PRESS RELEASE – Thursday 5th December 2019 IMAGES CAN BE DOWNLOADED HERE MonsoonWeddingmusical.co.uk / @Monsoonmusical MONSOON WEDDING A NEW MUSICAL BY MIRA NAIR A Leeds Playhouse production in association with the Roundhouse • A NEW MUSICAL THEATRE ADAPTATION OF THE HIT FILM MONSOON WEDDING WILL PLAY AT LEEDS PLAYHOUSE AND LONDON’S ROUNDHOUSE IN SUMMER 2020 • DIRECTED BY THE FILM’S DIRECTOR MIRA NAIR, THE NEW MUSICAL FEATURES A BOOK BY SABRINA DHAWAN AND ARPITA MUKHERJEE AND LYRICS BY MASI ASARE AND SUSAN BIRKENHEAD WITH MUSIC BY VISHAL BHARDWAJ Nearly 20 years after the multi award-winning Monsoon Wedding broke all moulds by becoming one of the most successful international films of all time and introducing a worldwide audience to Indian culture through the joy of the rom-com, the beautiful story of finding love against the odds returns as a brand-new musical. Co-Directors Mira Nair (Salaam Bombay, Mississippi Masala and forthcoming BBC adaptation A Suitable Boy) and Stephen Whitson (West Side Story Edinburgh International Festival and BBC Prom and UK associate for Hamilton) have worked with book writers Arpita Mukherjee (Artistic Director of Hypokrit Theatre, 2018-2020 WP Theater Directors Lab member, 2018 Eugene O’Neill National Directing Fellow) and Sabrina Dhawan (original Monsoon Wedding screenplay, written for 20th Century Fox, HBO, Disney Animations, Fox Star and Killer Films), award-winning composer Vishal Bhardwaj (over 40 Bollywood films, 6 National Film Awarads, winner of People’s Choice Award at Rome Film Festival for Hamlet) and lyricists Masi Asare (Music and Lyrics for Sympathy Jones, music and lyrics for Family Resemblance Theatre Royal Stratford East) and Susan Birkenhead and orchestrator Jamshied Sharfiri (winner of the Tony© for Best Orchestration for The Band’s Visit) to bring the film to life on the stage. In Delhi, preparations are under way for a lavish, nonstop, four-day celebration to mark the arranged marriage of Aditi and Hemant. Aditi is the only daughter of an upper middle-class family in India. She is about to meet her groom, an Indian-American from New Jersey. It should be the perfect wedding, but the bride is having an affair, her father is in financial trouble, and as members of the family descend from around the world, dark family secrets surface. At its heart Monsoon Wedding is an anthem to modern India. In the way that the film introduced the world of a globalizing India, the musical is a celebration of the exuberant chaos of contemporary India and its vibrant diaspora. The musical explores the ever-increasing difference and discrepancy in India between the rich and the poor, the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, the east and the west. The brand-new musical will open at Leeds Playhouse on 17th June and play there until 11th July. Following that it will transfer to London’s Roundhouse to play a strictly limited season from 17th July to 29th August. The creative team will also include: Movement Director Scott Graham (Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time), and Casting Director Karishma Balani. Full casting will be announced in due course. Tickets for Leeds Playhouse are on sale today at leedsplayhouse.org.uk and you can sign up at MonsoonWeddingmusical.co.uk to be given priority opportunity to book for the Roundhouse season on Wednesday 18th December ahead of general on sale on Thursday 19th December . -ENDS- For further information please contact The Corner Shop PR on 020 7831 7657 [email protected] LISTINGS Monsoon Wedding Leeds Playhouse First performance: Monday 22nd June 2020 Local Leeds Press Night: Tuesday 30th June 2020 Final performance: Saturday 11th July 2020 Performance schedule: Monday – Saturday evenings with Thursday/Saturday matinees leedsplayhouse.org.uk 0113 213 7700 @LeedsPlayhouse Roundhouse Chalk Farm Road NW1 8EH First performance: Friday 17th July 2020 Final performance: Saturday 29th August 2020 Press performance: Friday 24th July 2020 Performance schedule: Tuesday – Sunday evenings Matinees on Saturday/ Sunday + Thursday 27th August (no Sunday that week) www.roundhouse.org.uk/monsoonwedding 0300 6789 222 Under-16s to be accompanied by an adult Prices from £15 @roundhouseldn NOTES TO EDITORS LEEDS PLAYHOUSE Leeds Playhouse opened nearly 50 years ago. It is a cultural hub, a place where people gather to tell and share stories and to engage in world class theatre. The Playhouse makes work which is pioneering and relevant, seeking out the best companies and artists to create inspirational theatre in the heart of Yorkshire. From large scale spectacles to intimate performance, the Playhouse develops and makes work for the stage, found spaces, touring, schools and community venues. As dedicated collaborators, Leeds Playhouse works regularly with other organisations from across the UK, and some of the most distinctive and original voices in theatre today. Through its Artistic Development programme Furnace, the Playhouse develops work with established practitioners and finds, nurtures and supports new voices, as well as cultivating artists by providing creative space for writers, directors, companies and individual theatre-makers to refine their practice at any stage of their career. The Playhouse’s sector-leading Creative Engagement team works with over 12,000 people aged 0 - 95 every year through a range of weekly workshops and exciting creative projects using theatre to open up possibilities, reaching out to refugee communities, young people, students, older people and people with learning disabilities. At the Playhouse there is always a way to get involved. Leeds Playhouse’s Spring/Summer 2020 season takes place back in the redeveloped theatre following a £15.8 million transformation in 2019. The building has a new city-facing entrance improved access to and around the theatre in its brand-new foyer spaces, and a new studio theatre, the Bramall Rock Void. ROUNDHOUSE About the Roundhouse The Roundhouse is a hub of inspiration where artists and emerging talent create extraordinary work and where young people can grow creatively as individuals. The Roundhouse believes in the power of creativity to change lives. By giving young people the chance to engage with the arts through music, media and performance projects, the Roundhouse inspires them to reach further, dream bigger, and achieve more. Each year, the Roundhouse gives thousands of 11–25-year-olds the chance to develop their skills and confidence through creativity – in music, media or the performing arts, helping them to find new perspectives, and new directions. The Roundhouse is one of the most incredible live performance spaces in the world where the biggest names in music, theatre, circus and spoken word take to the stage every day. A former railway engine repair shed, the Grade II* listed building was transformed into a ground-breaking performing arts venue 50 years ago, welcoming legendary artists from all over the world to perform in its unique spaces. roundhouse.org.uk .