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Cast: Flashdance Gets Willis Busted, Chess & Day

Busted pop star Matt Willis and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt will lead the cast of screen-to-stager Flashdance The Musical, which has its West End premiere on 14 October 2010 (previews from 27 September) at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it’s initially booking until 26 February 2011.

The iconic 1983 film of Flashdance starred Jennifer Beals as Alex Owens, an 18-year-old Pittsburgh welder and exotic dancer who dreams of winning a place at a prestigious dance school and becoming a professional ballet dancer. The score features the songs “Maniac” and “Flashdance… What a Feeling” (which won an Academy Award for Best Song) - it also launched a fashion frenzy for torn sweatshirts.

The stage show premiered at the Theatre Royal Plymouth in July 2008 prior to national touring. In the West End Victoria Hamilton-Barritt reprises her performance as Alex. Her other West End musical credits include Grease, Mamma Mia!, Fame and Desperately Seeking Susan.

She’s newly joined by Matt Willis, making his West End and professional theatrical debut, as love interest Nick. Willis was a founder member of the British pop rock band Busted, after which he embarked on a solo career, releasing the singles “Up All Night”, “Hey Kid” and “Don’t Let It Go to Waste” as well as a cover version of The Primitives’ song “Crash” for the film Mr Bean’s Holiday. Willis went on to win the 2006 ITV series of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here.

Also in the Flashdance are: Sarah Ingram (Hannah), Charlotte Harwood (Gloria), Hannah Levane (Keisha) and Twinnie-Lee Moore (Jazmin) with Brendan Cull, Russell Dixon, Sam Mackay, Ricky Rojas, Andrew Spillett and Robbie White, as well as Ivan Blackstock, Tyman Boatwright, Myles Brown, Joseph Connor, Natalie Edmunds, Nicholas Gilligan, Zoe Green, James Hall, Ben Harrold, Emily Hawgood, Kirby Huges, Sia Kiwa, Lindsay Shaw, Maria Swainson, Amy Thornton and Daniel Uppal.

Flashdance features music by Robbie Roth, lyrics Robert Cary and book by Cary and Tom Hedley. It’s directed by Nikolai Foster, choreographed by musical theatre veteran and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips and designed by Morgan Large with orchestrations and musical supervision by Phil Edwards. It’s produced by Christopher Malcolm, David Ian, the Baruch-Viertel-Routh-Frankel Group and Transamerica.

In other musical casting news:

- by Terri Paddock

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Booking Tickets & Show Listings
	Flashdance the Musical Listing Page
	The Remains of the Day Listing Page

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