Ruthie Henshall
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Ruthie Henshall, Julian Ovenden and Alexander Hanson will be the above-the-title stars of the new musical
Marguerite in an ensemble that includes Annalene Beechey, Matt Cross and Simon Thomas in principal roles. Completing the cast are Don Gallagher, Mark Carroll, Keiron Crook, James Doherty, Siubhan Harrison, Philip Sutton, Lucy Williamson, Duncan Smith, Gay Soper, Jon-Paul Hevey and Julia Nagle. The production is due to start previews on 7 May at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, with opening night set for 20 May.
Marguerite is the third and final show in a £3 million ($6 million) lineup of productions at the Haymarket, all of which have been directed by Kent, who before this assignment is best known for having been co-artistic director of north London's Almeida Theatre for 12 years alongside Tony winner Ian McDiarmid. The lone musical of the triptych, it has a score by three-time Oscar-winner and five-time Grammy-winner Michel Legrand, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and a book from Alain Boublil and Claud-Michel Schonberg in addition to Kent, with original French lyrics by Boublil. Interestingly, Schonberg here is not taking a composing credit, despite having written six complete scores, among them Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Martin Guerre and The Pirate Queen. Set in Occupied Paris during World War II, the musical draws from a beloved, time-honoured source in Alexandre Dumas' La Dame Aux Camelias, the same novel that in its time also spawned both the various stage and screen incarnations of Camille as well, of course, as the Verdi opera La Traviata. Orchestrations and arrangements are by Legrand and Seann Alderking, while Kent's ongoing design team of Paul Brown (sets and costumes) and Mark Henderson (lighting) are on board once again.
Olivier Award winner Henshall returns to the city where she first made her career to play the title role in a venture that, Kent told a press and industry 30 January, has been over five years in gestation (and first came to his attention via a phone call from Boublil). Ovenden, who played Franklin in the Donmar's Olivier Award-winning production of Merrily We Roll Along in 2000, made his Broadway debut last season alongside Nathan Lane in Butley, while the other male lead, Hanson, comes to Marguerite following a long run opposite Connie Fisher at the London Palladium in The Sound of Music. The producers are Marguerite Productions, The Theatre Royal Haymarket Company and the American-based Bob Boyett.
Kent is currently represented at the Haymarket through April 19 with his production of Edward Bond's The Sea, starring Eileen Atkins, David Haig and Russell Tovey.