A Face in the Crowd tickets

The cult classic 1957 film, A Face in the Crowd, by Budd Schulberg and directed by Elia Kazan, comes to the stage in London for the world premiere of the much-anticipated musical adaptation. Book A Face in the Crowd tickets on London Theatre.

A Face in the Crowd in London stars Tony and Olivier Award-nominated Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables, Love Never Dies) and Olivier-nominated Anoushka Lucas (Oklahoma!). The exceptional cast also includes Stavros Demetraki, Olly Dobson, Emily Florence, Howard Gossington, Andrew Coshan, Sadie-Jean Shirley, Chris Jenkins, Durone Stokes, Vicki Lee Taylor, and Annie Wensak.

The ensemble tells the now classic story of Marcia Jeffries, a radio producer who interviews Lonesome Rhodes, a local drifter, from his jail cell. Jeffries decides to give Rhodes a slot on her show and soon, he reaches shocking levels of fame and popularity that Jeffries can’t control.

The original 1957 film was based on the short story, Your Arkansas Traveler, part of the 1953 story collection, Some Faces in the Crowd, by Budd Schulberg. The film starred Andy Griffith in his film debut, launching his storied career.

A Face in the Crowd is a musical with the book by Sarah Ruhl and music and lyrics by Elvis Costello. Since 2015 Costello has been performing songs from the musical including A Face in the Crowd, Blood & Hot Sauce, The Last Word, and Burn The Paper Down To Ash. In June 2016, an invite-only reading of A Face in the Crowd took place in New York. Now, eight years later the musical is having its world premiere at the Young Vic.

The show has a talented creative team, including director Kwame Kwei-Armah (Twelfth Night, Tree), lighting designer Jackie Shemesh (Death of England: Closing Time, Pandemonium), musical supervisor and musical director Phil Bateman (Once on the Island), choreographer Lizzi Gee (Jack Absolute Flies Again), and Olivier Award-winning sound designer Emma Laxton (Emilia).