Interview: Gemma Sutton

Gemma during rehearsals

Gemma Sutton is currently starring as Julie Jordan in Morphic Graffiti’s bold new interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel at the Arcola Theatre.

Gemma has had a whirlwind year; after starring as Amber in Hairspray (UK Tour) she recreated the iconic role of Roxie Hart in Paul Kerryson's new production of Chicago at the Leicester Curve Theatre to tremendous critical acclaim. 

Next Gemma created the role of Ice in Drew McOnie’s Drunk (Leicester Curve/Bridewell) and starred alongside Sharon D Clarke and Clive Rowe in Blues In The Night at the Hackney Empire.

Her theatre credits also include: Enid and first cover Elle in Legally Blonde (Savoy), Laurey in Oklahoma! (UK Tour), Careen O'Hara and understudy Melanie in Trevor Nunn's Gone with the Wind (New London), understudied and played Rebecca in the London premier of Imagine This (New London), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, Lady Be Good! and Fay in Sandy Wilson’s The Boy Friend (Regent’s Park Open Air), Children Will Listen (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Ruby in Dames at Sea and Babe Botrelle in Crimes of the Heart (Union) and Constance in The Kissing Dance (Jermyn Street).

I recently spoke to Gemma about what it’s like to recreate such iconic roles such as Julie Jordan and Roxie Hart, why she’s having a wonderful time in Carousel, her whirlwind year and Legally Blonde memories…

You have had a crazy year playing some incredible roles, have you had to digest it all?

It has been a very mad, brilliant year! I managed to get a holiday in before we started Carousel because I needed to take a little break and have some time away; I knew that Carousel was going to be intense!

Review: Carousel at the Arcola Theatre

Carousel

Arcola Theatre

Reviewed on Saturday 21st June 2014

It's vital that old classics such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel are continuously revived in fresh and exciting ways to keep them relevant and to allow audiences to discover new things. However, there is nothing worse than changing something just for the sake of 'being different'.

Full casting announced for Carousel at the Arcola Theatre

Full casting has been announced for Morphic Graffiti's bold new interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. The production opens at the Arcola Theatre on Monday 23rd June 2014 (previews from 18th June) and runs until Saturday 19th July 2014.

Gemma Sutton (pictured right) will star as Julie Jordan opposite Tim Rogers as Billy Bigelow.

The cast also features: Amanda Minihan as Nettie Fowler, Vicki Lee Taylor as Carrie Pipperidge, Joel Montague as Enoch Snow, Valerie Cutko as Mrs Mullin, Richard Kent as Jigger Craigin, Paul Hutton as The Starkeeper, Susanna Porter as Louise and Michael Carolan as Enoch Snow Jr.

Bold new interpretation of Carousel to be staged at the Arcola Theatre

A bold new interpretation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel will open at the Arcola Theatre later this year. The production opens on Monday 23rd June 2014 (previews from Wednesday 18th June) and runs until Saturday 19th July 2014. 

Carousel will feature a brand new acoustic orchestration by Mark Cumberland with musical supervision from renowned orchestrator Larry Blank (who has recently been represented on Broadway by his Tony Award-nominated orchestrations of Catch Me If You Can, The Drowsy Chaperone and White Christmas) and musical direction by Andrew Corcoran. 

Carousel is directed by Luke Fredericks (Jekyll and Hyde) with choreography by Lee Proud (Hairspray, Leicester Curve), set and costume design by Stewart Charlesworth and lighting design by Catherine Webb. Carousel is produced by Morphic Graffiti with creative consultancy by Kim Poster. Casting is by Ben Newsome. Presented by arrangement with R&H Theatricals Europe.

Kids Week smashes every record in its fifteen-year history!

Kids Week has sold 74,187 tickets in less than a month, beating its total 2011 sales figures and breaking all the records in its fifteen-year history. This means that Kids Week has been completely unaffected by the Olympic Games and proves that thousands of families are preparing to travel to Theatreland during the games - hooray!

Will Young to make West End Debut in Cabaret

After recent speculation it has now officially been confirmed that Will Young will be making his West End debut  in a brand new revival of Cabaret! The production will start off with a short tour consisting of these dates:

• 3rd-8th September 2012 - Mayflower Theatre, Southampton
• 10th-15th September 2012 -  Theatre Royal, Nottingham 
• 17th-22nd September 2012 - Theatre Royal, Norwich
• 24th-29th September 2012 -  The Lowry, Salford 

Then the production will settle in the West End at The Savoy Theatre (my favourite theatre in the world) from 3rd October 2012 where The Sunshine Boys is currently on until 28th July 2012. Will Young will be playing the Emcee. This is what Will had to say:

"I am very excited about the challenge of choosing Cabaret as my first musical theatre role. The role of the Emcee is a part I have wanted to play since before I started training at Arts Education in Chiswick when I first moved to London. With Rufus and Javier I couldn’t wish for better people to be surrounded by."

The rest of the casting is yet to be announced - watch this space!

Not going to lie, I am delighted to have an excuse to go back and visit my favourite theatre, The Savoy, after seeing Carousel, Legally Blonde and The Sunshine Boys there over the last few years... exciting times for West End Theatre!