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Go inside rehearsals for the new Berlusconi musical 

Get a first look at the new musical, which opens at the new Southwark Playhouse venue later this spring

Alex Wood
London
Sebastien Torkia, Gavin Wilkinson and Susan Fay in rehearsal for Berlusconi. Helen Murray

Step inside the rehearsal room for new musical Berlusconi! 

Billed as “a naughty, noisy exposé of the original perma-tanned media mogul turned populist politician”, the piece places the three women in Berlusconi’s life in the narrator’s chair.

Penned by Ricky Simmonds and Simon Vaughan, the piece’s first preview will be on 25 March 2023.

Set to appear will be McCallam Connell (The Color Purple) as the Judge, John Conroy (Half a Sixpence) as Luigi, Susan Fay (The Girls) as Mama Rosa, Jenny Fitzpatrick (A Christmas Carol) as Fama, Natalie Kassanga (Dreamgirls) as Bella, Emma Hatton (Wicked) as Veronica, Sebastien Torkia (RSC’s Matilda The Musical) as Silvio Berlusconi, Sally Ann Triplett (Cabaret) as Ilda, Gavin Wilkinson (Guys and Dolls) as Vladimir Putin and Matthew Woodyatt (Piaf) as Antonio.

 

The cast of Berlusconi A New Musical in rehearsal Helen Murray

Direction is by James Grieve (Fisherman’s Friends), with choreography by Rebecca Howell (The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3⁄4 ) and set and costume by Lucy Osborne (The Famous Five).

Paul Schofield (Hair – In Concert) will be the musical supervisor, arranger and co-orchestrator, with Jordan Li Smith (City of Angels) as musical director, Oliver Fenwick (Blues for Alabama Sky) as lighting designer, Dan Samson (Heathers) as sound designer, Stanley Orwin Fraser for Duncan McClean Projection (The Jungle) as video designer, Lewis Andrews as music producer and co-orchestrator with original vocal score and original vocal arrangements by David White (Cabaret) and Math Roberts (Merrily We Roll Along) as associate musical director.

 

Gavin Wilkinson, Natalie Kassanga, Jenny Fitzpatrick, Emma Hatton and Susan Fay in rehearsals Helen Murray

Casting is by Will Burton, while the show is associate produced by Alex Cooke and Alan Hayling, and based on an original idea by Alan Hayling.

The show, produced by Francesca Moody (Baby Reindeer, Fleabag, Kathy and Stella Solve A Murder) and Thomas S Barnes, is set to play through to 29 April at Southwark Playhouse Elephant, the new venue in south London. Tickets are on sale now.