The upcoming revival of Pam Gem’s Piaf has been postponed to 2021 due the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and closure of UK theatres.
EastEnders Jenna Russell (Sunday in the Park with George, West End) was cast in the title role, with Sally Ann Triplett (The Last Ship, Broadway, Anything Goes, National Theatre) announced to play Toine and Sara Poyzer (Billy Elliot, West End, Mamma Mia, West End) in the role of Marlene Dietrich.
Gem’s biographical play about the French chanteuse Edith Piaf portrays the singer as a self-destructive, promiscuous alcoholic and junkie who, in one controversial scene, urinates in public.
Adam Penford, Artistic Director of Nottingham Playhouse and director of Piaf, said: “We were all disappointed when we had to delay Piaf as we’d been planning it for a long time and had put together a really terrific cast. Jenna and Sally are old friends who performed together in the late 1980s and they were particularly looking forward to working together again as Sally is now based in NYC.
Co-producers Nottingham Playhouse and Leeds Playhouse confirmed the show will now take place in May 2021 with ticket holders being able to keep a hold of their ticket until final dates are released.
To keep eager audiences sated until then, the show’s musical director and three stars – Jenna Russell, Sally Ann Triplett and Sara Poyzer – have recorded a special version of a hit Piaf number “Hymne A L’Amour”.
