As rehearsals begin, Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce final casting for the UK and Ireland tour of his acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg’s legendary musical MISS SAIGON. Ryan O’Gorman will play ‘John’, and Marsha Songcome will play ‘Gigi’ until 1 August when Na-Young Jeon will take over the role. They join the previously announced Red Concepcion as ‘The Engineer’, Sooha Kim as ‘Kim’, Ashley Gilmour as ‘Chris’, Zoë Doano as ‘Ellen’ and Gerald Santos as ‘Thuy’. At certain performances ‘The Engineer’ will be played by Christian Rey Marbella, and ‘Kim’ will be played by Joreen Bautista.
Red Concepcion’s many theatre credits in his native Philippines include ‘Adam/Felicia’ in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” for which he won the ALIW Award and Gawah Buhay Award, ‘Tommy’ in “The Normal Heart” and ‘Alan Strang’ in “Equus” as well as the musicals “West Side Story” and “Hairspray”.
Sooha Kim made her professional debut in this recent production of “Miss Saigon” at the Prince Edward Theatre where she covered the role of ‘Kim’ before going on to play the role in the Japanese production. Her credits whilst training in Korea include ‘Maureen’ in “Rent” and ‘Carmen’ in “Fame”.
Ashley Gilmour also appeared in “Miss Saigon” at the Prince Edward Theatre. His most recent credits include playing ‘Link Larkin’ in the national tour of “Hairspray”.
Zoë Doano’s many West End theatre credits include ‘Cosette’ in “Les Misérables”, ‘Johanna’ in “Sweeney Todd” and most recently ‘Grazia’ in “Death Takes A Holiday”. She has also appeared in the national tours of “The Sound of Music” and “High Society”.
Ryan O’Gorman is currently playing the role of ‘Tom Collins’ in the 20th Anniversary UK Tour of “Rent”. His other theatre credits include “Les Misérables”, at the Queen’s Theatre, “The Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre, “Billy Elliot” at the Victoria Palace Theatre and the UK tour of “Oliver!”.
Gerald Santos was the youngest ever winner of the biggest singing contest in the Philippines, Pinoy Pop Superstar. He has released five studio albums and has won numerous awards including winning twice Best Male Concert performer at the prestigious ALIW Awards.
Marsha Songcome returns to “Miss Saigon” having previously played the role of ‘Gigi’ at the Prince Edward Theatre. She is currently appearing in Disney’s “Aladdin” in the West End. Her other theatre credits include: ‘Sophie’ in “Mamma Mia!” and ‘Rizzo’ in “Grease” in Sweden.
Na-Young Jeon has previously played the role of ‘Fantine’ in “Les Misérables” at the Queen’s Theatre, a role she also played in South Korea. Her other theatre credits include: ‘Esmerelda’ in “Notre Dame de Paris” in South Korea; ‘Bianca’ in “Kiss Me Kate” in Amsterdam and “Miss Saigon” and “High School Musical” in the Netherlands.
They are joined by David Allwood, Randy Chien, Vinny Coyle, Kristine Mae Diaz, Michael James Eborall, Aynrand Ferrer, Seng Henk Goh, Emily Beth Harrington, Jack Heasman, Tom Hier, Barnaby Hughes, Kamm Kunaree, David Kar-Hing Lee, Amanda Lingdren, Ela Lisondra, Winchester Lopez, Christian Rey Marbella, Jay Marsh, Tom Mussell, Thao Nguyen, Saori Oda, YoungJoo Park, Kiel Payton, Katherine Picar, Alistair So, Carl Jae-Suk Sohlberg, Eloisa Amalia Tan, Gavin Tsang, Amadeus Williams, and Gerald Zarcilla.
The tour opens at Curve Leicester where it will play from Saturday 1 July – Saturday 22 July.
Former EastEnder Rita Simons, Lucie Jones (who is representing the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Never Give Up On You’ on Saturday May 13), and Coronation Street and Emmerdale actor Bill Ward are to star in a major new UK tour of the smash-hit Broadway and West End show, Legally Blonde The Musical.
