Anna-Jane Casey Rings Bells at Union, 29 Sep

A rare revival of Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing will be staged at the Whatsonstage.com Award-winning Union Theatre from 29 September to 23 October 2010, with a cast led by Anna-Jane Casey and Gary Milner.

Featuring a score by Jule Styne (Gypsy, Funny Girl) and book by
Betty Comden and Adolph Green (Singin’ in the Rain, On the Town), Bells Are Ringing was first seen on Broadway in 1956 before being adapted into a film by MGM in 1960.

The story centres on Ella Peterson who works at Susanswerphone, her cousin’s answering service for the celebrities on New York’s smart East Side. With plenty of opportunities to indulge her gift for “helping” others, events begin to spiral out of control as Ella falls for hard-drinking playwright Jeff Moss and her little white lies come back to haunt her. The score features “Just in Time”, “The Party’s Over” and “Long Before I Knew You”. 

Directed by Paul Foster and produced by Jonathan Russell Productions, the 15-strong cast will be led by Anna-Jane Casey (Chicago, Piaf, Sunday in the Park with George, Mack and Mabel) and Gary Milner (Parade, Evita, A Streetcar Named Desire).

Established in 1998 in a converted disused paper warehouse by artistic director Sasha Regan, the Union is an 80-seat fringe theatre in Southwark. Like the nearby Menier Chocolate Factory, it has become known for its quality musical revivals, with recent productions including Company, Assassins, and the all-male Pirates of Penzance, which won a Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Off-West End production earlier this year.