www.simonlipkin.co.uk

Simon is currently appearing as Sir Galahad in the UK tour of Spamalot. 

PRISONERS RELEASED PRESS RELEASE

Howard Panter (not him again) for The Ambassador Theatre Group and Bill Kenwright (when he’s not running a football team) present

Monty Python’s Spamalot

A new musical lovingly ripped off from Monty Python and the Holy Grail

By Eric Idle and John Du Prez

UK Tour from May 29th 2010

• The producers are delighted to announce that ice skater extraordinaire Hayley Tamaddon will swap a frozen lake for a real one (cancelled, too expensive) fake one in the UK Tour of Spamalot.  She will play the Lady of the Lake at venues in Nottingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, Southampton and Stoke, before skating off into the sunset.
  
• Yet more venues have been added to the tour; Norwich and Bath (those smelly mediaeval actors will need one by then!).
  
• The full company has also been announced (about time, we say!)

     Sir Galahad: Simon Lipkin
     Sir Lancelot:Graham MacDuff
     Prince Herbert: David Langham
     Sir Robin: Samuel Holmes
     Sir Bedevere: Robin Armstrong
     Male Ensemble: Kit Orton & Philip Catchpole
     Female Ensemble: Amy Papa & Rachel Knowles
     Swings: Tim Bonser & Paul Bullion

Lovely Northern lass Hayley Tamaddon will join the UK tour of Spamalot as the Lady of the Lake on June 7^th at the Royal Centre Nottingham, before dates at the King’s Theatre Glasgow, Leeds (very!) Grand Theatre, Newcastle Theatre Royal, The Mayflower Southampton and the Regent Theatre Stoke.  Hayley recently won ITV’s Sliding on Slush (sorry, Dancing on Ice) and is famed for playing dishy but ditzy ‘Delilah Dingle’ on Emmerdale. She was also in a little TV show called Shameless (sounds like our kind of show!), and will soon be appearing in BBC1’s Waterloo Road.

“The most infectiously funny musical of the millennium” (Eric Idle), Monty Python’s Spamalot, will begin a sweeping tour of the UK in May 2010. Lovingly ripped off from the classic film comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot is an almost-new musical with a book by Eric Idle and an entirely new score, (well, almost) created by Eric Idle and John Du Prez.

The UK tour will begin on May 29^th in Wimbledon and stagger wend its way through the UK to Nottingham (Sherriff approved, Robin not welcome), Glasgow (pending Scots uprising), Brighton (unless captured by the French), Bromley, Manchester Opera House, Leeds (the ever so Grand Theatre), Newcastle (in a special black and white version), Southampton (see Brighton), Stoke, Liverpool, Aberdeen, Cardiff (sheep go half price), Sheffield, Bristol, Woking (where?!), Northampton, Norwich, Edinburgh (assuming the Scots behave), Oxford, Torquay, High Wycombe, Bath, York and (Ye Olde) Milton Keynes before settling down for four weeks at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham for the Christmas season (Season of Goodwill – Bring Gifts!!).  In 2011 it will move on to yet more theatres, including the new state of the art Waterside (home of the Lady of the Lake) in Aylesbury

“Catchier than the plague”

The Daily Grail

Audiences all around the world have been roaring with laughter since Monty Python’s Spamalot won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005. Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and features a bevy (or possibly a brace) of beautiful show girls, witch burnings (cancelled - health and safety) not to mention cows, killer rabbits and French people. The show features fantastic tunes which are catchier than the plague He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights of the Round Table, Find Your Grail and of course the Nation’s Favourite Comedy Song (Reader’s Digest Poll 2009) Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

The nation’s favourite Nancy, Jodie Prenger, will open the tour in Wimbledon as The Lady of the Lake, before dates at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Brighton Theatre Royal, Manchester Opera House, Sheffield Lyceum Theatre and Liverpool Empire. “Funnyman” (Marcus Brigstocke’s mum) Marcus Brigstocke will play Arthur, King of the Britons from Wimbledon to Liverpool inclusive. Lovely Todd Carty will bang some coconuts together as Patsy until he finishes in Bath. Everyone’s favourite Python (After John and Michael) Eric Idle will star as God via 21^st century technology from his LA poolside.

Spamalot will be directed by Christopher Luscombe (if he can find the time) and designed by Hugh Durrant (if he can find the drawing board). Jenny Arnold will choreograph an unlikely group of non-dancers; and Simon Beck will attempt to supervise the music. Lighting design will be by Nick Richings provided no one steals the follow spots and Terry Jardine will make it audible for all

For further information please for goodness sake don’t contact The Corner Shop PR on 020 7494 3665 or email kasey@thecornershoppr.com

CRIB SHEET NOTES TO EDITORS

HAYLEY TAMADDON recently enthralled audiences of over 10 million viewers for 12 weeks on ITV as she learned a new skill for Dancing on Ice.  To her delight all the hard training paid off and she walked off with the trophy gaining over 80% of the viewers votes.  Hayley will soon be appearing in Waterloo Road playing ‘Zoe’ on BBC1.  Her recent role as ‘Calista’ in Shameless for Channel 4 is still being talked about! She is probably best known on our TV Screens for playing  ‘Delilah Dingle’  for over 2 years on one of Britain’s favourite family drama’s Emmerdale.  As the dishy but sometimes dizzy Dingle girl she played havoc on the series with various love, comedy, and tragedy storylines. You will also have seen Hayley playing  lead characters in the TV drama’s The Royal Today, Where the Heart is and The Royal. Her stage career has included numerous West End and No 1 Theatre Tours. She played ‘Janet’ in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show and has performed in Mamma Mia in the West End; Boogie Nights, Grease, Fame and Boyband. One of her favourite roles was playing the lovely character of ‘Diana Morales’ in A Chorus Line.  She also won Soapstar Superchef which showed off her cooking skills (actually her father and brother both work as Chefs);  ITV’s Discomania showed off her dancing and singing skills as indeed did Celebrity Stars in their Eyes where she was very convincing as ‘Lulu’ even the real Lulu commented how good she looked and sang!

