The BBC has announced today that Lucie Jones is one of the six artists chosen to perform the songs competing for the UK’s entry into the Eurovision Song Contest. Lucie will perform the song on Eurovision: You Decide, a show to be held at the Eventim Hammersmith Apollo on 27 January 2017 and broadcast live on BBC Two, presented by Mel Giedroyc. The winner, who will be revealed on the night after a combined expert jury and live public vote, will then represent the UK at Eurovision, with the Grand Final on Saturday 13 May in Kyiv, Ukraine.
The ballad that Lucie is singing, Never Give Up On You, is the work of composers and lyricists The Treatment, Emmelie de Forest and Lawrie Martin, and can be heard now at the following link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/eurovision/entries/9ced8ad0-73ed-4765-b5e4-d26a82f25670
Lucie is currently starring as Maureen Johnson in the new 20th Anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical RENT. The show is currently playing a sold-out season at St. James Theatre, London until 28 January and will then embark on a major UK tour until 27 May 2017. RENT has been nominated for Best Regional Production at the 17th Annual What’s on Stage Awards, taking place in London next month.
Lucie said “I’m absolutely thrilled to be invited to take part in Eurovision: You Decide. Never Give Up On You is an incredibly powerful song, especially when sung live! I can’t wait to perform it live on BBC Two on Friday night.”
Producer Robert Mackintosh said “On behalf of the producers of RENT, we are delighted that Lucie Jones has been selected to sing one of the six songs in the running to compete for UK’s entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Lucie is one of the UK’s brightest young talents and a valued company member. We wish her every success for Eurovision: You Decide this Friday.”
Lucie was a finalist on The X Factor in 2009 and has most recently starred as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (Curve, Leicester). Her other theatre credits include Molly Jenson on tour in Ghost the Musical, Victoria in American Psycho at The Almeida, Meatloaf in the International Tour of We Will Rock You and Cosette in Les Miserables at Queens Theatre, London’s West End and O2 Arena. Lucie also toured the UK in The X Factor Arena Tour.
The cast of RENT also includes Billy Cullum as Mark Cohen, Ross Hunter as Roger Davis, Ryan O’Gorman as Tom Collins, Javar La’trial Parker as Benjamin Coffin III, Layton Williams as Angel Schunard, Philippa Stefani as Mimi Marquez and Shanay Holmes as Joanne Jefferson, with Jenny O’Leary, Katie Bradley, Joshua Dever, Kevin Yates, Bobbie Little, Christina Modestou, Jordan Laviniere, Harrison Clark and Oliver Bingham.
Jonathan Larson’s musical, inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, won four Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996. Ben Brantley’s New York Times review was a love letter to the show, calling RENT an “exhilarating, landmark rock opera”. RENT ran on Broadway for 12 years, from 1996 to 2008. The show premiered in London’s West End in 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it ran for 18 months. It was adapted into a film in 2005.
Larson’s world is inhabited by a group of bohemian artists who struggle to maintain their friendships and their non-conformist ideals in New York’s East Village. Facing their problems head on, they make personal self-discoveries and find what really matters most in life. The poignancy of the story was heightened when Jonathan Larson died of an aortic dissection on 25 January 1996, the night before the show’s first off-Broadway performance at New York Theatre Workshop.
The much-loved score features songs such as Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me, What You Own, One Song Glory, La Vie Bohème, Without You, I’ll Cover You, Out Tonight and I Should Tell You.
The new production of RENT has Choreography by Lee Proud, Musical Direction by Phil Cornwell, Set Design by Olivier Award-winner Anna Fleischle, Costume Design by Loren Elstein, Lighting Design by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Rick Fisher, Sound Design by Olivier Award-winner Mike Walker, Video Design by Andrzej Goulding and Casting by Will Burton Casting.
RENT has Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner, Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Billy Aronson, Music Supervision and Additional Arrangements by Tim Weil, and Dramaturg is Lynn Thomson. RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Alan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop.
RENT is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Ltd. For more information, visit www.RENTonstage.co.uk
Twitter: @RENTonstage
Instagram: Instagram.com/RENTonstage
Facebook: facebook.com/RENTonstage
LISTINGS INFORMATION
8 December 2016 to 28 January 2017
St. James Theatre
12 Palace Street
London SW1E 5JA
Box Office: 0844 264 2140 Website: www.stjamestheatre.co.uk
31 January to 4 February 2017
Devonshire Park Theatre
Compton St
Eastbourne BN21 4BW
Box Office: 01323 412 000 Website: www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk/venue/devonshire-park-theatre
6-11 February 2017
Churchill Theatre
High Street
Bromley
Kent BR1 1HA
Box Office: 020 3285 6000 Website: www.churchilltheatre.co.uk
14-18 February 2017
Festival Theatre
13 / 29 Nicolson Street
Edinburgh, EH8 9FT
Box Office: 0131 529 6000 Website: www.edtheatres.com
28 February – 4 March
Liverpool Empire Theatre
Lime St
Liverpool L1 1JE
Box Office: 0844 871 3017
Website: www.atgtickets.com/venues/liverpool-empire
7-11 March
New Victoria Theatre
The Ambassadors
Peacocks Centre
Woking
Surrey GU21 6GQ
Box Office: 0844 871 7645
Website: www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-victoria-theatre
28 March to 1 April 2017
Curve
Rutland Street
Leicester LE1 1SB
Box Office: 0116 242 3595 Website: www.curveonline.co.uk
3-8 April 2017
Wales Millennium Centre
Bute Pl
Cardiff Bay
Cardiff CF10 5AL
Box Office: 029 2063 6464 Website: www.wmc.org.uk
11-15 April 2017
Cheltenham Everyman Theatre
Regent Street
Cheltenham GL50 1HQ
Box Office: 01242 572573 Website: www.everymantheatre.org.uk
18-22 April 2017
York Theatre Royal
St. Leonard’s Place
York YO1 7HD
Box Office: 01483 440000 Website: www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
1-6 May 2017
Lighthouse
Poole’s Centre For The Arts
21 Kingland Road
Poole
Dorset BH15 1UG
Box Office: 01202 280000 Website: www.lighthousepoole.co.uk
9-13 May 2017
Belgrade Theatre
Belgrade Square,
Coventry CV1 1GS
Box Office: 024 7655 3055 Website: www.belgrade.co.uk
16-20 May 2017
Nottingham Playhouse
Wellington Circus
Nottingham, NG1 5AF
Box Office: 0115 941 9419 Website: www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk
23-27 May 2017
Assembly Hall Theatre
Crescent Road
Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 2LU
Box Office: 01892 530613 Website: www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk