''The Boy in the Dress'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with music and lyrics by

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

Guy Chambers Guy Antony Chambers (born 12 January 1963) is an English songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his work with Robbie Williams. Education Chambers attended Quarry Bank Comprehensive School sixth form in Liverpool. From 18, h ...

and

Chris Heath Chris Heath is a British writer who was a regular contributor to the popular English music magazine '' Smash Hits'' in the eighties and early nineties. In the late eighties, he travelled with Pet Shop Boys on their first ever world tour and the r ...

and a book by

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include ''Shoppin ...

. The musical is based on the 2008 novel of the same name, written by

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little B ...

. The story is about a twelve-year-old boy, Dennis, who enjoys wearing a dress and the reactions of his family and friends.

Background

The musical is based on the 2008 novel '' The Boy in the Dress'', which was written by

, with illustration by

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

. The novel was previously adapted into a BBC television short film in 2014. In February 2018,

Gregory Doran Gregory Doran (born 24 November 1958) is an English director known for his Shakespearean work. ''The Sunday Times'' called him 'one of the great Shakespearians of his generation'. Doran was artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RS ...

, artistic director of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, confirmed that the RSC was working with David Walliams on an undisclosed project. In May 2018, the show was officially confirmed and received its world premiere in 2019 in

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...

for the festive period. The show has a book by playwright

and is directed by

. The musical features an original score by

and

Production History

Stratford-upon-Avon (2019-2020)

The world premiere of the musical, presented by the

, began previews on 8 November 2019, with press night on 27 November 2019, and ran until 8 March 2020 at the

Royal Shakespeare Theatre The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespe ...

. The production was directed by

, designed by Robert Jones, choreographed by Aletta Collins and lighting designed by Mark Henderson. On 22 August 2019 the initial adult casting was announced including

Rufus Hound Rufus Hound (born Robert James Blair Simpson 6 March 1979) is an English actor, comedian and presenter. Early life Hound was born on 6 March 1979, in Essex and moved to Surrey at the age of seven. He was educated at Hoe Bridge School Woking ...

as Dad, Natasha Lewis as Darvesh's Mum,

Forbes Masson Forbes (Robertson) Masson (born 17 August 1963 in Falkirk) is a Scottish actor and writer. He is an Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is best known for his roles in classical theatre, musicals, comedies, and appearances ...

as Mr Hawtrey and Irvine Iqbal as Raj. The complete casting was announced on 9 September 2019.

Planned London transfer

In an interview with WhatsOnStage.com, Doran revealed that the production was due to transfer to the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

's West End opening in autumn 2020, however due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, plans were postponed.

Cast and characters

Musical numbers

; Act I * "Ordinary" – Company * "If I Don't Cry" – Dennis * "We Are The Winners" – Darvesh's Mum & Company * "Three For The Price Of Two" – Raj * "A House Without A Mum" – Dad, John & Dennis * “School Uniform” - Miss Bresslaw & Company † * "I Hate Kids" – Mr Hawtrey * "Is There Anything More Beautiful Than Lisa James?" – Schoolkids * "Disco Symphony" – Lisa, Dennis & Company * "A Girl Who's Gonna Be" – Lorna, Louise, Dennis & Girl Gang * "Miss Windsor's Belle Chanson" – Miss Windsor * "A Boy In A Dress" – Company ; Act II * "Beach Holiday Sunday" – Company * “A House Without A Mum” (reprise) - Dad† * "When Things Fall Apart" – Lisa & Dennis * "You Don't Have A Prayer" – Football Teams * "You Can't Expel Us All" – Company * "If I Don't Cry" (reprise) – Dad & Dennis * "I Like To Put On A Dress" – Mr Hawtrey, Lisa, Dennis & Raj‡ * "Extraordinary" – Company * Curtain Call: “You Can’t Expel Us All” and “Disco Symphony” Keys

Original Cast Recording

A cast recording featuring the original Stratford-upon-Avon cast was released on 4 December 2020 on CD,

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, Apple Music and

YouTube Music YouTube Music is a music streaming service developed by YouTube, a subsidiary of Google. It provides a tailored interface for the service, oriented towards music streaming, allowing users to browse through songs and music videos on YouTube based ...

. It features 21 tracks including 2 bonus demo tracks "If I Don't Cry" and "A House Without A Mum" by co-songwriter

. To launch the album, the RSC live streamed an event called ''The Boy in the Dress: A Celebration'' on 5 December 2020 which featured author

reading from the original novel and co-songwriter

performing songs with Toby Mocrei and Miriam Nyarko (reprising the roles of Dennis and Lisa James respectively).

Critical reception

The musical's premiere in Stratford-upon-Avon received positive reviews from critics and audiences. It received five star reviews from

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

WhatsOnStage WhatsOnStage.com is a London-based website that provides information about, and offers tickets for, theatrical performances in the United Kingdom. It also organises the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 1996, it has been owned by the Americ ...

, Reviewshub and

BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City covering Broadway, Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres ...

and four stars from

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

, The Sun,

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

and

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy in the Dress 2019 musicals British musicals Musicals based on novels Plays set in England