Curve theatre in Leicester has revealed the full cast of its Christmas musical A Chorus Line, including world famous dancer Adam Cooper and West End and Curve favourite Carly Mercedes Dyer.
Adam will play the role of Zach, the director / choreographer responsible for putting the performers through their paces in the show’s audition. Having gained acclaim for creating the lead role of the Swan/Stranger in Matthew Bourne’s production of Swan Lake – a role he also performed in the 2000 film Billy Elliot as the adult Billy – Adam is internationally renowned as a musical theatre performer, dancer and choreographer.
Carly Mercedes Dyer will star alongside Adam as Cassie, an auditionee and Zach’s ex-lover. Carly, who is currently performing in Anything Goes at The Barbican in London, recently appeared in the Curve at Home production of The Color Purple as Shug Avery, which streamed in Spring 2021, and as Anita in the Made at Curve 2019 production of West Side Story.
A smash-hit Broadway masterpiece, A Chorus Line will run at Curve from 3 to 31 December. The musical features iconic songs including ‘One’, ‘I Hope I Get It’, ‘Nothing’ and the hit ballad ‘What I Did For Love’.
The production reunites Curve’s Artistic Director Nikolai Foster and Choreographer Ellen Kane, who last worked together on the five-star Made at Curve production of West Side Story.
The cast features a host of familiar faces to Curve, including West Side Story company members Ronan Burns as Bobby Mills, Beth Hinton-Lever as Bebe Benzenheimer, Katie Lee as Kristine Ulrich and Redmand Rance as Mike Costa.
The cast is completed by Emily Barnett-Salter as Sheila Bryant, Bradley Delarosbel as Gregory Gardner, Lizzy-Rose Essin-Kelly as Diana Morales, André Fabien Francis as Richie Walters, Ainsley Hall Ricketts as Paul San Marco, Joshua Lay as Al Deluca, Kanako Nakano as Judy Turner, Hicaro Nicolai as Swing, Jamie O’Leary as Mark Anthony, Tom Partridge as Don Kerr, Rachel Jayne Picar as Connie Wong, Chloe Saunders as Val Clarke, Charlotte Scott as Maggie Winslow and Taylor Walker as Larry.
New York City. 1975. On an empty Broadway stage, 18 performers are put through their paces in the final, gruelling audition for a new Broadway musical. Only eight will make the cut. The audition takes an unexpected turn as the director, Zach, invites the performers to open up about their lives and what brought them into theatre. What follows are searing stories of ambition, childhood, shattered dreams and what it means to follow your dreams onto the stage. The emotional stakes are heightened when Zach’s ex-lover Cassie, fresh from an attempt to make it in Hollywood, wants to audition for the chorus line.
A Chorus Line will have set designed by Grace Smart, musical supervision from David Shrubsole, costume design by Edd Lindley, lighting by Howard Hudson, sound design by Tom Marshall and musical direction by Tamara Saringer. The show is cast by Curve Associate Kay Magson CDG.
A Chorus Line was created by Michael Bennett, who used real-life testimonies from chorus dancers to celebrate the lives of theatre’s unsung heroes. The musical has a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban,
Tickets for A Chorus Line at Curve are on sale now. To find out more and book tickets, visit www.curveonline.co.uk
