Comics take West End roles

Rufus Hound and Katy Brand are to join the West End cast of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Hound will play a middle-aged drag queen called Hugo –  a role that has previously been played by stand-up Phil Nichol – from March 16 until May 30.

He said: ‘I’m absolutely thrilled to be going into the cast of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie – a brilliant, brave and British smash hit.’

Inspired by the 2011 BBC Three documentary Jamie: Drag Queen, the show is about a 16-year-old outsider who finds a way of escaping his dull life on a council estate in Sheffield through drag.

Brand will play Miss Hedge, the title character’s teacher, from March 3 to June 20.

Describing the role as ‘a truly thrilling opportunity’ the comedian said: ‘If I could tell my teenage self that I would one day have the chance to perform in a huge hit show on the West End stage, that girl would pinch herself.’

The production is currently booking at the Apollo Theatre until August 29.

A movie version is also in the works with Sharon Horgan as Miss Hedge, Richard E. Grant as Hugo and newcomer Max Harwood as Jamie.

Published: 14 Feb 2020