Director Mark Giesser returns to Upstairs at the Gatehouse with George and Ira Gershwin’s madcap musical hidden gem Strike Up The Band, written with George S. Kaufman in 1927. While the original script was rewritten by Morrie Ryskind in 1930, this production presents the original, with the dark satire on America’s war-mongering over a trade deal re-established.
Richard Emerson plays Horace J. Fletcher, with recent credits including Chess at the ENO, Alain Boublil’s Manhattan Parisienne at the Other Palace and How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Wilton’s Music Hall.
He is joined by Paul Biggin (founding member of sketch group Late Night Gimp Fight), Beth Burrows (Looking for Gatsby, Sirens of the Silver Screen, The Lady With A Dog), Charlotte Christensen (The Divide, Old Vic Theatre; The Tempest, Iris Theatre), Robert Finlayson (Evita, world tour; The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre), David Francis (Les Miserables, international tour; The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre), Sammy Graham (It’s Only Life, Aria Entertainment), Nicholas McBride (Code 2021, Secret Studio Lab), Adam Scott Pringle (Newsrevue, Canal Cafe Theatre) and Pippa Winslow (The Sound of Music, Bill Kenwright tour; Alan Turing – Guilty of Love, UK tour).
Director and producer Mark Giesser has written, directed and produced extensively in both Off-Broadway and London Fringe venues. Recent productions include his adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic short story The Lady With A Dog, the UK premiere of Alan Alda’s Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, and the 60th anniversary UK revival of the stage play of Gigi.
Strike Up The Band is at Upstairs at The Gatehouse 6th – 31st March 2019.
