Joining the previously announced David Tennant who plays the title role, Adrian Scarborough as Stan and Gawn Grainger as Louis are Theo Barklem-Biggs (Pete), Mark Ebulué (Aloysius), Mark Extance (ensemble), David Jonsson (Col), Dominique Moore (Lottie), Emma Naomi (ensemble), Alice Orr-Ewing (Mattie and Ruby), Himesh Patel (Vagabond), Adrian Richards (ensemble), William Spray (ensemble), Danielle Vitalis (Elvira) and Eleanor Wyld (Dalia) who complete the cast for Patrick Marber’s Don Juan in Soho.
“Please don’t be charmed, he’s not a lovable rogue…” Loosely based on Molière’s tragicomedy ‘Don Juan’, this savagely funny and filthy modern update transports the action to contemporary London and follows the final adventures of its debauched protagonist – a cruel seducer who lives only for pleasure.
Rehearsals begin next week for the production which previews at Wyndham’s Theatre from 17 March 2017, with press night on 28 March 2017. Don Juan in Soho will complete its strictly limited eleven week run on 10 June 2017.
Direction is by Patrick Marber with set and costume designs by Anna Fleischle, lighting by Mark Henderson, compositions and sound by Adam Cork, video design by Dick Straker, movement by Polly Bennett and casting by Robert Sterne CDG.
David Tennant (DJ) has worked extensively in theatre, television and film winning numerous awards for his work including the Critics’ Circle Award for Best Shakespearean Performance and the National Television Award for Outstanding Drama Performance. For the Royal Shakespeare Company his credits include Richard II, a role he reprised last year at the Barbican and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York, As You Like It, The Herbal Bed, The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Love’s Labour’s Lost and the title role in Hamlet, as well as co-hosting the live broadcast of Shakespeare 400. Tennant was last in the West End playing Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. His film credits include What We Did On Our Holiday, The Decoy Bride, Fright Night, Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger!, St Trinian’s II: The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Bright Young Things, LA Without a Map and the forthcoming Mad To Be Normal, Fish Without Bicycles and Bad Samaritan. On television he is best known for playing the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC’s classic series Doctor Who. He is soon to appear in the third season of ITV’s award winning series Broadchurch and starred in the US version, Gracepoint. His other television credits include playing Kilgrave in Netflix’s Jessica Jones, and The Escape Artist, The Politician’s Husband, Spies of Warsaw and Casanova, all for the BBC.
Adrian Scarborough (Stan) was last on stage as The Fool in Sam Mendes’ production of King Lear at the National Theatre where his many credits also include After the Dance, The Habit of Art, Time and the Conways, Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, The False Servant, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The David Hare Trilogy, The Day I Stood Still and The Wind in the Willows. In the West End his credits include Betty Blue Eyes and Humble Boy. He has also been seen in Hedda Gabler at The Old Vic, Platonov and Vassa for the Almeida Theatre Company and Accidental Death of an Anarchist and To The Green Fields Beyond for the Donmar. His film credits include On Chesil Beach, Les Misérables,The King’s Speech, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Notes on a Scandal, Vera Drake, Gosford Park, The History Boys, Bright Young Things, The Madness of King George and Dirty Pretty Things. Scarborough’s many television credits include two seasons of the US series Blunt Talk opposite Patrick Stewart, Stella, Crashing, Miranda, Up The Women,Professor Branestawm, Plebs, Edge of Heaven,Death in Paradise, The Paradise, Restless, Doctor Who, Mrs Biggs, Upstairs Downstairs, Gavin and Stacey, Cranford and Psychoville.
Gawn Grainger (Louis) was most recently on stage in The Entertainer for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company at the Garrick Theatre. His other theatre credits include The Cherry Orchard at the Young Vic, Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe and The Recruiting Officer at the Donmar as well as Onassis, Absolutely Perhaps and The Crucible all in the West End. For the National Theatre where he was part of Olivier’s South Bank inaugural season, his credits include Three Days in the Country,A Woman Killed With Kindness, Some Trace Of Her, Sing Yer Heart Out For The Lads, The Passion, The Seagull and The Misanthrope and at the Almeida he has been seen in No Man’s Land, Party Time, Mountain Language and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot. His film credits include Blood Royal, A Christmas Carol and The Little Drummer Girl and on television Labyrinth, The Nativity, BigDeal, The Black Tower, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Darling Buds of May, Foyle’sWar, GentlemenandPlayers, Hail, Caesar!, Heart of theCountry, A HelpingHand, HettyWainthroppInvestigates, Macbeth, Man at the Top, MenBehavingBadly and MidsomerMurders.
Theo Barklem-Biggs’ (Pete) theatre credits include Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the Donmar and Chapel Street for the Bush theatre. His film credits include Journey’s End, The Greatest Man, Kingsman: The Secret Service, The Inbetweeners Movie and the forthcoming Hunter Killer. His many television credits include Wasteman,Ballot Monkeys, Cradle to Grave, Tatau, Homeboys and Miranda.
Mark Ebulué’s (Aloysius) theatre credits include Macbeth for the Young Vic, Julius Caesar for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Phaedra’s Love for the Arcola and touring productions of Hamlet for Tara Arts and Othello for Frantic Assembly. His film credits include Kingsland,Dark Ascension and Way of the Monkey’s Claw. On television his credits include Stan Lee’s Lucky Man, Doctor Who and Julius Caesar.
