New musical Made in Dagenham, coming to the Adelphi Theatre, will star Gemma Arterton in the lead role.
It’s official! The producers of new West End musical Made in Dagenham have announced that Gemma Arterton is to star in the show.
The brand new musical, which is based on the hit British movie that starred Sally Hawkins, will start previews at the Adelphi Theatre on 9 October 2014.
In the lead role of Rita O’Grady will be Hollywood and British film and stage star Gemma Arterton. She will be joined by Adrian Der Gregorian in the show as her husband Eddie.
Made in Dagenham The Musical will be directed by Almeida artistic director Rupert Goold (American Psycho, Enron, The Hollow Crown), with a book by One Man, Two Guvnors writer Richard Bean and music by BAFTA and Grammy award winning composer David Arnold, best known for his work on the Bond movies. Lyrics are by Olivier Award winner Richard Thomas (Jerry Spring The Opera), with design by Bunny Christie (The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time) and choreography by Aletta Collins (His Dark Materials).
Gemma Arterton, who recently opened the new Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare’s Globe in The Duchess of Malfi, was said to be “thrilled” by the new role, which will demand acting, singing and dancing from the star.
The show based on real-life events in set in Essex in 1968. Like millions of other working women, each morning Rita O’Grady is just trying to get her husband out of bed, get the kids off to school and get to work at the factory on time. But life is about to change forever when it’s announced that the girls in the sewing room of Ford’s Dagenham car plant will have their pay grade dropped to ‘unskilled’. Quickly drawing on a strength she never knew she had, Rita leads her friends in a battle against the might of Ford and the corruption of the Union supposed to protect them. As the girls’ inspiring journey gets bigger than anyone could have imagined, the pressure is too much for some, but can Rita keep up the fight and the happy home she’s worked so hard for? Funny, touching and timeless, Made in Dagenham shows how ordinary people can do extraordinary things when they stand together.
Director of the show Rupert Goold said in a statement that: “From my first watch of Made in Dagenham I knew it was a piece I wanted to be involved in bringing to the stage. It’s such an engaging, relatable and vital story and I’m convinced as a musical we can bring even more to it when we mount our production at the Adelphi. British theatre has world class playwrights and songwriters and this industry is at its most exiting when it’s creating new work. I’m thrilled to be surrounded by a creative team on Made In Dagenham that represents the very best in our business. We’ve got some big ideas, some brilliant original music and I can’t wait to get going with our cast. It’s particularly exciting too, that the cast will be led by the luminously talented Gemma Arterton and the unspeakably charismatic Adrian Der Gregorian, who I’m delighted are playing the leads at the centre of this big-hitting, big-hearted musical.”
Made in Dagenham The Musical is produced by Stage Entertainment, Glass Half Full Productions and Just for Laughs Theatricals.
Further casting to be announced.
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