HERE COMES J EDGAR Comes to the King's Head Theatre in July
Star-studded collaboration brings new production to King's Head Theatre
This summer will see the World premiere in London of a stage comedy musical collaboration between Harry Shearer - star of The Simpsons and This Is Spinal Tap, Tom Leopold - the writer behind such TV classics as Seinfeld and Cheers, and award-winning conductor and composer - Barbara Streisand's musical director, Peter Matz.
From July 10 to August 16, the eagerly awaited Here Comes J Edgar! machine guns its way onto the stage of King's Head Theatre, headed by a crack team of creatives.
As Director of the FBI from 1924 to 1972, J. Edgar Hoover secured his position as the most powerful man in America by gathering information on the private lives of others. Yet, behind all the the machismo, was his concealed sexuality, his flamboyant partying and his lifelong love affair with his deputy, Clyde Tolson. Here was a man who stopped at nothing to use the secrets of others to build and exert his control … yet underneath the petticoats of power lay his own secrets … hidden … there … in plain sight.
Here Comes J Edgar! is an irrepressible musical comedy about the love of power and the power of love, and what a simple black dress and a single strand of pearls can do for a guy!
The weird and twisted tale, told in the style of a 1950s comedy musical, will be directed by Josh Seymour, with choreography by the celebrated Bill Deamer. The musical supervisor is Benjamin Ferguson, scenic design is by Sophia Pardon and costume design by Tom Paris. Lighting design is by Jamie Platt, sound design by Nick Lodgeand and the casting director is by Harry Blumenau CDG CSA . The general management is handled by James Quaife for Luminous Entertainment Group. Casting and further creatives are to be announced.
Josh Seymour says, “I'm so excited to be directing this anarchic new musical, written by a team of comedic and musical legends. It combines my two favourite things - queer history and musical comedy - as it wraps a dark tale of American ambition inside an irresistible Golden Age extravaganza.”
Harry Shearer says, “Hoover used his “secret files” to keep half a dozen US Presidents from firing him. He was the first government figure to make a self-serving alliance with a gossip columnist. He was one of a kind—we hope.”
Tom Leopold says, “Armed only with a twisted, self-serving sense of justice, a tommy gun, a badge and a pair of Spanxs that betrayed no hint of panty line, J. Edgar Hoover brought down some of the most dangerous gangsters in America's blood-soaked Twentieth Century…This Summer at King's Head Theatre you'll be deeply moved by the music, dazzled by the dancing, dazzled even more by the dance belts and inspired by the story of how a lonely little boy with muscle magazines hidden under his bed, a lonely little power bottom went on to become a Top…law enforcement officer!”
Videos