Producer Scott Rudin announced today that Charlie Stemp, whose stunning debut in Half A Sixpence “has taken the West End by storm” (The Evening Standard), will make his Broadway debut as Barnaby Tucker in the most successful and beloved Broadway production of the year: Hello, Dolly!.
Mr. Stemp will begin performances opposite the previously announced stars Bernadette Peters and Victor Garber on Saturday evening, January 20, 2018, prior to a Thursday, February 22 opening night. Taylor Trensch will play his final performance as Barnaby Tucker on Sunday, January 14 ahead of taking the lead role in Dear Evan Hansen.
Mr. Stemp’s turn as Arthur Kipps in Half A Sixpence has been called “one of those fairy-tale performances that’s the stuff of legend” (The Sunday Telegraph). He has been universally praised by critics as “a huge find” (The Telegraph), who is filled with such “undiluted charm” (The Daily Express) and “magnetism” (New York Post), that “you just have to sit forward and stare” (The Times of London) at his “megawatt glow” (The Evening Standard) – which contains “enough energy to light up the West End” (The Daily Mail).
Charlie Stemp will replace Taylor Trensch (shown above) as Barnaby Tucker in ‘Hello, Dolly!’ Photo by Julieta Cervantes
This production of Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! instantly became the most coveted ticket of the year when it broke the record for best first day of ticket sales in Broadway history. By the time it began previews, it had the largest pre-performance advance sale in Broadway history. It went on to win four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Bette Midler), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Gavin Creel), and Best Costume Design of a Musical (Santo Loquasto), and has continued to break the Shubert Theatre house box office record over and over and over and over again.
Directed by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks and choreographed by Tony Award winner Warren Carlyle, Hello, Dolly! began performances on Broadway on March 15, 2017, and officially opened on Thursday, April 20, 2017.
This Hello, Dolly!, the first new production of the classic musical (based on Thornton Wilder’s The Matchmaker) to appear on Broadway since it opened more than fifty years ago, pays tribute to the work of its original director/ choreographer Gower Champion, which has been hailed both then and now as one of the greatest stagings in musical theater history.
Mr. Stemp is appearing with the permission of Actors’ Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors’ Equity Association for its assistance to this production.
Charlie Stemp as Arthur Kipps in ‘Half a Sixpence’ Photo by Manuel Harlan
Charlie Stemp (Barnaby Tucker) garnered unprecedented critical acclaim for his star-making performance in the West End revival of Half A Sixpence. The production premiered at the Chichester Festival Theatre and transferred to the West End in 2016, where it received rave reviews. For his performance as Arthur Kipps, he was nominated for the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, the 2017 Carl Alan Performer’s Award, and was honored with the 2017 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Musical. In addition, for the Chichester production, he received a 2016 UK Theatre Award nomination for Best Performance in a Musical. Mr. Stemp made his professional debut in Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, before playing Eddie in the international tour of Mamma Mia!. He was born in London and graduated from Laine Theatre Arts.
