Award-winning actor Rebel Wilson join the West End cast of GUYS AND DOLLS for a strictly limited eight weeks only at the Phoenix Theatre to play the part of Miss Adelaide from Tuesday 28 June until Sunday 21 August 2016. The production also announces the opening of a new booking period, with tickets now available until 7 January 2017.
Rebel Wilson commented:
“A lot of people who know me from my more recent film work have no idea how much theatre has influenced my life. I saw my first musical at age 14, a show called 42nd Street, after one of my family’s dogs had unsuccessfully auditioned to be in it. It blew me away and I’ve loved musical theatre ever since. Training at the Australian Theatre for Young People gave me the opportunity to perform onstage in eight productions ranging from new Australian musicals to classic plays. I then went on to write and perform in my own productions before being snapped up to do screen work. I am delighted to be making my West End debut in GUYS AND DOLLS and to be playing such an iconic role as ‘Miss Adelaide’ is truly an honour. Hopefully I crush it….but you’ll have to come and see me to find out!”
Find social media feeds for Rebel Wilson & all the Guys & Dolls cast on www.stagefaves.com
Rebel Wilson has become one of the film industry’s most recognisable comedic actors since gaining recognition through her role as “Fat Amy” in the multi award winning Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 (Universal Pictures). For her performance in Pitch Perfect Rebel received a MTV Movie Award for “Best Breakthrough Performance” and a Teen Choice Award for “Choice Movie Actress: Comedy.” For her performance in the sequel, Rebel won two MTV Movie Awards for “Best Ensemble Cast” and “Best Kiss” and received a nomination for “Best Comedic Performance,” as well as several Teen Choice Award nominations. She also received a People’s Choice Award nomination for “Favourite Comedic Movie Actress.” Rebel will reprise her iconic role as “Fat Amy” in Pitch Perfect 3 which will be released in the summer of 2017. Rebel made her American comedy film debut in Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids alongside Kirsten Wiig. The film, produced by Judd Apatow, was named one of AFI’s top ten films of 2011 and received a Critics’ Choice Movie Award for “Best Comedy”. Her other film credits include How to be Single, Grimsby, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, Bachelorette and Ice Age: Continental Drift. Rebel will also make a cameo appearance in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, which is released this July. Rebel also has notable history of writing her own material, and in 2013, she hosted and was the Head Writer on the MTV Movie Awards. She got her start in entertainment writing and performing on Sydney’s stages and on the beloved Australian cult comedy series Pizza. Before moving to the United States, Rebel wrote and starred in two further television series: The Wedge and Bogan Pride, She holds a double degree in Law and Arts (BA/LLB) from the University of New South Wales, and trained as an actor at the Australian Theatre for Young People.
The current cast of GUYS AND DOLLS include Nigel Lindsay as Nathan Detroit and Samantha Spiro as Miss Adelaide who will have their final performance on Saturday 26 June. Further casting will be announced in due course.
Nathan Detroit is desperate: he needs money for an illegal dice game, and he needs it fast. Not to mention a 14-year engagement with nightclub singer Miss Adelaide, whose patience is finally running out. Enter notorious gambler Sky Masterson, a guy who can never turn down a bet, and straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown, a doll with a heart of ice. Nathan’s wager is that Sky has to romance Sarah by taking her to Havana for dinner and in return he’ll provide a dozen ‘sinners’ for Sarah’s mission. Surely this is one bet Nathan absolutely can’t lose?
A joyous and vibrant celebration of Prohibition-era New York, GUYS AND DOLLS first premiered on Broadway in 1950 and captured the optimism and energy of post-World War Two America. This hugely popular and multi award-winning musical, based on the colourful stories by American journalist Damon Runyon renowned for his vivid fictional depictions of the gamblers, hustlers and nightclub singers of New York, features some of Broadway’s greatest musical numbers including ‘My Time of Day’, ‘Luck be a Lady’ and the show-stopping ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’. Guys and Dolls is directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Cuban dancer and former Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta and Andrew Wright whose credits include Chichester Festival Theatre’s Singin’ in the Rain.
Director Gordon Greenberg has directed plays and musicals at major theatres across America and Europe, written for television and stage, and runs the musical theatre program at The New Group in New York, where he is based. He directed the current revival of Guys And Dolls for Chichester Festival Theatre, which is now running in London’s West End. He will direct his adaptation of Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn on Broadway in October, 2016 at Studio 54 for Roundabout Theatre Company and Universal Pictures Stage Productions. Other directing/writing includes the Drama Desk Award winning production of Working (which he adapted with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda) at 59 E 59 in New York, after productions at the Broadway Playhouse in Chicago, Asolo Rep and The Old Globe in San Diego. He directed and adapted the critically acclaimed New York revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive And Well… (Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Award noms), the new stage adaptation of Tangled for Disney, Johnny Baseball for Williamstown Theatre Festival, Pirates! Or Gilbert and Sullivan Plunder’d (created with Nell Benjamin, Paper Mill et al), the new production of Yentl, Band Geeks! (recipient of NEA and NAMT grants for production at Goodspeed), The Baker’s Wife (revised with Stephen Schwartz for Goodspeed and Paper Mill), Disney Fantasy (with Neil Patrick Harris & Jerry Seinfeld), 1776 (Paper Mill), Floyd Collins (Signature), Jesus Christ Superstar (revised with Stephen Oremus), etc. Current projects include co-writing Emerald City Music, an original movie musical for Nickelodeon Television and Scramble Band, an original movie for the Disney Channel, writing The Single Girls Guide (a new musical updating Jane Austen’s Emma to 1964) for the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle (developed at Dallas Theatre Center), adapting and directing The Secret of My Success for Universal Pictures Stage Productions, and writing Point-A-Pitre, a NYSCA commission for The New Group, with Kirsten Childs. Born in Texas and raised in New York, Greenberg performed in his first Broadway show at age 12. He attended Stanford University and NYU Film School before joining J. Walter Thompson Worldwide for a stint as a producer/director of commercials. He then moved back into theatre — first performing on Broadway and on television and soon directing and writing. He is a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Society, The Writers Guild of America, The Dramatists Guild, and the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab. 3
Choreographer Carlos Acosta trained at the National Ballet School of Cuba, and has danced as a principal with English National Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba and Houston Ballet. He is a Principal Guest Artist with The Royal Ballet and appears worldwide with companies including ABT, Paris Opera Ballet, Kirov, Bolshoi and Australian Ballet, and has created roles in contemporary ballets both with The Royal Ballet and internationally. Acosta was instrumental in taking The Royal Ballet on tour to Havana, and starred in the Company’s performances of Romeo and Juliet at The O2 Arena dancing Romeo opposite Tamara Rojo as Juliet. He has staged several shows across Europe featuring both classical and contemporary repertory, including his own choreography and the work of choreographers from his native Cuba. Shows for Sadler’s Wells include the semi-autobiographical Tocororo and Carlos Acosta with Guests from The Royal Ballet for which he won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for his performances. He recently staged a new production, Classical Selections, at the Coliseum, and produced and choreographed a new production of Don Quixote for the Royal Ballet. Screen credits as an actor include the feature films New York, I Love You and Day of the Flowers.
The music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser, whose credits include How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and the song ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’. The book is by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Burrows’ credits include How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Swerling’s credits include the seminal film It’s A Wonderful Life.
