John-Kamen & Triplett star in Viva Forever!, Hobson returns to Mamma Mia!Date: 13 July 2012Hannah John-Kamen, best known from TV’s The Hour and Misfits, has been cast in the starring role of Viva in the upcoming Spice Girls musical Viva Forever!, according to the Daily Mail. She’ll star opposite Whatsonstage.com Award winner Sally Ann Triplett as Viva’s mother, Lauren, when the production receives its world premiere at the West End’s Piccadilly Theatre on 11 December 2012 (previews from 27 November).After taking part in workshop sessions with Triplett while the show was in development, John-Kamen was offered the lead part, whom she described to the Mail’s Baz Bamigboye as “young, vibrant, with stars in her eyes – very innocent”. The show follows her progress as she and her friends form a girl band and enter a TV talent show. John-Kamen, 22, is a graduate of Central School of Speech and Drama, and has reportedly been a Spice Girls nut since childhood; she used to dress up as Scary Spice with her friends and still treasures a poster from the 1997 Spice Girls movie. Sally Ann Triplett is currently starring as another feisty mother character, Donna Sheridan in Abba musical Mamma Mia!, also produced by Viva impresario Judy Craymer, who describes Triplett as the musical’s “anchor”. Triplett’s many other West End credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Grease, Jolson, Cats, Chicago, Acorn Antiques, Guys and Dolls and Trevor Nunn’s National Theatre revival of Anything Goes, for which she won the Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Viva Forever! has a book by Jennifer Saunders and is directed by Paul Carrington, another Mamma Mia! veteran. The show is billed as a comedy musical about "family, friendship and trying to stay true to yourself in a world where everyone craves instant fame and will grab it at any price - a world where fortunes change on the click of an iPhone or the whim of a TV talent show host."
Ahead of Viva Forever!, Sally Ann Triplett continues in Mamma Mia!, accompanying the show from the Prince of Wales theatre into its new home at the Novello, where it reopens on 6 September and Triplett performs her last show on 22 September. After Triplett’s departure, Helen Hobson will return to play Donna, which she last played in 2007, from 24 September 2012. Hobson’s other credits include Aspects of Love, Les Misérables and Chess in the West End, and Blood Brothers and Cats on tour. Related Content
 |
Buy Tickets
Free Newsletter
Featured Video Featured Editor's Picks
Follow Us
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
- Theatre Tickets
- Top Shows (View all)
- 1. Les Miserables
- 2. The Book of Mormon
- 3. The Audience
- 4. Wicked
- 5. Matilda the Musical
- 6. War Horse
- 7. We Will Rock You
- 8. The Lion King
- 9. Peter and Alice
- 10. Jersey Boys
- News & Reviews
-
- News
- • Helena Blackman & Sam Attwater lead Seven Brides for Seven Brothers UK tour
- • Plays Cast: Harry Potter star in Southwark Moment, more for Branagh's Macbeth
- • West End Live returns to Trafalgar Square next month
- • Live Tweeting: West End Eurovision 2013
- • X Factor musical titled I Can't Sing!, opens Palladium March 2014
- • Royal Court explores sex, death & Europe this summer
- • Orange Tree stages three-part Middlemarch & Pianist
- • ATG acquires Broadway's largest theatre The Foxwoods, home of Spider-Man
- • Oliver Reed: Wild Thing comes to St James Studio
- View all News »
- Reviews
- Interviews
- • Robert Sean Leonard: 'I carry the ghost of Gregory Peck on my shoulders'
- • Podcast: Ed Seckerson meets actress & singer Lucy Schaufer
- • Pulitzer winner Ayad Akhtar: Islam is 'ripe territory' for drama
- • Brief Encounter with... Park Theatre's Jez Bond
- • Brief Encounter with... 4000 Miles star Sara Kestelman
- • Exclusive Video: Matilda's Bertie Carvel 'interviews' Tim Minchin at Drama Desk Awards
- • Judi Dench: Helen Mirren's drum protest was 'terrific'
- • 20 Questions with ... Travels with my Aunt star Jonathan Hyde
- • Brief Encounter with ... Passion Play's Samantha Bond
- View all Interviews »
- Photos
- • 1st Night Photos: Robert Sean Leonard leaves House for the Open Air
- • 1st Night Photos: Kimberley Walsh & Denise Van Outen toast Tointon in Relatively Speaking
- • Show Pics: Tanzi Libre inaugurates new Southwark Playhouse
- • 1st Night Photos: Celia Imrie & Jill Halfpenny celebrate Limbo opening
- • Photos: Thriller becomes Lyric's longest running show
- • Show Pics: Felicity Kendal & Kara Tointon in Relatively Speaking
- • 1st Night Photos: Maureen Lipman joins cast at These Shining Lives opening
- • Photos: Lloyd Webber unveils £4m restoration of Theatre Royal Drury Lane
- • 1st Night Photos: Billie Piper joins John Simm & Simon Russell Beale at Hothouse
- View all Photos »
- Gossip
- • Clint Eastwood on board to direct Jersey Boys film?
