Costume designer and maker Sue Simmerling and her company Carry On Costumes are producing medical scrubs for NHS workers with the help of Sleepless producers Michael Rose and Damien Sanders.
Fellow costume designer Dulcie Scott began the crowdfunding group Helping Dress Medics, a campaign to purchase fabrics to make personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS medics on the front lines battling the coronavirus, and reached out to Simmerling for her help. Simmerling jumped on board, and her Sleepless producers subsequently offered to share the fabric costs to support the production of 70 sets medical scrubs for Guy’s Hospital in London.
In addition, Rose and Sanders have promised to hold a performance of Sleepless for NHS workers free of charge once the show re-opens, calling the event “A Night for Sleepless Heroes.” (The show was originally due to begin March 24 at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.)
Sleepless, based on the movie Sleepless in Seattle, features a book by Michael Burdette and a score by Robert Scott and Brendan Cull. The cast includes Jay McGuiness, Kimberley Walsh, Daniel Casey, Harriet Thorpe, Tania Mathurin, and Jake Sharp, along with Charlie Bull, Colin Burnicle, Christie-Lee Crosson, Laura Darton, Leanne Garretty, Matt Holland, Ross McLaren, Gary Murphy, Dominique Planter, Annie Wensak and Benjamin Wong. Theo Collis, Mikey Colville, Jobe Hart, and Jack Reynolds share the role of Jonah.
