Dame Patricia Routledge will play the role of the Narrator in the upcoming concert performance of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s iconic musical Carousel for one night only at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 19th May.
Dame Patricia joins the previously announced Joanna Riding, Janie Dee, Hadley Fraser, Chizzy Akudola, Stewart Clarke , Lucy Schaufer and Gavin Spokes, with one final star casting to be announced. The cast will be joined by The GSA Singers from Guildford School of Acting.
Dame Patricia Routldge is best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances (1990–1995), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance in 1992 and 1993. Her film appearances include To Sir, with Love (1967) and Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1968). She won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Darling of the Day, and the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Candide.She won the 1968 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role in Darling of the Day, and the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Candide.
The 1945 musical marks the second collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II and is based on Ferenc Molnar’s 1909 play Liliom. The story revolved around carousel barker Billy Bielow, whose romance with millworker Julie Jordan come at the price of both their jobs. He participates in a robbery to provide for Julie and their unborn child; after it all goes tragically wrong, he is given a chance to make things right. A secondary plot line deals with millworker Carrie Pepperidge and her romance with ambitious fisherman Enoch Snow. The show premiered prior to the inception of the Tony Awards, but at the time won eight Donaldson Awards.
This one-night concert performance will feature a thirty-one-piece orchestra conducted by Alex Parker playing Don Walker’s complete original orchestration. It is produced by Jack Maple & Brian Zeilinger for Take Two Theatricals, and Quick Fantastic.
The concert will play Cadogan Hall on Sunday 19th May at 6.30PM.
