Veteran #StageFave Simon Lipkin is about to have his hands happily full: starring as Nathan Detroit opposite Hollywood comedy star Rebel Wilson's Miss Adelaide for a limited season in GUYS AND DOLLS at the West End's Phoenix Theatre from Tuesday 28 June...
GUYS AND DOLLS today announces that Simon Lipkin will be joining the West End cast for a limited time at the Phoenix Theatre to play the part of Nathan Detroit from Tuesday 28 June until Sunday 21 August 2016. He will play opposite the award-winning Hollywood actor Rebel Wilson who will play the part of Miss Adelaide. The current cast of Guys and Dolls includes Nigel Lindsay as Nathan Detroit and Samantha Spiro as Miss Adelaide who have their final performance on Sunday 26 June.
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.
Bios
Simon Lipkin trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and then at the Arts Educational. His past theatre credits include Bill Sykes in Oliver! (Grange Park Opera); Lou Lubowitz in Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre); The Lorax in The Lorax (Old Vic Theatre); The Proprietor in Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), Touchstone in As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse), Barlow in I Can’t Sing (London Palladium), Lonny in Rock Of Ages (Original West End cast), Galahad in Spamalot (Original UK and International Tour), Nicky and Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q (Original West End cast), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (Arts Theatre), The Wedding Singer (Original UK cast); Willard in Footloose (UK Tour); A Christmas Carol (West End); Pharaoh in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (West End), Alice In Wonderland (Nuffield Theatre), Austentatious (Landor Theatre), News Revue (Canal Café) and Leopold in Never The Sinner (Kenneth Moore Theatre). TV and film credits include Doctor Who, The Bill, Casualty, The Royal Variety Performance, Children In Need, Muppets Most Wanted (Disney), The Harry Hill Movie, That Puppet Game Show and Nativity 3. He also voices characters on the Cartoon Network show The Amazing World of Gumball.
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.
