DIRECTED by the show’s original Broadway director, Michael Blakemore, and starring Sharon D. Clarke as Sonja and Cornell S. John as Memphis, The Life receives its UK premiere at Southwark Playhouse – from March 25 to April 29, 2017.
Described by the New York Times as “Broadway’s best kept secret”, The Life features a rarely heard score by celebrated composer Cy Coleman (City of Angels, Sweet Charity, Barnum) and is based on an original idea by lyricist Ira Gasman, and features a book by Coleman, Gasman and David Newman with book revisions for this production by Michael Blakemore.
A thrilling exposé of the darker side of 1980’s New York, The Life is described as a defiant and heartfelt musical about Times Square before it was cleaned up. A world of pimps and prostitutes, innocents and opportunists, it’s a gutsy and gritty joyride filled with both pathos and fun.
Queen, a young girl from Savannah, and Fleetwood, a Vietnam vet with a drug habit, are trying to make it in a merciless New York. Queen is forced into part-time prostitution and The Life describes how these two lovers move through this dark world until Queen is helped by her one true friend, an older more experienced hooker, Sonja, to make her escape.
On this journey, audiences meet Memphis, the all-powerful king pimp, the girls he controls, Jojo, the hustler, who makes it all happen, and the fresh-faced Mary, straight off the bus from small town Minnesota, only too eager to embrace ‘The Life’.
Michael Blakemore, said: “Getting The Life on in London has been an ambition of mine ever since we did it on Broadway. The score is Cy Coleman’s masterpiece and we’ll be presenting it with the original 11-piece orchestrations. We’ve assembled a magnificent cast and the show seems to have gathered in power and relevance with the passing of time. Funny, sharp and extraordinarily poignant, I think it will be something more than just a good night out.”
Sharon D. Clarke’s numerous stage credits include Pigs and Dogs (Royal Court), Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, An Oak Tree, Everyman and Amen Corner, for which she won the 2014 Best Supporting Actress Olivier Award for her role as Odessa (National Theatre), A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes (Tricycle Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Rose Theatre, Kingston), Porgy and Bess (Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park), Ghost the Musical, for which she was nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Piccadilly Theatre), Hairspray (Shaftesbury Theatre), We Will Rock You, for which she was nominated for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Dominion Theatre) and The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre).
Her equally numerous screen credits include Tau, Sugarhouse, Secret Society, Beautiful People, Broken Glass, Tumble Down, Holby City (series regular), Unforgotten, You, Me and Them II, Death in Paradise, New Tricks, Psychobitches, Justin’s House, EastEnders, The Shadow Line, Tree Fu Tom, The Bill, Last Choir Standing, Casualty, Holby Blue, Waking the Dead, Soldier Soldier, Between the Lines, Children’s Ward, Stop Look Listen and The Singing Detective.
Cornell S. John’s stage credits include Porgy and Bess (Savoy Theatre), Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre), Pacific Overtures (Donmar Warehouse), The Full Monty (Prince of Wales Theatre), Messiah (European Tour/Riverside Studios), The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre), South Pacific (Sheffield Crucible), Sweet Charity (Victoria Palace Theatre), Waiting for Godot (West Yorkshire Playhouse/UK Tour), The Rubenstein Kiss (Nottingham Playhouse/UK Tour) and Baddies (Unicorn Theatre).
His screen credits include Brotherhood, Jack and the Giant Killer, Dreams of a Life, Anuvahood, Kidulthood, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Adulthood, Victoria, Death in Paradise, EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Rastamouse, Inside Men, Revolver, Doctors, No Signal, Casualty, Thieftakers, The Knock, Maisie Raine, Lenny Henry in Pieces, ‘Orrible, Holby City and Five Days 2.
In the year 2000, Michael Blakemore became the first director to win a Tony Award both for Best Director of a Play and a Musical in the same year – for Copenhagen and Kiss Me Kate. For Kiss Me Kate he also won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics’ Circle Awards. Of the productions he has directed in London, 15 have won either the Evening Standard or Olivier Award in the categories of Best Play, Best Comedy or Best Musical. Blakemore most recently directed Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre starring Angela Lansbury.
Produced by Amy Anzel and Matt Chisling, this new production of The Life has set and costume designs by Justin Nardella, choreography by Tom Jackson Greaves, projection designs by Nina Dunn, lighting by David Howe, musical direction by Tamara Saringer, and casting by Anne Vosser. Further casting will be announced in due course.
The original critically acclaimed Broadway production of The Life, opened on April 26, 1997 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It received 12 Tony Award nominations, winning Best Featured Actress and Actor in a Musical for cast members Lillias White and Chuck Cooper in the roles Sharon D. Clarke and Cornell S. John will be taking on in the UK production. The Life was also nominated for nine Drama Desk Awards, winning three, including Best Musical.
Tickets: £25 for all tickets (concessions available); £14 for all previews. To book, call the box office on 020 7407 0234 or visit southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/.
Times: Mondays to Saturdays at 7.30pm; Tuesdays and Saturdays at 3pm.
Also at Southwark Playhouse: Broadway musical Side Show, starring Louise Dearman and Laura Pitt-Pulford as conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton (until December 3, 2016); the world premiere of Jessica Siân’s brand new theatrical adaptation of Eiko Kadono’s bestselling, award-winning book Kiki’s Delivery Service (December 8, 2016 to January 8, 2017); and the hit Burt Bacharach/Hal David/Neil Simon Broadway musical Promises, Promises (January 13 to February 18, 2017).