Diana Vickers has joined the cast of rock musical Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus to play the female lead character, Eurydice. Jessamy Stoddart, who was playing Eurydice, was released to take up an exciting TV role.
Written by Sam Cassidy, directed by Arlene Phillips, Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus opens on Saturday for 9 concert-style workshop performances at The Other Palace. The production will be semi-staged and performed by a live 6-piece rock band.
Sam said: “Diana was literally a life-saver. She came on board at just a few day’s notice and has been absolutely awesome. Arlene added: ”This has been a mental week but Diana is a star and stepped up brilliantly, I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Diana, who became a household name as a semi-finalist on “The X Factor” 10 years ago, made her acting debut as the star of “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice” in the West End. She has also played Janet in “The Rocky Horror Show” on UK tour and returned to the West End in “The Duck House”.
Previously called 27, Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus returns to London with a new title, a revised book and 8 new songs, including the new upbeat final number, “Pandora’s Hope”. A video of the cast singing this is number is released today.
The cast also features:
Zoe Birkett (Rachael Marron in The Bodyguard, Thriller Live & Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert original cast in the West End), Richard Carson (Sky, Mamma Mia!, West End, 1st Cover Chris, Miss Saigon, West End), Eloise Davies (27, Cockpit Theatre), Amy Di Bartolomeo (Bat Out Of Hell, London Coliseum, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, UK tour), Lauren Ellis-Steele (Wicked, UK tour), Joel Harper-Jackson (Simon Zealot, Jesus Christ Superstar, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Beautiful, West End, Mr Thompson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time UK tour), Jaymi Hensley (Jaymi trained at The Brit School before entering The X Factor and joining pop sensation Union J), Jodie Jacobs (27, Cockpit, Crow, Bananaman the Musical and Miss Gardner, Carrie, Southwark Playhouse), Laura Johnson (Hair, Hope Mill Theatre & The Vaults), Shekinah McFarlane (Tommy, UK tour, Hair and Parade, Hope Mill Theatre), Matthew McKenna (Bananaman, Bananaman The Musical, Legally Blonde, We Will Rock You, The Phantom of the Opera, West End), Alice Martin (27, Cockpit Theatre), Jodie Steele (Alternate Elphaba, Wicked, UK and International tour), Nathan Vaughan-Harris, Damien Walsh (Mick Avory, Sunny Afternoon, West End, Barry, Dreamboats and Petticoats, UK tour).
Sam Cassidy said: “It’s true that musicals are not written, but rather rewritten, and this is a fantastic opportunity. In 2016, we opened a completely new British rock musical and enjoyed a very successful 6-week season at the 170-seat Cockpit Theatre. We had great audiences, with many people seeing it more than once, but we were not completely happy with elements of the production. I’ve since looked at the book, revised the storyline, dropped some songs and added new ones. This latest run will give us the chance to see how this new version works with the chance for audiences to give us feedback.”
Arlene Phillips said: “We were inspired by the recent workshop performances of Andrew Lloyd Webbers Starlight Express and believed this method of presentation would be invaluable to the development of Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus.”
Myth: The Rise and Fall of Orpheus is a modern retelling of the Ancient Greek tale of Orpheus and the underworld, looking at mental illness and addiction in society and more specifically the rock music business, with a storyline with echoes of the tragically short lives of some of music’s brightest stars, including Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. It’s a show that’ll break your heart, make you laugh and rock you to your very core.
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