Published on: Jun 14, 2014
More Casting Details for the New Musical Made in Dagenham coming to the West End
Adelphi Theatre Previews from 9th October and Opening Night 5th Nov 2014
Made in Dagenham is an upcoming musical with music by David Arnold, lyrics by Richard Thomas, and a book by Richard Bean. Based on the 2010 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the real events of the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968, the musical will make its West End and world premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in 2014.
| Character | Original West End Performer |
|---|---|
| Rita O’Grady | Gemma Arterton |
| Eddie O’Grady | Adrian Der Gregorian |
| Mr Tooley | Steve Furst |
| P.M. Harold Wilson | Mark Hadfield |
| Barbara Castle | Sophie-Louise Dann |
| Beryl | Sophie Stanton |
| Clare | Heather Craney |
| Sandra | Sophie Isaacs |
| Mr Hopkins | Julius D’Silva |
| Lisa Hopkins | Naomi Frederick |
The cast also includes Naana Agyei-Ampadu, Thomas Aldridge, Kate Coysten, Christopher Howell, Scott Garnham, Ian Jervis, Paul Kemble, Emma Lindars, Jo Napthine, Tracey Penn, Gemma Salter, Gareth Snook, Rachel Spurrell, Emily Squibb, Karli Vale and Rene Zagger.
The musical is based on the 2010 film Made in Dagenham,which in turn centred around the true-life events of the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968.The film principally follows the main character of Rita O’Grady, who acts as the spokesperson for a group of female workers at Ford’s Dagenham plant, who go on strike to fight the inequality that becomes apparent when women workers were to be paid less as they were classed as unskilled. In contrast, their male colleagues were classed as skilled and ultimately received more pay. These actions led to the creation of the Equal Pay Act 1970. It received four British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominations, including Outstanding British film.
In December 2011, it was first revealed that a musical adaption of the film Made in Dagenham was being worked on. A reading of the book from the show took place the same month with two workshops also being held the following year. During these workshops, actress Gemma Arterton played the lead role of Rita and in August 2013, Producers Stage Entertainment revealed that they would like Arterton to play the role subject to scheduling and were seeking an autumn 2014 opening.
On 3 March 2014, the show was officially confirmed and it was announced that the show would premiere in London in autumn 2014. The musical has a book by Richard Bean and is directed by Rupert Goold, with choreography by Aletta Collins and set and costume design by Bunny Christie. The musical’s score is composed by David Arnold,with lyrics by Richard Thomas.
Describing the production, producers revealed that whilst based on the film, it won’t be a direct copy of it, saying “Some of the characters from the film will be dropped, and new ones introduced. Not all the elements from the film will be on stage, and we’ll expand on things the film barely touched on”.
Creative
Richard Bean – Book
David Arnold – Music
Richard Thomas – Lyricist
Rupert Goold – Director
Aletta Collins – Choreographer
Bunny Christie – Designer
Stage Entertainment – Producer
Glass Half Full Productions
Just for Laughs Theatricals – Producer
Adelphi Theatre London Previews from 9th October
Opening Night 5th Nov 2014
