LAST CHANCE TO SEE ORIGINAL CAST OFSUNNY AFTERNOON
CURRENT CAST’S FINAL PERFORMANCE ON 3 OCTOBER 2015
CURRENT CAST INCLUDES OLIVIER AWARD-WINNERS JOHN DAGLEISH AND GEORGE MAGUIRE
NEW CAST START ON 5 OCTOBER 2015
This week is the last chance for audiences to catch the original cast of Sunny Afternoon in the multi-Olivier Award-winning hit British musical which tells the story of the rise to fame of The Kinks. Their final performance will be on the evening of Saturday 3 October.
The new cast will have their first performance on Monday 5 October and includes Danny Horn(Doctor Who; The Dead Dogs), who will play Ray Davies, with Oliver Hoare (Antony and Cleopatra, Chichester) as Dave Davies, Tom Whitelock (Times Square Angel, Union) as bassist Pete Quaife and Damien Walsh (Dreamboats and Petticoats) as drummer Mick Avory. At certain performances, the role of Ray Davies will be played by Ryan O’Donnell (Romeo and Juliet, RSC;Quadrophenia). Sunny Afternoon is currently taking bookings until 16 April 2016.
Much of the current company have been with the production since the sold-out run at Hampstead Theatre in 2014 including the Olivier Award-winning leads John Dagleish (Best Actor in a Musical) and George Maguire (Best Supporting Actor in a Musical).
With a book by Joe Penhall, music and lyrics and original story by Ray Davies, and directed by Edward Hall, Sunny Afternoon has established itself as a firm favourite with audiences and critics alike since it opened at the Harold Pinter Theatre in October 2014.
Sunny Afternoon was the best performing show at this year’s Olivier Awards, winning four awards. The production won Best New Musical, John Dagleish won Best Actor in a Musical, George Maguire won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, and Ray Davies of The Kinks won for Outstanding Achievement in Music.
Forty-nine years ago this year, The Kinks were sitting at Number One in the UK charts with their single ‘Sunny Afternoon’. The band’s popularity has not faded since the 1960s, with crowds of all ages filling the Harold Pinter Theatre night after night.
Featuring some of The Kinks’ best-loved songs, including You Really Got Me, Waterloo Sunsetand Lola, Sunny Afternoon shows the music of The Kinks is still as popular as ever, more than 50 years since the band’s rise to fame.
Following a sold-out run at Hampstead Theatre, this world premiere production, with music and lyrics by Ray Davies, new book by Joe Penhall, original story by Ray Davies, direction by Edward Hall, design by Miriam Buether and choreography by Adam Cooper, opened at the Harold Pinter theatre on 28 October 2014. Lighting is by Rick Fisher, sound by Matt McKenzie and the Musical Supervisor and Musical Director is Elliott Ware.
The official cast recording album, produced by Ray Davies at his Konk studios, is released on BMG Chrysalis and is available to buy at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunny-Afternoon-The-Kinks/dp/B00NH8O7LU.
Sonia Friedman Productions commissioned Joe Penhall in 2011 to write the book based on Ray Davies’s original story. The company developed the production over the next four years, assembling the creative team and cast that presented Sunny Afternoon last year at Hampstead Theatre under the direction of Edward Hall, and now at the Harold Pinter Theatre.
Ray Davies is an influential and prolific rock musician and was co-founder and lead singer and songwriter for rock band The Kinks, and later a solo artist. He has an outstanding catalogue of hits from the earliest 1960s to the present day with estimated record sales in excess of 50 million. He has also acted, directed and produced shows for theatre and television.
Joe Penhall is an award winning playwright and screenwriter. Plays include Some Voices (Royal Court), Blue/Orange (National Theatre and West End), winner of Best New Play at the Evening Standard Awards, Olivier Awards and at the Critics Circle, and Dumb Show, Haunted Child andBirthday (all Royal Court). Screenplays include Enduring Love and The Road.
As Artistic Director of Hampstead Theatre, Edward Hall’s productions include Wonderland,Sunny Afternoon, Raving, Chariots of Fire, No Naughty Bits, Loyalty and Enlightenment. As Artistic Director of Propeller, his work has toured worldwide, played the West End and Broadway and has won numerous awards both in the UK and overseas. Other theatre work includes A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (National Theatre), Edmond with Kenneth Branagh (National Theatre), Macbeth with Sean Bean (Albery), The Constant Wife(Apollo), Julius Caesar (RSC), Henry V (RSC) and The Deep Blue Sea (Vaudeville). Television work includes Downton Abbey, Spooks and Kingdom. Edward is an Associate of the National Theatre and the Old Vic.