 4663
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