Legally Blonde The Musical also has two dogs in the cast, a Chihuahua called Bruiser and another called Rufus, a big, brutish, dog that only its mother could love! Bruiser is already cast and will be on the road but producers have decided to hold auditions for ‘Rufus’ in every town and city on the tour – more details to follow.
Legally Blonde The Musical is an all singing, all dancing romantic comedy, a fun-filled, feel-good pink fest. College sweetheart and homecoming queen Elle Woods, doesn’t take no for an answer. When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more serious, Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books and heads for Harvard Law School. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.
Based on the Reese Witherspoon film, Legally Blonde The Musical earned seven Tony nominations and 10 Drama Desk Award nominations during its Broadway run. In the UK it was nominated for 5 Laurence Olivier Awards winning 3 including Best New Musical, and was nominated for 8 WhatsOnStage Awards winning 4 including Best Musical.
Legally Blonde The Musical, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin and book by Heather Hach, based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the MGM motion picture, will open at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley (18 – 23 Sept) then tour the UK and Ireland until June 2018.
Rita Simons (Paulette Bonafonte) is best known for playing Roxy Mitchell in BBC’s EastEnders for which she has won numerous awards and is one of Britain’s best loved actresses. She won Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards and other awards and nominations include Best Newcomer at the Digital Spy Soap Awards, Best Onscreen Partnership for her character partnership with Ronnie Mitchell played by Samantha Womack (who is about to star in The Addams Family Musical), Best Newcomer at the TV Now Awards, a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2008 British Soap Awards and Best Newcomer at the 2008 Inside Soap Awards. Rita has also appeared on TV in Mile High as Hannah, Dream Team as Julie and London’s Burning. In Spring 2012, Rita was the subject of a major documentary film Rita Simons: My Daughter, Deafness and Me made by Leopard Films for BBC1. Rita actively supports the charity RNID.
Lucie Jones (Elle Woods) is currently playing Maureen in the 20th anniversary UK tour of Rent. Her previous theatre credits include: Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (Leicester Curve); Molly in Ghost (Asian Tour); Victoria in American Psycho (The Almeida); Meatloaf in We Will Rock You (International Tour); Kelly Byrne in The Prodigals (Edinburgh Festival); Cosette in Les Miserables (Queens Theatre, West End and O2 Arena). Her TV acting credits includes: Melody Carver in Midsomer Murders (ITV); Louise in The Sarah Jane Adventures (BBC). Lucie was a finalist in the 2009 series of The X Factor.
Bill Ward (Professor Callahan) is best known for his work on two of the country’s leading soaps. He has just finished 3 years in Emmerdale, playing farmer James Barton (Ross, Pete and Finn’s Dad) for over 300 episodes, who met a gruesome, death at the hands of his emotionally volatile partner, Emma, in one of the biggest storylines of the year. Previously, he played the builder Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street, also for 300 episodes, who was murdered by his emotionally volatile partner, Tracy Barlow, in one of the soap’s biggest storylines of the year. In addition to his many and varied TV and film credits Bill is no stranger to the stage and has worked on everything from Sophocles to The Spice Girls at Bristol Old Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, Northern Stage, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, and The National Theatre Studio amongst others. He’s played Prospero in The Tempest in Guildford, Lancelot in Spamalot in the West End, and Kevin the Gnome in a muddy field in Glastonbury.
Also in the cast are: David Barrett (Emmett), Liam Doyle (Warner), Laura Harrison (Vivienne), Helen Petrovna (Brooke), Ben Harlow (Kyle), Nancy Hill (Enid), Rebecca Stenhouse (Margot), Delycia Belgrave (Pilar), Rachel Grundy (Serena), Lucyelle Cliffe (Elle’s Mom), Rosie Needham (Kate Chutney), Alexandra Wright (Leilana), Sally Frith (Gaelen), Mark Peachey (Elle’s Dad/Winthrop/Dewey), Michael Hamway (Aaron), Felipe Bejarano (Sundeep/Nikos), Brett Shiels (Grand Master Chad), Connor Collins (Carlos), Emma Prosser (Swing), Craig Tyler (Swing) and Bruisey (Bruiser).
