Theatre News

Casting announced for Burt Bacharach's Some Lovers

The line-up for the ”You Know How to Love Me”, a celebration of Charles Miller has also been announced

Carolyn Maitland, Ben Richards and Oliver Tompsett
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

Ben Richards (The Bodyguard, Priscilla Queen Of The Desert) will return to musical theatre in the premiere of Burt Bacharach and Steven Sater‘s Some Lovers, at The Other Palace next month.

Running for only 12 performances, Some Lovers, directed by Katherine Hare with musical direction from Jordan Li-Smith, will be the central part of the From Page To Stage Summer Festival, championing emerging musical theatre talent and writing.

Some Lovers, billed as a love story set over 20 years, comes from Tony and Grammy Award-winning writer Sater (Spring Awakening), and Academy and Grammy Award-winning Bacharach – his first score for the theatre since 1968’s Promises, Promises.

Four actors play the two characters, Ben and Molly, caught between the present and past. Ben will be played by Richards and Aaron Kavanagh (in his professional debut), Molly by Gemma Wardle (Betty Blue Eyes, Les Miserables ) and Jenna Innes (Animus).

Sater says: "Burt and I came to recognise how distinct our love songs were from those ubiquitous pop anthems of young love. What if we revisited that Depression-Era classic story, The Gift of the Magi? What became of those young Christmas lovers, twenty years after their happily ever after? And that was the beginning of Some Lovers."

Also announced today is the lineup for the festival's You Know How To Love Me – A Charles Miller Celebration. Taking place in The Other Palace's studio space, the event will be an evening exploring Miller's career and his best known work. Carolyn Maitland (Ghost, Miss Saigon), Oliver Tompsett (Guys & Dolls, We Will Rock You, Wicked), Shona White (Mamma Mia!, Wicked) and Miranda Wilford (Remembering Fred, Thriller Live!) will head up the cast, which will also feature appearances from Miller himself.

Some Lovers will run from 24 August to 2 September at The Other Palace. You Know How To Love Me – A Charles Miller Celebration will run at The Other Palace Studio on 18 and 19 August.