Beginning today, 27 May, Queen's Theatre Hornchurch presents the celebrated playwright
Christopher Bond's ROMFORD ROSE, a sparkling yet heartfelt new musical, brimming with foot-stomping, original country melodies by Jo Collins and featuring some of the UK's most talented musicians performing on a wonderful selection of instruments from the mandolin and banjo to the mighty pedal steel.
Rose is 18 today, it's party time in Romford... And it sure looks like that soldier boy Jack is tryin' to tame this Romford Rose. Well, her Daddy don't like it, her Mama's hittin' the hooch... and it's only Miss
Dolly Parton who seems to understand. So how 'bout it Rose -- you ever gonna make your own music and do what you want?
Christopher Bond, who also directs, is the prolific and fantastically inventive writer of many hits at the Queen's and around the world, including Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street , which was the inspiration for and formed the basis of the
Stephen Sondheim musical of the same name, and Alice on the Underground, an imaginative modern take on the
Lewis Carroll classics.
The Romford Rose stars
Nicky Croydon,
Sarah Day and Queen's regulars
Wade Lewin and Sam Pay, whose wonderfully diverse credits include plenty of stage and screen work - from the West End's Lion King and
Gary Barlow's Calendar Girls to the BBC's Brush Strokes and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The Romford Rose band features the Country's most respected instrumentalists: Jo Collins MBE, also musical director, has written songs recorded by Sir
Cliff Richard and
Elaine Page; BJ Cole is regarded as one of the world's greatest pedal steel guitarists, who has worked with living legends such as
Elton John, Sting and R.E.M.; Iain Whitmore, formerly a member of the 1970s rock band Starry Eyed and Laughing; and Jennifer Douglas, Liz Kitchen and Howard
James Martin, whose impressive music credits include a wide variety of musicals across the UK including the upcoming Sister Act UK tour as well as work with the Liverpool Philharmonic,
Opera North, Ballet Rambert and the
Royal Shakespeare Company.
Design is by Ellen Cairns, lighting design by
Douglas Kuhrt, sound design by
Andy Smart and Rachel Yates is choreographer and assistant director.
IF YOU GO:
MAY 27 TO JUNE 18?
ROMFORD ROSE
Written and directed by Christopher Bond?
Music composed and directed by Jo Collins
The Queen's Theatre, Billet Lane, Hornchurch, RM11 1QT
Previews | Fri 27 & Sat 28 May | 8pm
Opening Night | Tues 31 May | 7.30pm
Perfs | Tue - Sat | 8pm
Matinees | Thu 2 Jun | Sat 11 Jun | 2.30pm
Tickets: £12.50 - £27
Box Office: 01708 443333
Website:
queens-theatre.co.uk
