OVER MY SHOULDER
By RICHARD STIRLING
Directed and choreographed by STEWART NICHOLLS

JESSIE MATTHEWS is back! This is the story of Britain's first international film star. In the 1920s an 30s JESSIE MATTHEWS high kicked her way out of the back streets of Soho onto the cinema screens of the World. But behind the glamour her ghosts never ceased to haunt her. What was the secret of her appeal - and of her private life? OVER MY SHOULDER features her best loved songs: DANCING ON THE CEILING, IT'S LOVE AGAIN and of course the title number. Playing Jessie is the original star of THE BOYFRIEND who played Eliza in the first USA tour of MY FAIR LADY - Anne Rogers. OVER MY SHOULDER enjoyed a sold-out run at London's Jermyn Street Theatre last year. And the original cast appears in this musical show, even more exciting that first time round!

'For the evocation of a bygone era, this show is the tops' WHAT'S ON
'a glorious anthology' SHERIDAN MORLEY.
'Electric' THE STAGE

ANNE ROGERS (Jessie Matthews) Anne Rogers and Jessie Matthews have much in common. Both performed professionally as children, learnt to 'talk proper', came to fame in their teens and found success in America. Anne's first role was at the age of 15, playing Snow White on tour, twice nightly for two and a half years. Then came ecstatic reviews for her creation of Polly Browne in the original cast of THE BOY FRIEND. She played this in the West End for nearly four years, but the management would not release her to play the part on Broadway. Nevertheless, she went to America to star as Eliza Doolittle in MY FAIR LADY in Hollywood and Chicago - winning the Sarah Siddons Award as Actress of the Year - followed by two and a half acclaimed years as Eliza at Drury Lane. She was now in the extraordinary position of never having been out of work, never taking anything but the star part and never playing less than 1,000 performances in any show. Anne made her 'straight' acting debut, opposite Charlton Heston, in ELIZABETH THE QUEEN but continued to work in musicals: SHE LOVES ME, I DO, I DO, and NO NO NANETTE (West End) and HALF A SIXPENCE, WALKING HAPPY and 42nd STREET (Broadway). For the past 25 years, Anne has lived mainly in America, working in television, radio and theatre. Recent credits include four of her friend Ray Cooney's farces, and Dotty in NOISES OFF. She also gave what the New York Times called 'a superb performance' in GIGI. She is the voice of Mrs Potts in Disney's BELLE'S MAGICAL WORLD. Amongst her many recordings, THE SOUND OF MUSIC sold over a million copies. Her favourite parts are Eliza, and Blanche in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Outside the theatre her great loves are: Michael Owen, Manchester United, and her two grandsons - Daniel and Thomas.

HELEN BAKER (Young Jessie) Helen graduated from the Laine Theatre Arts where she undertook the Diploma in Musical Theatre and gained a Gold Medal in Acting. Theatre includes Rosatuesda (Fairy) and understudy Cinderella in CINDERELLA at the Players Theatre, Lotus Blossom and understudy Aladdin & Princess in ALADDIN at the Lyceum Theatre. Helen's West End debut was understudying and playing the roles of Bombalurina & Jemima in CATS. Helen then appeared in her second production of ALADDIN at the Harlequin Theatre as Slave of the Ring and once again understudying Aladdin. Following this Helen appeared in the Ensemble in DR DOOLITTLE at the Hammersmith Apollo and then returned to CATS as Dance Captain, covering the roles of Bombalurina, Demeter & Jemima. Helen then appeared in her third production of ALADDIN at the Players Theatre where she finally secured the role of Aladdin in her own right and has just completed a year in the original cast of CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG at the London Palladium. Film experience includes JOSEPH AND HIS TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT for Really Useful Films and JULIE AND THE CADILLACS for Channel 4 Productions. Helen has also worked as Dance Captain and choreographer on T.F.I. FRIDAY and is a member of the Teachers Associate in Ballet.