- • West End gets Lucky with Tom Hanks?
- • RSC chef serves up grisly 'Titus Andronicus' pie?
- • This House whips across the Thames for West End transfer?
- • David Hare adapts 'Slumdog Millionaire play' for National?
- • Is Douglas Hodge modelling his Wonka on Wilder?
- • Helen Mirren drums up support for Royal outburst?
- • James Corden on board for Nick Payne's new play at Donmar?
- • Will Tony nominated Kinky Boots stride to West End?
- View all Gossip »
- Broadcast
- Regions
-
- Scotland
- • Hairspray (Tour - Glasgow)
- • Matthew Bourne's Highland Fling (Tour - Glasgow)
- • Thriller Live (Tour - Glasgow)
- • Birds of a Feather (Tour - Glasgow)
- • Doctor Fautus (Glasgow)
- • Goodnight Mister Tom (Tour - Glasgow)
- • Slick
- • The 39 Steps (Tour - Glasgow)
- • The Rocky Horror Show (Tour - Glasgow)
- View the Scotland site »
- • Hairspray (Tour - Glasgow)
- North East
- • Sherlock Holmes - The Best Kept Secret (Leeds)
- • The Misanthrope (Tour - York)
- • Live Witness (Newcastle)
- • Albert Herring (Leeds)
- • Albert Herring (Leeds)
- • Noises Off (Tour - Sheffield)
- • Dogs Land (Leeds)
- • Bohemian Rhapsody (Tour - Darlington)
- • The Taming of the Shrew (Sheffield)
- View the North East site »
- • Sherlock Holmes - The Best Kept Secret (Leeds)
- North West
- • WIN Bouncers St Helens Theatre Royal, Liverpool tickets
- • Brief Encounter with ... The Kite Runner's Ben Turner
- • Bruce Forsyth (Salford)
- • Enjoyment of a production is dependent on the venue
- • Peter Pan Flies to Manchester Arena with Stacey Soloman, 16 August
- • Dirty Dancing (Tour - Manchester)
- • Mysterious Skin (Manchester)
- • Brief Encounter with ... The Birthday Party director Blanche McIntyre
- • WWRY adds Manchester to Arena Tour dates, June
- View the North West site »
- Central
- • Hairspray (Birmingham)
- • Evita (Tour - Milton Keynes)
- • The Seagull (Tour - Oxford)
- • High Society (Birmingham)
- • Less than Kind (Tour - Oxford)
- • Bicycle Boy (Playhouse Plays Out, Oxford)
- • High Society brings glamour to Birmingham Hippodrome
- • 20 Questions with ... Midnight Tango's Flavia Cacace
- • Sutra (Birmingham)
- View the Central site »
- • Hairspray (Birmingham)
- South East
- • Some Like It Hotter (tour - Ipswich, New Wolsey Theatre)
- • Our Share of Tomorrow (tour - Colchester, Mercury Theatre)
- • Murder in Play (tour - Stevenage, Gordon Craig Theatre)
- • Matthew Bugg on the past, present and future of Miss Nightingale
- • If Room Enough (High Tide - The Rifle Hall, Halesworth)
- • Chewing Gum Dreams (High Tide - The Cut, Halesworth)
- • Smallholding (High Tide - The Cut, Halesworth)
- • The Kindness of Strangers (Norfolk & Norwich Festival - mobile, Norwich)
- • A Pageant (Colchester, Mercury Theatre)
- View the South East site »
- • Some Like It Hotter (tour - Ipswich, New Wolsey Theatre)
- South West
- • Fifty Words (Bath - tour)
- • Birds of a Feather (Southampton - tour)
- • Yes, Prime Minister (Bristol - tour)
- • Tosca (Bristol)
- • Bigmouth (Plymouth)
- • Ours Was the Fen Country (Bristol)
- • The Incomers (Bristol)
- • Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty (Bristol - tour)
- • High Society (Southampton)
- View the South West site »
- • Fifty Words (Bath - tour)
- Scotland
-
- Specialist
-
- Edinburgh Festival
- • Curtain comes down on 2012 EIF, final ticket sales up 9%
- • Awards flurry as Fringe closes, Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Herald Angles & more
- • Edinburgh Guest Blog: Once a monkey, always a monkey
- • Bereavement The Musical
- • Top ten Fringe one-liners revealed by public vote
- • Reanimator The Musical
- • Virginia Ironside: Growing Old Disgracefully
- • Beats
- • Bottleneck
- View the Edinburgh Festival site »
- Off-West End
- Opera
- Year of the Producer
- • Year of the Producer: Emma Stenning on reopening Bristol Old Vic
- • Michael Coveney: Roar of the Greasepaint, Smell of the Crowd
- • Year of the Producer: Clive Conway's Eureka Moment for An Audience With
- • Year of the Producer: The Donmar Warehouse's Kate Pakenham on … Commercial vs subsidised
- • Year of the Producer: Julius Green on … How to close a West End show
- • Year of the Producer Blog: Kate McGrath on co-running Fuel
- • Educating Rita (Tour - Oxford)
- • Year of the Producer: Barbara Broccoli's Eureka Moment for Chariots of Fire
- • Year of the Producer: Chicago's Barry Weissler On ... Celebrity casting & getting your hands dirty
- View the Year of the Producer site »
- Arts Cuts
- • Time Out acquires Whatsonstage.com, plans future brand growth
- • Kent Leaves Tricycle After 27 Years, Cites Funding
- • Photo: Stewart Leads Equity to Downing Street
- • Drastic Cuts for Yorkshire's Red Ladder
- • Sky Unveils Fund for Projects & Emerging Artists
- • Guest Blog: Philanthropy & Emerging Artists
- • Equity Actors Call for Post-Austerity Arts Summit
- • Cuts: Theatres Trust Say Buildings Hardest Hit
- • Boss Blog: Who's Squealing Like a Stuck Pig?
- View the Arts Cuts site »
- Olivier Awards
- • Oliviers: Lee Evans - 'I really wanted to get back into theatre'
- • Full list & Photos: 2013 Olivier Award winners
- • Oliviers Photos: Helen Mirren, Luke Treadaway & more winners celebrate at 2013 Olivier Awards
- • Oliviers Blog: A view from the red carpet & Piazza
- • Ten of the Best: Quotes from the Oliviers acceptance speeches
- • Oliviers: Michael Frayn - 'I don't think I'm going to write anything else'
- • Oliviers Goss: Thor star Tom Hiddleston back on stage 'by end of the year?'
- • Michael Coveney: Olivier big winners and Stratford long runners
- • Glenn Meads: Oliviers 2013 Blog - View from the armchair
- Edinburgh Festival
-
- Press Releases
- News
-
- Theatre Club
Welcome to the Whatsonstage.com Theatre Club
- Top 5 reasons to join from just £30
- 1. Priority booking for hosted Outings
- 2. Member-only Club Nights, with top-price tickets at reduced prices
- 3. Regular free tickets to shows
- 4. Discounts for several bars and restaurants around London
- 5. FREE ticket to a top West End show when you join - currently Monty Python's SPAMALOT
- View all Club benefits | About the Club | Member-only offers | Current free tickets
- Awards
- Forum
-
© Whatsonstage 1996-2013
