Frances Ruffelle will play the title role in Pam Gems’s Piaf which opens at Curve, Leicester this week.
Known to all as Piaf, Edith Gassion, who rose from the streets of Paris to the international stage, had a life and career as unique as her extraordinary singing voice.
The original production of Piaf was at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1979.
This new Curve production celebrates the 50th anniversary of Edith Gassion’s death.
It includes some of Piaf’s greatest songs including "La Vie en Rose", "Mon Dieu", "Hymne á l’Amour" and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien".
Frances Ruffelle’s theatre credits include creating the role of Eponine in the original London and Broadway casts of Les Miserables, Dinah in the original company of Starlight Express and Roxie Hart in Chicago.
Laura Pitt-Pulford, Dale Rapley and Jason Denton who recently appeared in Hello Dolly! at Curve return, as do Oliver Boot and Stephen Webb who featured in Curve's world première of Finding Neverland.
The cast also includes Russell Morton and Sean Dodds.
Curve’s artistic director Paul Kerryson directs Piaf which previews from Friday (22 February). It opens on Saturday 26 February and runs until Saturday 16 March.