London's freshly expanded Lyric Hammersmith Theatre will reopen in April 2015 with a bang: the first staging in more than a decade of Paul Williams and Sir Alan Parker's musical Bugsy Malone.
Parker's 1976 film of that name was a curious musical gangster story set in Prohibition-era Chicago and told with child actors and singers, including Jodie Foster and newcomer Scott Baio. Parker also wrote the book for a stage version, featuring songs by Paul Williams, who had scored the film, but The Stage tells us that Parker hasn't liked earlier productions and has "actively discouraged" more--until convinced by the "excellent ideas" of the Lyric's artistic director Sean Holmes, who will direct the new production.
Bugsy Malone was Parker's first feature film. He went on to direct many movies that met critical or popular success (sometimes both), including Fame, Mississippi Burning, Midnight Express and Angela's Ashes. In spite of having also written and directed the film version of Evita, he was knighted in 2002.
Holmes called the Bugsy Malone musical a work "of left-field genius with young people at its heart" that "feels like the quintessential Lyric show: celebratory, inclusive and surprising." Drew McOnie will choreograph, Jon Bausor will design and Phil Bateman will be the musical director. Lighting will be by James Farncombe, sound design by Ben Harrison, and casting by Will Burton, with the all-important role of children's casting director falling to Jessica Ronane.
Bugsy Malone will begin previews April 11, 2015.
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