Theatre News

Gaynor Faye & Ken Morley Narrate Corrie! Tour

| London's West End |

11 January 2011

Corrie!, the comedy play described as an “affectionate tribute” which condenses five decades on ‘the Street’, has announced former Coronation Street stars Gaynor Faye and Ken Morley will share the role of narrators on the show’s upcoming six-month tour.

Written by one of the soap’s long-term scriptwriters Jonathan Harvey, Corrie!, which launched at Salford’s Lowry Theatre last year, will start its tour at the Cambridge Arts Theatre on 15 February (previews from 10 February 2011) with Gaynor Faye in the narrator’s role.

Faye, who played Judy Mallett in the soap from 1995 to 1999 and has since taken roles in TV’s Playing The Field and Fat Friends as well as winning ITV’s Dancing on Ice, will also narrate the show’s dates at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre in March.

Coronation Street star Ken Morley who played ladies man Reg Holdsworth from 1989 until leaving the show in 1995 and is also known for playing the role of General Leopold von Flockenstuffen in BBC’s Allo Allo, will take the narrator’s role in Liverpool, Bromley, Bath, Birmingham and Woking.

The play, which has still to announce full casting, will also play dates in Bath, Manchester, Nottingham, Richmond, Cardiff, Darlington, Ipswich, Northampton, Bradford, Southampton, Stoke-On-Trent, Brighton, Hull and Malvern.

Announcing news of the tour’s dates and casting, which will see the production on the road until July 2011, producers have also revealed that playwright Jonathan Harvey, who has written over 100 episodes of Coronation Street, has updated the script to include the recent tram crash story that featured in a special week of episodes celebrating the programme’s 50th anniversary.

The show, directed by Fiona Buffini, features over 55 of everyone’s favourite characters, played by just six actors. They include ‘Street’ stars Bet Lynch, Elsie Tanner, Hilda Ogden, Ken Barlow, Jack Duckworth and Gail Platt. Storylines relived include Deidre going to prison, Brian being stabbed and Tracy killing Charlie.

Corrie! is produced on tour by ITV Studios and Phil McIntyre Entertainments.