Stage: Stunning new musicals at Chichester Festival Theatre

Chichester Festival Theatre remains at the forefront of British musical theatre with another four prestigious Olivier awards, this time for their stunning revival of Gypsy which went on to the West End to further acclaim after its stunning festival season. It is a pattern that repeats year on year and CFT are now seen as one of the premier producing houses in this field.
This season will see a new musical based on Travels With My Aunt, the novel by Graham Greene. Retired bank manager Henry Pulling is happy alone with his dahlias until he meets his decidedly bohemian Aunt Augusta who, having rattled the family skeletons, persuades the reluctant Henry to flee to Europe.
Based on Graham Greene’s celebrated novel, this new musical was adapted by Emmy Award-winning writers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman and features a score by the Olivier Award-winning team of George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, all of whom previously collaborated on the musical Betty Blue Eyes.

Patricia Hodge plays Aunt Augusta. Her long association with Chichester encompasses The Mitford Girls, As You Like It and Calendar Girls; her recent television credits include several series’ of Miranda. Steven Pacey plays Henry; his previous Chichester appearances include Kent in King Lear; and in the West End, By Jeeves, The Admirable Crichton and Phantom of the Opera.
They will also be reviving Half A Sixpence, the musical adaptation of H.G. Wells’s novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul. It is a completely fresh adaptation which reunites book-writer Julian Fellowes (Oscar-winning screenwriter and creator of Downton Abbey) with George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the musical team that co-creator Cameron Mackintosh first put together to create the hit stage adaptation of Mary Poppins with Disney. Bryan Dick plays Arthur Kipps; his many television appearances include Ernie Wise in the widely praised TV drama Eric and Ernie, Wolf Hall and Capital; his stage credits include Mozart in Amadeus at Sheffield Theatres and The Alchemist at the National Theatre.
Travels With My Aunt, 18 April – 4 June,
Minerva Theatre
Half A Sixpence, 14 July – 3 September,
Festival Theatre
01243 781312, cft.org.uk