Dani Dyer to star in Nativity! The Musical in Plymouth
The highly acclaimed Nativity! The Musical is back for a third year on UK tour and the producers of the smash-hit show are thrilled to announce Dani Dyer will play ‘Polly Parker’ when the show returns to Theatre Royal Plymouth from Tuesday 26 to Saturday 30 November after a successful run in 2017.
Dani will also be joined by Scott Garnham and Ashleigh Gray who will reprise their roles for a second year as ‘Mr Maddens‘ and ‘Jennifer Lore’, Jamie Chapman returns for a third year as ‘Patrick Burns’ and Scott Paige joins the company as the loveable ‘Mr Poppy’.
After making her stage debut in Nativity! The Musical last year, Dani Dyer returns in the role of ‘Polly Parker’. Dani is best known for winning the 2018 series of ITV’s Love Island. Since winning Love Island Dani has gone on to achieve great success in the fields of fashion, television, books and beauty and has been co-hosting Capital Weekend Breakfast alongside presenter Rob Howard. Dani will be back on TV screens in the autumn 2019 as the host of yet-to-be-announced TV series.
Scott Garnham’s previous theatre credits include the UK Tour of Billy Elliot The Musical and the West End productions of Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre and I Can’t Sing at the London Palladium. Scott returns as ‘Mr Maddens’ in Nativity! The Musical after delighting audiences on tour and in London in 2018.
Scott Paige’s previous theatre credits include Made in Dagenham at the Adelphi Theatre, UK tours of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Addams Family: The Musical and most recently Eugenius at The Other Palace in London. Scott will be making his musical lead debut in Nativity! The Musical as the hilarious ‘Mr Poppy’.
Ashleigh Gray is best known for playing the leading role of ‘Elphaba’ in Wicked in the West End and on UK Tour. Her other theatre credits include Vanities and Cool Rider both in London. Ashleigh returns as Jennifer Lore in Nativity! The Musical for a second year.
The rest of the cast includes Charles Brunton as ‘Mr Shakespeare’, Penelope Woodman as ‘Mrs Bevan’ and Jonathan Bourne as ‘Lord Mayor’. Completing the cast is Dawn Buckland, Connor Ewing, Kade Ferraiolo, Amy Oxley, Helena Pipe, Billy Roberts and returning for a third year is the Pepper the dog as ‘Cracker’.
They are joined by a cast of 23 children aged 9 – 12 from across the Midlands as the pupils of ‘St Bernadette’s School’. They are, Thomas Bastable, Evie Bennell-Low, Olivia Brooks, Niamh Crowley, Erin Freeman, Lucas Haywood, Alex Hogg, Kheiri Isaac-Osmani, Isabel Landers, Evie Mallen, Joshua Millard-Lloyd, Ana Morgan, Ela Morgan, Amy-Louise Mulhall, Alastair Ngwenya, Gerald Ngwenya, Tega Oduko, Kayan Parmar, Lyla Peters, Katelyn Rollason, Teddy Saberton, Grace Townley and Nicholas Vakis.
Following hugely successful open auditions, the following children from Plymouth will star as the students of ‘Oakmoor School’. They are Mia Doherty, Lara Gillespie, Millie Gubby, Oliver Houlberg, Anya Johnson, Ella-Marie Kimberley, Connie Negus, Lucca Newton, Katie Pugh Finley Rahn, Elsie Randall, Jake Tasker, Luca Trevena, Lily Van Veen and Madeline Ava White.
Debbie Isitt, Creator and Director of Nativity! said: ‘This year’s auditions have been fantastic and we are excited to have some brand new talent as well as previous cast joining us for another year. We are beyond thrilled with the talent in Plymouth and we can’t wait for the children and cracker the dog to create a magical family experience with plenty of sparkle and shine at Theatre Royal Plymouth’.
Every child in every school has one Christmas wish, to star in a Nativity, and at St Bernadette’s School they’ve decided to mount a musical version! Join teacher Mr Maddens and his crazy assistant Mr Poppy as they struggle with hilarious children, and a whole lot of sparkle and shine to make everyone’s Christmas wish come true. Featuring all of your favourite sing-a-long songs from the smash-hit films including Sparkle and Shine, Nazareth and One Night One Moment. Nativity! The Musical promises to be the perfect feel-good comedy for all the family.
Written and Directed by Debbie Isitt with music and lyrics by Nicky Ager and Debbie Isitt, Nativity! The Musical is choreographed by Andrew Wright, designed by David Woodhead, with lighting design by Tim Mitchell, sound design by Tom Marshall and musical supervision and orchestrations by George Dyer.
