From love rat to plague rat? One of London's original musical theatre geezers, Darren Day, returns to the West End stage to star alongside #StageFaves stalwarts Michael Xavier and Jessica Martin in the concert premiere of Robert J Sherman's BUMBLESCRATCH at the Adelphi Theatre for one night only. Watch as Darren Day gets to grip with the material in his first day of rehearsals at the piano...
Principal casting has been announced for the gala concert presentation of Robert J Sherman's new musical BUMBLESCRATCH, which runs for one night only at the West End's Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 4 September 2016, as part of commemorations for the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. Darren Day returns to the West End musical stage to take the title role of Melbourne Bumblescratch with two-time Olivier nominee Michael Xavier, fresh from Sunset Boulevard opposite Glenn Close, taking on the role as the dastardly Hookbeard, and Jessica Martin, recently seen in Elf, as Bumblescratch's long-suffering girlfriend Bethesda. Further casting is to be announced.
BUMBLESCRATCH is a new musical comedy by Robert J. Sherman. Set in London during the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666, it is told from the perspective of a demented, lascivious plague rat named Melbourne Bumblescratch (Darren Day), who demonstrates his unique and twisted love affair with the ancient city through telling his marvellously gruesome tales.
BUMBLESCRATCH has music, lyrics and book by Robert J. Sherman, continuing the enduring legacy of his father and uncle, Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, a.k.a The Sherman Brothers, the songwriting duo behind childhood classics including Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. It is directed by Stewart Nicholls, who also collaborated with Sherman on the critically acclaimed Love Birds and A Spoonful of Sherman.
