ROAM A NEW MUSICAL to perform concert production in the West End
ROAM, a new musical directed by Rupert Hands with choreography by Olivier Award winner James Cousins, will perform a special one-night only concert production at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre on 23 November.
Featuring a high-voltage rock-pop-Romani fusion score, ROAM features music and lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen, with a book by Michael Dovid and is based on his original concept.
Rupert Hands said: “We’re so excited to be premiering this brand-new musical in the West End with this extraordinary cast and team. ROAM is the journey of a lifetime, full of soaring songs by Alexander Sage Oyen performed by some of the most stratospheric voices from Broadway and the West End. It’s a story of love, family, and legacy in a totally original, funny, timely, and powerful script by Michael Dovid. We can’t wait to share it with London audiences.”
ROAM will star Tony and Olivier Award nominee Ramin Karimloo (A Face in the Crowd, Young Vic; Funny Girl, Broadway) as Yoska, Diego Rodriguez (Evita, West End; Sunset Blvd., Broadway) as Pesha, Jordan Luke Gage (& Juliet; Bonnie & Clyde, West End) as Stefo, Frances Mayli McCann (The Great Gatsby; Bonnie & Clyde, West End) as Aishe, Melanie La Barrie (Hadestown; & Juliet, West End) as Vodoma, Hope Lavelle (The Phantom of the Opera, International tour) as Nanoka, and Olivier Award winner David Thaxton (Sunset Blvd., West End/Broadway; Come From Away, West End) as Philippe.
Further casting and creatives to be announced.
Ramin Karimloo said: “ROAM brings us closer to each other by speaking to what binds us together as opposed to what sets us apart. ROAM boldly examines how far we’ll go to hold on to love, culture and family in the face of existential danger”.
When a nomadic clan’s caravan breaks down in hostile territory on the way to a sacred festival, they are forced to stop and confront the ghosts of their past. At the centre stands Yoska, a father tormented by loss and regret, whose unexpected return throws his sons Stefo and Pesha into a storm of loyalty, rivalry, and long-buried grief.
As tensions ignite, romances spark, and old wounds resurface, the family must decide: will they succumb to old fear and hate or pursue a future worth fighting for?
With propulsive rhythms, fiery humour, and moments of raw vulnerability, ROAM is both an intimate and epic universal tale of survival, identity, and the courage to dream of a better tomorrow.
ROAM was previously workshopped with Romani theatre company Giuvlipen and the National University of Theatre and Film in Bucharest and had a private industry presentation in New York City earlier this year.
ROAM features additional book material by Romana Isabella, with cultural consultation by Hope Lavelle, musical supervision and orchestrations by Lloyd Kikoler, musical direction by Nick Barstow, vocal arrangements by Cynthia Meng, arrangements by Oyen and Kikoler, set and costume design by Soutra Gilmour, lighting by Peter Small, and sound by Sound Quiet Time.
