Williams and Price to Star in West End's 'Seeking Susan'

Emma Williams has been confirmed as the star of the upcoming West End musical Desperately Seeking Susan, according to Variety.  The show will begin previews at the Novello Theatre on October 12th.

Williams will play the title role, which was created in the 1985 Susan Seidelman film by Madonna, while Kelly Price (London Guys and Dolls) will join her as Roberta, the character played by Rosanna Arquette. Williams and Price previously starred in a workshop of the new musical alongside Simon Lipkin, Clive Rowe, and Neil McDermott. 

The show, which is written and conceived by Peter Michael Marino, will be directed by Angus Jackson (Carousel, Promises, Promises, Dealer's Choice) and produced by Susan Gallin, Ron Kastner, Mark Rubinstein and Old Vic Productions. Desperately Seeking Susan will feature numbers from the song catalog of Blondie, the New York-based New Wave band.  A new song, "Moment of Truth," will join the previous hits "Heart of Glass," "Atomic," "One Way or Another," "Dreaming" and "The Tide Is High" in the show's score.  Deborah Harry, the lead singer of Blondie, releases "Necessary Evil" - her first solo album in 14 years - on September 25th.

Desperately Seeking Susan, which earned Arquette a Golden Globe nomination and co-starred worldwide music sensation Madonna as Susan, tells the story of a bored suburban housewife who becomes fascinated with a woman she learns about through the personals section of a New York City Paper, and is known as a fond document of New York City's New Wave scene in the 1980s.

Williams has starred in London in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (opposite Michael Ball and Richard O'Brian), Bat Boy and A Model Girl.  Her TV credits include "Heartbeat," "Marple" and "Bleak House," and she has also been seen on screen in The Parole Officer.

The production will be designed by Tim Hatley, with lighting by Hugh Vanstone (both of Spamalot).

Photo of Emma Williams courtesy of The London Daily Mail