Elvis musical Love Me Tender rocks and rolls onto UK tour
A new musical featuring the music of Elvis Presley is heading out on tour, opening at Manchester's Opera House on 5 June 2015.
Written by Memphis the Musical writer Joe DiPietro, the show is "inspired" by the King of Rock 'n' Roll, and includes more than 25 of his songs.
Retitled for its UK premiere, Love Me Tender premiered on Broadway under the title All Shook Up.
Love Me Tender is directed by Karen Bruce (Dance 'Til Dawn, Saturday Night Fever), with set design by Morgan Large, lighting design by James Whiteside, costume design by Vicky Gill and casting by James Orange.
Casting for the tour, which is produced by Adam Spiegel, Robert G. Bartner and the Ambassador Theatre Group, is to be announced.
It's not the first Presley-themed musical: a jukebox musical entitled Elvis conceived and directed by Jack Good and Ray Cooney opened in the West End in 1977; Jailhouse Rock, based on the film of the same name, ran from 2004 to 2005 at the Piccadilly Theatre; and Million Dollar Quartet also featured the King.
Love Me Tender runs at Manchester Opera House (5-13 June 2015), Bristol Hippodrome (15-20 June), New Wimbledon Theatre (22-27 June), Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent (29 June to 4 July), New Theatre Oxford (6-11 July), Sunderland Empire (13-18 July), Edinburgh Playhouse (20-25 July), Milton Keynes Theatre (27 July – 1 August), King's Theatre Glasgow (3-8 August), Empire Theatre Liverpool (1-15 August), Grand Opera House York (17-22 August), New Alexandra Theatre Birmingham (24-29 August), Churchill Theatre Bromley (31 August – 5 September), New Victoria Theatre Woking (7-12 September) and New Theatre Cardiff (14-19 September).
