Joanna Riding and Meow Meow to Star in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at London’s Gielgud Theatre

Kneehigh Theatre, the company behind the recent Broadway hit Brief Encounter, has announced casting for its newest creation, an adaptation Michel Legrand’s The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Olivier Award winner Joanna Riding and cabaret artist Meow Meow will star in the musical reimagining, directed by Emma Rice with lyrics translated by Sheldon Harnick. The show will premiere at the Curve Leicester February 11-26 before transferring to the West End’s Gielgud Theatre beginning on March 5. Opening night is set for March 22.

Riding most recently played Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot on the West End. Her other London stage credits include My Fair Lady, The Witches of Eastwick, Blithe Spirit, An Ideal Husband, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, as well as Me and My Girl, Guys and Dolls, A Little Night Music, Oh What a Lovely War and Carousel. Meow Meow is a renowned cabaret artist who won the 2010 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize for her show Feline Intimate. Her solo shows which have been curated by David Bowie, Pina Bausch and Mikhail Baryshnikov and have been seen across Europe and the U.S. In New York she has performed at the Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall.

In The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, based on the 1964 Jacques Demy film of the same title, young French auto mechanic Guy Fouchier has fallen in love with 17-year-old Geneviève Emery, an employee in her widowed mother's chic umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, he and Geneviève vow to remain lovers. After discovering she is carrying Guy’s child, Genevieve must choose between waiting for his return or accepting an offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant.

In addition to Riding (Madame Emery) and Meow Meow (Lola), the cast for Leicester and the West End includes Carly Bawden (Genevieve), Gareth Charlton (Sailor), Andrew Durand (Guy), Cynthia Erivo (Madelaine), Dominic Marsh (Cassard), Aki Omoshaybi (Sailor) and ensemble members Laura Brydon and Matt Wilman.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg will feature design by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Malcolm Rippeth, sound by Simon Baker and musical supervision by Nigel Lilley.