It has been announced that Andrew Lancel and Carl Au will join the cast of the world premiere of the new Cilla Black bio-musical, which opens at the Liverpool Empire on 7 September 2017.
Written by BAFTA award winning Jeff Pope, Bill Kenwright’s latest musical will feature Andrew Lancel (Brian Epstein); Carl Au (Bobby); Amy Bridges (Rose Willis); Gemma Brodrick-Bower (Pauline); Paul Broughton (John White); Bill Caple (Ringo Starr); Tom Christian (Kenny Willis); Tom Dunlea (Hutch); Pauline Fleming (Big Cilla); Joshua Gannon (Paul McCartney); Billie Hardy (Pat); and Michael Hawkins (John Lennon).
They join the previously announced Kara Lily Hayworth as Cilla, who beat thousands of hopefuls in nationwide open auditions for the coveted role.
Cilla the Musical is the new stage production based on the life of Cilla Black and is based upon the ITV television series by Bafta-Award winner Jeff Pope (The Moorside, Philomena, From The Cradle To The Grave, Mrs Biggs and the acclaimed Little Boy Blue).
The production tells the story of an ordinary girl from Liverpool who then went on to become one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers of all time and features beloved songs such as Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me, Twist and Shout by the Beatles, California Dreamin by The Mamas and The Papas’ and many more.
This new stage production will reunite Tom Dunlea, Michael Hawkins and Gemma Brodrick-Bower, all of whom starred in Jeff Pope’s original ITV mini-series. It also reunites Andrew Lancel with the role of Epstein, which he played on stage to great in Epstein – The Man Who Made The Beatles.
During its UK tour, the musical is set to visit Cardiff, Wimbledon, Woking, Manchester and Milton Keynes among other places. Currently, the musical is scheduled to tour until 24 March 2018 – with more dates to be added.
