But I'm A Cheerleader: The Musical extends UK premiere run at The Turbine Theatre
© Mark Senior
Exclusive: Following a short closure to allow some "necessary changes for its future life", the UK premiere of But I'm A Cheerleader: The Musical will play an extended run at the Turbine Theatre until 8 May 2022 (instead of 16 April).
Producer Paul Taylor-Mills commented: "The Turbine Theatre was always meant to be a safe space in which we could develop, shape and hone work. For the last few months we have produced the sell-out musical But I'm A Cheerleader and have learnt so much from our audiences. I've always acknowledged how crucial listening to the audience is in terms of how we learn more about where our show sits, and with whom it resonates.
"Our audience's reactions have been wonderful and incredibly positive, many commenting on how wonderful it is to see two queer characters leading a musical. That said, we believe there is work still to do on our show and are therefore taking a short pause to make some adjustments. Following this we will be returning for a few weeks to finish off our triumphant run with what we hope will be the definitive (if that ever exists!) version of the show.
"Having the ability to do this and indeed creating a safe space to allow this to happen makes me unbelievably happy as this was always my ultimate ambition with The Turbine Theatre. This is a similar process to which we followed many years ago with Heathers at The Other Palace before we moved to the West End. The idea is that we will do the same with But I'm A Cheerleader and hope to get the show as ready, as ready can be, for its future.
"I'd like to thank everyone involved in the development of this musical which is the fruit of 20 years of hard work from hundreds of artists. Most shows are nearly sold out but please do come and join us for our final few weeks and hopefully one day you'll be able to say you were there at the beginning.
"In light of the recent news today we're desperate to try and do something meaningful and have set up a petition to Ban Conversion Therapy To everyone in the UK. If you have a second to sign, then we'd be very grateful."
You can find the petition at https://www.change.org/banconversiontherapyUK
New additions to the cast from the end of this month include Leslie Bowan (he/him), assuming the role of André, and Kurt Kansley (he/him) taking over the role of Mike. The production will also welcome Ruthie Stephens (she/her) as its resident director and choreographer.
The current cast features Alice Croft (she/her) as Megan, Oliver Brooks (he/him) as Dad/Larry, Edward Chitticks (he/him) as Jared/Rock, Damon Gould (he/him) as André, Tiffany Graves (she/her) as Mary Brown, Jodie Jacobs (she/they) as Mom/Lloyd, Lemuel Knights (he/him) as Mike, Evie Rose Lane (she/her) as Graham, Harry Singh (he/him) as Jalal, Jodie Steele (she/her) as Kimberly/Hilary, Aaron Teoh (he/him) as Dolph and Kia-Paris Walcott (she/her) as Sinead, with Lauren Soley (she/her) as Super Cheerleader and Owen McHugh (he/him) as Super Cheerleader.
The musical is based on Jamie Babbit's cult classic Lionsgate motion picture, which features a screenplay by Brian Wayne Peterson. This stage version, previously seen at the Turbine as part of the venue's MTFestUK in 2019, has a book and lyrics by Bill Augustin (he/him), music by Andrew Abrams (he/him) and direction by Tania Azevedo (she/her).
Musical direction and orchestrations are by Josh Sood (he/him) with choreography by Alexzandra Sarmiento (she/her) and set and costume design by David Shields (he/him). Lighting is by Martha Godfrey (they/them) and sound design by Chris Whybrow (he/him).
The show received a glowing review from WhatsOnStage, describing it as "a rollicking good time" and "utterly irresistible".
