West End regulars Daniel Boys, Zoe Birkett and Hannah Jane Fox are to star in a one-off concert performance of rock opera Tommy, which will be staged at the Prince Edward theatre next month.
The concert version of the musical, which features music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, will be staged on 12 November in aid of the Pure Theatre Development Fund, which was set up to help the funding of new writing, both for musical and straight theatre, and will be launched in conjunction with Tommy.
Written in the late 60s and released as an album by The Who, Tommy tells the story of a deaf, mute and blind pinball player who becomes an international messiah. If features hit songs including See Me, Touch Me and Pinball Wizard.
Boys, who plays Captain Walker in the concert, rose to fame by entering TV casting show Any Dream Will Do. Though he lost to Lee Mead, he went on to star in productions including Avenue Q and Wolfboy, and hosted co-hosted West End LIVE earlier this year.
Birkett, like Boys, entered the public consciousness on a TV talent show, competing against Gareth Gates and Will Young in Pop Idol. She has gone on to star in West End productions including Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical and Respect La Diva.
Fox, who starred in the Ben Elton-penned TV comedy Blessed, is best known for playing Scaramouche in long running West End musical We Will Rock You.
Tommy is being staged by Pure Theatre Productions, a company created by David Ball, a recipient of the Stage One Bursary, which is given to help encourage the next generation of commercial theatre producers. In addition to Tommy in concert, the company is also working on productions of Stephen Jeffreys’ comedy Valued Friends, a new dance adaptation of Peter And The Wolf choreographed by Singin’ In The Rain star Adam Cooper and a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s A Touch Of The Poet.