Full casting announced for the first ever MAMMA MIA! UK Tour

Full casting has been announced for MAMMA MIA! which comes to the Playhouse 29th November 2016 - 7th January 2017.

Article Source: Edinburgh Playhouse
Last Updated: 22 February 2016 15:49

Full casting has been announced for the sensational feel-good musical MAMMA MIA! which comes to Edinburgh from Tuesday 29 November 2016 to Saturday 7th January 2017 as part of its first ever UK tour 2016.

Sarah Poyzer (Donna Sheridan) and Jenna Lee James (Alternate Donna) will play opposite Scottish actor Philip Ryan (Sky). They will star alongside Jacqueline Braun (Rosie), Emma Clifford (Tanya), Richard Standing (Sam Carmichael), Tim Walton (Harry Bright), Christopher Hollis (Bill Austin), Lucy May Barker (Sophie Sheridan), Micha Richardson (Ali), Blaise Colangelo (Lisa), Louis Stockil (Pepper) and Sam Robinson (Eddie).

Completing the cast are Matthew Ronchetti, Jacob Fisher, Jennifer Harding, Stuart Hickey, Linda Holmgren, Rachel Ivy, Matt Kennedy, Georgie Leatherland, Mark Peachey, David Ribi, Ellie Rutherford, Parisa Shahmir, Michael James Stewart, Hannah Varnham, Rhodri Watkins, Jamie Wilkin and Dawn Williams.

MAMMA MIA! is Judy Craymer’s ingenious vision of staging the story-telling magic of ABBA’s timeless songs with an enchanting tale of family and friendship unfolding on a Greek island paradise. To date, it has been seen by more than 60 million people in 49 productions in 16 different languages. MAMMA MIA! The Movie is the highest worldwide grossing live-action musical film of all time.

From West End to global phenomenon, the London production of MAMMA MIA! has now been seen by more than 10% of the entire UK population. It is one of only five musicals to have run for more than 10 years both on Broadway and in the West End, and in 2011, it became the first Western musical ever to be staged in Mandarin in the People’s Republic of China. The London production of MAMMA MIA! is currently booking until 22 October 2016.

Sara Poyzer plays Donna Sheridan. Theatre includes: Donna in Mamma Mia! (Prince of Wales Theatre, London & previous International tour); Janet in Rutherford & Son (UK Tour/West End); Emilia in Othello; Mam in Billy Elliot the Musical (Victoria Palace Theatre, London); Forever Young and All Quiet on The Western Front (Nottingham Playhouse); Beverley in Abigail’s Party (Theatre Royal, York); creating the role of Teena Satin in Satin 'n' Steel (Nottingham Playhouse & tour); Lady Sneerwell in The School for Scandal; Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice; Ismene in Antigone and Poetry or Bust (Northern Broadsides); created the role of Kate in Bollywood Jane (Leicester Haymarket); The Fly (Oldham Coliseum); Up 'n' Under (Leicester Haymarket) and Players Angels (UK tour). Television includes: Eastenders; Doctors; Cast Offs; Paradise; Reclaimed; Dangerville; Dangerfield; Playing the Field; Peak Practice; The pilot of Ordinary People. Film includes: The Knife that Killed Me; My Last Five Girlfriends. Radio includes: Emilia in Othello, Leonie Snell in The Archers and numerous other drama series for BBC Radio 4.

