News: Initial cast announced for A Journey to the Past

Bray Productions Ltd have today announced principal and supporting cast members that will be joining Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman in A Journey to the Past, a West End celebration of the works of the Tony Award-winning and world-renowned musical theatre writing team Ahrens & Flaherty.

The musical celebration, directed by Maria Friedman, will feature a selection of music from the writing duo’s most beloved works, including Maria Friedman reprising her Olivier Award-winning performance of “Back to Before” from Ragtime.

Principal cast members announced today are: three-time WhatsOnStage award-winner Carrie Hope Fletcher (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Heathers), Rob Houchen (South Pacific, Les Misérables), Lucy St Louis (The Phantom of the Opera, Motown the Musical), Cedric Neal (Back To The Future, The Voice UK) and four-time Olivier Award-nominated Summer Strallen (Young Frankenstein, Top Hat).

Supporting cast members announced today are: Georgia Anderson (Hairspray), Jordan Cunningham (Heathers, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Jemal Felix (The Phantom of the Opera, Kinky Boots), Teddy Hinde (Anyone Can Whistle), Claudia Kariuki (Six, School of Rock), Nardia Ruth (The Prince of Egypt), Hana Stewart (Six, West End & Broadway) and Rodney Vubya (Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical).

Further principal and supporting casting will be announced at a later date.

A Journey to the Past will be performed for one performance only at the Lyric Theatre with tickets on sale now.

Joining Maria Friedman in the creative team are Simon Lee as Musical Supervisor, Michael Bradley as Musical Director, Nathan M Wright as Choreographer, Leon Kay Casting as Casting Director and Andrew Exeter as Set & Lighting Designer.

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are considered the foremost theatrical writing team of their generation. They won Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for the Broadway hit Ragtime and were nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globes for Twentieth Century Fox’s animated feature film Anastasia, which they also adapted for the Broadway stage. Their newest musical Knoxville is currently making its world premiere in Florida.

Their musical Once On This Island won London’s Olivier Award and Broadway’s 2018 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Other theatre credits include Ragtime, Seussical (one of the most produced shows in America); Rocky; My Favourite Year; Chita Rivera – The Dancer’s Life; Dessa Rose; A Man of No Importance; The Glorious Ones; Lucky Stiff and two upcoming shows, Knoxville and Little Dancer.

They serve on Council for the Dramatists Guild of America and co-founded the DGF Fellows Program for Emerging Writers. They are four-time Grammy nominees, recipients of the Oscar Hammerstein Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2015 Ahrens and Flaherty were inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame.

Lynn Ahrens said, “After two long years of uncertainty, what a wonderful way to celebrate the return to theater. I’m honored to have my work back on the boards in London!”

Stephen Flaherty said, “I can’t wait to have our music and lyrics back on the West End in the historic Lyric Theatre, under the direction of our RAGTIME leading lady and friend, Maria Friedman. What an evening it’s going to be!”