1 – 5 November

FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS: THE MUSICAL – the true story of the world’s most unlikely “buoy band” – sets sail for Bath’s Theatre Royal

The world premiere stage production of Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is bound for the Theatre Royal Bath where it appears from Tuesday 1^st to Saturday 5^th November. Featuring thirty-seven musical numbers, Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations, Fisherman’s Friends, and the hit 2019 film about their life. The company starring in the first UK tour is led by James Gaddas (Bad Girls, Coronation Street, Medics), Parisa Shahmir (The Snow Queen, The Last Ship), Robert Duncan (Drop the Dead Donkey, Casualty), Susan Penhaligon (A Bouquet of Barbed Wire, A Fine Romance, Emmerdale) and Anton Stephans (The X Factor, Starlight Express).

When a group of Cornish fishermen came together to sing the traditional working songs they’d sung for generations, they hoped to raise a few quid for charity. Nobody, least of all the fishermen, expected their story to end on the Pyramid stage of Glastonbury.

This feel-good voyage about friendship, community and music, includes hit songs made famous by the band Fisherman’s Friends. The cast also features seven folk musicians, who between them play around forty instruments, in a show packed with sea shanties including the numbers Keep Hauling, Nelson’s Blood and No Hopers Jokers & Rogues.

James Gaddas stars as Jim. Best known on television for his roles as Neil in Bad Girls, Vinny in Coronation Street and Dr Robert Nevin in Medics, his many stage credits include the musicals Billy Elliot, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Mamma Mia! and The Girls in the West End. His previous productions at Bath’s Theatre Royal include Some Of My Best Friends Are Husbands in 1985, A Passionate Woman in 1994 and This House in 2018. Robert Duncan, who stars as Jago, is well known on television for his role as Gus Hedges in all six series of Channel 4’s Drop the Dead Donkey. On stage, he has played leading roles in productions ranging from A Streetcar Named Desire to The Taming of the Shrew. He has starred at Bath’s Theatre Royal in fourteen previous productions, with recent visits in Twelve Angry Men in 2015 and The Lady Vanishes in 2019.

Susan Penhaligon stars as Maggie. Her many television credits range from A Bouquet of Barbed Wire to Upstairs Downstairs. She played Helen, sister to Judi Dench’s Laura, in A Fine Romance, Jean Hope in Emmerdale and Bianca in The Taming Of The Shrew for BBC’s Shakespeare season. In the West End, she has starred in The Maintenance Man, The Mysterious Mr Love and Dangerous Corner, all of which played Bath. Last seen at the Theatre Royal in 2018 in The Importance Of Being Earnest, she has starred in twelve productions in Bath since 1986.

Anton Stephans stars as Leadville. A finalist in The X Factor, his many stage credits include Blues Brothers Meet Soul Sisters, Porgy and Bess, Starlight Express and Smokey Joe’s Café, which toured to the Theatre Royal Bath in 2000. Parisa Shahmir, who stars as Alwyn, has recently appeared in The Snow Queen at Kingston’s Rose Theatre, the UK tour of The Last Ship with music and lyrics by Sting, and the film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.

They are joined on stage by Jason Langley as record promoter Danny, Dan Buckley as Rowan, Dakota Starr as Ben, Pete Gallagher as Wiggie, Hadrian Delacey as Archie, Hazel Monaghan as Sally, Fia Houston-Hamilton as Leah, Dominic Brewer as Yestin and Martin Carroll as Arthur. Co-musical directors James William-Pattison and James Findlay play the roles of Owen and Henry. Musicians in the company include Louisa Beadel as Morwenna, John O’Mahony as Eddy, Mel Biggs as Ann, Alfie Gidley as Bran, Hazel Simmons as Elys, Janet Mooney as Nessa, and making her theatre debut Beccy Hurst as Grace.

The UK, Ireland and Canada tour follows a highly successful, sold-out season at the Hall for Cornwall, where Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical was the biggest selling production in the venue’s twenty-five-year history. This November, the production makes its North American premiere in Canada appearing for a Christmas season at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theatre, before returning to the UK in 2023.

The hit 2019 Fisherman’s Friends movie, with a screenplay by Nick Moorcroft, Meg Leonard and Piers Ashworth, delighted fans across the world, with the sequel film, Fisherman’s Friends: One and All released in the UK in August 2022.

Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical is directed by James Grieve and written by Amanda Whittington with choreography by Matt Cole. Musical direction is by James Findlay, set and costume design by Lucy Osborne, musical supervision and arrangements by David White, sound design by Dan Samson and lighting design by Johanna Town.

Fisherman’s Friends: The Musical appears at the Theatre Royal Bath from Tuesday 1^st to Saturday 5^th November. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk

Photo credit: Pamela Raith