West End Premiere
A reworked, and more successful, West End production opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 1 July 1998, starring Marcus Lovett as The Man and Lottie Mayor as Swallow, running for 1,044 performances and closing in January 2001. This production was darker than the Washington, D.C. production, and was revised and directed by Gale Edwards, a director who had previously collaborated with Lloyd Webber on an updated production of Jesus Christ Superstar. More than half of the crew also came from Superstar to Whistle.
The principal cast for the original West End production were:
- The Man – Marcus Lovett
- Swallow – Lottie Mayor
- Amos – Dean Collinson
- Candy – Veronica Hart
- Boone – James Graeme
- Ed – Walter Herron Reynolds III
- Snake Preacher – Christopher Howard
- Earl – Paul Lowe
- Sheriff – John Turner
- Deputy – Craig Parkinson
- The Minister – Reg Eppey
- Brat – Danielle Calvert/Ashley Andrews
- Poor Baby – Ricki Cuttell/Dean Clish
Subsequently, The Man was played by Jerome Pradon and Glenn Carter, and Swallow by Laura Michelle Kelly who went on to find great success in other West End leading roles including Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and the title role in Mary Poppins. They later appeared together in Lord of the Rings at Drury Lane's Theatre Royal in 2007.
Read more about this topic: Whistle Down The Wind (musical)
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