STEPHEN CARLILE (Flunkey/Harry Lytton/Fred Astaire) Stephen trained at the Guildford School of Acting. His theatre credits include Snoopy in SNOOPY at The Jermyn Street, Theatre, Friend in AN EVENING WITH JULIAN SLADE & FRIENDS, Landlord in IN THE THE RED (Cardiff Festival), Noel Coward in COWARD IN CONCERT (Covent Garden Festival) Muttley in SPACE FAMILY ROBINSON (Pleasance Theatre, London), Harry Lytton in OVER MY SHOULDER (Jermyn Street Theatre), Michael in THE PLAY, Bluebeard in SAINT JOAN, as a soloist in ZIPPERTYDOODAH, Mr Wiggs in VANITY FAIR and Tancred in FOLLOW THAT GIRL both for the Covent Garden Festival, a soloist in MAGIC OF LEHAR and Oberon in A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Polesdon Lacey Open Air Festival) and AN EVENING WITH DICK VOSBURGH AND DENIS KING. Films credits include Henry IN BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS directed by Stephen Fry. He most recently performed for Julian Slade at Westminster and with Prunella Scales and Timothy West in AN ARCADIAN MISCELLANY.

MICHAEL COTTON (Felipe/Buddy/Reporter) Michael trained at Barking College, Essex and the Guildford School of Acting. His theatre work includes the National Theatre production of MY FAIR LADY (Drury Lane); WEST SIDE STORY (National Tour); WILD WILD WOMEN (Orange Tree); IN THE RED (Her Majesty's); A GIRL CALLED JO (Theatre Museum); OLIVER (National Tour); HEY MR PRODUCER (Lyceum Theatre); MARTIN GUERRE (Prince Edward); ROYAL BLOODBATH III (R.S.C. Other Place); DISCOVER MY DREAM (Theatre Royal Stratford East). His TV work includes the B.A.F.T.A Award winning SAFE (BBC) & AGONY (Live TV). Michael has recorded vocals on Caroline O'Conner's WHAT I DID FOR LOVE and the original cast recording of HEY MR PRODUCER.

CHRISTOPHER DICKINS (Sonnie Hale) Christopher read Law at Downing college, Cambridge before training at the Guildford School of Acting. Theatre work includes CHARLEY'S AUNT (Northampton); THE BACCHAE and SAME HOLE DEEPER (Southampton), OUTWARD BOUND (Watford); CABARET and TWELFTH NIGHT (York); MOLL FLANDERS (Salisbury) and the Flanders & Swan revue UNDER THEIR HATS (Northcott, Exeter and tour). At the Newbury Watermill he appeared in John Doyle's CARMEN and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. West End credits include SALAD DAYS (Vaudeville) and John Doyle's jazz version of Gilbert & Sullivan's GONDOLIERS (Apollo). Most recently he toured with the National Theatre's production of THREEPENNY OPERA. He has frequently appeared in cabaret with Julian Slade and Dillie Keane. For the Natural Theatre Company of Bath, Chris appeared in WILLIAM TELL and SCARLATTI'S REVENGE. With NTC Director Ralph Oswick he wrote some songs for BBC Radio 4's DOUBLE VISION, which led to their own comedy series ONE LUMP OR TWO? Another collaboration was a new English translation of Rossini's BARBER OF SEVILLE, and most recently, the highly successful comedy musical RASPUTIN.

ABIGAIL LANGHAM (Rosie Matthews/Sheilah Graham) Abigail gained a BA Honours in Acting from The royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before completing the postgraduate Musical Theatre course at the Royal Academy of Music. Theatre includes: Audrey/us Rosalind in AS YOU LIKE IT, Company in OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR and ROMEO AND JULIET, all for the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. Kelly/Margaret/Kim/Mia in MOTHERS HAVE NINE LIVES and The Nurse in BLOOD DRIVE both for The Bridewell Theatre. Olga in THE MERRY WIDOW, Holland Park Opera. Matron/Ensemble ONE TOUCH OF VENUS for The Lost Musicals at the Royal Opera House and Rosie Matthews/Sheilah in OVER MY SHOULDER at the Jermyn Street Theatre. Roles at RSAMD include Lady Macbeth in MACBETH, The Baker's Wife in INTO THE WOODS and Agnes in DANCING AT LUGHNASA. Roles at RAM include Gloria in THEY SHOOT HORSES DON'T THEY and Mary in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG.

