Horsham dates for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice

The production from Jim Cartwright will star Shobna Gulati at Mari Hoff, Ian Kelsey as Ray Say and Christina Bianco as Little Voice.

Directed by Bronagh Lagan, it will offer a bittersweet comedy featuring music from the greatest divas of all time including Edith Piaf, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Marilyn Monroe and Shirley Bassey.

Spokeswoman Chloe Pritchard-Gordon said: “Little Voice and Mari Hoff are a mother and daughter central to the heart of this Northern fairy-tale, but as far apart in characters as can be. Left to her own devices, Little Voice starts to embody the famous divas she plays on repeat, from Judy Garland to Shirley Bassey and becomes an overnight sensation.

“With humour, heart and countless powerhouse ballads all performed live on stage, Cartwright’s timeless and iconic tale explores the highs and the lows of small-town dreams, family rivalry and finding your voice in a noisy world.”

Christina Bianco made her West End debut in the Menier Chocolate Factory’s Forbidden Broadway (Vaudeville Theatre).

In New York she was nominated for Drama Desk awards for Application Pending and Forbidden Broadway; Goes To Rehab. Most recently she won great acclaim as Fanny Brice in the Théâtre Marigny Paris production of Funny Girl.

Described as ‘the girl of a thousand voices,’ she became a YouTube sensation when her impression videos were viewed by millions internationally.

Shobna Gulati became a household name for her roles as Sunita in Coronation Street and Anita in Dinnerladies. She has performed extensively on stage and screen, most recently as Ray in the West End production and upcoming film of Everyone’s Talking About Jamie, Cinderella (Lyric Hammersmith) and as a presenter on Loose Women. Her memoir Remember Me was published last year.

Ian Kelsey is well known for his many long-running TV roles as Dave Glover in Emmerdale, Dr Patrick Spiller in Casualty, Detective Inspector Richard Maynard in Blue Murder, Howard Bellamy in Doctors and Vinnie Ashford in Coronation Street.

On stage his leading roles include Legally Blonde (Curve, Leicester), Grease (West End/ Tour), The Shawshank Redemption (UK tour), Chicago (West End) and Kes (West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Jim Cartwright is an award-winning dramatist, director and screenwriter and one of Britain’s most celebrated modern playwrights. His plays have been translated into more than 40 languages and have been performed in most major theatres including the West End, Royal Court, National Theatre and on Broadway.

His theatre works include Road, Bed, Two, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and more recently Raz, (Edinburgh Festival, Trafalgar Studios, London and nationwide tour).

Matthew Effemey, operations manager at The Capitol, said “We can’t wait for the UK tour of this show to stop off in Horsham next March. It will be one of the highlights of our exciting spring season.”

Tickets are for the show are available online: www.thecapitolhorsham.com