1st Night Photos: Marguerite Finishes TRH Season

Grammy and Oscar-winning French composer Michel Legrand’s new musical Marguerite received its world premiere last night (20 May 2008, previews from 7 May) at the West End’s Theatre Royal Haymarket, as the final production in the venue’s inaugural in-house season of work programmed and directed by Jonathan Kent (See Also Today’s WOS TV). Its limited season continues until 1 November.

Based on Alexandre Dumas’ 1848 novel La Dame aux Camelias, Marguerite relocates the action to the Second World War. Marguerite is the notorious mistress of high-ranking German officer Otto; Armand is the young musician, half her age, who falls obsessively in love with her. Their love story is played out against the background of Occupied Paris. Ruthie Henshall and Julian Ovenden star as Marguerite and Armand, with Alexander Hanson as Otto.

Marguerite has a book by Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Jonathan Kent, and English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer from the original French lyrics by Boublil, with orchestrations and arrangements by Legrand and Seann Alderking. Boublil and Schonberg are best known for their blockbusters Les Miserables (on which they also collaborated with Kretzmer), Miss Saigon and Martin Guerre.

TO SCROLL THROUGH ALL OF MARGUERITE's 1st NIGHT PHOTOS,
JUST CLICK ON THE "NEXT >" LINKS BELOW THE FOLLOWING FRAME.

For 1st Night Photos, our Whatsonstage.com photographer Dan Wooller was on hand at the Theatre Royal Haymarket for arrivals and the curtain call and at the post-show party at Mint Leaf along with the company and other first night guests including Gary Wilmot, Elaine Paige, Samantha Bond, David Haig, Nicole Farhi, David Hare, Eileen Atkins, Sally Ann Triplett, David Lan, Nicholas Wright, Damian Humbley, Alexandra Silber, Marie Zamora, Tim Howar and Jonathan Pryce.

The 16-strong cast also features Annalene Beechey, Matt Cross, Simon Thomas and Don Gallagher, who are joined by Mark Carroll, Keiron Crook, James Doherty, Siubhan Harrison, Jon-Paul Hevey, Julia Nagle, Duncan Smith, Gay Soper, Phillip Sutton and Lucy Williamson. The musical is designed by Paul Brown, with lighting by Mark Henderson, sound by Paul Groothuis and choreography by Arthur Pita. Marguerite is presented by Marguerite Productions, the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company and Bob Boyett.

-by Terri Paddock

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