Full casting announced for special gala charity concert of Robert J. Sherman’s new musical at the Adelphi Theatre, West End. The 13-strong cast includes twelve-year-old Ilan Galkofff (Matilda, Oliver!) in the lead child role of Perry joining previously announced Darren Day, Michael Xavier and Jessica Martin.
The performance is in aid of Variety, the Children’s Charity and is part of the commemorations for the 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of London.
As previously announced, there will be a special Gala Charity Concert of Robert J. Sherman’s new musical Bumblescratch at the Adelphi Theatre on Sunday 4 September 2016 at 6.30pm. This performance is in aid of Variety, the Children’s Charity, and is part of commemorations for the 350th Anniversary of the Great Fire of London, which raged in the East End for four days from 2 to 5 September 1666.
Joining Darren Day, Michael Xavier and Jessica Martin is twelve-year-old Ilan Galkoff who has been cast as the lead child role of Perry, which was created in the 2013 workshop by Sebastian Croft, now a rising screen star whose current television credits include Game of Thrones (Young Ned Stark) and Penny Dreadful. Sebastian recently helped announce Bumblescratch’s West End premiere with an exclusive video announcement and, in June, reprised songs from the show at West End Live. He’ll be in attendance at the West End gala on 4 September to cheer on Ilan, who he’s previously performed onstage with in Oliver! Ilan’s other credits in the West End include Elf The Musical (in which he played the son of Bumblescratch co-star Jessica Martin), Matilda, Oresteia and I Can’t Sing.
On the casting of Perry, Robert J. Sherman said: “Perry the Plague Rat” was my initial inspiration for Bumblescratch and the first character I created. He’s an orphan child and a catalyst for the journey through London that the title character, Melbourne Bumblescratch (Darren Day) takes us on. For the workshop of Bumblescratch in 2013, we auditioned 50 boys; amongst the three called back were Sebastian Croft, who we later cast, and Ilan Galkoff. Ilan was terrific – he sang like an angel – but at that point he was too young. I’ve stayed in touch with his family and asked him to audition again this time. He’s now the perfect age to take on the role, plus he really looks the part of this vulnerable street urchin, is a pitch-perfect singer and a wonderful actor with an incredibly impressive CV for a 12-year-old. I can’t wait to see him play Perry.”
Other cast members announced today include Jacob Chapman (Sunset Boulevard at ENO, Grand Hotel at Southwark Playhouse), Teddy Moynihan and Cathy Read.
Bumblescratch is a new musical comedy. Set in London during the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666, it is told from the perspective of a demented, lascivious plague rat named Melbourne Bumblescratch (Darren Day), who demonstrates his unique and twisted love affair with the ancient city through telling his marvellously gruesome tales.
Bumblescratch has music, lyrics and book by Robert J. Sherman, continuing the enduring legacy of his father and uncle, Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman, a.k.a The Sherman Brothers, the songwriting duo behind childhood classics including Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book. It is directed by Stewart Nicholls, who also collaborated with Robbie Sherman on the critically acclaimed Love Birds and A Spoonful of Sherman.
