
Star casting is announced for the world premiere of Club Tropicana The Musical by Michael Gyngell, a summer adventure of love in the sun, with a soundtrack of smash-hit pop classics all performed live on stage. It takes a fun-packed trip back in time to the electric 80’s when hair was big, shoulders were padded, girls (and boys) just wanted to have fun and mobile phones were shaped like bricks and weighed a tonne!
Welcome to the vibrant Club Tropicana Hotel – the 1980s answer to Love Island – where the drinks are free and the whole family is invited to join the ultimate holiday musical.
When a budding bride and groom get cold feet, they each decide to jet off to sunnier climes and feel the heat – but little do they know they’ve checked into the same hotel…
The sizzling summer season at the Club Tropicana sees drinks flowing and tans glowing. Will our young lovers decide to go through with the wedding? Will the hotel inspectors (finally) get their way and close the resort, or will the staff save the day? All will be revealed in hilarious style, to an irresistible soundtrack of some of the most iconic, chart-topping acts from the 80s, including ABC, Cyndi Lauper, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, a-ha, Culture Club, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, Bucks Fizz and Depeche Mode: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Take On Me, Just Can’t Get Enough, Oops Upside Your Head, The Look of Love, Making Your Mind Up, Relax, Islands on the Stream, She Drives Me Crazy, Don’t Go, La Dolce Vita, Surprise, Surprise, Church of the Poison Mind, Fantasy Island, Up Where We Belong, I Could Be So Good for You, Fantastic Day and many more!
The cast is headed by Joe McElderry (X Factor winner and star of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), Neil McDermott (Ryan Malloy in EastEnders, Eugenius!, The Wind in the Willows, Shrek), Kate Robbins (Spitting Image, ITV’s The Imitation Game, Dinnerladies), Emily Tierney (Eugenius!, Wicked, The Wizard of Oz); and former Sugababe star Amelle Berrabah making her musical theatre debut.
It is completed by Karina Hind, Calvin Hudson, Cellen Chugg Jones, Megan Louch, Rebecca Mendoza, Alexanda O’Reilly, Joshua Pearson, Rory Phelan, Nye Rees, Camilla Rowland, Christina Shand, Courtney-Brogan Smalley, Tara Verloop, Kane Verrall.
Creative team:
Directors Samuel Holmes & Nick Winston. Choreographer Nick Winston. Set & Costume Designer Diego Pitarch.Lighting Designer Tim Deiling. Sound Designer Ben Harrison, Musical Supervision and Arrangements Greg Arrowsmith Musical Director Charlie Ingles. Producers Mark Goucher and Gavin Kalin.
Club Tropicana The Musical will open at the Churchill Theatre Bromley (Thursday 24 January – Saturday 2 February 2019) and then visit Bradford Alhambra; His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen; Norwich Theatre Royal; Sheffield Lyceum Theatre; Plymouth Theatre Royal; Grand Opera House, York; Theatre Royal, Brighton; New Victoria Theatre, Woking; Cheltenham Everyman Theatre; Hull New Theatre; Wimbledon New Theatre; Wolverhampton Grand Theatre; Coventry Belgrade Theatre; Oxford New Theatre; Sunderland Empire Theatre; Swansea Grand Theatre; Manchester Opera House; Edinburgh Playhouse; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury; Llandudno Venue Cymru; Liverpool Empire; Nottingham Theatre Royal; Southampton, Mayflower Theatre; Dublin, Bord Gais Energy Theatre; Inverness, Eden Court Theatre. Joe McElderry
In the decade since he stormed to victory in The X Factor watched by 19.7 million viewers, Joe has become the sweet-singing hero and heart-throb of hundreds of thousands of fans aged from five to 95. He is the first The X Factor winner to release four albums – with sales of 550,000 in just a single year – he has sold out 60-date concert tours and was recently hailed as the greatest Joseph ever in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. On TV he also won Popstar To Operastar with a landslide victory taking 80% of the votes, and Channel Four’s dangerous skiing programme The Jump.
Neil McDermott
Neil is a household name as Ryan Malloy in EastEnders, which saw him nominated Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards. He has received rave reviews and an Off West End Award nomination as Evil Lord Hector in Eugenius! the Musical at The Other Palace. His previous West End roles include Chief Weasel in The Wind in the Willows and Lord Farquaad in Shrek the Musical. He was Bill Sykes in Oliver! at Grange Park Opera.
