Lambert Jackson Productions and Crazy Coqs announces First Date casting

Lambert Jackson Productions and Crazy Coqs today announce a virtual production of the Broadway musical First Date. Dean Johnson directs Samantha Barks (Casey), Oscar Conlon-Morrey (Man #2), Rufus Kampa (Young Aaron), Simon Lipkin (Aaron), Nicholas McLean (Man #1), and Danielle Steers (Woman #1). The production will be filmed at Crazy Coqs, then made available for streaming 22^nd – 24^th October at 7.30pm.

Do opposites really attract? Cool chick Casey and tightly wound Aaron are hoping so. These two New York City singles have been set up by friends and family, but from the outset this first date seems to be doomed. The two have nothing in common… But with the help of a meddling but well-meaning waiter, and a host of other characters along the way, can this mismatched pair turn what could be a dating disaster into something special before the check arrives?

With a contemporary rock score, First Date gleefully pokes fun at the all too familiar dating mishaps we’ve all experienced and gives hope that there could be that one special person out there for all of us.

Tickets are £12.50, and are available at https://www.fane.co.uk/our-shows/first-date-the-musical/about-the-show

Samantha Barks plays Casey. Her previous theatre credits include Chess (Umeda Arts Theater Main Hall / Tokyo International Forum Hall), Pretty Woman (Chicago and Broadway), The Last Five Years (St James Theatre), Amelie (Berkley Rep), City of Angels (Donmar Warehouse), Chicago (Hollywood Bowl), Oliver! (UK tour), Les Misérables (Queen’s Theatre), and Cabaret (Birmingham Rep). She was one of the participants on the BBC series I’d Do Anything. For film, her credits include Chocolate Cake, For Love or Money, Bitter Harvest, The Revenger, Interlude in Prague, The Devil’s Harvest, The Christmas Candle and as Eponine in Les Misérables (recipient of Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer; and nomination for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture). She also reprised her performance as Eponine for Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary. Barks will play role of Elsa in the West End production of Frozen.

Oscar Conlon-Morrey plays Man #2. His previous theatre credits include Only Fools and Horses The Musical (Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Fall, The Downfall of Robert Earl of Huntington (Shakespeare’s Globe), Nativity! The Musical (Hammersmith Apollo, UK tour), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Kilworth House Theatre), and The Toxic Avenger (Arts Theatre).

Rufus Kampa plays Young Aaron. His previous theatre credits include The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 ¾ – The Musical (Ambassadors Theatre), and Goodnight Mister Tom (Southwark Playhouse).

Simon Lipkin plays Aaron. His previous theatre credits include Ghost Stories (Ambassadors Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith), All in a Row, As You Like It (Southwark Playhouse), Nativity! The Musical, Spamalot (Hammersmith Apollo/UK tour), The Wind in the Willows, Honeymoon in Vegas, I Can’t Sing (London Palladium), Whisper House (The Other Palace), Guys and Dolls (Phoenix Theatre), Miss Atomic Bomb (St James Theatre), The Lorax (The Old Vic), Avenue Q (Noël Coward Theatre), Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory), and Rock of Ages (Shaftesbury Theatre). For film, his credits include Nativity Rocks!, Show Dogs, Nativity III, and The Muppets – Again.

Nicholas McLean plays Man #1. His previous theatre credits include Wicked (Apollo Victoria), Cinderella (Mercury Theatre Colchester), Avenue Q (UK tour), The Pied Piper (Cornerstone Arts Centre), South Pacific (St James Concert Hall), and The Book of Mormon (Prince of Wales Theatre).

Danielle Steers plays Woman #1. Her previous theatre credits Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse), Bat Out of Hell (Dominion Theatre, London Coliseum, UK tour), Beautiful (Aldwych Theatre), The Bodyguard (Dominion Theatre), We Will Rock You (international tour), Hairspray (Aberystwyth Arts Centre), and Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre).

Dean Johnson directs. His previous theatre credits include Godspell (St Paul’s Covent Garden, Cadogan Hall), Dogfight (Southwark Playhouse), Paperboy (Lyric Theatre Belfast), Spring Awakening, In The Heights (Stockwell Playhouse), and Into The Woods, Rent (Belvoir Studio Theatre).

ABOUT LAMBERT JACKSON PRODUCTIONS

Lambert Jackson Productions is a production company dedicated to producing musical theatre shows and stunning performances. Founded by Jamie Lambert (CEO) and Eliza Jackson (Creative Director), the company made its debut at Cadogan Hall in August 2018 with There’s Nothin’ Like a Dame – 100 Years of Women in Musical Theatre, and has since received two Broadway World Award nominations. Their various productions have received critical acclaim, including Main Men of Musicals, West End Women, Love at the Musicals, multiple Favourites series at The Other Palace, The Throwaways, Ramin Karimloo and The Broadgrass Band, and Doctor Zhivago. They are currently planning their hotly anticipated production The Secret Garden plus a concert series at The Adelphi Theatre including superstars John Owen-Jones and Samantha Barks. Over the last six months, Lambert Jackson created the UK’s biggest online concert series, Leave a Light On, designed to provide income for actors during the Covid-19 lockdown, as well as leading the way with their virtual productions of musicals The Last Five Years and Songs For A New World.

Twitter: @LJProds

Instagram: @lambertjacksonproductions

Facebook: Lambert Jackson Productions

Crazy Coqs is Soho’s unique live entertainment venue within the Brasserie Zédel complex. An art deco gem with a pre-Covid capacity of 80, Crazy Coqs has a packed programme of emerging and internationally renowned cabaret and jazz artists. The venue re-opened to 50% capacity on August 27^th with September and October shows now on sale.

Forming part of Corbin and King’s London portfolio, which includes restaurants such as The Wolseley and The Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel is situated on the former site of the Regent Palace Hotel.  With a historic Beaux Arts interior, Brasserie Zédel has transported the style and atmosphere of a grand Parisian brasserie to the heart of London. Tucked away across the hall from the main Brasserie lies one of London’s most intimate and characterful venues, Crazy Coqs.