UK premiere of stage musical

Rufus Hound and My Family star Robert Lindsay are to star in a musical version of the Michael Caine and Steve Martin film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The stage show originally ran on Broadway in 2005, but the new production, which opens at the Manchester Opera House in February, is the UK premiere – with the script rejigged for the British stage.

Lindsay will play the suave upmarket fraudster Lawrence Jamieson, while Hound plays his loud, cocky rival, Freddy Benson, portrayed by Martin in the 1988 Frank Oz film.

Hound, who has spent much of the last year playing Francis Henshall in the National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors, said: 'I am absolutely thrilled to be part of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. I know what a theatre full of people having the time of their lives sounds like and now I'll get to hear it all over again.

The show will be directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, who was behind Legally Blonde and Broadway hit Kinky Boots

Lindsay said: 'I went to see Kinky Boots on Broadway last week and was so blown away by the euphoria in the theatre that I was even more thrilled to be working with Jerry Mitchell.

'I have been waiting for the right musical to cross my path and feel like I have finally found it with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. When I met the writers, they were so excited to be re-working the show for a UK audience, especially as there is a real sense of classic English humour in this production.'

The show will run in Manchester from February 12 to 22, then at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from February 26 to March 1 before hitting the West End, arriving at the Savoy Theatre on March 10.

Katherine Kingsley, who is currently playing Helena, opposite David Walliams and Sheridan Smith in the West End production of A Midsummer's Night Dream will play Christine Colgate. Further casting will be announced shortly.

Published: 1 Nov 2013