Cast Announced for Moominvalley this November

Nummulite and Chromolume (Road Show, In Clay, Tom Lehrer Is Teaching Math And Doesn’t Want To Talk To You, You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown), the in-house company at Upstairs at the Gatehouse, have announced the cast for Moominvalley in November, the upcoming musical based on the final of Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels. Set over the final days of autumn, this sombre but life-affirming story follows six characters, all at a crossroads in their lives, who decide to pay a visit to Moominvalley.

Jane Quinn (Handbagged, National Theatre; Private Lives, Ambassadors Theatre; Cats, London Palladium) will play Fillyjonk, the neighbour of the Moomins who is unusually particular about tidiness. Matthew Heywood (Alice in Wonderland, Marylebone Theatre; Zorro the Musical, Charing Cross Theatre; Coronation Street, ITV Studios) will take on the green hat of fan-favourite character Snufkin, while Stuart Simons (Magic of the Musicals, London Palladium; Casanova, King’s Head; The Merry Widow, Holland Park Opera) will play Hemulen, a collector and organiser looking for a new path in life.

Joining them will be Izzie Winters (Arabella, Debbie Hicks Productions; My Sister is Missing, King’s Head Theatre and The Other Palace; What’s Wrong With Me, Camden Fringe) as Toft, a mysterious orphan eager to meet the Moomins. Playing the happily senile Grandpa Grumble is Martin Callaghan (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Opera House, Blackpool; Jesus Christ Superstar, Lyceum Theatre; Merrily We Roll Along, Menier Chocolate Factory) and, making her stage debut, Abigail Yeo will take on the role of the free-spirited Mymble.

Writer and Composer Hans Jacob Hoeglund comments, When I first read this book as a 10-year-old, I was terribly confused. Like Toft, I desperately wanted the Moomin family to come back and make everything right! I think growing up we all experience some form of loss, or this feeling that life is not necessarily going to be what you’d want it to be. The musical is about coming to terms with that. It has some dark moments, but it is also very funny. The characters are all looking for something. Ultimately, it’s a story about six very different people coming together as a family.Behind the curtain, Amanda Noar (Stepping Out, Upstairs at the Gatehouse; The Wiz, Millfield Theatre; Fiddler on the Roof, Artsdepot) returns to the Upstairs at the Gatehouse director’s chair, bringing her extensive experience directing musical theatre. She will be joined by set and costume designer Lu Herbert (Cable Street, Southwark Playhouse Elephant & Borough; Drag Baby, The Pleasance; Romeo & Juliet, Theatre Royal Plymouth), lighting designer Chris McDonnell (In Clay, Upstairs at the Gatehouse; The Architect, Greenwich & Docklands International Festival; The Lesson; The Hope Theatre) and orchestrator Jen Green (Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World, The Other Palace; Glory Ride, Charing Cross Theatre; Killing the Cat, Riverside Studios).

Main Image: Abigail Yeo credit YellowBelly; Izzie Winter (theythem) credit Patch Bell; Jane Quinn credit Jennie Scott; Matthew Heywood credit Brendon Forrester

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