Mark Extance’s (ensemble) recent theatre credits include Correspondence at the Old Red Lion, Three Days in the Country, Scenes from an Execution, Travelling Light and London Assurance for the National Theatre, Pygmalion at The Old Vic and Yes, Prime Minister in the West End and on tour.
David Jonsson’s (Col) theatre credits include Mary Stuart for the Almeida Theatre, Pigeon English at Bristol Old Vic and the Edinburgh Fringe, Romeo and Juliet at the Riverside Studios and Ghosts for the Rose Theatre Bankside.
Dominique Moore (Lottie) is best known for playing Chanel O’Grady in Footballers Wives: Extra Time. Her other television credits include Murder in Successville, Quacks, Horrible Histories, Red Dwarf and PhoneShop. Her theatre credits include Gutted for Theatre Royal Stratford East, Aladdin for the Lyric Hammersmith and The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. Her film credits include First and The Physician.
Emma Naomi’s (ensemble) theatre credits include Deathwatch for the Print Room at The Coronet, The Crucible for Bristol Old Vic and This Man Right Here for the Hen and Chickens. On film she has been seen in House Girl.
Alice Orr-Ewing’s (Mattie and Ruby) theatre credits include An Enemy of the People for Chichester Festival Theatre and Hay Fever at Theatre Royal Bath and Duke of York’s Theatre. Her film credits include The Theory of Everything, Mr Turner, The Scapegoat and Atonement and on television she has been seen in Victoria, Oakfield, Pramface and Blandings.
Himesh Patel (Vagabond) played the role of Tamwar Masood in EastEnders for nine years. He was last on stage in Le Bossu at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Adrian Richards’ (ensemble) theatre credits include Wild Honey for Hampstead Theatre, The Suicide for the National Theatre and Advice for the Young at Heart for Theatre Centre. He has also performed in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Glyndebourne.
William Spray’s (ensemble) theatre credits include Hamlet, Twelfth Night and But a Dream for Sovereign Arts and Punk Rock for Pocketful Shows. His opera credits include The Indian Queen for English National Opera and Dido and Aeneas for Silent Opera. On film he has been seen in A Little Chaos.
Danielle Vitalis’ (Elvira) stage credits include Girls Like That for Synergy and Primetime at the Royal Court. Her film credits include Afro Punk Girl and Honeytrap and on television she has been seen in Youngers and The Riots: In Their Own Words.
Eleanor Wyld (Dalia) was last on stage in The Alchemist at the Royal Shakespeare Company where her credits also include Don Quixote and Doctor Faustus. Her film credits include Johnny English Reborn and Freestyle and on television her credits include Thirteen, Father Brown and Misfits.
Patrick Marber’s plays include Dealer’s Choice, After Miss Julie, Closer, Howard Katz, Three Days in the Country and The Red Lion. His film credits include Closer (directed by Mike Nichols), Notes on a Scandal (directed by Richard Eyre), Old Street and Love You More. For television his co-writing credits include The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge. In December last year Ivo van Hove directed Marber’s new version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler for the National Theatre starring Ruth Wilson and Rafe Spall. As well as directing a number of his own plays, his other directing credits include Travesties by Tom Stoppard at the Menier Chocolate Factory, which transfers to the Apollo Theatre this month, The Caretaker at the Comedy Theatre, Blue Remembered Hills at the National Theatre, ‘1953’ by Craig Raine at the Almeida and The Old Neighbourhood by David Mamet at the Royal Court Theatre. His plays have won Evening Standard, Olivier, Time Out, New York and London Critics’ Circle and Writers’ Guild Awards. His TV work has received BAFTA, British Comedy and Royal Television Society Awards. His screenplays have been nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Awards. He received the British Independent Film Award for Notes on a Scandal.
After the joyous news of Audra McDonald’s unexpected pregnancy last year, producers of the postponed London run of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill are delighted to announce that this summer, McDonald, the Tony, Grammy, and Emmy Award-winning singer and actress, will be making her long awaited West End debut portraying jazz legend Billie Holiday in a performance that won her a record-setting sixth Tony Award.
This critically acclaimed production, which broke box office records at the Circle in the Square in New York, will run for a limited engagement at Wyndham’s Theatre from Saturday 17 June to Saturday 9 September, with opening night for press on Tuesday 27 June 2017.
Written by Lanie Robertson and directed by Lonny Price, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill recounts Holiday’s life story through the songs that made her famous, including “God Bless the Child,” “What a Little Moonlight Can Do,” “Strange Fruit” and “Taint Nobody’s Biz-ness.”
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill won two Tony Awards in 2014 including ‘Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play’ for Audra McDonald, making her Broadway’s most decorated performer, winner of six Tony Awards and the first and only person to receive awards in all four acting categories.
1959, in a small, intimate bar in Philadelphia, Holiday puts on a show that unbeknownst to the audience, will leave them witnesses to one of the last performances of her lifetime. Through her poignant voice and moving songs, one of the greatest jazz singers of all-time shares her loves and her losses.
Billie ‘Lady Day’ Holiday had what is widely considered one of the greatest jazz voices of all-time. Born Eleanora Fagan in April 1915, she rose to popularity in the 1930’s and 1940’s with her pioneering vocal style strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists. After a turbulent personal life and struggle with addiction, she died at the untimely age of 44. In 2000, Holiday was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Audra McDonald in New York production
Photography – Evgenia Eliseeva
Prior to making her West End debut in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill this summer, Audra McDonald will travel to London to perform four concerts at the Leicester Square Theatre hosted by Seth Rudetsky and featuring special guest Will Swenson from 12 to 15 April.
