Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Nominated For 7 Olivier Awards, Announces New Cast
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London Theatre Direct
Barry James, Josefina Gabrielle, Richard Dempsey and Kirsty Malpass will join the previously announced Alex Jennings (Willy Wonka) in the cast of the record-breaking West End production of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
In the new cast announced today, Barry James will play the role of Grandpa Joe. Josefina Gabrielle will play Mrs Teavee. Richard Dempsey and Kirsty Malpass will play Charlie’s parents Mr and Mrs Bucket.
Clive Carter (Mr Salt), Jasna Ivir (Mrs Gloop), Paul J Medford (Mr Beauregarde), Billy Boyle (Grandpa George), Roni Page (Grandma Josephine) and Myra Sands (Grandma Georgina) will all remain in the cast.
Further casting to be announced.
The new cast members will have their first performance on Monday 19 May 2014.
Barry James’s theatre credits include the role of Seymour in the West End premiere of The Little Shop of Horrors, and Thenardier on the 1988 Grammy Award-winning symphonic cast recording of Les Misérables. Other theatre credits include The Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Oliver!, She Loves Me (Olivier-nominated), Grand Hotel (all West End), Sweeney Todd (Olivier-nominated), The Merchant of Venice, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (all NT) and the 25th Anniversary Celebrations of The Phantom of the Opera at The Royal Albert Hall.
Josefina Gabrielle began her career as a soloist with the National Ballet of Portugal. Her theatre credits include: Two Into One (Menier Chocolate Factory); Puss In Boots (Hackney Empire); Merrily We Roll Along (Olivier award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, Menier Chocolate Factory, Harold Pinter Theatre and Digital Theatre); The King and I (UK tour; MTA nomination for best actress in a visiting company); Me And My Girl (Sheffield Crucible); Sweet Charity (Menier Chocolate Factory and Theatre Royal Haymarket - Clarence Derwent Award winner and Olivier award nomination for Best Supporting Actress); Hello, Dolly! (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); The 39 Steps (Criterion); The Witches of Eastwick (Prince of Wales); Chicago (Adelphi and Cambridge Theatres); Oklahoma! (National and Lyceum theatres, London, and Gershwin Theatre, New York; nominated for Olivier Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a Musical and Astaire Award for Outstanding Dance); Fame (Cambridge Theatre) and Carousel (National and Shaftesbury Theatres). Her screen credits include Miranda, Doctors, Ronnie Ancona & Co, Heartbeat, Totally Frank, Born and Bred, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Sunburn and Oklahoma!.
Josefina Gabrielle was also nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, for her performance in Merrily We Roll Along.
Richard Dempsey’s theatre credits include the world tour of Propeller’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Merchant of Venice and Neil Kellerman in the UK Premiere of Dirty Dancing. Other theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Noel Coward Theatre), Victor/Victoria (Southwark Playhouse), Alice in Wonderland Me (Bristol Old Vic), Citizenship/Burn, Honk! (both National Theatre).
Kirsty Malpass has recently finished working opposite Tim Pigott-Smith at the Park Theatre. She made her West End debut in the award winning Jerry Springer the Opera and has worked extensively throughout the West End, regional theatre and in national tours, with directors such as Edward Hall, Matthew Warchus and Jeremy Sams, for whom she made her most recent musical theatre appearance playing Maria in The Sound of Music. She last performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in The Lord of the Rings.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has quickly become one of the West End’s most popular and successful stage musicals. It has broken West End box office records at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it has been seen by over half a million people since it opened in June 2013. It is currently taking bookings until 30 May 2015.
At today’s Olivier Awards nomination announcement, it was revealed that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is nominated for seven awards, in the following categories
MasterCard Best New Musical
Best Actor in a Musical (Douglas Hodge)
Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Nigel Planer)
Best Theatre Choreographer (Peter Darling)
XL Video Award for Best Set Design (Mark Thompson)
Best Costume Design (Mark Thompson)
White Light Award for Best Lighting Design (Paul Pyant)
The winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Royal Opera House on Sunday 13 April 2014.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is directed by Sam Mendes. Featuring ingenious stagecraft, the wonder of the original story that has captivated the world for almost 50 years is brought to life with music by Marc Shaiman, and lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, a book by award-winning playwright and adaptor David Greig, set and costume designs by Mark Thompson and choreography by Peter Darling.