Carina Gillespie and Michael Pickering are to join the cast of Grease at the Piccadilly theatre on 24 January, taking the show to its final performance on 30 April.
Gillespie will replace Over The Rainbow finalist Lauren Samuels in the iconic role of Sandy, opposite Matthew Goodgame who is currently playing Danny. Following regional stage credits in Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story and Jack And The Beanstalk, Gillespie is making her West End debut in the Rydell High School-set musical about young love.
Pickering, who will play Doody, has been making his name in the West End of late. After playing Ryan in High School Musical at the Apollo Hammersmith in 2008, Pickering was cast in David Essex’s new musical All The Fun Of The Fair at the Garrick theatre last year. He followed that by taking the role of young pretender D’Artagnan in composer George Stiles’s new musical version of The Three Musketeers at the Rose theatre, Kingston, which closed on 2 January.
Other newcomers to Grease include Zoe Doano as Frenchy, Matthew Russell-Jones as Eugene and Kristina MacMillan as Cha Cha.
This 1993 production of Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey’s 1972 musical was revived at the Piccadilly theatre in 2007 following an ITV casting search for its two leads, won by Danny Bayne and Susan McFadden. When it closes in the West End in April the show will embark on a UK tour.
CB