Thursday, April 18

Tyrone Huntley to star in European premiere of US musical The View Upstairs

Updated 15th May; it has just been announced that  Tyrone Huntley will star as young fashion designer Wes alongside an already announced impressive cast  for the European premiere of the LGBT US musical The View Upstairs at Soho Theatre which runs from 18th July-24 August with a press night on Tuesday 23 July.

Andy Mientus, Declan Bennett, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, Cedric Neal and  John Partridge will star as Patrick, Dale, Inez, Henri and Buddy.

Broadway and television actor, Andy Mientus will be making his UK theatre debut. He has starred in numerous musicals including Marius in Les Misérables, and Hanschen in Deaf West Theater's revival of Spring Awakening, which he also co-conceived with director Michael Arden. He played regular character Kyle Bishop on the TV show Smash opposite Debra Messing, Jack Davenport and Katharine McPhee. He can currently be seen in the new NBC/Universal/WGN America series Gone starring Chris Noth, as well as the upcoming anthology series Dolly Parton's Heartstrings on Netflix.

John Partridge is well known for his extensive TV work, including Christian Clarke in EastEnders (BBC), winning Celebrity MasterChef (BBC), participating in BBC1's gymnastics show Tumble and being a judge on Over the Rainbow (BBC). John began his career at the age of 16 in the original UK tour of Cats and subsequently went on to star as Rum Tum Tugger in both the West End production and the film opposite Elaine Paige and John Mills. John's other theatre credits include Zach in A Chorus Line (London Palladium), Robert Martin in The Drowsy Chaperone(Novello Theatre), The Fix (Donmar Warehouse) directed by Sam Mendes, Billy Flynn in Chicago (national tour), in Miss Saigon (national tour). He is currently playing Turai in Tom Stoppard's Rough Crossing (national tour).  

Declan Bennett, is best known for playing t Charlie Cotton in EastEnders from 2014 to 2017. He was in boyband Point Break before beginning his career on stage, where he has starred in shows such as Jesus Christ Superstar (Open Air Theatre), Once (Phoenix Theatre), American Idiot (St. James Theatre/Broadway), Rent (Nederlander Theatre/Broadway/US National Tour), Fatherland (Lyric Hammersmith) and Kiss of the Spider Woman (Menier Chocolate Factory).

Victoria Hamilton-Barritt's wide range of theatre credits include Kate in The Wild Party (The Other Palace), Joan in Miss Littlewood (RSC), Narrator in Murder Ballad (Arts Theatre), Daniella in In The Heights (Kings Cross Theatre/Southwark Playhouse), Diana Morales in A Chorus Line (London Palladium), Gypsy Rose Lee/Louise in Gypsy (Curve), Rizzo in Grease (Piccadilly Theatre) and Alex Owens in Flashdance (Shaftesbury theatre, No.1 Tour).

Cedric Neal was a semi-finalist in The Voice, 2019 on ITV1, as part of Team Tom. Cedric has starred in Motown the Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre), played alongside Audra McDonald in the 2012 Tony award-winning Broadway production of Porgy and Bess, and recently played  the Arbiter in Chess (London Coliseum).

Also in the cast are Carly Mercedes Dyer (Hadestown, Dreamgirls, Memphis) as Henri, Gary Lee (Flashdance, Ghost) as Freddy, Joseph Prouse (Hadestown, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Jersey Boys) as Richard and Derek Hagen (The Twilight Zone, 20th Century Boy & Carousel) as Cops/Realtor. Casting for the role of Wes to be announced.

The musical opens in present day when Wes, a young fashion designer buys an abandoned space, not realising this had been the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant '70s gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans, which, in 1973, was burned down in an arson attack, killing 32 people, and making it the worst attack on the LGBTQ+ community until the 2016 shooting at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando. THE VIEW UPSTAIRS brings to life this forgotten community and takes the audience on an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration, celebrating the lives of those forgotten, while featuring a soulful, rock and jazz score.

The View Upstairs has been  written by Max Vernon and will be directed in London by Jonathan O'Boyle with choreography by Fabian Aloise, set and costume design by Lee Newby, lighting by Nic Farman, sound by Adam Fisher and casting by Will Burton.

Tickets for The View Upstairs

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