Jenna Lee James plays Alternate Donna. Theatre includes: Mary in Rod Stewart’s, Tonight's the Night (UK Tour); Original cast of We Will Rock You, in which she played two leading roles, Meatloaf and Scaramouche (Dominion Theatre, West End). She became the only person in the world to have played all three female leading roles in We Will Rock You when she toured as Killer Queen in the (10th Anniversary World Arena tour). Other roles include The Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, (Adelphi Theatre, London); Lorraine in Boogie Nights (UK Tour); Principal Singer in Money, Money, Money, the Real Abba Story (UK Tour); Maisie in The Boyfriend (Glasgow); Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Glasgow); the title role in Peter Pan (Grand theatre, Swansea); Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty (Theatre Royal, Nottingham); Tiger Lily in Peter Pan (Theatre Royal, Newcastle). She created the roles of Becky McDonald in Street of Dreams – The Coronation Street Years (MEN Arena Manchester) and June Child in Twentieth Century Boy (UK Premiere). Television includes: The Max Proms; Holland; Ruth Jones’ Summer Holiday; Parkinson; Party at the Palace; Party in the Park; Children in Need; Blue Peter; Al Murray’s Happy Hour. Radio includes: Soloist on BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night. Other work includes: Jenna has worked extensively as a solo artist in the UK and internationally. She has performed globally in countless concert productions and arena tours, most recently a European tour of Champions Of Rock. Jenna has performed as backing vocalist for various artists including Ella Eyre, Laura Wright, Collabro and Take That at the 02 Arena, London.

Phillip Ryan plays Sky. Training: Arts Educational Schools. Theatre includes: Trainspotting (The Edinburgh Festival); Defect for Perfect Pitch and a workshop of Head’s Up for No Fun Productions.

Jacqueline Braun plays Rosie. Training: Akademie voor Kleinkunst in Amsterdam. Theatre includes: Rosie in MAMMA MIA! (Raimund Theater, Vienna); Eponine and alternate Fantine in Les Miserables (Duisberg, Germany); Mary Magdalena in Jesus Christ Superstar (Kassel, Germany); cover Killer Queen in We Will Rock You (Zurich, Switzerland); Napoleon (London, West End); Dionne in Hair (Raimund Thearer, Vienna); Ludovika/ Frau Wolf/ Governess in Elisabeth (Theater an der Wien); Madeleine True in The Wild Party (Stattheater Klagenfurt); Mercedes in Carmen Cubana and Rockville (Deutschen Theater, Munich); Rose in Wenn Rosenblätter Fallen, Marry me a little and Names on the Wall (Vienna); Tommy, Footloose, Jesus Christ Superstar and Audrey 2 in Little Shop of Horrors (Musical Summer Amstetten, Austria). Television: Lead singer for ‘Dancing Stars’ (Austria). Other credits include: Jacqueline is founder of the Shine performance Company and is involved with the Theatercouch, an upcoming theatre company in Vienna.

Emma Clifford plays Tanya. Theatre includes: Baroness Elsa Schraeder in The Sound of Music (Curve Theatre, Leicester); Catwoman in Batman Live World Arena Tour (Water Lane Productions Ltd); Mademoiselle Y in The Stronger (Arcola Theatre, London); Speed the Plow (Old Vic Theatre, London); Olivia in Twelfth Night (Birmingham Stage Company, London); Roxy Hart in Chicago (Cambridge Theatre, London); Maudlin Yellowhammer in A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (Bristol Old Vic, Bristol); Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing (Royal Shakespeare Company); Young Sally in Follies (Raymond Gubbay) and Anitain West Side Story (David Ian Productions). Television includes: Amanda in New Blood; Wallace Simpson in Upstairs Downstairs and Mara in Krod Mandoon. Film includes: Zodangan Helm in John Carter of Mars; Ms Rossi in Lesbian Vampire Killers; Elaine in Pelican Blood and Deputy Ally Lane in Wrong Turn 3.

Richard Standing plays Sam Carmichael. Theatre includes: Rutherford & Son (UK tour and West End); Sam in Mamma Mia! (previous International tour); Swallows & Amazons (Bristol Old Vic); Othello (UK tour & West End); On A Shout (Hull Truck); Canterbury Tales; Richard III; Henry VI Parts 1, 2 & 3; The School for Scandal; Comedy of Errors; Sweet William; The Merchant of Venice; Henry V; A Woman Killed with Kindness; Macbeth (Northern Broadsides); Anthony & Cleopatra directed by Vanessa Redgrave; Casement; The Flag (Moving Theatre Company); Mortal Ash; Pond Life (Bush Theatre); Mother Courage (Royal National Theatre); Twelfth Night; Aquarium (European tours); Oi for England; The Mission; Iphigeneia in Taurus (Edinburgh Festival). Television includes: Holby City; Silent Witness; Casualty; The Bill; In Denial of Murder; The Guardian; Doctors; A Wing & a Prayer; Dalziel & Pascoe; One for The Road; Harry; series regular in Picking Up The Pieces; Families; The Grand; 2 years playing Danny Hargreaves in Coronation Street. Film includes: A Marshall Kind of Men; When did you last see Your Father; Stone Cold. Radio includes: Cassio in Othello (BBC Radio 4); The Change (Radio 4 series).

