The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ (musical)

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ is a stage musical based on the young-adult novel of the same name by Sue Townsend. It features book and lyrics by Jake Brunger and music and lyrics by Pippa Cleary.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
The Musical
MusicPippa Cleary
LyricsJake Brunger
Pippa Cleary
BookJake Brunger
BasisThe Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾
by Sue Townsend
Premiere17 March 2015 (2015-03-17): Curve, Leicester
Productions2015 Leicester
2017 London
2019 West End

The musical made its world première at the Curve in Leicester in March 2015, followed by a London production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in summer 2017 and a West End run at the Ambassadors Theatre from June to September 2019.

Productions

Leicester (2015)

The musical was announced to make its world première at the Curve in Leicester (the title character and author Sue Townsend's hometown) from 7 March to 4 April 2015, with an official opening on 17 March.

The production was directed by Luke Sheppard, designed by Tom Rogers, choreographed by Tim Jackson. It was revealed upon the announcement by Townsend's husband, Colin Broadway, that Townsend had been working with the writers, Brunger and Cleary on the musical from 2012 to before her death in 2014.[1]

Off-West End (2017)

The musical made its London debut in a new production at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark from 14 July to 6 September 2017, with an official opening on 26 July.[2]

The new production was again directed by Luke Sheppard and designed by Tom Rogers with new choreography by Rebecca Howell. The new production was presented by the Menier Chocolate Factory and Curve in association with Anthony Clare and David Ian Productions.[3]

The cast from this production recorded the Original London Cast Recording which will be released on 28 June 2019 to coincide with the West End production.

West End (2019)

The Chocolate Factory production opened at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End on 15 June 2019, playing a limited season, featuring a new cast (with the exceptions of Rosemary Ashe returning as Grandma from the Curve production and John Hopkins as Mr Lucas / Mr Scruton and Lara Denning as Miss Elf / Doreen Slater returning from the Menier Chocolate Factory production).[4] The production was due to finish on 12 October 2019, however it was announced that it was due to close two weeks earlier than planned on 28 September 2019.[5]

Cast and characters

Character Leicester (2015)[6] Off- West End (2017)[7] West End (2019)[8][9]
Adrian Mole Joel Fossard-Jones
Lewis Andrews
Sebastian Croft
Toby Murray
Benjamin Lewis
Ilan Galkoff
Samuel Menhinick
Guillermo Bedward
Rufus Kampa
Aaron Gelkoff
Michael Hawkins
Nicholas Antoniou-Tibbitts
Pandora Braithwaite Imogen Gurney
Lulu-Mae Pears
Elise Bugeja
Asha Banks
Georgia Pemberton
Lara Wollington
Matilda Hopkins
Molly May Gibson
Riya Vyas
Rebecca Nardin
Barry Kent James McJannett-Smith
Harrison Slater
Edward Cross
Jason Rennie
Callum Mcdonald
Connor Davies
Aaron Shaw
Charlie Stripp
Kobi Watson
Jack Gale
Nigel Kwame Kandekore
Samuel Small
George Barnden
Amir Wilson
Edward Hooper
Max Robson
Cuba Kamanu
Jeremiah Davan Waysome
Albert Green
Regan Garcia
Grandma Rosemary Ashe Gay Soper Rosemary Ashe
Mr Lucas / Mr Scruton Cameron Blakely John Hopkins
Miss Elf / Doreen Slater / Mrs Lucas Amy Booth-Steel Lara Denning
George Mole Neil Ditt Dean Chisnall Andrew Langtree
Pauline Mole Kirsty Hoiles Kelly Price Amy Ellen Richardson
Bert Baxter Neil Salvage Barry James Ian Talbot

NB: The role of Mrs Lucas was cut for the London production.

Critical Reception

Leicester

The world premiere at Leicester's Curve Theatre Theatre received 4 stars from The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian. Lyn Gardner in The Guardian wrote that Mole was "a home-grown hit for the Curve... a show constantly paying neat homage to previous British musicals and the traditions of the TV sitcom, and yet always staying distinctive and true to its source material... a quaint, unassuming little charmer".[10] Dominic Cavendish in The Telegraph wrote that "this all-singing, all-dancing Mole comes up trumps; in fact, it's so good it could burrow its way to the West End... the evening does that rare thing: it makes you laugh, tugs at your heart-strings and honours the spirit of the original while being playfully inventive... this fresh, funny, stirring spin on a Thatcher-era classic may be around for a long time to come."[11] Dominic Maxwell in The Times wrote 'it's no small achievement to make this first musical version such a lively, evocative pleasure... amusing and affecting enough to leave you glowing... a thoroughly charming evening: faithful to the book but with a tenderness of its own.'[12]

London

The 2017 London production at the Menier Chocolate Factory received 5 stars from The Evening Standard, The Independent and Whatsonstage.com, with 4 star reviews from The Daily Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian. Michael Billington in The Guardian described it as "A fresh and funny show from the young songwriting team of Jake Brunger (book and lyrics) and Pippa Cleary (music and lyrics). They clearly have the potential to inject new life into the anaemic British musical"[13] with Fiona Mountford in The Evening Standard calling it 'a perfectly realised new British musical'.[14] Ben Brantley also positively reviewed the musical in The New York Times, describing it as "a delightful new musical".[15]

References

  1. "Curve to Stage the World Première of Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ – The Musical". Curve Theatre. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  2. "Menier Chocolate Factory to stage new production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole musical". WhatsOnStage.com. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  3. "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ – The Musical heading to Menier Chocolate Factory". London Theatre Guide. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ – The Musical to run in the West End | WhatsOnStage". www.whatsonstage.com. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  5. "NEWS: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole musical closes two weeks earlier than planned". My Theatre Mates. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  6. "Full Casting Announced for Curve's World Première of Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ The Musical". Curve Theatre. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  7. "Menier casts Adrian Mole musical". www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  8. Limited, London Theatre Direct (20 May 2019). "Children's cast announced for The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ - The Musical". www.londontheatredirect.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  9. Limited, London Theatre Direct (14 May 2019). "Casting announced for the Ambassadors Theatre production of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13¾ – The Musical". www.londontheatredirect.com. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  10. Gardner, Lyn (18 March 2015). "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole review". The Guardian.
  11. Cavendish, Dominic (18 March 2015). "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole review: 'comes up trumps'". The Daily Telegraph.
  12. Maxwell, Dominic (18 March 2015). "Adrian Mole – The Musical at the Curve, Leicester". The Times.
  13. Billington, Michael (27 July 2017). "The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ review – Townsend's gawky icon rescues the British musical". The Guardian.
  14. Mountford, Fiona (27 July 2017). "Adrian Mole theatre review: a perfectly realised new British musical". The Evening Standard.
  15. Brantley, Ben (15 August 2017). "Regressing in London with Meat Loaf and Adrian Mole". New York Times.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.