ROYO, UNIVERSAL MUSIC UK, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT & MIGHTY VILLAGE, producers of the world premiere of NOW That’s What I Call A Musical are delighted to announce that Sam Bailey will star as April at The Alexandra, Birmingham from Tue 11 – Sat 15 Mar.
NOW That’s What I Call A Musical is a brand-new British musical written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans and directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood.
Sam joins the previously announced Nina Wadia, who will star as Gemma alongside special guest star Sonia, who plays herself and will be singing the songs that made her a NOW icon.
Sam Bailey received her first big break as a singer-songwriter when she won The X Factor in 2013. Her debut single, Skyscraper, instantly became a commercial success making the coveted Christmas number one spot in 2013. Consequently, the single was released in a physical format alongside some of her most memorable X Factor performances. Her debut album The Power of Love was also number one in the British charts in March 2014 and, in support of the album, Bailey went on her first headline tour in January and February 2015. Her second album Sing My Heart Out was released in 2016. Her theatre work includes Mamma Morton in Chicago (UK tour), Betty Simpson in Fat Friends the Musical (UK tour), Vampires Rock (UK tour), Mrs. Potts in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (UK tour and London Palladium) and most recently Miss Hedge in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (UK tour).
Nina Wadia OBEis an award-winning actress renowned for her timeless sketch show Goodness Gracious Me, as well as her role as Zainab Masood in BBC One’s Eastenders for which she won ‘Best Comedy Performance’ and ‘Best Onscreen Partnership’ at the British Soap Awards. Nina’s film credits include: Disney’s Aladdin, A Streetcat Named Bob, and its sequel A Gift From Bob. She can also currently be seen in the movies, Repeat, The Stranger in our Bed and I. Her television credits include: Count Abdulla (ITVX) The Sandman (Netflix), The Hitmen (Amazon Prime), The Outlaws (BBC/Amazon Prime) and Still Open All Hours (BBC). Nina’s theatre credits include Bleak Expectations (Criterion Theatre), the Tony Award Winning The Vagina Monologues, Macbeth with Sir Mark Rylanceand Matchbox Theatre (Hampstead Theatre).
Get ready to relive the playlist of your life by celebrating 40 years of the iconic and chart-topping compilations brand NOW That’s What I Call Music, which has sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide. This fun-filled evening is bursting with hits from Whitney Houston, Wham!, Blondie, Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet and so many more.
It’s Birmingham, 1989. Two school friends, Gemma and April, are busy with very important business – planning their lives based on Number One Magazine quizzes and dreaming of snogging Rick Astley. Cut to Birmingham 2009 and it’s the most dreaded event of their lives– the school reunion. Drama, old flames and receding hairlines come together as friends reunite and everything from the past starts to slot into place. The biggest question is: what was with all that hairspray?
The creative team will include Set and Costume Design by Tom Rogers & Toots Butcher, Musical Supervision and Arrangements by Mark Crossland, Lighting Design by Ben Cracknell, Sound Design by Adam Fisher, Wigs & Hair Design by Sam Cox, Associate Direction by Guy Woolf, Associate Choreography by Aaron Renfree, Associate Sound Design by Ollie Durrant and Casting by Annelie Powell CDG.
NOW is produced by ROYO, Universal Music UK, SONY Music Entertainment and Mighty Village.