TODD CARTY was born in Ireland and began his career at the age of four in London.  He made his stage debut at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, were he played the leading role of ‘Lionel’ in the musical based on Lionel Bart’s life.  Todd’s first major television role was playing the lead of ‘Tucker’ in BBC TV’s Grange Hill for a period of five years, which proved so popular that he was then offered his own series playing ‘Tucker’ as an adult in Tuckers Luck.  Todd is perhaps best known for his role as the central character in ‘Mark Fowler’ in the BBC’s award-winning flagship drama series EastEnders a role he played for 12 years. Todd went on to play the regular role of ‘P.C Gabriel Kent / David Kent’ in Talkback / Thames Television’s drama The Bill, ‘Ray Hallam’ in the Christmas special of Heartbeat and ‘Cameron Cook’ in the BBC’s Casualty. He also appeared with his son James in C4’s Dangerous Adventures for Boys.  More recently Todd played the role of ‘Det. Insp. Hallet’ in the UK tour of The Business of Murder, directed several episodes of Doctors for the BBC and made an ‘unforgettable appearance’ in ITV’s prime time entertainment show Dancing on Ice. He went on to appear in the UK tour of the show.  He also directed the film A Perfect Burger for the British Youth Film Academy which is due for release this year.

MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE Marcus's talent was noted early on in his career in 1996 when he won the BBC New Comedian Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He is now regarded as a major comedy, writing and acting talent, performing stand up nationally to sell out audiences both on tour and on the well trodden comedy circuit. BBC Radio 4 has become somewhat of a second home to Marcus with regular appearances on The Now Show and Just A Minute; He has also written and recorded three series and four specials of his hit show Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off. Marcus has notched up an impressive list of TV credits including his role as team captain on Argumental (DAVE), and host of The Late Edition and I've Never Seen Star Wars (BBC FOUR). Other appearances include; Have I Got News For You (BBC ONE), QI (BBC TWO), Sorry I've Got No Head (BBC ONE), The Late Edition (BBC FOUR), and the 11 O'Clock Show (Channel 4).  Marcus is the master of satirical comedy and has proved to be blisteringly funny over a wide range of topics including; Climate Change, Religious Extremism, Immigration, Loans Companies, The Special Relationship, Compensation Culture, Women's Magazines, The EU and David Blaine, not to mention his own personal battle against his middle class roots.

JODIE PRENGER  Jodie landed the role of “Nancy” in Cameron Mackintosh's revival production of Oliver! after winning BBC 1's I'd Do Anything.  For her performance she won the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatregoer’s choice award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical. She is a regular presenter of The Midweek National Lottery.  Other television appearances include BBC’s School Choir of the Year 2010, GMTV, Daily Cook’s Challenge, Loose Women, Children In Need, Guesstimation, As Seen On TV, All Star Family Fortunes, Tonight's the Night and New Year's Eve Live 2008.  Jodie regularly covers for Elaine Paige and Paul O’Grady on BBC Radio 2.  Other BBC Radio 2 appearances include co-hosting Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, The Olivier Awards 2010 and Children in Need 2009 with Graham Norton.  Her concert appearances for BBC Radio 2 include Thank You for the Music, The Friday Night Is Music Night James Bond Special and The Andrew Lloyd Webber 60th Birthday Party.  Other concerts include The RAF Benevolent Fund Gala, and Bryn Terfel’s annual Faenol Festival in North Wales. Jodie can be heard singing So Close with John Barrowman on his latest album. Readers of TV Times have voted Jodie their Favourite Reality TV Star of 2008. Her autobiography My Story is out now.

ERIC IDLE (Book, Lyrics and Music) has hyphenated his way through life as a writer-actor in the movies and TV shows of Monty Python, as creator-actor-director of The Rutles, and as singer-songwriter on stage at Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and two highly successful tours of the US with John Du Prez: Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2000) and The Greedy Bastard Tour (2003), where they journeyed 15,000 miles across North America in a Rock and Roll bus (see The Greedy Bastard Diary). Spamalot won the Tony for Best Musical of 2005, and a Grammy for Best Soundtrack and has appeared on Broadway, on Tour in the US, in The West End of London, in Las Vegas at The Wynn Hotel and somewhere in Australia. Not The Messiah (He’s A Very Naughty Boy) a comic Oratorio based on The Life of Brian, written with John Du Prez, received its world premiere in Toronto in June 2007, premiered in the US soon after and toured Australia and New Zealand and ended up at the Hollywood Bowl. His play What About Dick? had a short try out in LA and Rutlemania! The Tribute Concert a celebration of 30 years of The Rutles opened in March 2008.