Casting has been announced for The Menier Chocolate Factory’s production of Two Into One. The production, written and directed by Ray Cooney, opens on Wednesday 19th March 2014 (previews from 8th March) and runs until Saturday 26th April 2014.
Michael Praed plays philandering MP Richard Willey and Josefina Gabrielle (pictured right) plays his wife Pamela Willey in the classic parliamentary comedy. The cast also includes: Jean Fergusson, Jeffrey Holland and Nick Wilton alongside Kathryn Rooney, Tom Golding and Kelly Adams. Writer and director Ray Cooney will also appear in the production.
All parliamentary aide George Pigden has to do is book a hotel room for MP Richard Willey to meet his mistress. But the bumbling aide makes a series of disastrous mistakes, and extreme complications ensue...
Two Into One will be designed by Paul Farnsworth (whose other Chocolate Factory designs include Candide, Charley’s Aunt, The Invisible Man and Smash), with lighting by Paul Anderson (Candide, Proof, Torch Song Trilogy, Educating Ritaand Shirley Valentine) and sound by Gregory Clarke (The Color Purple, Travels with my Aunt and Proof).
Please visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com for further information and tickets.
Meet The Cast
Michael Praed rose to fame as Robin of Loxley in the cult TV series Robin of Sherwood followed by his portrayal as Prince Michael of Moldavia in the primetime US soap Dynasty. His theatre credits include Contact (Queen's Theatre),Aspects of Love (Prince of Wales), Design for Living (Gielgud), September Tide (Comedy), The Pirates of Penzance(Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), An Ideal Husband, The Constant Wife, Sleuth, Killing Castro, Copacabana, The Sound of Musicand High Society (UK Tours). Film includes Dangerous Obsession, Staggered, Son of Darkness, Nightflyers and Robin Hood and the Sorcerer.
Josefina Gabrielle returns to the Chocolate Factory after playing Gussie Carnegie in Maria Friedman’s acclaimed production of Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, which transferred to the Harold Pinter in 2013. Previous performances include her Olivier nominated performance in Sweet Charity (Menier/Haymarket), Hello Dolly (Regent’s Park), Me and My Girl (Crucible, Sheffield), UK tours of The King and I, Oklahoma!, Fame and A Chorus Line; and Trevor Nunn’s production of Oklahoma! (National Theatre, West End and Broadway; Olivier Award nomination).
Jean Fergusson’s career spans over 40 years, including her much loved portrayal of man-mad Marina in Last of the Summer Wine and Dorothy Hoyle in Coronation Street. Jean has appeared in Cash on Delivery (Whitehall) and See How They Run (Harrogate) and her other theatre credits include Ken Campbell’s Old King Cole (Glenrothes), When We Are Married (Birmingham) and It’s a Bit Lively Outside (Crucible). Fergusson's show She Knows You Know!, in which she portrayed the comedienne Hylda Baker at the Vaudeville Theatre, was nominated for a Olivier for Best Entertainment.
Jeffrey Holland last appeared at the Menier in Talent written and directed by Victoria Wood. As well as being a leading Pantomime dame, Jeffrey is probably best known for his portrayal of Spike in BBC TV's Hi-De-Hi, the stuffy footman James Twelvetrees in all four series of the hugely successful You Rang M’Lord? and, more recently, as Mr Park the stationmaster in Oh, Dr. Beeching! He also appeared in the much-loved stage production of television’s Dad’s Army in which he took over as the spiv, Private Walker. His many summer seasons include the stage production of Hi-De-Hi,!which also enjoyed a successful run at London’s Victoria Palace Theatre in 1984. Other West End work includes Run forYour Wife at the Criterion Theatre and Travels With My Aunt at the Whitehall.
Nick Wilton is best known for his regular appearance in EastEnders as Mr Lister. His impressive theatre credits include playing opposite Brian Rix in Dry Rot (Whitehall), Habeas Corpus (Exeter), The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband(Hornchurch), Neville’s Island (Watford) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Salisbury). In 1982 Nick won a Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe with the group Writers Inc.
Ray Cooney began his theatrical career as a boy actor in Song of Norway at the Palace Theatre in 1946. Following a period in repertory theatres around the UK, he joined the Brian Rix Company at the Whitehall Theatre, and it was during this period he began his writing career, which has included the West End hits Move Over Mrs Markham, Run for Your Wife, Out of Order (Olivier Award for Best Comedy), It Runs In the Family, Funny Money, Caught in the Net and many more. In 1983, he formed the Theatre of Comedy at the Shaftesbury Theatre and became its first Artistic Director.
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