Kate Robbins
Kate is a fabulous funny actress known for her amazing impressions for a decade on Spitting image and most recently ITV’s The Imitation Game. She has featured in iconic TV shows such as The Harry Enfield Show, Last Of The Summer Wine, Phoenix Nights, Holby City, Citizen Khan and Victoria Wood’s Dinnerladies, where she famously played Babs from Urmston
Emily Tierney
Emily has just starred as Super Hot Lady in Eugenius! the Musical. She was Glinda in Wicked (Original UK No.1 tour); Glinda in the original cast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard Of Oz (London Palladium), she was in All The Fun Of The Fair in the West End and Molly Jensen in Ghost (Asia Tour). On TV she played the lead character of Lydia in the Channel 5 series Push.
Amelle Berrabah
Amelle is best known as one third of the girl group the Sugababes, who had worldwide success selling over 12 million albums, with 26 top 10 singles, including two number one hit records. Amelle is also the first – and only – member of the group to achieve a solo number one with ‘Never Leave You’ – her collaboration with Tinchy Stryder, which was the biggest selling single of 2009. She appeared in the movie Plastic, starring Game of Thrones star Alfie Allen. She has presented TV shows including the BBC’s Tumble. Club Tropicana The Musical is her musical theatre stage debut.
CREATIVE TEAM
Michael Gyngell – Playwright
Michael has worked as an actor, writer and director for most of his life. He first appeared in the West End as choir member in the original production of Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Albery Theatre in 1973. He last appeared in Fame at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007. In between, he was in West Side Story, Starlight Express, Poppy, Caird/Nunn production of Peter Pan, Exclusive!, The Rink, Oh Kay!, Doctor Dolittle, Listen to the Wind, One Touch of Venus and Art. He first directed at Greenwich Theatre in 2000, it was a new musical called Bumpy Ride before working as Associate Director on the original production of The Play What I Wrote at Wyndhams Theatre. He went on to work as associate for Yes, Prime Minister at Trafalgar Studios, Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at Duke of Yorks and The Dresser at The Duke of York’s. He also directed Bring It On at Kenneth More Ilford, Spring Awakening at Mirren Studio, the tours of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, Yes Prime Minister at Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford and UK Tour,The Play What I Wrote and When Harry Met Sally. He directed a new comedy Clittaford at St James Church, Piccadilly, Relatively Speaking and Confusions in South Africa as well as Summer Holiday in 2003 at Theatre Royal Plymouth. He co-wrote the stage adaptation of Summer Holiday! which premiered at Blackpool Opera House in 1996. and has written Double Top for Valentine Productions / BBC Wales, Serena for SMG and the book for Close Encounters, a new musical which was performed at Century City, Los Angeles. Twitter: @GYNGE
Samuel Holmes – Co-Director
Samuel is an actor, writer and director who will be making his musical theatre directorial debut with Club Tropicana The Musical. Assistant Director, co-writer and Dandini in Cinderella (Bristol & Manchester), Dick Whittington (Manchester), Peter Pan (Brighton). Theatre credits include: Lord Farquaad in Shrek (UK Tour), George in The Wedding Singer (UK Tour), Theo in Eugenius (London Palladium), Bertie in Mrs Henderson Presents (Theatre Royal Bath and Noël Coward), White Christmas (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Kangaroo, Elvis, Viking, Graham Chapman, Monty Python Live (O2 Arena), Waterbabies (Leicester Curve), Spamalot (Playhouse, London), Privates on Parade (Brighton Royal), Kiss Me, Kate (Old Vic & Chichester), Crazy For You (Regent’s Park and Novello), Sir Robin in Spamalot (UK and International Tour), Ruth in all-Male The Pirates of Penzance (Union Theatre & Wilton’s) Round the Horne: Unseen and Uncut (UK Tour), Katisha in all-male The Mikado (Union Theatre), Half a Sixpence (UK Tour), Aladdin (Leamington Spa), My Fair Lady (Singapore), The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus and The Pirates of Penzance (South Africa). Samuel had the great honour of giving a speech and collecting the Lifetime Achievement Award for comedy on behalf of Monty Python at the British Comedy Awards.
