Stage Entertainment, Glass Half Full Productions and Just for Laughs Theatricals are delighted
to announce that MADE IN DAGENHAM will open at the Adelphi Theatre on Wednesday 5
November, with previews from Thursday 9 October. Based on the hit British film, this new
musical comedy will star international stage and screen actress GEMMA ARTERTON in the lead
role of Rita O’Grady, with ADRIAN DER GREGORIAN as her husband Eddie.
Essex 1968. Like millions of other working women, each morning Rita O’Grady is just trying to
get her husband out of bed, get the kids off to school and get to work at the factory on time.
But life is about to change forever when it’s announced that the girls in the sewing room of
Ford’s Dagenham car plant will have their pay grade dropped to ‘unskilled’.
Quickly drawing on a strength she never knew she had, Rita leads her friends in a battle
against the might of Ford and the corruption of the Union supposed to protect them. As the
girls’ inspiring journey gets bigger than anyone could have imagined, the pressure is too
much for some, but can Rita keep up the fight and the happy home she’s worked so hard
for?
Funny, touching and timeless, Made in Dagenham shows how ordinary people can do
extraordinary things when they stand together.
Rupert Goold said:
“From my first watch of Made in Dagenham I knew it was a piece I wanted to be involved in bringing to the stage. It’s such an engaging, relatable and vital story and I’m convinced as a musical we can bring even more to it when we mount our production at the Adelphi. British theatre has world class playwrights and songwriters and this industry is at its most exiting when it’s creating new work. I’m thrilled to be surrounded by a creative team on Made In Dagenham that represents the very best in our business.
“We’ve got some big ideas, some brilliant original music and I can’t wait to get going with our cast. It’s particularly exciting too, that the cast will be led by the luminously talented Gemma Arterton and the unspeakably charismatic Adrian Der Gregorian, who I’m delighted are playing the leads at the centre of this big-hitting, big-hearted musical.”
Gemma Arterton said:
“I’m beyond thrilled to be playing Rita O’Grady in Made in Dagenham. It’s an important story that I’m passionate about telling, and we intend to tell it with wit, warmth and, of course, a lot of singing and dancing in this production! Roll on October!”
Directed by multi-award winning Rupert Goold (Artistic Director of the Almeida Theatre), Made in Dagenham has a book by Richard Bean (writer of the global hit play One Man, Two Guvnors, The Heretic at the Royal Court, England People Very Nice at the National), music by BAFTA and Grammy award winning composer David Arnold (Bond series, Independence Day, Hot Fuzz, Sherlock and Little Britain) and lyrics from Olivier Award winner Richard Thomas (Jerry Spring The Opera, The Royal Opera’s Anna Nicole and Shoes at Sadler’s Wells). Olivier Award-winner Bunny Christie (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time) will design with choreography by Aletta Collins (Awakenings by Rambert Dance Company, His Dark Materials at the National Theatre).
Stage Entertainment is one of the world’s largest theatrical producers and venue owners, with bases across Europe and in New York. UK credits include I Can’t Sing! (currently at the London Palladium), Hairspray, Sister Act, Singin’ in the Rain Oliver!, Disney’s High School Musical 1 & 2 and Fame.
Glass Half Full Productions is a London-based production company, managed by Gareth Lake and Adam Blanshay. UK credits include: I Can’t Sing, Ghost Stories, Ghosts, and Mojo. Broadway credits include the recent Globe transfer of Twelfth Night/Richard III.
Just for Laughs Theatricals is a subsidiary of Just for Laughs, the largest comedy producers in the world. The company creates major festival events in Montreal, Chicago, Toronto and Sydney. Theatre credits include the Tony-Award winning Kinky Boots and the upcoming Broadway productions of Rocky and Bullets Over Broadway.
Made in Dagenham is based on motion picture of the same name produced by Number 9 Films.
