Sarah Lancashire and Reece Shearsmith will star in theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh’s new musical comedy Betty Blue Eyes, which will open at the Novello theatre in March 2011.
Betty Blue Eyes may be set over 50 years ago but the production, based on Alan Bennett and Malcolm Mowbray’s film A Private Function, couldn’t be more relevant for a 2011 opening, with a royal wedding and government spending cuts both featuring in the comedy. Bringing the story to life, the creative team behind Mackintosh’s acclaimed 2004 West End and Broadway musical Mary Poppins has reunited to create what promises to be a very British and very eccentric musical, with a contemporary score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and musical staging from Laurence Olivier Award winning-Stephen Mear.
Directed by five time Laurence Olivier Award-winner Richard Eyre, whose credits include Guys And Dolls at the National theatre, Hamlet at the Royal Court and Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes sees belts being tightened as the country’s long suffering citizens are being told by the government that there will be fair shares for all in return for surviving Austerity Britain. Meanwhile local officials feather their own nest by taking their own fair share. In the midst of rationing, unemployment and the coldest winter for decades, the only bright spark on the horizon is the impending royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
The star of the show is Betty, a pig being illegally reared to provide local dignitaries with a feast to celebrate the royal wedding while the local population have to make do with spam.
Speaking about his new production, Mackintosh said: “Even though my recent productions of Olivier!, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins and the new Les Mis have all had great success, Betty Blue Eyes is my first original musical in over 10 years. As a long time admirer of Alan Bennett’s wickedly funny screenplay for the film A Private Function, I immediately fell in love with this infectious and delicious musical treatment which has expanded on the original. It is an utterly British and suitably crackers musical and yet surprisingly was the idea of two American writers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, but you’d never know it! As we all face Austerity Britain and a royal wedding, Betty Blue Eyes proves that British pluck will make sure good times are just around the corner.”
Lancashire last appeared on the West End in Guys And Dolls and is best known for her extensive television career. After a five year stint in ITV soap Coronation Street as the loveable Raquel, Lancashire went on to appear in dramas Clocking Off, All The Small Things, Where The Heart Is and Rose And Maloney. Her co-star Shearsmith is co-writer and star of the BBC’s dark comedies The League Of Gentlemen and Psychoville. The actor has appeared in West End productions of Art and The Producers and is currently starring in Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s theatre.
The Betty Blue Eye’s company also includes David Bamber, Jack Edwards, Ann Emery, Mark Meadows and Adrian Scarborough. Tickets go on sale for the production on 29 November.
CM