Theatre News

Rainbow\’s Steph Fearon Leads Smokey Revival

Steph Fearon, who reached the semi-finals of the BBC’s recent Over The Rainbow casting show, will star in a fringe production of the musical revue Smokey Joe’s Cafe next month.

The show, which opens at the Landor Theatre in Clapham on 20 July (previews from 13 July), features 39 pop standards written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, including “On Broadway”, “Jailhouse Rock”, “Stand By Me” and “I’m a Woman”. It premiered on Broadway in 1995, transferring to the West End’s Prince of Wales theatre the following year (this is its first major revival since).

Mykal Rand will direct a cast that also includes Marc Akinfolarin, Miguel Angel, Edward Baruwa, Simon Hardwick, Ngo Ngofa and Philippa Stefani.

Steph Fearon was a semi-finalist on Over the Rainbow, the casting show which set out to find a girl to play Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s forthcoming production of The Wizard of Oz. Aged 21, she was one of the more experienced contestants, having notched up professional credits including Little Shop of Horrors (national tour), Whistle Down the Wind (Aldwych) and The Wind in the Willows (Open Air Theatre).

Smokey Joe’s Cafe is produced by Thomas Hopkins for the Landor Theatre, Sue Vaccaro and Ricky Stevens in association with Danielle Tarento.