The St James Theatre is a smart new theatre tucked away in a back street in the Victoria area of London. It had a notable hit with the musical URINE TOWN which transferred to the West End but up until recently it’s struggled to find its identity. Over the past twelve months however it’s become the place to go catch top performers in cabarets celebrating loved show-tune writers like Kander and Ebb, The Sherman Brothers and Maltby and Shire.
The next production, PURE IMAGINATION, showcases the songs of Leslie Bricusse, whose magical song with the same title can currently be heard in CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY.
Writing alone or in collaboration Bricusse has composed over 1,000 songs and written the book, music and/or lyrics for more than 40 musical films and plays over a 60-year career. His stage musicals include Stop the World - I Want to Get Off; The Roar of the Greasepaint - The Smell of the Crowd; Pickwick; Harvey; The Good Old Bad Old Days; Goodbye Mr Chips; Henry’s Wives; Scrooge; Sherlock Holmes; Jekyll and Hyde; Noah’s Ark; Sammy; Cyrano de Bergerac Kennedy; Victor/Victoria and It’s a Dog’s Life!
This new show features 50 of his songs, including such favourites as What Kind Of Fool Am I, If I Ruled The World, Talk To The Animals, Feeling Good, Goldfinger and many, many more.
There’s a great cast who should do full justice to the material.
Dave Willetts has been one of this country’s leading musical theatre stars for 25 years. He was the first person to play the leading roles in Les Misérables and The Phantom of the Opera and appearances as Old Deuteronomy in Cats, Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, Sweeney in Sweeney Todd, George in Sunday in the Park with George and as the butler in Sunset Boulevard, for which he received an Olivier Award nomination.
Siobhan McCarthy recently starred as Mrs Lovett in the sold-out production of Sweeney Todd staged in an actual pie shop and she created the role of Donna in the original cast of Mamma Mia! for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
Niall Sheehy was a finalist on the ITV show Superstar. His musical theatre roles include understudying Chris in Miss Saigon, Enjolras in Les Misérables and Fiyero & Dr. Dillamond in Wicked.
Julie Atherton has played Sophie in the West End production of Mamma Mia! Serena Katz Fame and Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut in the West End premiere of Avenue Q.
Giles Terera was in the original West End cast of Book of Mormon. His other musical theatre roles include: Gary Coleman in Avenue Q, Sammy Davis Jr in The Rat Pack Live from Las Vegas, Quickly Robinson in Jailhouse Rock and Mr Jefferson in Rent.
With a cast like that it should be well worth taking a trip to Victoria.
PURE IMAGINATION premières in the main house at St. James Theatre, in a 4-week season from Thursday 24 September to Saturday 17 October.
At last, after months and months of previews, unhappy performers quitting en masse and 3 changes of director, the producers of the troubled musical DUSTY, about the rise to fame of 60s superstar Dusty Springfield, have announced a new cast and opening night at the Charing Cross Theatre.