News: Casting Announced For Gerry & Sewell

Casting Announced For Gerry & Sewell

Gerry & Sewell

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Wednesday 2 – Saturday 5 October 2024

Newcastle United kick off their Premier League campaign on Saturday, but for one Toon Army, they are already celebrating promotion to the biggest stage.

Gerry & Sewell, Olivier award-winning Jamie Eastlake’s adaptation based on Jonathan Tulloch’s novel The Season Ticket and the cult Geordie film Purely Belter, is set for a week long run at Newcastle Theatre following sold out performances at Laurels and Live Theatre.

A true tale of Geordie passion, Gerry & Sewell is a real North East success story having started life at Laurels theatre – housed in a 120 year social club - in Whitley Bay and after attracting sell out audiences during two runs in 2022, it transferred to Live Theatre the following year playing to packed out audiences for 11 nights. Now it’s set to play on its biggest stage to date having scored a six-performance run at Newcastle Theatre Royal.

Photo: Meg Jepson

Blyth-born Jamie Eastlake is bringing together a stellar cast brimming with North East talent. Multi award-winning actor Bill Ward – known to millions for his prime time TV roles on Coronation Street and Emmerdale stars as Mr McCarten opposite BRIT award winner, actress and campaigner Michelle Heaton, who hails from Gateshead and shot to fame as a member of the band ‘Liberty X’ on Popstars in 2001.

Photo: Meg Jepson

They are set to join original cast members Dean Logan and Jack Robertson who will be reprising their roles as the wayward Gerry and Sewell as well as Becky Clayburn who will be playing Tyneside when the three make their Theatre Royal debuts this Autumn.

The iconic Grey Street venue will be familiar territory for one cast member. Erin Mullen (The Last Breath, Midsomer Murders) makes her return to Newcastle Theatre Royal having been a member of the first ever cohort of students at Project A  – the theatre’s full time in-house actor training course – and is relishing making her first professional appearance on its stage in the role of Bridget McCarten.

Gerry & Sewell follows the fortunes of two Gateshead lads who have nothing but a dream of securing season tickets to follow their beloved Newcastle United. But after years of living in austerity and seeing their football club shelled out by a cockney bloke who sells sports tat, life is a struggle. Until they decide they’re getting those season tickets. And now they’ve got their mission, nowt is gonna stand in their way. Whey, apart from maybe a few radgie charvers, the social and the odd madcap scrap merchant.

An actor for 25 years, Bill Ward has performed in numerous television shows, films, and plays since turning professional. Well known for his work in two of the country's leading soaps, Coronation Street (Charlie Stubbs) and Emmerdale (James Barton) - in which he appeared for over 750 episodes and won numerous awards - Bill has also played Loco Chanelle in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (Apollo Theatre) and appeared in multiple UK touring productions. No stranger to the Newcastle Theatre Royal stage, Bill visited most recently earlier this year whilst starring as Gerald in the UK tour of The Full Monty.

Bill Ward - Photo: Meg Jepson

Proud to be part of this Geordie production, Bill Ward said: “It’s such a great piece of writing - raw, visceral and very, very funny. As a North East lad myself, it’s got pretty much everything: characters that you instantly recognise and root for, plenty of radgies, dogs and tabs, and the fierce cocktail of hope and sheer desperation that comes with supporting the Toon. The play is on such an exciting journey - from sold out runs at Laurels in Whitley Bay and Live Theatre, to now landing with a bang on Grey Street at the Theatre Royal itself.”

As a member of the band Liberty X, Michelle Heaton enjoyed chart success with the albums Thinking it Over, Being Somebody and X having hits both in the UK and internationally. The track Just a Little Bit won the band a Brit Award for Best Single in 2003 and in total they had ten Top 20 singles.

Michelle Heaton - Photo: Meg Jepson

As well as being a performer, Michelle is a published author and has appeared as a presenter and panellist on several television programmes, including Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women, as well as appearing in ITV’s Dancing on Ice and Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins.

Joining the cast as Mrs McCarten, Michelle is thrilled to be back on stage and said: “Acting was my first dream, before I entered the Popstars TV show and my life changed over the course of the TV series. I still love singing but I’m really grateful to take on an acting role again – and in my hometown of Newcastle at the beautiful Theatre Royal. I can’t wait.”

Jamie Eastlake added; “Opportunities don’t come much bigger and better than this; the chance to recreate the story of Gerry & Sewell – a true Tyneside tale – on stage at one of the leading theatres not only in the North East region, but the country, is something which only comes along once in a lifetime.”

He added: “The reaction to the lads’ story has been unbelievable and following the success of Gerry & Sewell during its previous runs, we’ve assembled a fantastic cast which is North East through and through and we can’t wait to share their tale once again.”

Photo: Meg Jepson

Co-produced by Newcastle Theatre Royal, Gerry & Sewell will see Wor Flags once again be bringing the spirit of St James’ Park with a vibrant rainbow of black and white. Chief executive Marianne Locatori added: “Our region is rich in storytelling with an abundance of incredible creative talent and ensuring that these local narratives are represented in our programme and performed on our stage is incredibly important. 

“We are delighted that we have the opportunity to work creatively alongside Jamie and the team to showcase this fabulous tale which is deeply rooted in the North East.”

Tickets:

Gerry & Sewell plays Newcastle Theatre Royal during Oct 2024. Tickets can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 0191 232 7010.