Matthew McKenna As Bananaman. Photo: Claire Bilyard
Never mind Star Wars: The Last Jedi. the premiere of the month has to be the much-anticipated Bananaman – The Musical, which opens at London’s Southwark Playhouse this Friday (15th December 2017).
Photo: Claire Bilyard
We’ve covered the show’s production path on downthetubes, but now the show is finally here and, whenever you first encountered the world’s daftest superhero, this production looks to be one to catch. Here’s one of the songs from the show…
Bananaman The Musical, written by the award-winning writer and composer of Wolfboy, The Famous Five, Scary Musical and Monte CristoLeon Parris, is directed by Mark Perry (producer, director, actor and founder of Sightline Entertainment) and is part parody, part slapstick comedy musical for the whole family.
In the show, supervillains Doctor Gloom and General Blight are attempting world domination, but who can we call? Superman’s on holiday, Spider-Man’s not picking up – our only option, our very, very last option is… Bananaman.
Matthew McKenna As Bananaman and Jodie Jacobs as Crow. Photo: Claire Bilyard
Also cast are Jodie Jacobs (Rock Of Ages) as Eric’s loyal sidekick, Crow, Mark Newnham (Sunny Afternoon) as Eric Wimp and Carl Mullaney (Les Misérables) as General Blight.
The remainder of the cast are TJ Lloyd, Lizzii Hills, Brian Gilligan, Emma Ralston, Chris McGuigan and Amy Perry.
As well as his comic strip adventures, Bananaman was also the subject of the hugely popular TV cartoon that ran on the BBC during the 1980s. With a useless hero and some equally clueless villains, Bananaman’s riotously funny, slapstick humour has been sealed into the memories of those who saw him first, and will now spark the imagination of a new bunch of Bananafans.
• Follow Bananaman The Musical on Twitter @bananamanshow
• Bananaman – The Musical Friday 15th December 2017 – Saturday 20th January 2018 Southwark Playhouse | Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday at 3.00pm – No shows Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day but Extra Christmas Shows on Thursday 21st, Friday 22nd, Wednesday 27th, Thursday 28th, Friday 29th December at 3.00pm | Prices – Previews £14; Full £25; Concessions £20; Family Ticket £80 | Web: www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk | Tel: 020 7407 0234 (10am – 6pm, Mon – Fri)
Bananaman copyright DC Thomson
John Freeman
The founder of downthetubes, John works as a comics editor, writer, as Creative Consultant on the Dan Dare audio adventures for B7 Media, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing for over 30 years, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz, published on Tapastic; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood for digital comic 100% Biodegradable.
Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events, Other Worlds
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