THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
“CILLA THE MUSICAL”
BUT WHO WILL BE CILLA??
Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield present the new musical about the life and legend of Cilla Black, which will open in her hometown at the Liverpool Empire from Thursday 7th – 16th September before embarking on a nationwide tour. Cilla’s son, Robert Willis, will be the Executive Producer.
Cilla – The Musical, is a spectacular and heart-warming musical adaptation of the critically acclaimed ITV mini-series based on the early life of Cilla Black, by BAFTA award winner, Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, From The Cradle To The Grave, Mrs Biggs).
The story follows the extraordinary life of the ordinary teenage girl from Liverpool, Priscilla White, and her rocky, yet incredible, rise to fame. By the age of just 25 she was recognized as international singing star Cilla Black. By the age of 30 she had become Britain’s favorite television entertainer headlining series’ of Blind Date, Surprise Surprise and many more.
The musical score will be the ultimate soundtrack to the 60’s including Cilla’s greatest hits – Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me, alongside a backdrop of the legendary “Liverpool Sound” including the Beatles’ Twist and Shout, and American influences like California Dreamin by The Mamas and The Papas and many more.
The producers of Cilla The Musical will hold national open auditions in the hunt to discover their ‘Cilla’ in the same way the star herself was plucked from obscurity before becoming the iconic Liverpudlian songbird.
Cilla The Musical is produced by Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield, alongside Executive Producer Robert Willis.
Tour Details
CILLA – THE MUSICAL
WRITTEN BY JEFF POPE
DIRECTED BY BILL KENWRIGHT & BOB TOMSON
7 – 16 September
Liverpool Empire Theatre
0844 871 3017
19 – 23 September
Edinburgh Playhouse
26 – 30 September
Milton Keynes Theatre
3 – 7 October
Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
mayflower.org.uk
023 8071 1811
10 – 14 October
New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham
17 – 21 October
Blackpool, Opera House
31 October – 4 November
New Theatre, Cardiff
newtheatrecardiff.co.uk
029 2087 8889
7 – 11 November
New Wimbledon Theatre
atgtickets.com/Wimbledon
0844 871 7646
14 – 18 November
Regent Theatre, Stoke
atgtickets.com/stoke
0844 871 7649
21 – 25 November
Palace Theatre, Manchester
atgtickets.com/Manchester
0844 871 3019
On sale from Monday 27th February – check with individual venues for more details.
More tour dates to be confirmed soon!
Open auditions will be held at London’s Pineapple Studios for the 2017/18 cast of Disney’s hit new West End musical Aladdin, which opened to critical acclaim at the Prince Edward Theatre in June 2016. Auditions for both male and female singers and dancers to play ensemble and featured roles will be held on Monday 16 January 2017.
Disney’s casting team is looking for athletic, technically-trained dancers with very strong technique in all styles, including tap, as well as excellent singing voices. Male dancers with acro, gymnastic and/or tumbling skills is a plus but not essential. Singers should be excellent and be able to dance well in order to make up the ensemble.
Attendees must be aged 18 years or older, eligible to work in the UK and have a playing age of 20s-30s. Actors of all ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are strongly encouraged to attend.
Full information, including what to wear and bring to the audition, can be found at www.aladdinauditions.co.uk
Open auditions were held in 2015 for the original London company, and seven members of the 38-strong company were cast from those calls in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
Aladdin features the timeless songs from the 1992 animated film as well as new music written by Tony®, Olivier© and eight-time Academy Award winner Alan Menken (Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Little Shop Of Horrors). With lyrics from Olivier Award and two-time Oscar® winner Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid), three-time Tony and Olivier Award, three-time Oscar winner Tim Rice (Evita, Aida), and four-time Tony Award nominee Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer), and a book by Beguelin, Aladdin is directed and choreographed by Tony and Olivier Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).
Now in its third record-breaking year on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre, where it has been seen by more than 1.5 million people, Aladdin’s global presence has grown to five productions on three continents. The show is also playing at Tokyo’s Dentsu Shiki Theatre Umi, Stage Theatre Neue Flora in Hamburg and Capitol Theatre in Sydney, before moving to Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne in April 2017.
Previous Disney stage productions in London have included Shakespeare in Love and the Olivier-winning productions of Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins and The Lion King, which is now playing its 18th year in the West End.
Aladdin is designed by Olivier and seven-time Tony-winning scenic designer Bob Crowley, five-time Tony-winning lighting designer Natasha Katz, Olivier and two-time Tony-winning costume designer Gregg Barnes and sound designer Ken Travis. Casting is by Jill Green CDG.
The production team also includes illusion designer Jim Steinmeyer, hair designer Josh Marquette and makeup designer Milagros Medina-Cerdeira. The music team is headed by music supervisor and music director Michael Kosarin, who also created the vocal and incidental music arrangements, joined by orchestrator Danny Troob and dance music arranger Glen Kelly.
