Initially booking to Sept. 18, producing team Theatre Partners, Jailhouse Company and Volcanic Island have high hopes. After a Plymouth and Manchester warm-up tour, it’s hoped the London opening will be the start of an international roll-out.
The musical will tell the tale of jailbird Vince Everett, who discovers he was born for more than crime when he finds that he just can’t help rockin’! But fame and fortune bring their own perils.
The stage adaptation is by writer Alan Janes and will be directed by Rob Bettinson, the duo whose previous successes include Buddy (the Buddy Holly story, which ran for 13 years in the West End). Adrian Rees will design, with David Mackay as musical supervisor and Drew Anthony choreographing. The cast will include Mario Kombou as Vince, alongside Lisa Peace, Roger Alborough and Gilz Terera.
Tickets go on sale from Dec. 10 and will be priced between £19.50 and £45.
* London's not the only city with an Elvis musical in its future. The New York Times reports that Goodspeed Musicals will present All Shook Up in spring 2004, and that commercial producers Clear Channel Entertainment and Miramax are aiming the show for a 2005 Broadway berth.
Joe DiPietro (The Thing About Men, I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change) will pen the book of the original show, which does not have Elvis as a character, the paper reported.
Some 20 songs made famous by Elvis will reportedly be heard.