THE VIEW UPSTAIRS Announces Final Cast Members

With rehearsals commencing next week, Invisible Wall Productions and Sugary Rum Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co are thrilled to announce the final cast members of the Australian Premiere of the hit Off-Broadway musical, The View UpStairs. As part of the 2018 Mardi Gras Festival, this provocative new musical, written by Max Vernon, is being performed at Hayes Theatre Co from 8 February.

The role of Richard, a kindly preacher and spiritual leader will be played by Thomas Campbell who has recently returned from Edinburgh performing his hit one-man show Misterman. Anthony Larkin (Kinky Boots, The Sound of Music) will play Buddy, the bar's resident and conflicted pianist. In the role of COPS, is recent WAAPA graduate Nick Errol.

As previously announced, performing in the lead role of Wes, a young fashion designer who embarks on this exhilarating journey, will be Henry Brett (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Spring Awakening) while the role of Willie, an UpStairs regular and flamboyant queen of a certain age, will be played by Madison McKoy (Miss Saigon, South Pacific). Stephen Madsen (Rent, Heathers), currently appearing in Muriel's Wedding The Musical, will be playing Wes' love interest, Patrick, while Ryan Gonzalez (Kinky Boots, Strictly Ballroom), who will play Freddie, a Latino drag queen who overcomes shame to achieve self-actualization. Rounding out the cast are Markesha McCoy (The Bodybag The Panto) as Henri, Martelle Hammer (Blue Heelers) as Freddie's mother, Inez, and David Hooley (Fiddler On the Roof) as Dale.

The View UpStairs draws you inside the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant '70s gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans. This forgotten community comes to life in all its gritty, glam rock glory when Wes, a young fashion designer from 2017, buys the abandoned space, setting off an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration that spans two generations of queer history. While Wes gets to know the joys and struggles of this exuberant and flamboyant community, he too learns about his place in the world.

Inspired by one of the most significant yet all-but-ignored attacks against the American LGBTQI community, The View UpStairs examines what has been gained and lost in the fight for equality, and how the past can help guide all of us through an uncertain future.

Following the popular and critical success of Only Heaven Knows earlier this year, Shaun Rennie returns to Hayes Theatre Co to direct this sensitive, original piece. Costume designer is Anita Yavich (The View UpStairs, Off-Broadway) and set designer is Isabel Hudson (One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest). Making his Hayes Theatre Co debut is musical director Nicholas Griffin (Disney's The Little Mermaid) while Hayes Theatre Co favourite Cameron Mitchell (Calamity Jane, High Fidelity) returns as choreographer. Trent Suidgeest (Muriel's Wedding the Musical), also from the Only Heaven Knows team, returns as lighting designer as does Neil McLean (Xanadu, Only Heaven Knows) as sound designer.

From the opening piano chords of this Off-Broadway sensation, the five-piece band and cast of ten blasts into the glam rock world of the 1970s. In our ever-changing world, The View UpStairs looks at the then and now to explore our ideas of love, regret, defiance and resilience. With a 'badass' goose bump-raising score, the story induces both laughter and tears. See why Ru Paul said the show was "FABULOUS! It was fantastic."

Tickets for The View UpStairs are available at hayestheatre.com.au or by calling the Hayes Theatre Co box office during business hours on (02) 8065 7337.

More info is available about the original Off-Broadway run at www.theviewupstairs.com

Original Cast Album on Broadway Records available on iTunes, Amazon and www.broadwayrecords.com

Presented by Invisible Wall Productions and Sugary Rum productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co

Book, Music and Lyrics by Max Vernon

Directed by Shaun Rennie

Musical Direction by Nicholas Griffin
Set design by Isabel Hudson

Costume design by Anita Yavich

Choreography by Cameron Mitchell

Lighting Design by Trent Suidgeest

Sound Design by Neil McLean

Invisible Wall Productions is a Production Company founded and run by New York based, Sydney born and bred Jenny Ainsworth. It was nominated for a Tony Award as a co-producer of the recent Spring Awakening Revival, and was the producer of the Lortel, Drama Desk and Off-Broadway Alliance nominated original Off-Broadway production of The View UpStairs.

Sugary Rum Productions is run by Gus Murray, Australian actor and producer who is currently starring in Miracle City at the Sydney Opera House.

Hayes Theatre Co is a dedicated music theatre and cabaret venue in Potts Point. Named for Australian musical theatre legend, Nancye Hayes AM, 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.

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