The full cast is announced for the world premiere of major new musical Stiletto.
Set in Venice, Europe’s opera capital, during the winter of 1730-31, Stiletto will open at Charing Cross Theatre, London, 24 March - 15 June 2025.
It has Music and Lyrics by three-time Grammy nominee, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Wilder (Disney’s Mulan), with Book by double Olivier Award nominee Tim Luscombe (Noël Coward’s Easy Virtue, Terrence Rattigan’s The Browning Version), Director David Gilmore (his 17 West End productions include Lend Me a Tenor, Daisy Pulls It Off, The Hired Man & Grease), Staging Consultant is Tony and Olivier nominated Choreographer Anthony Van Laast (Bombay Dreams, Mamma Mia!), Musical Staging by Chris Baldock (Saturday Night Fever, Grease the Musical) and Musical Director Jae Alexander (Sister Act, 42nd Street, Guys & Dolls). It is produced by Patrick Bywalski and Steven M. Levy for Stiletto West End Ltd.
The lead cast features: Greg Barnett (as Faustino), Sam Barrett (Luigi), Jack Chambers (Marco), Kelly Hampson (Azzurra), Douglas Hansell (Pietro), Jewelle Hutchinson (Gioia), and Connor Wood (Niccolo).
The ensemble features: Alex Anstey, Aiden Carson, Richard Dawes, Grace Galloway, Jennie Jacobs, Owen Johnston, Cassandra McCowan, Hannah Murdoch, Samuel John Taylor, Sienna Widd.
In Italy during the 18th century, 5,000 boys, almost exclusively from poor families, were castrated
annually. Their treble voices intact, castration promised those who survived a chance to earn fame and fortune by singing female roles in the opera. Venice is a city bristling with opportunity where
fortunes can be made but life is cheap. Opera stars being the rock stars of their day, young Marco is on course to be an 18th-century Jagger or Bowie, to snag a powerful patron and play leading roles. One day in a busy square he meets Gioia, confident, strong willed...and supremely talented. Marco introduces Gioia to society and his patron, the Contessa Azzurra, but at the end of the evening, a body lies dead and Gioia is hauled off to prison. To free her, Marco must overcome the demons of his past and the morally corrupt forces of the present...
Greg Barnett (Faustino) was in The Duchess of Malfi, The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich and Miss
Littlewood (all at the RSC) and Ted Lasso and Fleabag on TV.
Sam Barrett (Luigi) was in the recent Mission Impossible 7: Dead Reckoning Part 1 film, and features in two upcoming viral horror films, Cinderella’s Curse and Winnie the Pooh: Bloody and Honey 2.
Jack Chambers (Marco) was in A-Typical Rainbow (Turbine) and We Will Rock You (UK tour).
Kelly Hampson (Azzurra) appeared in the West End in Tina - The Tina Turner Musical and School of Rock. She was Elle Woods in Legally Blonde (Curve Leicester) and the alternate Molly in Ghost the Musical (UK tour).
Douglas Hansell (Pietro) was in Come From Away for over 760 performances. His other theatre
credits include The Wharf Revue – Open For Business (Sydney Theatre Company) and Titanic
(Charing Cross Theatre).
Jewelle Hutchinson (Gioia) is currently playing Jill in Jack and the Beanstalk at Nottingham Playhouse, where last year she played the title role in Cinderella and won the Best Early Career Newcomer Award at The Pantomime Awards 2024. She was recently seen as Miss Price/Toby Gaddarn in Coram Boy (Chichester Festival Theatre/The Lowry).
Connor Wood (Niccolo) is currently playing Young Ebenezer in A Christmas Carol (Old Vic). He was previously in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends - A Celebration (West End) and Maria Friedman & Friends: Legacy (Menier Chocolate Factory).
Alex Anstey was Laika Virgin in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (West End) and played Miss Great Plains in Pageant: A Musical Comedy.
Aiden Carson is currently playing the title role in Peter Pan at Nottingham Theatre Royal.
Richard Dawes was Joseph in Joseph & His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Joe Orton in Orton - A New Musical (Above the Stag)
Grace Galloway recently played Diva 1 in Priscilla the Party! (Here at Outernet). She was Donna
Marie/Miss Jones in three UK tours of Blood Brothers.
Jennie Jacobs is currently playing The Duke of Wellington in Napoleon (Jermyn Street Theatre). Also for Charles Court Opera she appeared in Patience, Beowolf, Express G & S.
