Former EastEnder Jessie Wallace heads to the West End this Christmas as she takes over the role of Maureen in Rent from Denise Van Outen, who leaves the show on 22 December.
Wallace, whose first performance in the role is on Christmas Eve, is best known for playing loveable loudmouth Kat Slater in EastEnders for five years. Since leaving the soap in 2005, she has been seen on our screens in A Class Apart, The Dinner Party and Miss Marie Lloyd – Queen Of The Music Hall and is soon to be seen in ITV drama Wild At Heart.
The musical Rent, written by Jonathan Larson and based on Puccini’s La Bohème, follows a group of New Yorkers as they struggle to achieve their aspirations against a tide of grim reality, including the rise of AIDS. This new production, which opened at the Duke Of York’s in October, has been reworked and reorchestrated by William Baker and Steve Anderson, the creative team behind popstrel Kylie Minogue.
Wallace joins a cast that includes former Sugababe Siobhan Donaghy, Luke Evans, Oliver Thornton, Leon Lopez, Jay Webb, Francesca Jackson and Craig Stein. em>CB