Eurobeat - West End transfer confirmed
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE WEST End transfer of the Eurovision spoof musical Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision has been confirmed. It opens at the Novello Theatre on September 9, 2008 (previews from September 4), with Les Dennis and Mel Giedroyc as the competition’s Bosnian hosts, Boyka and Sergei.
Previously Posted: The 17-venue UK tour of the Eurovision spoof musical Eurobeat: Almost Eurovision, kicks off at New Wimbledon Theatre where it runs from April 15 to April 19, 2008.
Hosting the competition in Sarajevo will be former Olympic pole vaulting champion, lifestyle programme hostess and cabaret performer Boyka (Mel and Sue‘s Mel Giedroyc), and children’s TV presenter Sergei (Les Dennis). Meanwhile, the contestants will do all they can to win the audience vote.
Denied the opportunity to write an entry for the Eurovision Song Contest because he lives in Australia, songwriter Craig Christie came up with the idea of a spoof musical. The resulting Eurobeat (co-written with Andrew Patterson) has been hailed as the world’s first interactive musical as it gives audience members (assigned to one of ten competing countries) the chance to vote for their favourites.
Eurobeat was a hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe where it won Best Musical Production in the inaugural Musical Theatre Awards. A West End transfer is anticipated.
Following Wimbledon, the tour will continue to Glasgow, Cardiff, Stoke-on-Trent, Belfast, Salford, Bradford, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Norwich, Bromley, Newcastle, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Brighton and Southampton.
NB: On tour, the presenters Boyka and Sergei will be played in rotation by Dennis and Giedroyc, Gareth Hale (of Hale and Pace) and Sally Lindsay (Coronation Street), and comedian Craig Hill and Billy Pearce (Heartbeat).