Casting has been revealed for The Lehman Trilogy's previously announced West End return. The Tony-winning play will beginat the Gillian Lynne Theatre on January 24, 2023 with opening night set for February 8. The engagement is scheduled to play through May 20.
Michael Balogun will play the role of Emanuel Lehman, Hadley Fraser is set to play Mayer Lehman and Nigel Lindsay will take on the role of Henry Lehman. They will be joined by pianist, Yshani Perinpanayagam. Returning to perform the understudy roles will be Ravi Aujla as Emanuel Lehman, Will Harrison-Wallace as Mayer Lehman and Leighton Pugh as Henry Lehman. Erika Gundesen will be the understudy pianist.
Balogun previously led Death of England: Delroy and appeared in Macbeth at the National Theatre. Fraser's theater credits include The Antipodes, Saint Joan, City of Angels, Coriolanus, The Vote, 2:22 A Ghost Story, City of Angels, Young Frankenstein, The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade, Les Misérables, The Fantasticks, The Pirates of Penzance, Peter Pan, The Far Pavilions and more. Lindsay has previously appeared in A Small Family Business, The Pillowman, The London Cuckolds, Blue Remembered Hills, Dealer’s Choice, The Real Thing and more; he received a 2011 Olivier Award nomination for his performance in the title role of Shrek the Musical.
Adapted by Ben Power from Stefano Massini's work, The Lehman Trilogy weaves through nearly two centuries of Lehman lineage, following the brothers Mayer, Emanuel and Henry Lehman from their 1844 arrival in New York City to the 2008 collapse of the financial firm bearing their name.
The world premiere of Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy opened at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan in 2015. Power was commissioned by Neal Street Productions to create a new version of the play, using an English translation by Mirella Cheeseman. This production opened at the National Theatre in July 2018 before its North American premiere at the Park Avenue Armory in April 2019. The Lehman Trilogy subsequently played a 16-week West End engagement at the Piccadilly Theatre in May 2019. The show went on to play the Nederlander Theatre on Broadway from September 2021 through January 2022. Following its Tony-winning Broadway run, The Lehman Trilogy transferred to the Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from March through April 2022.
The Lehman Trilogy features set design by Es Devlin, costume design by Katrina Lindsay, video design by Luke Halls and lighting design by Jon Clark. The composer and sound designer is Nick Powell, the co-sound designer is Dominic Bilkey with music direction by Candida Caldicot and movement by Polly Bennett. The West End director is Zoé Ford Burnett.
The play is being adapted into a television series by Italy's Fandango. Playwright Massini is overseeing the adaptation.