Photos: Hepple, Kelsey, Rawle & Ruffelle Join Menier Pippin
Casting has today (18 October 2011) been announced for the Menier Chocolate Factory’s revival of Stephen Schwartz and Roger O Hirson‘s Pippin which comes to the Southwark venue this Christmas.
Harry Hepple plays Pippin. He was last seen in the West End in The 25th Annual Puttnam Country Spelling Bee at the Donmar Warehouse.
Ian Kelsey, who plays Charlemagne, has played Billy Flynn in the West End production of Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre. He is best known for his leading roles in television shows such as Blue Murder, Where the Heart Is, Down to Earth, Casualty and Emmerdale.
Matt Rawle played the title role in Zorro at the West End’s Garrick Theatre. His other credits inlace Evita at the Adelphi, The Three Musketeers at the Rose Theatre, Kingston and Light in the Piazza at the Curve Theatre, Leicester. He joins Pippin as the Leading Player.
Tony Award-winning actress Frances Ruffelle is best known for originating the role of Eponine in Les Miserables for the RSC and in the West End. She last year appeared in the show’s 25th anniversary concert celebrations at The O2. Her other West End credits include Chicago at the Adelphi, Starlight Express at the Apollo Victoria and Stephen Schwartz’s Children of Eden at the Prince Edward.
The rest of the have also been announced as Carly Bawden, Stuart Neal and David Page.
Originally staged by Bob Fosse, the early Schwartz musical has a 70’s pop score and won five Tony Awards including Best Choreography. Fosse’s production, which he directed and choreographed, transferred to the West End a year after opening in New York and debuted at Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1973 with a cast which included Patricia Hodge.
TO SCROLL THROUGH ALL OF PIPPIN‘s PHOTOS,
JUST CLICK ON THE “NEXT >” LINKS BELOW THE FOLLOWING FRAME.
PHOTOS BY DAN WOOLLER FOR WHATSONSTAGE.COM.
A colourful, imaginative and darkly humorous coming-of-age story, the titular Pippin is the heir to the throne of Charlemagne. As he searches for beauty, glory, fame he has to come to grips with lust, sex, war, politics and religion.
Composer Stephen Schwartz is currently represented in the West End by Whatsonstage.com Award-winning musical Wicked which opened at the Apollo Victoria in September 2006. His other works include Godspell (which is about to be revived on Broadway), The Baker’s Wife, Rags, Working and Children of Eden. Book writer Roger O Hirson‘s credits include film and television work as well as the 1966 Broadway show Walking Happy.
