Cilla musical gets Scottish premiere

Kara Lily Hayworth as Cilla Black in Cilla

It’s no surprise really, the rags to riches tale of the cloakroom attendant who changed her name and became a star of the 60’s pop scene and TV in the 70s. 80s, and 90s, has everything a good drama needs.

From Cilla’s Comedy Six, through Cilla’s World of Comedy, Blind Date, The World of Cilla and many more TV series Cilla entertained the nation for nearly six decades.

An introduction by a young John Lennon to music mogul Brian Epstein changed Priscilla White’s life forever.

By the age of just 25 she was known as singer and TV Star Cilla Black, a No 1 selling artist at the fore-front of the Brit-Pop music scene.

Cilla - The Musical, which comes to the Playhouse next week, tells the extraordinary story of the ordinary girl whose teenage dreams of stardom led her to become one of the UK’s best-known entertainers.

Starring Kara Lily Hayworth, who beat thousands of hopefuls in nationwide open auditions for the coveted title role, Cilla - The Musical boasts the ultimate sound track to the 60s including Cilla’s greatest hits Anyone Who Had a Heart, Alfie and Something Tells Me.

It also features Twist and Shout by the Beatles, California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and The Papas’ and many more.

Written by Jeff Pope, Cilla - The Musical is produced by Bill Kenwright and Laurie Mansfield, alongside Executive Producer and Cilla’s son, Robert Willis and directed by Bill Kenwright and Bob Tomson.

Adapted from the critically acclaimed ITV mini-series based on the early life of Cilla Black, by Pope, the musical reunites Tom Dunlea, Michael Hawkins and Gemma Brodrick-Bower, all of whom starred in the original TV series.

It also reunites Andrew Lancel, best known as DI Neil Manson in The Bill, with the role of Epstein, which he played on stage to great critical acclaim in Epstein - The Man Who Made The Beatles.

Also in the cast are Carl Au as Cilla’s husband Bobby; Amy Bridges, Gemma Brodrick-Bower, Paul Broughton, Tom Christian, Tom Dunlea, Pauline Fleming, Billie Hardy and Bill Caple, Joshua Gannon and Michael Hawkins as Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, and John Lennon.

Completeing the cast are Alan Howell, Jay Osbourne, Alex Harford, Will Kinnon, Jenny Murphy, Tom Sowinski and Christopher Weeks.

Cilla, Playhouse, Greenside Place, next Tue-Sat, 7.30pm (2.30pm), £17.90-£59.90, 0844-871 3014