Next month sees the opening of The Beautiful Game at the Union Theatre, the show's first revival in London.
Lotte Wakeham directs a cast led by Niamh Perry whose stage credits include Johanna in Sweeney Todd at West Yorkshire Playhouse and Manchester Royal Exchange and Sophie in Mamma Mia! at the Prince of Wales Theatre; she will also be known to watchers of television casting programmes as a finalist in the BBC’s I’d Do Anything.
The cast also features Ben Kerr as John, Stephen Barry as Del, Daniella Bowen as Christine, Freddie Rogers as Thomas, Will Jeffs as Daniel, Alan McHale as Ginger, Natalie Douglas as Bernadette and Carl McCrystal as Father O’Donnell with Tom Brandon-Farrell, Leigh Lothian, Shane McDaid, Joanna O’Hare and Charlie Royce.
The story is set against the backdrop of the political troubles in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s and follows two enthusiastic teenage footballers John and Del.
First seen at London's Cambridge Theatre in 2000 The Beautiful Game, which has a score by Andrew Lloyd Webber and a book and lyrics by Ben Elton, had a year–long run. In this respect it fared better than Lloyd Webber's more recent Stephen Ward which, as previously reported, closes in three weeks after a run of something less than four months.
The Beautiful Game runs at the Union Theatre from 3 April to 3 May. For booking visit the Ticket Source web site.