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Donovan Battles Kitten in War of the Worlds ArenaDate: 10 November 2009
Jason Donovan and Atomic Kitten's Liz McClarnon will lead the cast of a new European stadium tour of Jeff Wayne's musical version of HG Wells' sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds, which kicks off in November 2010.
The War of the Worlds – Alive on Stage!, which first toured in 2006 and has since been seen by over half a million people, is written by Jeff Wayne based on his 1978 concept album, which won two UK Ivor Novello Awards and sprang hits such as “The Eve of War” and “Forever Autumn”.
Donovan, who is currently playing Mitzi/Tick in Priscilla Queen of the Desert the Musical at the Palace Theatre, will play the role of The Artilleryman, a fantasist who dreams of producing a new race of humans underground after the aliens attack.
Speaking to Whatsonstage.com at today's press launch, he said: “I'm always looking for different characters and a different image and this is obviously a great contrast to Priscilla ... It's a challenging role, even though it only actually involves a 15-minute stage appearance, which will be something of a relief after Priscilla, which is a two-hour marathon of costume changes!”
Donovan didn't confirm whether he would perform in Priscilla beyond March, which is when his current contract ends. But he said that he is “feeling good” after returning to the stage for the first time last night following a week-long absence through illness.
Joining Donovan in the cast of The War of the Worlds is Atomic Kitten star Liz McClarnon, who will play Beth, the Parson's wife, and the Moody Blues' Justin Hayward, who returns to the role of The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist.
The War of the Worlds – Alive on Stage! features an 11-foot high 3D hologram of Richard Burton (who voiced The Journalist on the original album), a three-tonne, 35-foot tall 'Martian Fighting Machine' which fires “heat rays at the audience”, as well as a new levitation effect, described by Jeff Wayne today as “groundbreaking” in scale.
The tour begins in Amsterdam on 25 November 2010, before visiting Antwerp, Dublin, Belfast, Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Birmingham, Bournemouth, London (O2), Cardiff, Brighton and Wembley. It will finish in Germany in January 2011, with dates to be confirmed.
- by Theo Bosanquet
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