CAST ANNOUNCED FOR BACKBEAT

Posted on 5 September 2011

Soon making it's West End debut at the Duke of Yorks Theatre from 24th September, the producers of the play Backbeat has confirmed the cast for the famous quartet plus the "fifth" Beatle Stu Sutcliffe.

The play adapted from the 1994 film centres on the story of the Beatles journey to Hamburg, Germany and particularly the relationship between John Lennon, his best friend Stuart Suttcliffe and the photographer Astrid Kircherr that Sutcliffe fell in love with causing the first Beatle split.

Nick Blood who has appeared at the National Theatre in Women Beware Women and on television in Trollied, Material Girl and The Bill will play the Beatles’ original bassist Stuart Sutcliffe.

Coming from the Glasgow Citizens production, Andrew Knott will plays John Lennon.  As well as being one of the original The History Boys, both at the National Theatre and on film, he will be known to television viewers from Spooks, Gavin and Stacey, Life on Mars and Coronation Street. He also appeared in last year’s Ian Dury biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

Playing Astrid Kircherr is Ruta Gedmintas who is primarilarly known from television on the series The Tudors and The Borgias.

Completing the line up of Beatles who will be reprsing the famous live peformances of rock and roll songs that gave birth to the Beatles' legendary stage style is Daniel Healy as Paul McCartney, William Payne as George Harrison, Oliver Bennett as Pete Best the drummer later to be replaced by Ringo Starr who is played by Adam Sopp.

Book Backbeat tickets online now.

[posted by Louise, 05/09/2011]