Cast announced for Live Aid musical Just For One Day at the Old Vic
Casting has been announced for the premiere of new Live Aid musical Just For One Day
The show will tell the story of how the 1985 charity concert was brought to the stage.
A jukebox musical, it will feature songs from Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The Who, U2, Queen, The Police, Elton John, Paul McCartney, The Pretenders, The Cars, Status Quo, Paul Weller, Sade, The Boomtown Rats, Bryan Adams, Diana Ross, Ultravox and more.
Penned by John O’Farrell (Mrs Doubtfire, Something Rotten!) and directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet, The Little Big Things), the premiere production runs from 26 January – 30 March 2024 at London’s Old Vic.
Political unrest, social revolution, boom and bust. In a decade of neon and noise, one moment made the world stand still and brought 1.5 billion people together – and they all have a story to tell about ‘the day rock ‘n’ roll changed the world’.
Meet the cast of Just For One Day
Those on the cast will include Julie Atherton, Ashley Campbell, Jackie Clune, Craige Els, James Hameed, Naomi Katiyo, Hope Kenna, Freddie Love, Emily Ooi and Rhys Wilkinson.
They will be joined by Jason Battersby, Cassiopeia Berkeley-Agyepong, Olly Dobson, Joe Edgar, Kerry Enright, Jo Foster, Collette Guitart, Eddie Mann, AJ Lewis, Joel Montague, Rachel Moran, Abiona Omonua, Jack Shalloo, Danielle Steers, Tamara Tare and Dyd Wynford.
Just For One Day has musical supervision, arrangements & orchestrations by Matthew Brind, choreography by Ebony Molina, set design by Soutra Gilmour, costume design by Fay Fullerton, lighting design by Howard Hudson, sound design by Gareth Owen, video & animation by Andrzej Goulding and casting by Stuart Burt CDG.
10% from the sale of all tickets will be donated directly to The Band Aid Charitable Trust, who have given their permission for the production.
Matthew Warchus, artistic director of The Old Vic, said: “I had the pleasure of working with Luke Sheppard on Matilda The Musical and I have always admired the witty brilliance of John O’Farrell’s writing – I am thrilled to have these two great forces uniting on the Old Vic stage alongside an excellently talented company.
“For those of us who were around in the ‘80s, Saturday 13 July 1985 I’m sure will be one of those days that is forever etched in our memories. We all remember where we watched Live Aid, who we watched it with, and the pure amazement at the feat that was unfolding before our eyes. It’s these memories and individual stories that are the beating heart of Just For One Day, and I can’t wait for audiences to share in a moment that galvanised the globe once again.”
Meanwhile Bob Geldof, co-founder of Live Aid, said: “If this musical encourages just one person to have a positive impact for the better, then it will be a job well done. I’m looking forward to seeing it at the Old Vic… it better not be s**t!”
For more information and tickets, visit www.oldvictheatre.com
