Cast announced for revival of LIFT musical at Southwark Playhouse
Casting has been announced for the revival of LIFT at London’s Southwark Playhouse.
Gartland Productions will present a brand new production of the musical, which has music and lyrics by Craig Adams and book by Ian Watson, at the venue from 13 May to 25 June 2022.
Leading the company will be Luke Friend (Footloose, American Idiot) as Busker. He will be joined by Hiba Elchikhe (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Fiver) as Secretary, Kayleigh McKnight (Heathers, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical) as the French teacher, Jordan Broatch (Anyone Can Whistle) as Avatar and Marco Titus (Mandela- A New Musical) as BYT.
Making their professional debuts in the cast are Cameron Collins as the Ballet Dancer, Tamara Morgan as the role of the Lap Dancer and Chrissie Bhima as Avatar.
The production will be directed by Dean Johnson (Godspell, BKLYN, Dogfight) with Musical Direction and new arrangements by Sam Young (White Christmas, The Man in the Ceiling) and choreography by Annie Southall (The Jungle Book, The Boyfriend).
The creative team is completed by production designer Andrew Exeter, associate designer Natalia Alvarez, assistant designer Xinyi Du, assistant director Eden Howes and casting by Pearson Casting.
Developed by Perfect Pitch, LIFT is set in a London underground lift, in one man’s imagination, on its way to the surface during one minute. In the 54 seconds of the lift’s passage, we are taken on a much greater journey that reveals the people behind the masks they wear, the secrets they dare not speak, and the unrealised connections between them.
Luke Friend said “I’m absolutely delighted to be a part of the wonderful cast of LIFT! This show is going to be so intimate and unique. Being a songwriter and Busker myself for many years, I feel as though I completely and utterly relate to my character’s story and the message he is trying to bring across. I can’t wait to give everything to this role and perform at Southwark playhouse for the first time. This is a real treat for me.”
Hiba Elchikhe added: “I am really looking forward to being a part of LIFT the musical with this incredible group of people. I can’t wait for you all to see it.”
Director Dean Johnson commented: “Since we first began the journey of our revival of LIFT, we knew casting would be integral to how we could present the show as a snapshot of London in 2022. We had the most sensational audition process and the UK is certainly not short of incredible and diverse talent, and this allowed us to find an incredible group of people that can bring this story to life in a fresh way.
“I really believe our cast demonstrates how exciting the talent pool is in our industry with a mixture of established and incredible artists alongside fresh new faces. I really think they are going to blow the roof off Southwark Playhouse as a collective group of artists!”
For more information and tickets, visit southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
