Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Allegro is to finally receive its professional European premiere, nearly 70 years after its 1947 Broadway debut. It will begin performances August 5 prior to an official opening August 11 at Southwark Playhouse's The Large auditorium, where it will run for a six-week season through September 10.
Set in 1905 in a small Midwestern town, the wife of a local doctor gives birth to a baby boy, Joseph Taylor Jr. Allegro chronicles nearly four decades in the life of this average Joe - through his childhood, from college dorm to marriage altar, and on to his own medical career; from the tranquility of his hometown to the hectic din of big city life and a mid-life discovery of who he is and what his life is truly about, ultimately learning the most important lessons of all - the value of family, that money isn’t everything and that home really is where the heart is.
Produced by Danielle Tarento and directed by Thom Southerland, the team behind Grey Gardens, Grand Hotel, Titanic, Parade and Mack & Mabel, which all played at Southwark Playhouse, Southerland is working on a new adaptation of the book, and the score will also have brand-new orchestrations.
The cast and full creative team will be announced at a later time.
To book tickets, contact the box office on 020 7407 0234, or visit southwarkplayhouse.co.uk.