BEN STOCK (Victor Saville/Musical Director) Ben trained at the Guildford School of Acting graduating in 1997 with a First Class Honours Degree and the Principal's Prize for Musical theatre. He is also an A.L.C.M. for the Piano. He made his professional debut as Alan-a-Dale in ROBIN HOOD at the Palace Theatre, Watford. This was followed by Roger the Cabin Boy in EDNA, THE SPECTACLE (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), Eugene in GREASE (Cambridge Theatre, London) and Chantal in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES (English Theatre, Frankfurt). Ben toured with JOSEPH & THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT playing Dan as well as Joseph twice a week! He then appeared in ANNIE (Perth), CINDERELLA (Cochrane Theatre) PUSS IN BOOTS (Oxford), OVER MY SHOULDER (Jermyn Street Theatre), ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (Covent Garden Festival and Cardiff International Festival), GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (Lost Musicals), FOLLOW THAT GIRL (Theatre Museum) and many appearances at the famous Players Theatre. As Musical Director and performer he appeared in ZIPPERTYDOODAH! at the Wimbledon Studio Theatre and for HISS & BOO. Ben is the music director for the New York based Broadway Bound Company providing production shows for the QE2. He recently performed LOVE FROM IVOR on the QE2 in the Far East and Australia with the Concordia International Ensemble.

DUNCAN WISBEY (Charles B Cochran/Bing Crosby) Duncan has been involved in numerous theatre productions since leaving Central School of Speech and Drama in '92 Recent work includes SLEEPING BEAUTY (Young Vic), THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST and THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR (Watermill, Newbury) and all four episodes of DICK BARTON SPECIAL AGENT, (Warehouse, Croydon and Tour) having written the script for the fourth. He is a member of the writing and performing team on ALISTAIR McGOWAN'S BIG IMPRESSIONS (BBC1) playing people such as Anthony Worral Thompson, Paul McCartney and Alec Guinness. His writing and performing also helped GOGO, THE BOY WITH MAGIC FEET win three awards at last year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His tenuous link with Jessie Matthews is that his grandmother Molly Hutchinson served her tea in The Lion and Lamb café in Farnham and she once presented his mother with a prize, though what is was for no one can quite remember.

STEWART NICHOLLS (Director & Choreographer) Most recently, Stewart directed and choreographed CAROUSEL at St David's Hall, Cardiff, as part of the International Festival of Musical Theatre and the Richard Rodgers Centenary. Other productions include: the premiere of Charles Hart's LOVE SONGS, starring Linzi Hateley at the Bridewell Theatre; IN THE RED in concert at Her Majesty's Theatre and Welsh College of Music and Drama; the original sell-out production of OVER MY SHOULDER at Jermyn Street Theatre (also recorded for CD by That's Entertainment Records at Abbey Road studios). Stewart is the leading archivist of British Musical Theatre, particularly dealing with the works of David Heneker and Julian Slade. The restoration of 'Forgotten British Musicals' is a particular interest and he has directed and choreographed musicals with his company Just the Ticket productions: LOVE ON THE DOLE; POPKISS and, with special permission from the Noel Coward Estate, the first production of SAIL AWAY to be staged in 30 years (published by Warner/Chappell Music). In 2000, Stewart commenced an ongoing project with the Theatre Museum, Covent Garden, to direct and choreograph such works, including; A GIRL CALLED JO; (for which he revised the script), FOLLOW THAT GIRL, ZIP GOES A MILLION, VANITY FAIR and THE AMAZONS (the latter three productions have been recorded for CD). Stewart has lectured on the history, direction and choreography of Musical Theatre.

