Act 1, Scene 8: 'Hello' - The Book of Mormon

With a mere 44 DAYS TO GO! It only seems fair that you get to know our wonderful cast. Here are little snippets of info about our fab four who are taking on '[title of show]', information about our two lead singers and comperes will be coming shortly so keep your eyes posted!

HEIDI:

Heidi as Heidi. (Yes, that’s right)

Heidi is currently studying for her A-levels at Taunton School and has been offered a place to study Acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in September. She has always loved musical theatre from her first role as ‘Puss’ in ‘Puss in Boots’ at the tender age of six to the part of ‘Guinevere’ in the National Youth Music Theatre’s ‘Pendragon’ last year. Sadly, Heidi didn’t make the cut in her primary school nativity and instead starred as one of many sheep in which her only line was ‘bah’. Her dream parts would be Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd or Maria in West Side Story. Like the rest of us, she loves anything by Sondheim. Heidi’s most embarrassing stage moment came during a performance of ‘Phantom of the Opera’ as ‘Carlotta’ in which she had to undertake a costume change on stage, not realising that most of the audience seated to the sides in the dress circle could her changing…standing there in her bra and pants. Thankfully for Heidi, ‘[title of show]’ will have minimal costume changes.

BEN:

Ben as Jeff.

Ben is about to go into his second year of Economics at Bristol University which will be put to good use in his committee role as Treasurer of Music Theatre Bristol for the 2016-2017 academic year. He first started performing during various summers at Beauville Arts Musical Theatre camp in a range of productions from ‘High School Musical’ where he sang “Breaking Free” as Troy #heartthrob, to Pumba in ‘The Lion King’ #stillaheartthrob. Ben’s favourite musicals are ‘Book of Mormon’ and ‘Hamilton’. At the age of 13 Ben had his professional debut in Paris playing the role of ‘Friedrich’ in ‘The Sound of Music’ at the Theatre de Chatelet to over 2000 people. (Hopefully they will all remember his starring turn and visit us in Edinburgh…) If you aren’t a hardcore fan who is able to distinguish the children - Friedrich is the second oldest child and the second one to go to bed during ‘So Long, Farewell’ aka Mr ‘Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu’. Sadly, there is little scripted German in our production of ‘[title of show]’.

CHARLIE:

Charlie as Susan.

Charlie is about to enter her second year of studying English Literature at Bristol University after spending her initial year doing a great deal of theatre work and not a great deal of coursework. With a bass-y voice, she overcame the emotional scarring of being likened to Barry White as a child by stealing acting roles from her male counterparts (#downwiththepatriarchy) such as playing Aladdin in - you guessed it – ‘Aladdin’. However, she finally caught a break as an alto in the role of Nancy in ‘Oliver!’ with Perins Youth Theatre, which she was nominated for a Daily Echo Curtain Call Award as Best Actress in a Musical aged 14. After being told at this very award ceremony by some actor from Holby City (ooh la la) that she had ‘menacing eyebrows’, Charlie decided to embark on fulfilling her theatrical niche as a villain, from Antonio in ‘The Tempest’, to Mother Gothel from ‘Tangled’, all the way to ‘Hades, the sexy God of Disco’ in ‘Hercules’. In embarking upon the role of Susan, Charlie is excited to be playing a Vampire slayer (aka hero) rather than a villain - and, most importantly, a girl.

HARVEY:

Harvey as Hunter.

Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance student Harvey started his musical career in the pivotal role of ‘Mayor Munchkin’ in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ at the Winston Theatre, only to come full circle and begin rehearsals for ‘[title of show]’ in the same building. The role taught Harvey a lot about live theatre. For example, how to perform with a Hula-Hoop sewn into the bottom of your mayor gown, and more importantly, how to recover when you trip headfirst over it in front of a live audience. Since then Harvey has enjoyed many roles with the Bristol based company ‘Ivy Arts Youth Theatre’. These have added to his roster of embarrassing costumes: A Miami Vice power suit (Glen Gulia: ‘The Wedding Singer’), 80s leg warmers (Tyrone Jackson: ‘Fame’) and a gold catsuit that left little to the imagination (Conrad Birdie: ‘Bye Bye Birdie’). It’s a wonder he had any credibility left to take on all the ‘serious’ roles such as Riff in ‘West Side Story’, Reecey in ‘Our House’, and Marius in ‘Les Misérables’. Harvey can’t wait to get to work with such a tight knit crew at the Edinburgh Fringe, especially as he can see his character ‘Hunter’ developing into a valuable future credit. (As long as the costume isn’t too embarrassing)