Open Air Theatre - casting announced
Casting news
CASTING has been announced for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s 2015 productions of Peter Pan, The Seagull and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Playing the title role in JM Barrie’s original stage play of Peter Pan (May 15 to June 14) will be Hiran Abeysekera (Behind the Beautiful Forevers), with David Birrell (Ragtime) as Captain Hook, Beverly Rudd as Smee and George Bukhari as Nibs.
Joining them will be Kae Alexander (as Wendy), Patrick Osborne (John), Thomas Dennis (Michael), Rachel Donovan (Tinker Bell), Eben Figueiredo (Tootles), Thomas Pickles (Slighty) and Richard James-Neale (Curly).
Completing the company will be Jacob James Beswick and Chris Lew Kum Hoi (Twins), Carl Prekopp (Gentleman Starkey), Okorie Chukwu, Owain Gwynn, Jonathan Holby and Arthur Kyeyune (Pirates), Melanie Pappenheim, Daniel Bradley, Candida Caldicot, Zands Duggan and Tamara Young (Musicians) and Joe Swain (Show Climber).
Peter Pan is co-directed by Timothy Sheader and Liam Steel, who create a Never Land where danger stalks dreams and adventure breeds mischief.
Peter Pan is followed – from June 19 to July 11 – by Torben Betts’ new version of Chekhov’s The Seagull. Directed by Matthew Dunster, it will star Olivier Award winner Janie Dee as Irina Arkadina.
Dee has previously starred in the Open Air Theatre’s productions of Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night. She is well known for her work in musical theatre, which has ranged from Nicholas Hytner’s celebrated production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel at the National Theatre (which earned her an Olivier Award) to Jerry Herman’s Mack and Mabel with David Soul and her highly praised Dolly Levi in the Leicester Curve production of Herman’s Hello Dolly.
Joining her in The Seagull will be Sabrina Bartlett (Poldark) as Nina and Matthew Tennyson (Making Noise Quietly) as Konstantin.
The third production – Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (July 16 to August 29) – will star Alex Gaumond as Adam and Laura Pitt-Pulford as Milly.
Alex Gaumond’s theatre credits include Freddy Benson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Savoy Theatre); Agatha Trunchbull in the RSC’s Matilda (Cambridge Theatre); Alberto Beddini in Top Hat (Aldwych Theatre); Galileo in We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre and original UK tour), for which he received a WhatsOnStage Award nomination for Best Takeover in a Role); and Emmett Forrest opposite Sheridan Smith’s Elle in Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre), for which he received nominations for both an Olivier and WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Laura Pitt-Pulford recent theatre credits include Marry Me A Little (St James Studio), The Light Princess (National Theatre), A Man of No Importance (Salisbury Playhouse), Piaf and Hello Dolly (Leicester Curve Theatre) and Mack & Mabel and Parade (Southwark Playhouse).
Director Rachel Kavanaugh reunites the creative team behind 2013’s award-winning production of The Sound of Music, including designer Peter McKintosh, choreographer Alistair David and musical supervisor Gareth Valentine.
The season concludes with the return of Timothy Sheader’s 2011 critically acclaimed production of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Adapted by Nigel Williams, it runs from September 3 to September 12, prior to a major UK tour. Casting is still to be announced.
Read more about the 2015 Season.