Paul Elliott joins National Theatre tour as Mr Boo in Little Voice
Paul Chuckle will play Mr Boo in the national theatre run of Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. The 78-year-old, whose real name is Paul Elliott, described the tour as a dream come true. The production opens in London before moving across England.
Paul Elliott at the Dorfman
2 December marks the start of the National Theatre run in London, with the production scheduled to play through 23 January. Elliott said, “I can't wait to get into rehearsals with Robert Hastie and this fantastic team. To perform at the National Theatre and then head out on tour across England is a dream come true.”
Francesca Mills will lead the cast as Little Voice, with Jill Halfpenny playing Mari Hoff. Robert Hastie directs. Mills said she “can't wait” to reunite with him, adding that her first show at the National was in the Dorfman Theatre and that she is returning there over Christmas before the tour around England.
Robert Hastie's winter tour
The production will then head to locations including Newcastle, Sheffield and Salford. That schedule turns the National Theatre engagement into a wider winter run rather than a one-city booking, giving the production a reach beyond London before the year is out.
Halfpenny said she was “so excited” to play Mari Hoff in the “beloved Northern play,” and added: “I have long admired Jim's work and to get the opportunity to play this role at the National Theatre and at theatres across England this winter is very special.”
The show is described as a joyful, tender and bittersweet celebration of music, ambition and the courage it takes to be heard, with music from Judy Garland and Dame Shirley Bassey. For a production built around a well-known play and a touring schedule that reaches multiple English cities, the cast announcement does the commercial work now: it gives the run a recognisable name, a clear window, and a route into regional venues before the winter season closes out.