Owen Johnston came second in Mamma, Mia! I Have A Dream (ITV). He is currently playing Prince Charming in Cinderella (Rhyll Pavilion).
Cassandra McCowan was in School of Rock (West End & Asia tour), Jersey Boys (New Zealand tour). She recently toured as a lead vocalist in An Evening With Sir Tim Rice.
Hannah Murdoch is a recent graduate of Mountview making her professional debut.
Samuel John Taylor is a recent graduate of GSA and has just made his professional debut in Sasha Regan’s All Male production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates Of Penzance (Wilton’s Music Hall/UK tour).
Sienna Widd is studying at Mountview and making her professional debut.
Director David Gilmore’s 17 West End productions include Lend Me a Tenor, Daisy Pulls It Off, The Hired Man, Grease.
Staging Consultant Anthony Van Laast has been Tony and Olivier nominated for his extensive
choreographic work in the West End and on Broadway. His credits include Bombay Dreams, Mamma, Mia! Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Annie Get Your Gun, Song & Dance.
Musical Staging is by Chris Baldock.
Musical Supervisor/Musical Director Jae Alexander’s West End credits include Sister Act, 42nd Street, Privates On Parade, South Pacific, Fiddler On The Roof, Guys And Dolls.
Orchestrator Simon Nathan’s recent musical theatre credits include orchestrations for A Christmas Carol...ish (Soho Place), the Olivier Award-nominated My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) and expanded orchestrations for the Pippin 50th Anniversary Concert.
Set Designer Ceci Calf’s theatre credits include Farm Hall (Jermyn Street/Theatre Royal Bath/UK Tour/ West End and Much Ado About Nothing and Othello (Watermill Theatre).
Costume Designer Anna Kelsey’s credits include The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Ambassadors /Southwark Elephant); The Wicker Husband, Under Milk Wood, Our Town (Watermill).
Lighting Designer Ben Ormerod’s theatre credits include: Manon Lescaut, The Rake’s Progress (English Touring Opera), Kidnapped (National Theatre of Scotland), The Beekeeper of Aleppo and Assassins (Nottingham Playhouse), The Sex Party (Menier Chocolate Factory).
Sound Designer Andrew Johnson won the Broadway World Fans Choice Award for Best Sound Design for The Play That Goes Wrong on Broadway and was shortlisted for Best Sound Design for Grand Hotel, Mack & Mabel and Titanic in the UK.
Casting Director Neil Rutherford was Head of Casting for Ambassador Theatre Group for over a decade, and his numerous casting credits over 30 years have also included work for the National Theatre, The Almeida, The Royal Opera House, The Royal Ballet, Sydney Opera House, and major plays and musicals in the West End, throughout the UK and Internationally.
Produced by Patrick Bywalski and Steven M. Levy for Stiletto West End Ltd.
Patrick Bywalski - Producer
Chairman of the Robert Stigwood Group, Patrick worked alongside Robert Stigwood for nearly 40 years on a multitude of successful projects, including the movies Gallipoli with Mel Gibson, The Fan with Lauren Bacall and the Evita movie, directed by Alan Parker with Madonna and Antonio Banderas, as well as Priscilla the Party, Grease and Saturday Night Fever musicals in London, on Broadway, and in over 40 countries.
Steven M. Levy - Producer
Steven M. Levy has spent the past 38 years as a theatrical producer, general manager and theatre owner in both New York and London. He has had the privilege of working with artists including Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Lowell, Uta Hagen, Sheila Hancock, Whoopi Goldberg, Barry Humphries, Betty Buckley, Stephen Berkoff and Maureen Lipman. Mr. Levy’s productions have been the recipient of 14 Tony Award nominations, 5 Tony Awards, as well as the recipient of the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, OBIE and Offie Awards. In 1999, Mr. Levy was selected by Crain’s New York Business of one of the “40 under 40” outstanding business people in New York. He is an owner of the Charing Cross Theatre in London and is a member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers and holds an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of West London.
Guy Kitchenn - Executive Producer
Guy Kitchenn is a General Manager, Associate Producer and Producer who has worked in London’s West End for the past 35 years under the auspices of his company Cole Kitchenn. During this time the Company Produced, Associate Produced or General Managed over 70 productions in the West End. These include four musicals which won the Evening Standard or Laurence Olivier Award for Best Musical of the Year; Me And My Girl, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Mack & Mabel, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
Music and lyrics by Matthew Wilder
Book by Tim Luscombe
Directed by David Gilmore
Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches
Villiers Street
London WC2N 6NL
charingcrosstheatre.co.uk
