Sleepless musical with Jay McGuiness and Kimberley Walsh announces full casting and new daily tests

The upcoming Sleepless musical starring Jay McGuiness and Kimberley Walsh has announced it plans to trial a new 30-minute COVID test on its cast and crew.

The daily tests will be carried out on-site with the results sent to cast and crew via an app within half an hour.

Producers Michael Rose and Damien Sanders said today: "We are so excited to be leading the way for our industry and to be the first fully staged, indoor musical back up and running and we have been working around the clock to make it possible. Uppermost in our minds has been the safety of our cast and crew and this new fast and accurate technology from GeneMe allows us to lead the way once more with daily COVID testing of our cast and crew which can give everyone involved peace of mind and create a happy and safe working environment.

"This technology is currently being trialled by airports, government departments, sports teams and multinational companies in the UK and we are delighted to be the first to trial the system in the theatre and live event industry."

Kasjan Szemiako, chief technical officer of GeneMe and developer of FRANKD, said: "We expect GMG, Yoti & FRANKD will help create fast, effective testing and Safe Spaces all over the world. Many sectors, including healthcare, pharmacies, hotels, airports, theatres, factories and corporates and smaller businesses, all need accurate, fast, on-premises testing."

The show has also revealed full casting, with the previously announced Jay McGuiness as Sam and Kimberley Walsh as Annie being joined by Daniel Casey as Walter, Harriet Thorpe as Eleanor, Tania Mathurin as Becky and Jake Sharp as Rob. Also in the cast are Charlie Bull, Colin Burnicle, Christie-Lee Crosson, Laura Darton, Leanne Garretty, Matt Holland, Ross McLaren, Gary Murphy, Dominique Planter, Annie Wensak and Benjamin Wong. Theo Collis, Mikey Colville, Jobe Hart and Jack Reynolds will share the role of Jonah.

Sleepless, based on the screenplay for Sleepless in Seattle, will begin previews from 25 August, with the limited season running until Sunday 27 September 2020 at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre. There will also be a special NHS Gala, A Night for Sleepless Heroes, for NHS and Care workers on Thursday 27 August. The new musical has a book by Michael Burdett, music by Robert Scott and lyrics by Brendan Cull.

The piece is directed by Morgan Young with set design by Morgan Large, costume design by Sue Simmerling, lighting by Ken Billington, video design by Ian William Galloway, sound design by Simon Biddulph, orchestrations and arrangements by Larry Blank, musical supervision by Stuart Morley, musical direction by Chris Walker, orchestra management by Sylvia Addison for Music Solutions, wig and hair design by Richard Mawbey and casting by Sarah Bird CDG and Michael Donovan CSA.