Initial casting announced for the world premiere of ‘Glory Ride’

Initial casting announced for the world premiere of ‘Glory Ride’

‘Glory Ride’
Book, Music & Lyrics by Victoria Buchholz & Todd Buchholz
Directed by Kelly Devine

Charing Cross Theatre
22 April to 29 July, 2023

GLORY RIDE, a new musical with Book, Music & Lyrics by Victoria Buchholz & Todd Buchholz, directed by Kelly Devine (Olivier Award-winning choreographer of ‘Come From Away’), reveals the secret wartime heroics of Gino Bartali, one of the most beloved athletes of all time.

A Tour de France winner, in the 1940s he was considered the second most famous man in Italy – after Mussolini. His cycling achievements on the Alps and Pyrenees were legendary, but until recently, few knew that he risked his life by saving hundreds of people from fascism during World War II.

With his cycling career as a cover, Bartali cycled thousands of miles between cities across Italy. Hidden in the frame of his bike were falsified identity cards and other secret documents to help victims cross borders to safety. His bravery rescued hundreds of persecuted Jews and other refugees, many of whom were children. In 2013, Yad Vashem, Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, recognised Gino Bartali with the honour of Righteous Among the Nations.

GLORY RIDE transports the audience to the golden hills of Tuscany during the darkest days of the Second World War, with a story combining heist, history, humour, and humanity and a soaring new score.

Victoria Buchholz encountered the story of Gino Bartali while travelling in Tuscany and set out to put it to music as GLORY RIDE, working with her father, Todd, a best-selling author, inventor and senior White House economic adviser.

GLORY RIDE was developed through workshops in New York and Los Angeles featuring top Broadway talent, with sold-out staged concerts last year at The Other Palace Theatre in London.

Cast includes:

Josh St. Clair (as Gino Bartali). Josh’s West End credits include the original cast of ‘Frozen’ (as Grand Pabbie), Peter Kingsley in ‘City of Angels’, ‘School of Rock’ and ‘Wicked’, and the UK tour of ‘Kinky Boots’.

Amy Di Bartolomeo (Adriana Bani). Amy is best known for playing Catherine of Aragon in ‘SIX’ in the West End, Leibeswoosh in ‘Bat Out of Hell’ (West End & Toronto), Meat in ‘We Will Rock You’ (UK tour).

Fed Zanni (Major Mario Carita). From Medina, Italy, Fed’s recent credits include Basilius in ‘Head Over Heels’ at Manchester’s Hope Mill, Nikos in ‘Mamma Mia! The Party’ (O2), ‘The Twelve Tenors’ (European Tour) and Jesus in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’.

Daniel Robinson (Giorgio Nico). Daniel was Kurt’s Dad in ‘Heathers the Musical’ (The Other Palace), Nathan Detroit in ‘Guys and Dolls’ and Luther Billis in ‘South Pacific’ both (Kilworth House), ‘Kiss Me Kate’ and ‘South Pacific’ (Théâtre du Châtelet); ‘My Night with Reg’ and ‘Piaf’ (Donmar Warehouse).

Ruairidh McDonald (Felix). Winner of the Young Scottish Musical Theatre Performer of the Year, Ruairidh made his professional debut as Buggins in ‘Half A Sixpence’ at Kilworth House and was John in ‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ (Pitlochry Festival Theatre).

Ryan Bennett (Commander Graziani). Ryan was recently in ‘Heathers’ as Coach Ripper/Big Bud Dean/Kurt’s Dad (The Other Palace) and was Lurch in ‘The Addams Family’ (UK tour).

Peter Watts (Fantali). Peter’s credits include Macduff in ‘Macbeth’ (UK Tour), Antiochus in ‘Pericles, Prince of Tyre’ (Upstairs at the Gatehouse), Trinculo in ‘The Tempest’ and Bottom in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (both Nottingham Playhouse).

Jamie Coyne (Cosmo). James is a recent graduate of Guildford School of Acting. ‘Glory Ride’ is his professional debut.

Loris Scarpa (Lorenzo). Loris was Svec in ‘Once in Concert’ (London Palladium), ‘Rapunzel’ at The Watermill and played Tweedledum/The March Hare in ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (The Mercury Theatre).

