INDUSTRY PRESENTATION OF EXCITING NEW WAVE MUSICAL IN LONDON THIS SPRING FEATURING AN ALL-STAR CAST OF WEST END TALENT.

Smalltown Boy Musical Ltd and Curious George & Mighty Joe Productions, in association with Wildwood Entertainment and James Steel Productions are delighted to announce a forthcoming workshop presentation of Smalltown Boy, with a book by Jeffrey Fischer-Smith, and orchestrated and music directed by Mark Crossland. 

The invite-only industry presentation marks the next step toward a full commercial production, and features some of the West End’s best up-and-coming performers.

Smalltown Boy is a new jukebox musical set to the iconic sounds of the 1980s New Wave era, exploring love, rebellion, and the search for belonging.

Set in New York’s East Village in the summer of 1983, the show follows a teenage runaway who flees suburbia and is swept into the city’s underground New Wave scene - just as the AIDS crisis emerges and the world around him begins to close in.

Featuring 22 iconic tracks including “Smalltown Boy,” “Tainted Love,” “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody),” “Always” and “True Colors”, the musical delivers a fierce, funny, and universally resonant story of identity, survival, and chosen family, using the LGBTQ+ experience as its emotional point of departure.

The workshop cast will be Aimie Atkinson (Pretty Woman, The Savoy; SIX The Musical, Arts Theatre/UK Tour) as ‘Jenny New Wave’, Benjamin Cameron  (Book of Mormon, International Tour) as Simon, Rosanna Hyland (Back To The Future The Musical, Manchester Opera House/Original West End Cast, Elf, The Aldwych) as ‘Madga’, Rob Fowler (Bat Out of Hell, Original West End Cast, Toronto, UK and International Tour) as ‘John’, Aonghas Ewen (Sleeping Beauty, Belgrade Theatre Coventry) as ‘Scotty’, Adam Filipe (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, UK & Ireland Tour; Titanic, UK Tour) as ‘Max’, Jack Butterworth (Here We Are, National Theatre; Kiss Me, Kate, The Barbican) as ‘Robbie’, Grace Mouat (13 Going on 30, Manchester Opera House; Mean Girls, Savoy Theatre) as ‘Julia’, Kat Ronney (Titanique, Criterion Theatre; Hex, National Theatre) as ‘Lisa’, Jo Foster (Into The Woods, The Bridge Theatre; The Frogs, Southward Playhouse; Why am I so Single, Garrick Theatre) as ‘Deeds’, Lucca Chadwick Patel (Mean Girls, The Savoy; Mamma Mia!, Novello Theatre) as ‘Rick’ Liv Andrusier(Fiddler on the Roof, Regents Park Open Air; RIDE Curve Leicester/Southwark Playhouse) as ‘Thal’ and Olly Manley (Hairspray, UK Tour; Jersey Boys, West End/UK Tour) as ‘Dave’.

The industry presentations will take place @sohoplace in London on Friday 13 March.

Smalltown Boy is a new musical directed by Jonathan O’Boyle (Barnum UK Tour, The Last Five Years, Garrick Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Cruel Intentions, The Other Palace). Casting is by Harry Blumenau Casting. Further creative team credits include Ken Cernigliaas dramaturg, James Steel Productions as general manager, and Chris Whybrow as sound designer.

Jeffrey Fischer-Smith said, “Smalltown Boy was born out of a deep love for the music and spirit of the 1980s - a time of extraordinary creativity and profound loss. This music defined a generation. Our hope is to honour its emotional power while telling a story that is urgent and contemporary. At its heart, this is a story about young people finding family when the world feels uncertain. I’m thrilled to be collaborating with this extraordinary creative team as we take the next step in bringing the piece to the stage.”