Shoes, choreographer Stephen Mear’s colourful homage to footwear, will be moving to the West End in February next year after the success of its short run at Sadler’s Wells this month.
Shoes will enjoy a five-week run at the Peacock theatre, the West End outlet for Sadler’s Wells, from 8 February to 13 March 2011.
The show, which ran at the Islington dance house from 3 to 11 September, is written by Richard Thomas, whose work includes Jerry Springer The Opera. A dance revue, it comprises a collection of songs imbued with Thomas’s recognisable humour, celebrating every type of shoe, from the Ugg and the flip-flop to the designer stiletto. Mear, whose work includes the West End productions of Sweet Charity and Mary Poppins, is joined by four additional choreographers – Aletta Collins, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Kate Prince and Mark Smith – in providing the cast of 12 dancers with moves to match each piece of footwear.
Some 250 pairs of shoes from over 17 major footwear brands feature in the production, including designer offerings from Terry de Haviland, Christian Louboutin and Salvatore Ferragamo, whose name provides the title of one of Thomas’s 29 songs.
The cast of the Sadler’s Wells production included Jerry Springer actress Alison Jiear, one of four singers in the show, along with dancers Chloe Campbell, Mandy Montanez and Drew McOnie, recently seen on TV’s So You Think You Can Dance? and Ebony Molina, who can be seen in the West End production of Sweet Charity.
Casting information has not yet been confirmed for the Peacock run of Shoes.
CB