Will Young emcees Cabaret revival in West End?

Plans seem to be progressing nicely on the casting front for the forthcoming revival of Rufus Norris‘ award-winning production of Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret. Word is that pop star Will Young is tipping his bowler hat to make his musical debut playing the emcee in a run that will have a brief regional stint before transferring back to the West End. Will Young made his professional stage acting debut in 2007 in a Manchester Royal Exchange revival of Noel Coward’s 1924 play The Vortex.

No word yet on who’ll tackle Sally Bowles. Norris’ Olivier Award-winning production originally opened at the West End’s Lyric Theatre in October 2006 with James Dreyfus as the Emcee and Anna Maxwell Martin as Sally, who was later succeeded by Kim Medcalf. Kenwright subsequently produced a 2008/09 UK tour which starred Samantha Barks and Wayne Sleep.

Based on the stories of Christopher Isherwood and the play by John Van Druten, Cabaret has a book by Joe Masteroff, music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. It premiered on Broadway in 1966 and in 1972 was made into an Oscar-winning film starring Liza Minnelli as Sally Bowles, Michael York as Cliff and Joel Grey as the Emcee.