ROWLAND LEE (Music Arranger and original Musical Director) Rowland is a composer, arranger, orchestrator and musical director, working principally in the fields of musical theatre and television. He is known as one of the UK's principal composers for animation. Among his 250-plus TV composition credits are Crapston Villas, Margaret Thatcher: Where Am I Now?, Channel 4's Millennium Night Musical The Animated Millennium, the children's series Henry's Cat, Captain Abercromby, Engie Benjy, Wilf, The Witch's Dog and the BAFTA award-winning 64 Zoo Lane, and Pablo, The Little Red Fox. His work for Matthew Bourne's dance company AMP includes a BBC2 ballet Drip and orchestrations and conducting (in London and around Europe) for both Nutcracker! (a sell-out season at Sadler's Wells, London) and their internationally hit Swan Lake, acknowledged to be the most performed production of a ballet on record. Other credits as musical director: Marry Me A Little, The Great Big Radio Show and Elegies (Bridewell Theatre), the UK premiere of the off-Broadway hit Ruthless at Stratford Circus, five years with Surrey County Youth Theatre, including the UK premiere of Archy And Mehitabel, and, for Stewart Nicholls at the Theatre Museum, A Girl Called Jo, Follow That Girl, Vanity Fair, Zip Goes A Million, The Amazons and Julian Slade's 70th birthday concert. Several of these are available on CD, as is Over My Shoulder, for which Rowland was original musical director. Other work with Stewart Nicholls includes reconstructions of David Heneker's Popkiss and Noel Coward's Sail Away, published by Warner/Chappell. He has been a keyboard player on several pop and dance music tracks and has recently co-written with Shut Up And Dance for their forthcoming album. His orchestral, choral and chamber compositions include a Violin Concerto, which has been performed both by Stephen Bryant and David Juritz, and The Warleigh Requiem, the first performance of which was broadcast by BBC Radio from Warleigh House, Devon, in May 2000. In November 2002, he conducted some of his own orchestral and choral compositions during the Service of Remembrance at St. Paul's Cathedral. This has led to a commission for another Requiem Mass, to be performed at Southwark Cathedral in December this year, to mark World Aids Day. In 1986, he received the British Film Institute's Anthony Asquith Young Composer Award. From 1986-96, he was a visiting tutor in film music at the Royal College of Art.

CLAIRE LYTH (Set designer) Claire read Drama, History and English at Bristol University. Previous designs for The Mill: KINDLY KEEP IT COVERED and FUNNY ABOUT LOVE. Has just returned from designing costumes for THE WINTERS TALE for Chicago's Shakespeare theater. Other recent designs include TWELFTH NIGHT for the National Theatre of Norway, PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (Vienna's English Theatre), EVITA (Leeds Grand) and THE BUTCHER'S SKIN a Vietnamese comedy touring Denmark and the UK. Other designs: THE MAN WHO THINKS HE'S IT (The Steve Coogan Show, Lyceum, London); GOODNESS GRACIOUS ME (Tour); MACBETH and TWELFTH NIGHT (English Shakespeare Company); MACBETH (Residenz Theatre, Munich) SHOOT (Jermyn Street Theatre); SPLIT SECOND (Lyric, Hammersmith, ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL and COMEDY OF ERRORS (Regents Park); PETER PAN and THE THREE MUSKETEERS (Crucible, Sheffield); WINTERS TALE, MACBETH and SHIRLEY VALENTINE (Everyman, Liverpool) and AS YOU LIKE IT and OTHELLO (Ludlow Fesitival). Opera designs include: RIGOLETTO (tour for WNO); COSI FAN TUTTE and THE SECRET MARRIAGE (Hong Kong); TOSCA (Everyman, Liverpool). Musicals include: FUNGUS THE BOGEYMAN (Belgrade Theatre, Coventry); MY FAIR LADY (Aahus, Denmark); MAD AND HER DAD (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith); OKLAHOMA! (National tour); RAGS (Spitalfields Market Opera); HIGH SPIRITS (Bridewell Theatre) and SNOW QUEEN (Norden Arts Centre).