Susianna Paisio (Rosetta). Susianna is an Italian actress and singer-songwriter based in London and Turin. Her stage credits include ‘La Conferenza degli Uccelli’m ‘Chotto Desh’ (Akram Khan Company),  ‘Song of the Earth’ (Edinburgh Festival, shortlisted for the Sustainable Practice Award), ‘Una Mendicante Cieca Cantava l’Amore’ (Teatro dei Sensibili, Milan) and ‘Sibilla in Il Postino dell’Arcobaleno’ (Teatro San Babila, Milan).

Steve Watts (Torello). Steve’s credits include ‘Passion’ at Hope Mill, Manchester, ‘As You Like It’ (West End and International Tour); ‘Macbeth’, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Lady Be Good’ and ‘The Boy Friend’ (Regent’s Park).

Alice Spigariol (ensemble). Alice is a recent graduate of Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Glory Ride’ is Alice’s professional debut.

Creative team includes:

Director Kelly Devine
Associate Director Ricky J. Hinds
Musical Director Dave Rose
Set, Costume & Video Designer PJ McEvoy
Lighting Designer Rob Halliday
Orchestrations Jen Green
Casting Director Harry Blumenau
General Management  Smart Entertainment
Italian cultural adviser Federico Bellone
Producers Glory Ride 2023 Ltd

Kelly Devine – Director

‘Glory Ride’ is Kelly Devine’s UK debut as a director. As a choreographer, she won the 2019 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Choreography for the West End production of ‘Come From Away’. Her Broadway choreography credits include ‘Rock of Ages’, ‘Rocky’, ‘Doctor Zhivago’, ‘Come From Away’ ‘Diana the Musical’ and ‘Escape to Margaritaville’. She was associate choreographer on ‘Memphis’ and ‘Jersey Boys’.

Todd Buchholz – Book, Music & Lyrics

Todd Buchholz is a novelist and economic historian. He was an original co-producer of ‘Jersey Boys’ and his novel ‘The Castro Gene’, a mystery about a megalomaniacal investor in the Rat Pack era, was named a finalist for the USA Best Book Prize. He provided audio narration for his recent books,’ The Price of Prosperity’ (HarperCollins), which was named a “must-read” by the Wall Street Journal and ‘Rush’ (Penguin), for which he was profiled in The Times in London. Todd served as a senior advisor at the White House and is a frequent commentator in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and has appeared on such HBO’s ‘Real Time with Bill Maher,’ PBS NewsHour, BBC Today, and National Public Radio.

Victoria Buchholz – Book, Music & Lyrics

Victoria Buchholz is the author of the play ‘Lockdown’, which has been performed at regional theatres in Southern California and New York, as well as by the Tisch School at NYU. She has served as an executive at Viacom and Royal Caribbean, has written for publications such as the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and was a producer for ‘The Charlie Rose Show’ and Bloomberg Television. Victoria’s musical compositions include a set of contemporary pop songs under her stage name, Victoria Beachwood, as well as the score of ‘Law School Musical’, composed during her time at Stanford Law School.

Smart Entertainment – General Managers

Smart Entertainment provides general management, executive producing and consultancy services for the theatre and live entertainment sector. The experienced team have worked on over 100 productions in the last decade. Smart’s recent clients include Hartshorn – Hook Enterprises (including ‘Peaky Blinders: The Rise’, ‘Doctor Who: Time Fracture’, ‘Amélie’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’), ‘Grenfell: Value Engineering – Scenes from the Inquiry’, ‘Grenfell: System Failure – Scenes from the Inquiry’, London Musical Theatre Orchestra (including ‘A Christmas Carol’ at the Dominion, 2020), Rifco Arts, Talawa Theatre Company, Hackney Showroom and Northampton Royal & Derngate.

LISTINGS INFO

Glory Ride 2023 Ltd
presents
the world premiere of

GLORY RIDE
Book, Music & Lyrics by
Victoria Buchholz & Todd Buchholz

Directed by Kelly Devine

Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches
Villiers Street
London WC2N 6NL

Box office: 08444 930650

Saturday 22 April to 29 July, 2023

Performances:

Monday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm

Wednesday and Saturday matinees
at 2.30pm

Prices:
from £25.00

Premium seats
add programme and glass of bubbly for only £7.50 extra.

A £2.50 booking fee applies to phone and internet orders;
no booking fee to in person over the counter sales.
A restoration levy  applies to all tickets

The box office is open from 2 hours before curtain time on performance days for in person sales

SOCIAL MEDIA

Twitter:
@GloryRideShow

Instagram
@GloryRideShow

Website
www.Gloryridemusical.com