Matt Smith, best known to the world as time travelling saviour of galaxies Doctor Who, will take on a very different role and become more vicious than an angry Dalek to dole out death in the lead role of this winter’s new American Psycho musical.
Smith, who makes his musical theatre debut in the production, will play Patrick Bateman in the stage adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ cult novel when it opens at the Almeida theatre in December.
The sci-fi star, whose previous roles on stage include The History Boys, That Face and Swimming With Sharks, is joined in the cast by X Factor contestant turned musical theatre star Lucie Jones, Broadchurch’s Jonathan Bailey, who recently starred opposite Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear in the National Theatre’s acclaimed Othello, and Susannah Fielding, who is currently starring in the Michael Grandage Company production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The musical, a co-production between Headlong and the Almeida theatre, directed by Headlong’s former Artistic Director Rupert Goold, now at the helm of the Almeida, also stars a host of regular London musical talent including Katie Brayben (Mamma Mia!), Cassandra Compton (Wicked), Holly Dale Spencer (Kiss Me, Kate), Gillian Kirkpatrick (Billy Elliot The Musical) and Eugene McCoy (Jersey Boys). The ensemble is completed by Ben Aldridge, Charlie Anson, Simon Gregor, Holly James, Tom Kay and Hugh Skinner.
Easton Ellis’ controversially graphic novel, brought to the stage by writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with music by Spring Awakening’s Duncan Sheik, tells the story of yuppie psychopath Bateman, an investment banker who is as narcissistic and shallow as he is blood-thirsty, as he slaughters his way through 1980s Manhattan.
Sure to be one of the hottest London tickets around this autumn, American Psycho opens at the Almeida following the venue’s very different current production, Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts starring Lesley Manville, which opened last week.