Twitter: @HOLMESJSAMUEL
Nick Winston – Co-Director & Choreographer
Nick is an international Director & Choreographer working in Theatre, Opera and Television. His extensive credits include Stage Director & Choreographer for The Royal Variety Performance at The London Palladium (ITV); choreographer for Shakespeare Live! From The RSC, which received a BAFTA nomination for Live Entertainment (BBC) and Sondheim at 80 (BBC Proms at The Royal Albert Hall), starring Dame Judi Dench. West End: Annie starring Miranda Hart; Loserville (Olivier nomination: Best New Musical); Flashmob (Director & Choreographer); and Horrid Henry: Live & Horrid. As Director & Choreographer: An American In Paris (Linz); Rock Of Ages; Fame; The Wedding Singer (National Tours); Guys & Dolls (Kilworth House); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (also, adaptation, Curve); Bugsy Malone (Curve) and Tomorrow Morning (New End, London). As Choreographer: Grease (Curve / Dubai); Legally Blonde (Curve / South Korea); To Sir With Love (UK Tour); Let’s Dance Again! (Royal Festival Hall); Sweeney Todd (The Royal Exchange / West Yorkshire Playhouse); Calamity Jane (Watermill / UK Tour); Little Shop Of Horrors (Salisbury Playhouse); White Christmas (West Yorkshire Playhouse); I Dreamed a Dream (UK Tour); Merrily We Roll Along (Theatre Clywd); Love Story (Minerva, Chichester); The Band Wagon (Sadlers Wells); Stepping Out (Derby Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (Birmingham Rep / West Yorkshire Playhouse); The Wizard Of Oz (Royal Festival Hall) and Follies (Royal & Derngate). International: Kiss Me, Kate (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris / Grand Theatre de Luxembourg/ Oper Gratz / Bonn Opera / Theatre Dortmund); Waiting For Godot (Chicago / Washington DC / Charleston / Abbey Theatre / Druid); The Pajama Game (Tokyo / Osaka); Sweeney Todd (La Monnaie, Brussels); Annie (Ed Mirvish, Toronto / South Africa); Chess (Copenhagen); Forbidden City (Esplanade, Singapore) and Flashdance (Switzerland). Opera: Il Turco In Italia (Garsington Opera); Fortunio (Grange Park Opera); Benzin (Chemnitz Opera) and The Adventures Of Pinocchio (Opera North / Sadlers Wells / Minnesota / Bonn / Moscow). Television: The Royal Variety Performance 2017 (Stage Director & Choreographer; London Palladium, ITV); Shakespeare Live! From The RSC (BAFTA nomination: Live Entertainment); Sondheim at 80 (Royal Albert Hall, BBC Proms); Children In Need (BBC); High School Dance (E4) and music videos for Universal Music. Corporate: Dubai World Cup; Redken; Paul Mitchell and Moroccan Oil. Awards: Nick was nominated for the Carl Alan Award for his work in Theatre and has received 10 Broadway World nominations.
Twitter: @N1CKW1NSTON
CLUB TROPICANA – THE MUSICAL
2019 Tour Dates
24 January – 2 February
BROMLEY
Churchill Theatre
Box Office: 020 3285 6000
4 – 9 February
BRADFORD
Alhambra
Box 0ffice: 01274 432000
11 – 16 February
ABERDEEN
His Majesty’s Theatre
Box Office: 01224 641122
25 February – 2 March
NORWICH
Theatre Royal
Box Office: 01603 630000
(on sale soon)
4 – 9 March
SHEFFIELD
Lyceum Theatre
Box Office: 0114 249 6000
(on sale soon)
11 – 16 March
PLYMOUTH
Theatre Royal
Box Office: 08448 11 21 21
18 – 23 March
YORK
Grand Opera House
Box Office: 0844 871 3024
25 – 30 March
BRIGHTON
Theatre Royal
Box Office: 0844 871 7650
1 – 6 April
WOKING
New Victoria Theatre
Box Office: 0844 871 7645
8 – 13 April
CHELTENHAM
Everyman Theatre
Box Office: 01242 572573
15 – 20 April
HULL
New Theatre
Box Office: 01482 300 306
23 – 27 April
LONDON
Wimbledon
New Wimbledon Theatre
Box Office: 0844 871 7646
29 April – 4 May
WOLVERHAMPTON
Grand Theatre
Box Office: 01902 429212
6 – 11 May
COVENTRY
Belgrade Theatre
Box Office: 024 7655 3055
13 – 18 May
OXFORD
New Theatre
Box Office: 01865 320760
20 – 25 May
SUNDERLAND
Empire Theatre
Box Office: 0844 871 3022
28 May – June 1
SWANSEA
Grand Theatre
Box Office:01792 475715
3 – 8 June
MANCHESTER
Opera House
Box Office: 0844 871 3018
11 – 15 June
EDINBURGH
Playhouse
Box Office: 0844 871 3014
17 – 22 June
CANTERBURY
Marlowe Theatre
Box Office: 01227 787787
24 – 29 June
LLANDUDNO
Venue Cymru
Box Office: 01492 872000
1 – 6 July
LIVERPOOL
Empire
Box Office: 0844 871 3017
8 – 13 July
NOTTINGHAM
Theatre Royal
Box Office: 0115 989 5555
22 – 27 July
SOUTHAMPTON
Mayflower Theatre
Box Office: 023 8071 1811
30 July – 3 August
DUBLIN
Bord Gais Energy Theatre
Box Office: +353 (1) 677 7999
5 – 10 August
INVERNESS
Eden Court Theatre
Box Office: 01463 234 234