Gavin Lee to join cast of Top Hat at the Aldwych
Posted on 2 November 2012
From 5 February 2013 Gavin Lee will join the cast of the hit West End production of Top Hat at the Aldwych Theatre, to play Jerry Travers, the role played in the original RKO motion picture by Fred Astaire.
Top Hat is currently booking at the Aldwych Theatre until 28 September 2013 having recently released a further 180,000 new tickets for sale. Seventy seven years after its movie release, Matthew White’s production arrived in the West End earlier this year having completed a 20 week sell-out UK tour.
From 27 November 2012, Charlotte Gooch will join the cast to play Dale Tremont alongside Tom Chambers who continues in the role of Jerry Travers until 2 February 2013.
Gavin Lee returns to the West End where he previously originated the role of Bert in the London production of Mary Poppins for which he was Laurence Olivier award nominated. He went on to play the role on Broadway for which he received Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards as well as a Tony Award nomination. While in New York he appeared at Carnagie Hall in Showboat and on television guest starred in Law and Order SUV and The Good Wife. His other London credits include Crazy For You, Peggy Sue Got Married, Me and My Girl, Over My Shoulder, Oklahoma and Contact. His regional theatre credits include Singin’ In The Rain, Snoopy, Noel Coward’s Masterpieces, Of Thee I Sing, Saturday Night, Chicago and Alan Ayckbourn’s Whenever. Gavin Lee is extremely grateful to Cameron Mackintosh, Tom Schumacher and Kenny Wax for making this opportunity possible.
Charlotte Gooch has recently completed a run playing the leading role of Penny Johnson in the UK National Tour of Dirty Dancing, a role she also played at the Theatre am Potsdamer Platz, Berlin. Her other theatre credits include Patty in the UK tour of Grease and Bombalurina in the European tour of Cats. She played the title role in Cinderella at the De La Ware Pavillion, Bexhill and Genie of the Ring in Aladdin at the North Wales Theatre, Llandudno.
Jerry Travers, the famous American tap dancer, arrives in London to appear in his first West End show. Travers meets the irresistible Dale Tremont, the girl of his dreams, and follows her across Europe in an attempt to win her heart.
Performed by a cast of 31 and accompanied by a live band of 15, this new musical comedy includes Irving Berlin classics from the original movie. A further ten numbers have been interpolated from Berlin’s 1200 strong back catalogue.
Directed by Matthew White and choreographed by Bill Deamer,Top Hat has set designs by Hildegard Bechtler, costume designs by Jon Morrell, lighting design by Peter Mumford, sound by Gareth Owen, new orchestrations by Chris Walker, musical supervision by Richard Balcombe and musical direction by Daniel Jackson. With music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and based on the RKO motion picture, the screenplay by Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott has been adapted for the stage by Matthew White and Howard Jacques and is presented by arrangement with RKO Pictures LLC, Warner Bros Theatre Ventures Inc. and the Irving Berlin Music Company.
The original London cast recording of Top Hat was recently released by First Night Records.
Top Hat is produced by Kenny Wax, and his partners on the production are Stewart Lane and Bonnie Comley, Ted Hartley, Flora Suk-Hwa Yoon and Lee Menzies.
