ADAMA Entertainment announce that EastEnders star Max Bowden, WhatsOnStage Award nominee Paul Jacob French and Tori Allen-Martin will star as Rico ‘Ratzo’ Rizzo, Joe Buck and Cass respectively in the world premiere of MIDNIGHT COWBOY – A NEW MUSICAL which will open at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 4 April 2025.
This powerful adaptation has a book by Bryony Lavery (writer of the Tony-nominated play Frozen), which breathes new life into the classic story, exploring the depths of friendship and ambition, and soundtrack by three-time Ivor Novello Award-winning composer Francis “Eg” White, who has written songs for Adele, Sam Smith, Florence + The Machine and James Morrison.
Max Bowden is best known for playing Ben Mitchell in the BBC 1 soap EastEnders. Prior to this he had a leading role in Waterloo Road (BBC 1) and starred in the 2015 UK tour and 2020 online production of Original Theatre Company’s production of Birdsong. He returned to the production in the role of Jack Firebrace in the 2024 UK tour.
Paul Jacob French was nominated for Best Performer in a Musical at the 2023 WhatsOnStage Awards for his portrayal of Kenickie in the West End production of Grease (Dominion Theatre). He has most recently starred in An Officer and a Gentleman (UK & Ireland tour), Annie! (UK tour) and The Wizard of Oz (Curve Theatre).
Tori Allen-Martin is a regular in BBC 1 comedy Here We Go. She was previously seen as a leading regular in 4 series of BBC’s London Kills and as a regular on Channel 4’s Pure. Her other television credits include; Mrs Sidhu Investigates (Acorn); Significant Other (Hatrick); Plebs: The War (the finale) (Rise films); The Other Half (Ranga Bee Productions), Flatshare (42 for Paramount+); Back To Life (Two Brothers Pictures); and Pandemonium (BBC).
Her stage credits include: I Wish You Well (Criterion and Edinburgh Fringe), Samuel Takes A Break (The Yard Theatre), Then, Now and Next (Southwark Playhouse), Park Bench (Park Theatre), One Man, Two Guvnors (New Wolsey, Ipswich/Nuffield Southampton), The Season (Glass Half Full Productions and Tim Johanson), The Hardest One (The Other Palace/ Criterion) and Hair the Musical (European tour).
Also starring in MIDNIGHT COWBOY – A NEW MUSICAL will be Elena Breschi (Fantastically Great Women Who Changed The World, UK Tour & The Other Palace; Kindertransport, Nottingham Playhouse) as Delores, Joanne Henry (Bridgerton, Netflix; West Side Story, West End & UK tour) as Grandma Sally, Nick Len (Wicked UK Tour; West End, Chess, West End) as Swing, Hollie-Ann Lowe (Burlesque The Musical, Manchester Opera House; Dirty Dancing, West End) as Swing, Dean Makowski-Clayton (Little Fiend, Phoenix Arts Club; Marie Curie, Charing Cross Theatre) as Student, Christian Maynard (Miss Saigon, Sheffield Crucible; & Juliet, West End) as Tombaby, Phoebe Roberts (Grease, UK tour; Annie!, UK Tour) as Chalkline Annie, Tim Rogers (An Officer and a Gentleman, UK & Ireland tour; West Side Story, UK tour) as Woodsy Niles, Rohan Tickell (Rock of Ages, West End; Phantom Of The Opera, West End & Australia) as Mr O’Daniel, Matthew White (The Mousetrap, West End; Bat Boy, Southwark Playhouse) as Towny.
The new musical is based on the novel by James Leo Herlihy which inspired the beloved triple Academy Award-winning 1969 film, starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. Midnight Cowboy captures the gripping tension of dreaming big whilst trying to survive the grind of New York City.
Joe Buck is a young man desperate to escape his dead-end past. Leaving everything behind, to seek wealth and glory in the big city, he meets a man just as lost as he is – Rico ‘Ratso’ Rizzo. The pair join forces, prepared to do whatever it takes to achieve their dreams, even if it means surrendering a part of themselves. But New York ain’t no dream – it’s a jungle and survival requires sacrifice…
MIDNIGHT COWBOY will have direction and choreography by Nick Winston with musical arrangements, orchestrations and musical supervision by Charlie Ingles, set and lighting design by Andrew Exeter, costume design by Sophia Pardon, sound design by Yvonne Gilbert, creative development by Nick Winston, production management by James Anderton, musical direction by Ellie Verkerk, associate direction and choreography by Libby Watts, associate set and costume design by Natalia Alvarez, props supervision by Katie Balmforth, costume supervision by Josh Bamling, intimacy direction by Lucy Fennell, dialect coaching by Mary Howland, casting by Sarah-Jane Price, company stage management by Peter Barnett, deputy stage management by Samantha Kerrison, lighting programming by Ryan Dunnett, assistant stage management by Antonia Howlett, technical assistant stage management by Callum Wallace, the technical swing is Izzy Moore, the head of lighting/technical swing is Harrison Smith, head of wardrobe is Gemma McErlane and the wardrobe assistant Emily Souch.
MIDNIGHT COWBOY is produced by ADAMA Entertainment. More information can be found here.
