The West End hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which opened in Sheffield in 2017, is coming to Newcastle next year as part of a national tour.
Initial casting includes West End star Layton Williams as Jamie New and EastEnders’ Shane Richie as Hugo / Loco Chanelle. Both will be reprising their roles from the West End production. The tour commences in February 2020 in Sheffield, where the show is set and first opened.
Nica Burns, the show's producer, said, “since Everybody’s Talking About Jamie opened in early 2017 at the Sheffield Crucible, written by a virgin British musical theatre writing team and performed by a large cast of mostly new faces, all our dreams for the show have come true. We are a hit! In November, we will be starting our third year in the West End! The movie is currently shooting in Sheffield! We have won awards!
"Now we are going to be playing 20 cities nationwide led by two of our brilliant West End stars, the superb Layton Williams as Jamie and the wonderful Shane Richie as Hugo / Loco Chanelle. Fittingly, we are looking forward to opening our national tour back at its home in Sheffield on the 4th anniversary of its first performance.”
This is the story:
Jamie New is sixteen and lives on a council estate in Sheffield.
Jamie doesn’t quite fit in. Jamie is terrified about the future. Jamie is going to be a sensation.
Supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends, Jamie overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness into the spotlight.
The show's director, Jonathan Butterell, saw the Firecracker documentary film Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, the true story of Jamie Campbell and his mother, Margaret. This inspired him to create this musical which is a dramatised portrayal of a period in Jamie’s life but is not a faithful account. Certain events and characters have been fictionalised.
Everybody’s Talking About Jamie comes to Newcastle Theatre Royal from 30 March to 4 April 2020.