The Donmar Warehouse has announced casting for the opening two productions of its 2011 season, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Moonlight.
League Of Gentlemen and Psychoville star Steve Pemberton leads the cast of the UK premiere of the dictionary-tastic musical, while Deborah Findlay and Daniel Mays join David Bradley in Harold Pinter’s tragic comedy.
Joining Pemberton, who has previously starred in the West End musical The Drowsy Chaperone, are West End performers Hayley Gallivan (Grease, Spring Awakening), Harry Hepple (Been So Long, Burnt By The Sun), Katherine Kingsley (Piaf, Aspects Of Love), Maria Lawson (Avenue Q) and Ako Mitchell (Sister Act), who appear alongside Chris Carswell, David Fynn and Iris Roberts.
The Tony Award-winning musical comedy by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, which runs from 11 February to 2 April, tells the story of a high stakes spelling contest where contestants dream of making it to the national final.
Findlay, who can currently be seen in the Young Vic production of The Glass Menagerie, returns to the Donmar, where she previously appeared in productions including The Vortex, The Cut and John Gabriel Borkman, to play Bel in Moonlight.
The Cranford actress stars opposite Daniel Mays – who appeared in Royal Court productions of Scarborough, Motortown and The Winterling, Ashes To Ashes and Plus One on television and films including Vera Drake and Made In Dagenham – and the previously announced David Bradley in the tale of a dying man whose wife tries to bring his estranged sons to his side.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Moonlight are preceded at the Donmar Warehouse by the Derek Jacobi-led production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, which opens in December. The intimate theatre, whose Artistic Director Michael Grandage is to step down next year, is currently presenting Stephen Sondheim’s musical Passion, starring Laurence Olivier Award-winner Elena Roger.
MA