Tim Walton plays Harry Bright. Theatre includes: ensemble/ Murray’s Singer in Stephen Ward (Aldwych Theatre, West End); Doctor/ Cover Miss Trunchbull in Matilda (Cambridge Theatre, West End); Cover Phantom and Raoul in Love Never Dies (Adelphi Theatre, West End); Mamma Mia! (Novello Theatre, West End); Wicked (Apollo Victoria, London); Paris in Romeo and Juliet; Tonight’s The Night; The Witches of Eastwick; the National Theatre’s revival of South Pacific; Starlight Express; The Woman In White; Kiss Me Kate (The Old Vic, London); Jimmy Powers in City Of Angels (Donmar Warehouse); Ravenal in Showboat (Cape Town Opera, South Africa); Hucklebee in The Fantasticks (Jermyn St Theatre, West End); Sherlock Holmes in The Revenge of Sherlock Holmes (Hoxton Hall, London); Evita (Oslo); Big Deal in West Side Story, Lun-Tah in The King and I (State Theatre Pretoria, South Africa); Frogs, Fifty Million Frenchmen, Hollywood Pinafore (Lost Musicals); Frederick in The Parson’s Pirates, Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore and Nanki Poo in The Mikado (Opera Della Luna). Television includes: Kidnapped Abroad (RAW television/ National Geographic). Other work includes: Directed/choreographed the South African premier of Ragtime.

Christopher Hollis plays Bill Austin. Training: Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art & St Andrews University (MA Hons in English). Theatre includes: Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (PSF); Bill Austin in MAMMA MIA! (Novello Theatre, London); Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet (Playhouse, Salisbury); Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Royal Shakespeare Company); Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tyrell/Blunt in Richard III, Robin Hood in Sherwood (Regents Park Theatre, London); Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Theatre Royal, York); Aurelius in Vortigern (Bridewell Theatre, London); Absalom in The Rape of Tamar (Lyric Studio, London); Danceny in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Royal Shakespeare Company & West End); Borachio in Much Ado About Nothing (Strand Theatre, London); Yolland in Translations (Chichester Studio); Sebastian in Twelfth Night (Renaissance); Vassievich in The Proposal (Kings Head, London); Riccaut in Minna Von Barnhelm (Young Vic Studio, London); Beckett in What The Butler Saw (Everyman, Cheltenham); Candide in Candide (Edinburgh Festival); Wolfgang in The Pied Piper, Levell in The Royal Baccarat Scandal and Sebastian in The Tempest (Chichester Festival Theatre). Television includes: Godfrey Higgs in A Serpent In Eden; Richard in Life Begins 3; Mike in The Bill; John in Lady Jane; CMD Wingrave in Take A Girl Like You; Mark Newcombe in A Touch of Frost; Toby Rivers in Brookside and Nigel in God’s Frontiersman. Film includes: Maybe Never (CrissCross); Frankenstein (Shelley Productions) and Playing It Straight (LIFS).

Lucy May Barker plays Sophie Sheridan. Theatre includes: Lucy made her West End debut as 'Ilse' in the original London cast of Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith & Novello). Theatre credits since then include Earthquakes in London, Really Old Like Forty Five (National Theatre, London); The Crucible (Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park); The Reluctant Debutant (UK Tour); Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Chichester Festival Theatre & Adelphi West End); Cherry Buck in Ben Travers' Thark, as part of the inaugural season at the Park Theatre; Baby Belgrave in Ace of Clubs (Union Theatre, London); Ado Annie in the 2015 UK Tour of Oklahoma and most recently Bettyb’ in Pine (Hampstead Theatre, London). Television includes: The Culshaw & Stephenson Impressions Show; Scoop! and Doctors. Film includes: The Woman in Black. Other work includes: Lucy can also be heard in the radio dramas Lost in Mexico; The Russian Gambler (BBC Radio 4) and Charlotte Pollard (Big Finish).

