Tony! The Tony Blair rock opera musical to run at London’s Park Theatre
Tony! The Tony Blair rock opera musical is to run at London’s Park Theatre.
The new satirical musical written by Harry Hill and Steve Brown and directed by Peter Rowe will run at the venue from 1 June to 9 July 2022.
The production has choreography by Francesca Jaynes, production management by Andreas Ayling & Aimee Woods, set & costume design by Libby Watson and sound design by Andre T.
Casting will see comedian and singer Charlie Baker as the titular role, with Gordon Brown played by Gary Trainor. Howard Samuels plays Peter Mandelson, Rosie Strobel appears as John Prescott, Madison Swan as Princess Diana, Holly Sumpton as Cherie Blair, Kaye Brown as Robin Cook, Adam Price completes the named cast as Neil Kinnock, with Marisa Harris as ensemble and understudy.
A reckless reappraisal of the life of former Ugly Rumours front man and Britain’s first pop Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The story of how one man went from peace-loving, long-haired hippy and would-be pop star to warmongering multimillionaire in just a couple of decades.
A hilarious tragedy of political intrigue, religion, power, and romance that plays fast and loose with the facts, owing as much to Citizen Kane as it does to The Marx Brothers – Karl and Groucho.
Throw in a stellar cast of larger-than-life characters – Cherie Blair, Princess Diana, John Prescott, Peter Mandelson, Alastair Campbell, Osama Bin Laden, George W Bush, Saddam Hussein and Gordon Brown and you’ve got one hell of a weapon of mass distraction!
With crowd-pleasers like ‘Macro Economics’ and the haunting ballad ‘I Never Did Anything Wrong’ – it’s Yes, Minister meets The Rocky Horror Show! and a musical like no other.
Harry Hill said: “Ask yourself this – if you bumped into Tony Blair in the street would you ask for a selfie? Gordon maybe – but Tony… Don’t think so! Think of the insta-hate! Yet 25 years ago there he was – the master of all he surveyed surfing his britpop wave with Cherie at his side. Ah, Remember Britpop? The future all looked so rosy back then didn’t it? It’s struck me for a while that Tony Blair’s life is epic – operatic even, in its story arc.I know it doesn’t sound like obvious material for a comedy musical but we’re not laughing at Tony so much as laughing at the choices WE made back in the 90’s and early 2000’s.”
Steve Brown added: “Memories of the first Pop Prime Minister; the one who rode the wave of Cool Britannia; Noel Gallagher necking champagne at Downing Street; it was like the 60s again. Optimism and groovy gear. Er, and a few wars. We could only convey this story in the most overblown of all possible theatrical forms: The Rock Opera… or Poperetta if you will. Fun, catchy but ultimately, a tragedy in the making.”
For tickets and more information, visit www.parktheatre.co.uk
