Adrian Dunbar to make West End Musical debut this summer
Last updated 17th Jan 2024
Line of Duty star Adrian Dunbar is to make his musical debut in the return of Kiss Me, Kate to the London stage.
The Enniskillen actor, 65, will star alongside Tony Award-winning actress Stephanie J Block in the re-imagining of Cole Porter's hit musical comedy about warring lovers.
The production is set for a 15-week run at the Barbican Theatre starting on 4th June 2024.
The new production, which follows "backstage chaos and romantic entanglements" as a theatre company attempts to put on a production of William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, will premiere at the Barbican Theatre from June 4 until September 14.
With music and lyrics by Porter and based on the original book by Bella and Samuel Spewack, the new production will be directed by Bartlett Sher - who won a Tony award in 2008 for directing Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.
Dunbar, who will star as character Fred Graham and Petruchio in the play-within-a-play, said "summer 2024 just got a lot brighter".
"I'm so delighted to be returning to the stage this summer to my spiritual home at the Barbican - where I started my career at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama - especially in this Cole Porter classic with the wonderful creative team including Bart Sher and Stephanie J Block," he said.
Set in 1940s Baltimore, the show follows the tempestuous relationship between actor-manager Fred Graham (Dunbar) and his leading lady and ex-wife Lilli Vanessi (Block).
The show first premiered in 1948 and won best musical at the Tony Awards a year later before scooping best revival of a musical in 2000.
The show makes its return to the West End after appearing at the London Coliseum in June 2018.
Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday 19 January from KissMeKateMusical.com
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