Micha Richardson plays Ali. Training: The Urdang Academy. Theatre Includes: Erato in Xanadu; ensemble and understudied Clara/Louise in Ghost (Asia Tour); Genie of the Ring in Aladdin (Chris Jordan Productions); Dynamite/dance captain in Hairspray (Kuala Lumpur, Singapore & Macau); Jodie in Blockbuster (UK Tour); ensemble and understudied Carmen and Miss Bell in Fame (UK Tour); We Will Rock You (Arlene Philips / World Tour) and Pilar in Legally Blonde (Gerry Mitchell / UK Tour). Other work includes: Dancer in Jingle Bell Ball (Stretch Communications / O2), Momentum Charity Event (Kelly Rainford) and Hormonal Housewives (Nick Winston).

Blaise Colangelo plays Lisa. Training: Reynolds Performing Arts in Dartford.Theatre includes: Teen Fiona/ Tweedle Dum in Shrek The Musical (Theatre Royal Drury Lane, West End); ensemble and understudied Wendy in Peter Pan (UK Productions, Assembly Halls Theatre Tunbridge Wells); ensemble and understudied Fairy Kindheart in Jack and the Beanstalk (Assembly Halls Theatre, Tunbridge Wells); Angela Robson in Billy Elliot (Victoria Palace, London) and Young Eponine in Les Miserables (The Palace Theatre, London).

Louis Stockil plays Pepper. Training: Arts Educational Schools. Theatre includes: RAGS in concert (2014); ensemble/understudied Tom Thumb in Barnum (UK tour) and Noah Claypole in Oliver! (The Leicester Curve Theatre).

Sam Robinson plays Eddie. Training: Guildford School of Acting. Theatre includes: Jumpy Malachi and understudied Arnold in Happy Days: A New Musical (UK Tour). Other work includes: Scallywagga (ITV) and Mark Cohen in a charity production of Rent raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity (Crescent Theatre, Birmingham).

Mark Hilton is Resident Director. Training: Mountview Theatre School. Theatre includes: resident director for MAMMA MIA! (International Tour); Aladdin (White Rock, Hastings), touring supervisor for Hairspray, resident director and walking cover Coach Bolton and Mr Fulton in High School Musical 1 & 2 (UK tour), resident director and walking cover Edna, Wilbur and Male Authority Figure in Hairspray (original UK tour), resident director and walking cover Monsignor in Sister Act, assisted Matthew Warchus in directing the 10th anniversary concert of Our House (Savoy), Eddie in A Slice of Saturday Night (Liverpool Empire), Claquesous in Les Misérables (UK tour), Thomas Hassinger in South Pacific (NT), Thomas in The Beautiful Game (original production, Cambridge Theatre), Reecey in Our House (Cambridge Theatre), Snout and Peaseblossom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Crucible, Sheffield), Maudrid in Camelot, Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Poins in Henry IV Part I (Open Air, Regent’s Park), Putting It Together (Harrogate), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Jermyn Street), Humphrey and Brian in Alfie (Palace, Watford), Joe Gidner (and 65 other characters!) in How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup (UK tour) and ensemble in My Fair Lady (Kuala Lumpur). Television includes: Reecey in Our House, recorded by the BBC as part of their Christmas schedule 2003 and now available on DVD.

With music & lyrics by Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, MAMMA MIA! is written by Catherine Johnson, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast. The production is designed by Mark Thompson, with lighting design by Howard Harrison, sound design by Andrew Bruce & Bobby Aitken, and musical supervision, additional material & arrangements by Martin Koch.

The MAMMA MIA! UK Tour is produced by Judy Craymer, Richard East & Björn Ulvaeus for
Littlestar in association with Universal and NGM.

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