Photo Flash: Inside Rehearsal For KISS ME, KATE at the Watermill

The Watermill Theatre today announced the full ensemble cast of actor/musicians for Paul Hart's production of Kiss Me, Kate.

Olivier award-winner Rebecca Trehearn (Lilli) and David Ricardo-Pearce (Fred) will be joined by a versatile cast of actor/musicians featuring Jack Benjamin (Ralph), Dan de Cruz (Doorman/Suitor), Kimmy Edwards (Lois), Andre Fabien Francis (Paul), Sheldon Greenland (Gangster 1) Robert Jackson (Gangster 2), Jay Perry (Bill), Tom Sowinski (Harrison Howell), Thomas Sutcliffe (Harry Trevor), and Chioma Uma (Hattie) in this dazzling new production of the multi award-winning Broadway hit.

Kiss Me Kate will be choreographed by BBC's Strictly Come Dancing professional Oti Mabuse and designed by Frankie Bradshaw with Musical Supervision and Orchestration by Tom Attwood. Lighting is designed by Rory Beaton with sound designed by Tom Marshall. James Bennett is Associate Choreographer.

Onstage romance collides with backstage drama in this musical comedy about the highs and lows of working in theatre.

When ego-centric actor-manager Fred Graham and his fiery ex-wife Lilli Vanessi find themselves starring opposite each other in a musical version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, sparks begin to fly. Meanwhile in another corner of Ford's Theatre, Baltimore, Fred's current flame and rising star Lois Lane attempts to tame her gambler boyfriend only to be thwarted by the arrival of a couple of gangsters who somehow find themselves centre stage!

Despite chaos reigning on and offstage, the show must go on! Will the cast make it to curtain up or will they literally bring the house down?

Rebecca Trehearn plays Lilli. Rebecca won the 2017 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role in Daniel Evan's Showboat. Her other stage credits include most recently Rags (Hope Mill Theatre), Sweet Charity (Nottingham Playhouse), Les Miserables (Pimlico Opera), Diary of a Teenage Girl (Southwark Playhouse), Floyd Collins (Wilton's Music Hall), City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse), and the lead in Matthew Warchus' production of Ghost (UK Tour). Television credits include DIM OND Y GWIR, (S4C/ Rondo Media), WAWFFACTOR, (S4C), Anwen, A470, (ITV Wales) and CASUALTY, (BBC).

David Ricardo-Pearce plays Fred. This role marks his return to The Watermill where he played Anthony in John Doyle's acclaimed production of Sweeney Todd, which transferred to The Trafalgar Studios. His most recent credits include playing Hamlet in David Thacker's production at Bolton Octagon, The Lorax (Old Vic), Crossing Jerusalem (Park Theatre), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Barbican/Tour/Bristol Old Vic), The Middlemarch Trilogy (Orange Tree), The Sacred Flame (ETT), The Rover (Hampton Court Palace), Alfie (Bolton Octagon/Stephen Joseph Theatre), Annie Get Your Gun (Young Vic) and Saint Joan (National Theatre). Television credits include Traitors (C4), Trauma (ITV), Outnumbered (BBC) and Extras(BBC).

Kiss Me, Kate will be choreographed by Oti Mabuse and follows the success of Ain't Misbehavin' at Southwark Playhouse which marked her debut as a theatre choreographer. Oti is best known as a professional dancer on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing since 2015 and one of the most popular performers on the show. She secured a place in the final in 2016 with her partner Danny Mac. She is also an 8-time South African Latin American Champion and one of the most successful South African dancers in the world. She has appeared on many TV shows including BBC's The Greatest Dancer, C4's The Last Leg, Celeb Tipping Point, Pointless, Partners In Rhyme, Impossible, Blockbusters, Catchphrase, Would I Lie To You, 8 Out of 10 Cats and Britain's Got More Talent.

Showbiz shenanigans together with Cole Porter's jazz-inflected score form a sparkling tribute to theatre in all its greasepaint and glory in this must-see show on the summer calendar.

Kiss Me, Kate's iconic music and razor-sharp wit are catapulted into the limelight in The Watermill's intimate space by a cast of actor-musicians performing showstopping numbers including Too Darn Hot, Another Op'nin' Another Show, Brush Up Your Shakespeare and So in Love.

Photo Credit: Pamela Raith