Kerryson considers himself at home for Oliver!

Published: 21 November 2015
Reporter: Steve Orme

Peter Polycarpou, seen here as Ebenezer Scrooge at Birmingham REP in 2009, will play Fagin in Oliver!

Former Curve artistic director Paul Kerryson returns to the Leicester theatre to direct a new production of Lionel Bart’s Oliver!.

Peter Polycarpou will play Fagin, Cat Simmons and Laura Pitt-Pulford share the role of Nancy and Oliver Boot will be Bill Sikes.

Polycarpou played Pauline Quirke’s husband Chris Theodopolopoudos in the TV series Birds of a Feather. On stage, he has played the title role in The Phantom of the Opera and created the role of John in the original West End production of Miss Saigon.

Cat Simmons played the Princess in Bille Brown’s version of Aladdin alongside Sir Ian McKellen as Widow Twanky at the Old Vic in 2004 and Simone in Che Walker and Arthur Darvill’s Been So Long at the Young Vic in 2009. She will play Nancy from 27 November until 2 January.

Laura Pitt-Pulford’s previous appearances at Curve include Maria in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music in 2014, Pam Gems’s Piaf and Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly!. She takes the role of Nancy from 4 until 16 January.

Liam Carr and Albert Hart will share the role of Oliver. Joel Fossaurd-Jones and Kwame Kandekore, who earlier in 2015 were in Curve’s production of Sue Townsend’s The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ The Musical, will alternate the role of Artful Dodger.

Oliver Boot plays Bill Sikes. He was also in the Curve production of Piaf. His other theatre work includes Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2008, King Lear and Richard II, all at Shakespeare’s Globe, and The Stranger in Mike Poulton’s adaptation of Ibsen’s The Lady From The Sea at Birmingham REP in 2008.

The cast also includes Jenna Boyd (Widow Corney), James Gant (Mr Bumble), John Griffiths (Mr Brownlow), Natalie Moore-Williams (Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin), Lucy Thomas (Bet), Jez Unwin (Mr Sowerberry and Grimwig), Cassie Clare, Jaye Elster, Ross Lee Fowkes, Ryan Gover, Ian Gareth-Jones, Emma Harold, Tim Hodges, Bethany Lindell, Sarah-Marie Maxwell, Louis Stockily and Dickie Wood.

Choreographer will be Andrew Wright, musical director Ben Atkinson, set designer Matt Kinley, costume designer takis, lighting designer Bruno Poet, sound designer Avgoustos Psillas and children’s casting director Jo Hawes.

Oliver! will be performed on the main stage at Curve from Friday 27 November until Saturday 16 January 2016. Press night will be on Wednesday 2 December.

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