Hayes Theatre Co Sets Full Cast of HIGH SOCIETY

The brand new production of the beloved musical HIGH SOCIETY presented by Hayes Theatre Co from the 4th of September, today announced the full cast and that the season will be extended - now running until Saturday 3 October.

New Cast announced today

Multi award winning Delia Hannah, one of Australia and New Zealand's favourite leading ladies will play Margaret Lord. Delia became a star of musical theatre as Miss Santiago in The Buddy Holly Story, Fantine in Les Miserables, and Florence in Chess, a role that also took her to wow audiences in the UK.

Scott Irwin will play George Kittredge. Scott is best known for his performances in Hairspray, Les Miserables, Beauty and The Beast and in last year's Truth Beauty and a Picture of You. Best known for his work with State Theatre companies across Australia, Laurence Coy will play Uncle Willie- he was last seen at Hayes Theatre Co in The Drowsy Chaperone. Playing the elusive Seth Lord is Russell Cheek, who has a wide and varied career, from starring in Young Einstein to Barrie Kosky's Tartuffe.

Phillip Lowe is well known to Hayes Theatre Co audiences with standout appearances Beyond Desire, Neglected Musicals and Blood Brothers will play Chester. In the role of Mavis, is Michelle Barr - who is currently rehearsing Heathers and recently appeared across Australia in Legally Blonde.

And introducing Jessica Whitfield as Dinah Lord. Jessica is recent graduate of Australian Institute of Music where she played Hedy La Rue in How To Succeed In Business (Without Really Trying).

Cast already announced

This production will star Amy Lehpamer as Tracy Lord. Amy has been seen recently in The Rocky Horror Show and was recently announced as Maria in the upcoming GFO production of The Sound of Music. Bert LaBonté will play CK Dexter Haven. He recently toured Australia and the US in MTC's Rupert and received huge accolades for his portrayal of Martin Luther King in The Mountaintop.

Best known for his award winning performance of Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys and more recently in Blood Brothers at Hayes Theatre Co, Bobby Fox will play Mike Connor. As the wise cracking all knowing photographer Liz Imbrie, Virginia Gay star of TV's Winner's & Losers and All Saints will make her Hayes Theatre Co debut.

"HIGH SOCIETY is an iconic movie musical and a Broadway blockbuster," said producer Richard Carroll. "We have assembled a marvellously talented cast to bring to life this delightful story and sparkling score."

The captivating Tracy Lord invites you to the most elegant wedding of 1938. There's 700 guests, an ocean of champagne, and a couple of pesky undercover journalists certain to turn the event from shindig into scandal. Only one thing remains uncertain - who exactly will be the groom? Tracy is adored by a society that worships her beauty, stature and grace - but underneath her cool reserve, her heart yearns for something real. Wayward family members, wise-cracking interlopers and an inconvenient ex-husband all converge to make Tracy's wedding preparations a battle against temptation, blackmail, and sobriety. What a swell party this is!

Including the songs High Society, Ridin' High, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, True Love, Let's Misbehave, Just One of Those Things, Well, Did You Evah!, It's All Right With Me and more

Based on the play 'The Philadelphia Story' by Philip Barry

Also based on the Turner Entertainment Co. motion picture 'High Society'

Original Broadway Production produced by Lauren Mitchell and Robert Gailus, Hal Luftig and Richard Samson, Dodger Endemic Theatricals in association with Bill Haber

Originally produced by American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco, CA. Carey Perloff, Artistic Director, Heather Kitchen, Managing Director

Click here for footage of the photoshoot.

Cole Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre. After a slow start, he began to achieve success in the 1920s, and by the 1930s he was one of the major songwriters for the Broadway musical stage. After a serious horseback riding accident in 1937, Porter was left disabled and in constant pain, but he continued to work. His shows of the early 1940s did not contain the lasting hits of his best work of the 1920s and 30s, but in 1948 he made a triumphant comeback with his most successful musical, Kiss Me, Kate. It won the first Tony Award for Best Musical. Porter's other musicals include Fifty Million Frenchmen, DuBarry Was a Lady, Anything Goes, Can-Can and Silk Stockings. His numerous hit songs include Night and Day, Begin the Beguine, I Get a Kick Out of You, Well, Did You Evah!, I've Got You Under My Skin, My Heart Belongs to Daddy and You're the Top . He also composed scores for films from the 1930s to the 1950s, including Born to Dance (1936), which featured the song You'd Be So Easy to Love; Rosalie (1937), which featured In the Still of the Night; High Society (1956), which included True Love; and Les Girls (1957).

Hayes Theatre Co is a dedicated music theatre and cabaret venue in Potts Point. Named for Australian musical theatre legend, Nancye Hayes OAM, Hayes Theatre Co honours and builds on the vast history of Australian Musical Theatre and its practitioners. This not-for-profit venue is managed by Independent Music Theatre, a collaborative partnership focusing on providing a permanent home for small-scale musical theatre and cabaret. By providing venue space to newly mounted productions, Hayes Theatre Co, will be a presenting partner together with independent producers and artists. Hayes Theatre Co is made possible through the City of Sydney's Accommodation Grant Program.