Wales Millennium Centre casts Suzanne Packer in Tiger Bay the Musical
Welsh actress, Suzanne Packer is the latest name to join the company of Wales Millennium Centre’s most significant production to date, Tiger Bay the Musical, premiering in Cardiff this November.
Suzanne, whose previous credits include Casualty, Stella and Vera, takes on the role of landlady, Marisha – a matriarchal figurehead in a vibrant multi-ethnic community fighting against the man at the height of the south Wales coal industry.
Suzanne joins West End and Broadway actor John Owen Jones (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera) as John Crichton-Stuart, Third Marquess of Bute, Hear’Say’s Noel Sullivan (BBC’s Ordinary Lives, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels UK Tour, We Will Rock You UK Tour) as Harbour Master, Séamus O’Rourke and Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama graduate, Vikki Bebb as valley girl, Rowena. More cast still to be announced.
Born and bred in Cardiff, Suzanne said: “I was drawn to Tiger Bay the Musical as it tells a particular untold story in a colourful and entertaining way. Growing up in Cardiff I knew a little about its multicultural history; its only now through the vibrancy of the music and captivating storyline that I am learning more about it. It’s far better than any history lesson.
“This musical has such a great sense of some of the local history but it’s a universal story. Nobody gets away from heartbreak and there are themes throughout – class divide, loss, conflict – that everyone will connect with.”
A Wales Millennium Centre production in association with Cape Town Opera, Tiger Bay the Musical is a fictional story of revolution, reconciliation, courage and love set in 1900s Cardiff at a time of unrest between the workers heaving coal in the docklands and the Bute Dock Company they afforded.
Tiger Bay the Musical is written by Michael Williams, with music by Daf James and direction by Melly Still.
The world premiere of Tiger Bay the Musical will take place on Wednesday 15 November 2017 at Wales Millennium Centre and will run until Saturday 25 November 2017. Tickets on sale now at tigerbaythemusical.com