Manchester's Hope Mill Theatre and its producing partner, Katy Lipson at Aria Entertainment, is on a roll. After news in February of the upcoming London season of its 50th anniversary production of HAIR, it's now announced another transfer: its UK premiere of war-time gay love story YANK! comes to Charing Cross this summer....
YANK!, the widely acclaimed musical production which recently received its UK premiere at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, is to transfer to London this summer. The moving, war-time gay love story will run at Charing Cross Theatre from Monday 3 July to Saturday 19 August 2017, with a press night on 10 July.
Based on the true, hidden history of gay soldiers during World War, YANK! focuses on the life of Stu, a scared Midwestern youngster who is called up to serve in the forces in 1943 and becomes a reporter for Yank Magazine, the journal ‘for and by the servicemen’. Telling the stories of the men in Charlie Company, the musical explores what it means to be a man, and what it is to fall in love and struggle to survive in a time and place where the odds are stacked against you.
YANK! is based on the Off-Broadway hit production from 2010, with book and lyrics by American writer David Zellnik, with his brother Joseph Zellnik’s musical score paying homage to the timeless music of the 1940s. The musical is directed by James Baker, and is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Hope Mill Theatre, Ben Millerman with Jim Kierstead and Guy James.
Completing the creative team are James Cleeve as musical director; choreographer Chris Cuming; designer Victoria Hinton; lighting designer Aaron J. Dootson; sound designer Chris Bogg; and casting director Benjamin Newsome.
YANK! is the latest collaboration between leading London-based theatre production company Aria Entertainment and one of Manchester’s newest and leading arts venues, the award-winning Hope Mill Theatre. They first joined forces in January 2016 to spearhead the arts venue as a platform to showcase, revive and bring new musical theatre to the north of England. The transfer to Charing Cross Theatre is helmed by the three producers of the original production at Hope Mill, who are now joined by Jim Kierstead and Guy James.
Capturing the imagination of audiences, the creative collaboration between Aria and Hope Mill has previously garnered rave reviews for productions of the Tony Award-winning Parade and the cult classic Hair, which transfers to The Vaults in London this autumn for the 50th anniversary production.
Full casting for the London run of YANK! is to be announced.
