Stars including Juliet Stevenson, Graham Norton and Dame Kelly Holmes celebrated with the producers and creative team as the new British musical Bend It Like Beckham kicked-off in the West End last night.
Natalie Dew plays football crazy Jess with Lauren Samuels as Jules, a player with the Harriers, a local women’s football team, and Jamie Campbell Bower as their coach Joe. Sophie-Louise Dann plays the role of Paula, Jules’s Mum, with Jamal Andréas as Jess’ good friend Tony. Preeya Kalidas plays Pinky, Jess’ sister, with Tony Jayawardena and Natasha Jayetileke as her parents, Mr and Mrs Bhamra.
Directed by Gurinder Chadha, with original music by Howard Goodall and lyrics by Charles Hart, Bend It Like Beckham has a new book by Paul Mayeda Berges and Gurinder Chadha; choreography and musical staging by Aletta Collins; set design by Miriam Buether; costume design by Katrina Lindsay; lighting design by Neil Austin; sound design by Richard Brooker; musical direction by Nigel Lilley and orchestrations by Howard Goodall and Kuljit Bhamra. Bend It Like Beckham is produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions, Deepak Nayar Productions, Bend It Films, Fischer & Vaswani Productions, Tanya Link Productions & Zeilinger Productions.
★★★★★
‘A BOLD, BEAUTIFULLY BRITISH TRIUMPH. PREPARED TO BE TRANSPORTED & UPLIFTED. IN A LEAGUE OF ITS OWN. IRRESISTIBLE’
Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph
★★★★★
‘JOYOUS. GORGEOUS SCORE. WITTY LYRICS. EXHILIRATING CHOREOGRAPHY. AN UPLIFTING CELEBRATION OF MULTI-CULTURAL BRITAIN.’
Paul Taylor, The Independent
★★★★★
‘WONDERFULLY LIFE-AFFIRMING. AN END TO END JOY. IRRESISTIBLE’Quentin Letts, Daily Mail
'IT’S WHAT YOU WISH THE WEST END WERE LIKE ALL THE YEAR ROUND.'
Matt Trueman, Variety
★★★★
'THE SHOW SCORES WITH WIT AND CHARM.'
John Nathan, The Metro
★★★★
'BURSTING WITH EXUBERANCE. A JOYOUS FEEL-GOOD SHOW. INSPIRING. FRESH. FUNNY. A HYMN TO GIRL POWER AND THE VITALITY OF MULTICULTURAL LONDON.'
Henry Hitchings, Evening Standard
★★★★
'SENSATIONAL. ALL THE FEEL-GOOD FACTOR OF AN ENGLAND WIN'
Andrzej Lukowski, Time Out
★★★★★
‘GLORIOUS. NO BRITISH-ORIGINATED NEW SHOW BENDS THE MUSICAL IN SUCH A VIVACIOUSLY FRESH AND WELCOME NEW DIRECTION AS BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM. AN EXPLOSION OF COLOUR, COMMUNITY AND CREATIVITY, SHOT THROUGH WITH EXHILARATING ENERGY AND GENUINE HEART.’
Mark Shenton, The Stage
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