CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT
GIGI by Colette and Anita Loos
Tabard Theatre, London W4
28th October– 21stNovember 2015
The Tabard Theatre in West London plays host to Colette and Anita Loos’ GIGI for a limited run, Wednesday 28th October – Saturday 21st November. Last seen in London 60 years ago, this production is directed by veteran New York and London producer/director Mark Giesser.
Paris, 1900. Bright, vivacious Gigi lives the carefree life of a schoolgirl in a family of modest means. She particularly enjoys card games with her much-older friend Gaston, a wealthy playboy. But her life is a bit different from that of an ordinary sixteen-year-old. Gigi is the next generation of a family of courtesans. Her grandmother and Aunt Alicia, the family matriarch, are determined that Gigi succeed where her mother failed. When Gaston notices more about Gigi than her eagerness to play cards, aunt and grandmother set their sights on an arrangement. Gigi has other ideas about her future. Will she prove as adept at romance as at cards?
‘Mark Giesser’s satirical take on the events leading to the infamous Battle of the Alamo … lights up with moments of inspired lunacy.’Time Out (4 Stars) on Good Morning, Alamo!
The cast includes:
DAISY MAY (Gigi) – As You Like It, Arcadia (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory); A Christmas Carol (St James Theatre); Sam Wanamaker Festival at The Globe Theatre. Film/television: The Last Photograph; Lewis; Whitechapel. 2015 Ian Charleson Award nominee.
RICHARD LYNSON (Gaston) – West End: Rainman; Star Wars Shortened; Complete Bible … Abridged, Complete History of the World … Abridged, Complete Works of William Shakespeare … Abridged (Reduced Shakespeare Company). Regional/Off-West End: The Applecart at Theatre Royal Bath; Scooby Doo in Stagefright (National Tour); How to Build a Better Tulip (Tabard, Mark Giesser).
PAMELA MILES (Alicia de St Ephlam) – Pygmalion (Old Vic); Darker Shores (Hampstead Theatre); Utopia (Soho Theatre); Stroke of Luck (Park Theatre). Film/television: A Fish Called Wanda; The Bill; Casualty; Family Business; Doctors; Midsomer Murders.
PRUE CLARKE (Mme Alvarez) – Film/television: The Wicker Tree; Doctors; Mr Selfridge; Call The Midwife; Breathless; Law & Order UK; Poirot; The Inbetweeners; Holby City; The Bill; Midsomer Murders. Theatre includes Soho Theatre; Bristol Old Vic; Stephen Joseph Theatre.
ZOË TEVERSON (Andree) – Alan Alda’s Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, Code of the West, Good Morning, Alamo! (Tabard, Mark Giesser); Bell, Book & Candle (Greenwich Playhouse, Mark Giesser); Murderer (Gatehouse); Kent Rep at Hever Castle.
ZOË SIMON (Sidonie) – Alan Alda’s Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, How to Build a Better Tulip (Tabard, Mark Giesser); Beyond Control (Theatre 503); Silent Partners, The Tragedy of Master Arden of Faversham (White Bear); Edinburgh Fringe.
Colette’s classic story was adapted as a Broadway comedy in 1951 by Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) which then inspired the film and stage musical. This original version of Gigi debuted in the West End in 1955. It returns to the professional London stage under the direction of Mark Giesser, whose production of Alan Alda’s Radiance played a sold out run at the Tabard earlier this year.
‘It works quite beautifully … The hands of the director carry the timing to perfection.’
London Theatreviews on Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie
Mark Giesser has written, directed and produced in numerous theatre venues in both London and New York. London credits include his plays How to Build a Better Tulip, the UK premiere of Code of the West and the world premiere of Good Morning, Alamo!(Tabard Theatre); the revival of Bell, Book & Candle (Greenwich Playhouse); the UK premieres of the Abbey Theatre’s Blackwater Angel (Finborough Theatre) and Alan Alda’s Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie. Off-Broadway productions of his plays includeHow to Build a Better Tulip, Code of the West, Hansen’s Cab, The Night they Burned Washington, Pledge of Allegiance.
GIGI is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH LTD.
Casting is by Jenkins McShane.
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Tabard Theatre, 2 Bath Road, London W4 1LW
Dates: Wednesday 28th October – Saturday 21st November, 2015
Times: Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm; Sunday matinees, 2pm on 8th & 15th November
Press night: Friday 30th October, 7pm
Tickets: £18/ £16 (concessions)
Box Office: 020 8995 6035/ www.tabardtheatre.co.uk