SDWC Productions announce the full cast for the revival of the hit British musical Maggie May. With music and lyrics by Lionel Bart and book by renowned dramatist Alun Owen, Maggie May has not been seen on the professional stage in London since its 1964 premiere at the Adelphi Theatre.
In this hard-hitting celebration of working class life in Liverpool’s docks in the 1960s, Maggie May will be played by Kara Lily Hayworth (Cilla the Musical, National Tour; Annie, National Tour; The Mystery of Edwin Drood), with James Darch (Wicked, Apollo Victoria; Mamma Mia!, Novello Theatre; Cats, National Tour) as Patrick Casey, and Natalie Williams (Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Theatre Royal Drury Lane; Oliver!, Leicester Curve; Scrooge, London Palladium) playing Maureen O’Neill.
The cast also includes Mark Pearce, Leon Kay, Michael Nelson, Barnaby Taylor, Aaron Kavanagh, Chloe Carrington, Euan Bennet, Cathy McManamon, Joshua Barton and David Keller.
This production marks the 20th anniversary of the death of Lionel Bart, described by Andrew Lloyd Webber as ‘the father of the modern British Musical’. Winner of the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Score of the Year and the Critics’ Poll Award for Best New British Musical, Maggie May includes one the most musically diverse scores of the 1960s, ranging from bitter sweet ballads, Mersey Beat rock ‘n’ roll and classic chorus numbers.
Full of vigour, northern wit and brassy tunes, this is the story of ‘street walker’ Maggie May Duffy and her childhood sweetheart, Patrick Casey. Their love story is set against the economic decline of Liverpool’s docks at the height of the City’s cultural revival through the Mersey Beat sound.
Director, Matthew Iliffe, said, In the year which marks the twentieth anniversary of legendary British songwriter Lionel Bart’s death, it seemed appropriate to honour his legacy with a revival of Maggie May, Bart’s hit musical which ran at the West End’s Adelphi Theatre in 1964. Bart was a workingclass maverick from the East End who, despite not being able to read or write music, penned the soundtrack to 1960s Britain, with hits such as Living Doll for Cliff Richard, Bond Theme From Russia With Love for Matt Monroe and of course the score for Oliver!
As a librettist and lyricist he also captured the contemporary zeitgeist like no other with shows like Fings’ Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be and indeed Maggie May. In doing so, he is arguably the only British writer of musicals to ever successfully put working-class experiences centre stage. This anniversary gives us the chance to appraise his extraordinarily wide-ranging body of work and to celebrate a true British Icon.
Maggie May is at Finborough Theatre 27th March to 20th April 2019.
