Finally, today the cast was announced:
https://www.cft.org.uk/news/casting-announced-for-local-heroThe full cast has been announced for LOCAL HERO, running at the Minerva Theatre from 8 October – 19 November. Based on the Bill Forsyth film, with book by David Greig and music and lyrics by Mark Knopfler (formerly of Dire Straits), it will be directed by Chichester Artistic Director Daniel Evans.
The Tony Award-winning American actor Gabriel Ebert will make his UK stage debut as Mac, with Lillie Flynn (as Stella), Paul Higgins (as Gordon), Hilton McRae (as Ben), Jay Villiers (as Happer), and Rachael Kendall Brown, Rodney Earl Clarke, Ali Craig, Julie Cullen, Liz Ewing, Murray Fraser, Craig Hunter, Joshua Manning, Jackie Morrison and Betty Valencia.
Daniel Evans said: ‘I came to Local Hero innocently; the film having passed me by in my childhood. However, the minute I read David Greig’s warm, witty book and heard Mark Knopfler’s seductive folk score, I fell hook, line and sinker. I then watched Bill Forsyth’s extraordinary film and appreciated its resonance immediately. It’s a story for our time where communities and corporations collide. It asks us to readdress how we look at the world by interrogating what we value.’
Gabriel Ebert’s many Broadway and off-Broadway roles include Mr Wormwood in Matilda The Musical, for which he won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical; The Misanthrope, Pass Over (Lucille Lortel Award), 4000 Miles (Obie Award), Thérèse Raquin and the title role in Peer Gynt. His screen work includes Dickinson, News of the World, Mr Mercedes and The Mandalorian.
Lillie Flynn previously appeared at Chichester in Love Story; her many other musical credits include Sunny Afternoon and Wicked in the West End.
Paul Higgins’s extensive TV work includes The Ipcress Files, Line of Duty, The Thick of It and Utopia; his stage credits include the National Theatre of Scotland’s Caledonia and Black Watch, and Children of the Sun and The White Guard at the National Theatre.
Hilton McRae returns to Chichester where he last appeared in My One and Only which transferred to London; his innumerable West End theatre credits also include End of the Rainbow (for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award), 1984, Mamma Mia!, Miss Saigon, and Timon of Athens at the National Theatre.
Jay Villiers’s previous Chichester credits include Quiz (also in the West End), Arcadia, The Admirable Crichton and Mansfield Park; his screen work includes Outlander and Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.
