''Bend It Like Beckham the Musical'' is a musical with music by
Howard Goodall
Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...
and
Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges (born September 11, 1968) is an American screenwriter and director, notably as co-writer of 2002's ''Bend It Like Beckham''.
Of Japanese and Basque ancestry,film of the same name, the musical made its West End and world premiere at the Phoenix Theatre in May 2015.
Background
The musical is based on the 2002 film ''
Bend It Like Beckham
''Bend It Like Beckham'' (also known as ''Kick It Like Beckham'') is a 2002 sports comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha from a screenplay by Chadha, Paul Mayeda Berges, and Guljit Bindra. The film stars Parminder Nagra, Keira Knight ...
''. In late 2003, it was first revealed that the film's writer and director
Gurinder Chadha
Gurinder Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme among her work showcases the trials of Indian women living in the UK and ho ...
planned to turn the film into a stage musical with the hope that it could be staged a year later. It was not until 2011, that further information emerged that a script had been completed and that they were looking for someone to compose the score, with workshops ultimately taking place in 2013 and early 2014.
On 31 October 2014, the show was officially confirmed and it was announced that the show would premiere in London in May 2015, with tickets going on sale on 7 November 2014. The musical has a book by Gurinder Chadha and her husband
Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges (born September 11, 1968) is an American screenwriter and director, notably as co-writer of 2002's ''Bend It Like Beckham''.
Of Japanese and Basque ancestry,Miriam Buether
Miriam Buether is a German stage designer who primarily works in London theatre. She was born in Germany and studied stage design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London and costume design at the Akademie für Kostüm Des ...
, costume design by Katrina Lindsay and lighting design by Neil Austin. The musical's score is composed by
Howard Goodall
Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was na ...
, with lyrics by Charles Hart, orchestrations by Charles Hart and
Kuljit Bhamra
Kuljit Bhamra MBE Hon DMus (born 1959) is a British composer, record producer and musician whose main instrument is the tabla. He is best known as one of the record producers who pioneered the British Bhangra sound and for his many collaborati ...
, sound design by Richard Brooker and musical direction by Nigel Lilley.
Production history
The show's premiere production began previews at the Phoenix Theatre in London, on 15 May 2015, with its official opening night coming on 24 June, initially booking until 11 July 2015. Prior to opening the booking period was extended to 24 October 2015. On 19 January 2015, full casting was announced with the news that Natalie Dew would play the role of Jess, with
Lauren Samuels
Lauren Alvarado (born 26 March 1988) is an English singer/actress who performs under the stage name "Lauren Samuels". She became well known to the British public as a contestant on the 2010 BBC UK TV series '' Over the Rainbow''. Since appearing o ...
playing Jules,
Jamie Campbell Bower
James Metcalfe Campbell Bower (born 22 November 1988) is an English actor and singer. He made his feature film debut in 2007 with a supporting role in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. He went on to feature in '' The Twiligh ...
as Joe,
Ronni Ancona
Veronica "Ronni" Jane Ancona (born 4 July 1966)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' is a British actress, comedian, impressionist and writer best known for '' The Big Impression'', which she co-wrote and starred in an ...
as Paula and
Preeya Kalidas
Preeya Kalidas (born 21 June 1980) is a British singer and actress. She played Amira Masood in the soap opera '' EastEnders'', from 2009 to 2012. She released the single "Shimmy" in July 2010, taken from her proposed debut album ''(I'm Over It) ...
, who had previously played the role of Monica in the film, as Pinky. On 13 March 2015, it was revealed that Ronni Ancona had withdrawn from the production during rehearsals due to family reasons and that
Sophie-Louise Dann
Sophie-Louise Dann (born 1969) is a British actress, best known for her work in musical theatre.
Career
Dann trained at Arts Educational Schools, London. She appeared in minor roles in the films '' My Summer with Des'' (1998) and ''The Phantom ...
would replace her in the role of Paula. The show also included four female footballers who would perform alongside the cast to help bring the game to the stage. The show closed on 5 March 2016, after a run of just 9 months at the end of the original cast's contracts.
On 7 May 2019 it was announced that the production, which debuted in London's West End in 2015, would have its North American premiere in Toronto, with a limited run at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts' Bluma Appel Theatre between 7 and 24 Dec.
Music
Musical numbers
;Act I
*"Glorious/Satnaam Siri"
*"UB2"
*"Girl Perfect"
*"Look At Us Now/Get Me"
*"Tough Love"
*"First Touch"
*"People Like Us"
*"Just A Game/Fly"
;Act II
*"Glorious"
*"Result!"
*"More Fool Me"
*"There She Goes"
*"Bend It"
*"Mehndi/Heer"
*"Sadaa Charhdi Kalaa"
*"People Like Us (Reprise)/Glorious (Reprise)"
*"Fly (Reprise)/Girl Perfect (Reprise)/Bend it (Reprise)"
Orchestra
The musical uses an eight-member orchestra consisting of
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of ...
,
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
,
cello
The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...
,
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...
,
double bass
The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...
,
electric bass
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...
,
tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబలఠ...
, dhokah,
dhol
Dhol (IPA: ) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent. Its range of distribution in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan primarily includes nort ...
and
percussion
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
Facebook
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Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...