UK Tour / West End Revival
In 2001, Bill Kenwright produced and directed his own production of Whistle Down the Wind for a UK tour, starring Tim Rogers as The Man and Katie Rowley Jones as Swallow. He was granted a considerable amount of creative freedom as director, authorised by Andrew Lloyd Webber to make significant changes to the dramatic structure of the musical, including replacing the running parable of Annie and Charlie Christmas told to the children by The Man with a lighter-toned number called "The Gang" (lyrics by Don Black). This version was simpler in design and more focused on the human story than the spectacular visuals of the Aldwych production. The show toured the UK a number of times with several cast changes between 2001 to 2004.
The principal cast for the reworked national tour (2001–2002) were:
- The Man – Tim Rogers
- Swallow – Katie Rowley Jones
- Amos – Scott Cripps
- Candy – Adelaide Thompson
- Boone – Mark Inscoe
- Ed/Sam – Larrington Walker/Reginald Tsiboe
- Snake Preacher – Chris Holland
- The Preacher – Martyn Andrews
- Earl – Dominic Brewer
- Sheriff – Aaron Shirley
- Deputy – Mark Goldthorp
- Brat – Carly Thoms/Kirstie Kober
- Poor Baby – Ashley Lloyd/Jonathan Burke
At the request of Lloyd Webber, Kenwright brought his production of Whistle Down the Wind to the Palace Theatre, London in March 2006, where it played a limited run until August, filling the gap between the closure of another Lloyd Webber musical, The Woman in White and the opening of the Monty Python musical Spamalot. Tim Rogers reprised his acclaimed performance of The Man, and Claire Marlowe, another veteran of the UK tour, reprised the role of Swallow. The critical opinion was mixed, ranging from Michael Billington's 2 star review in The Guardian to Benedict Nightingale's 4 star review in The Times, but virtually all of the national papers agreed that this version was an improvement on Gale Edwards's Aldwych production.
The principal cast for the West End revival at the Palace Theatre were:
- The Man – Tim Rogers
- Swallow – Claire Marlowe
- Amos – Garrie Harvey
- Candy – Debbie Korley
- Boone – Michael Howard Smith
- Ed – Tee Jay
- Snake Preacher – Chris Holland
- Earl – Dominic Brewer
- Sheriff – Kevin Curtin
- Deputy – Michael Diana
- The Preacher – David Robbins
- Sam – Leroy Ricardo Jones
- Brat – Emma Hopkins/Henrietta Touquet
- Poor Baby – Laurence Belcher/Chris Thomas.
Read more about this topic: Whistle Down The Wind (musical)
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