Just months after Michel Legrand passed away, at the age of 86 on 26 January 2019, his five-time Tony-nominated musical AMOUR receives its professional UK premiere at London's Charing Cross Theatre for a limited 12-week season. Gary Tushaw, Anna O'Byrne and Alisdair Harvey lead the cast. Who's joining them?
AMOUR, a musical fantasy about daring to dream and the power of self-belief, runs at the Charing Cross Theatre from 2 May to 20 July 2019, with a press night on 8 May. Casting is now announced.
In 1950 Paris, a shy, unassuming civil servant, Dusoleil, lives alone and works diligently in a dreary office. To pass the time, he writes letters to his mother and daydreams about the beautiful Isabelle, who is kept locked away by her controlling husband. When Dusoleil miraculously gains the ability to walk through walls, he not only begins to lead a double life, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor to right the wrongs of his war-impoverished Parisian neighbours, but also gains the self-confidence to woo Isabelle and, just for a while, live the life he has always longed for.
Gary Tushaw (Tateh in Ragtime, Charing Cross Theatre; Joseph Taylor Jr in Allegro, Southwark Playhouse) will play Dusoleil and Anna O’Byrne (Laura Fairlie in The Woman In White, Charing Cross Theatre; Christine Daaé, The Phantom Of The Opera and Love Never Dies, West End) will play Isabelle. Alasdair Harvey (Sunday In The Park With George, Mamma Mia! We Will Rock You, Sunset Boulevard, all West End) will play the Prosecutor, Isabelle’s controlling husband.
They are joined in the cast by Elissa Churchill (Elephant Steps, Arcola); Claire Machin (Memphis, The Pyjama Game, West End; Flowers For Mrs Harris, Chichester; Titanic, Charing Cross Theatre & UK tour); Keith Ramsay (The Cereal Cafe, The Other Palace; and a cabaret artist, Black Cat Cabaret at Crazy Coqs, Wilton’s Music Hall and Spiegeltent at London Wonderground); Steven Serlin (The Wild Party, The Other Palace; Oklahoma!, Grange Park Opera; Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, West End); Alistair So (The King & I, West End; Jimmy Winter in Nice Work If You Can Get It, Upstairs At The Gatehouse); Daniel Stockton (Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys & Dolls, Kilworth House); with understudies Laura Barnard and Jack Reitman.
Previous Danielle
AMOUR has music by multi-award-winning Michel Legrand with English lyrics by Jeremy Sams (from the original French by Didier Van Cauwelaert). Adapted from a 1943 short story Le Passe-Muraille by Marcel Aymé, the musical was first staged in Paris in 1997. It opened on Broadway in 2002 and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
The UK premiere of AMOUR production is directed by Hannah Chissick and designed by Adrian Gee, with choreography by Matt Cole, lighting by Rob Halliday, sound by Andrew Johnson and musical direction by Jordan Li-Smith. It's produced by Danielle Tarento, whose many other hit musicals include Titanic, Death Takes a Holiday and Ragtime at Charing Cross Theatre, Allegro, Grand Hotel, Grey Gardens, Dogfight, Taboo, Victor/Victoria, Mack & Mabel and Parade.
