After a hugely successful autumn premiere, the inspiring girl power musical Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World will return in 2022 for an extensive UK tour. This empowering stage adaptation of suffragette descendent Kate Pankhurst’s award-winning book is brought to life by an incredible all-female creative team.
Celebrated – and often forgotten – women from history are brought to life on stage, from Rosa Parks to Sacagawea, Amelia Earhart to Marie Curie, Mary Seacole to Frida Kahlo and Jane Austen, and Pankhurst’s own relative Emmeline. Inquisitive heroine Jade breaks away from her class trip to the local museum to take a peek at the Gallery of Greatness. Audiences can join Jade in meeting these incredible and inspiring women from the past: from explorers and scientists to artists and secret agents, hear the stories of some of history’s independent icons who really did change the world.
The amazing creative team bringing this uplifting stage show to audiences across the UK includes renowned dramatist Chris Bush (Pericles, National Theatre; Faustus: That Damned Woman, Headlong), with music by Miranda Cooper (Girls Aloud; Sugababes) and Jennifer Decilveo (Miley Cyrus; Ben Platt), director Amy Hodge (Mr Gum and The Dancing Bear – The Musical!, the National Theatre), designer Joanna Scotcher (Emilia, Shakespeare’s Globe/Vaudeville Theatre), choreographer Dannielle Lecointe (Dick Whittington, the National Theatre), lighting designer Zoe Spurr (Emilia, Shakespeare’s Globe/Vaudeville Theatre) and Carolyn Downing (Summer & Smoke, Almeida/Duke of York’s Theatre) as sound designer.
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World will be celebrated by anyone who is prepared to move and be moved. With characters and songs that pack a popstar punch, this thrilling show for ages 7+ is guaranteed to be one to remember!
Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World
Dates
25th March – 3rd April The Playhouse, Liverpool, Williamson Square, L1 1EL
5th – 9th April The Lowry, The Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, M50 3AZ
12th – 16th April Rose Theatre, 24-26 High Street, Kingston upon Thames, KT1 1HL
25th – 30th April King’s Theatre, 2 Leven Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9LQ
4th – 7th May Hall for Cornwall, Playhouse, Back Quay, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2LL
10th – 15th May Exeter Northcott, Stocker Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4QB
17th – 22nd May Everyman Theatre, Regent Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 1HQ
25th – 29th May Oxford Playhouse, 11-12 Beaumont Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 2LW
31st May – 4th June Lyceum Theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 1DA
7th – 12th June Lighthouse, Poole’s Centre of the Arts, 21 Kingland Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1UG
15th June – 17th July Stratford East, Gerry Raffles Square, London, E15 1BN
Ages Recommended for ages 7+
Website fantasticallygreatwomenthemusical.com
Adapted by Chris Bush
Lyrics Chris Bush, Miranda Cooper
Music Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo
Orchestrations and Music Production Miranda Cooper and Jennifer Decilveo
Director Amy Hodge
Set and Costume Designer Joanna Scotcher
Choreographer Dannielle Lecointe
Lighting Designer Zoe Spurr
Sound Designer Carolyn Downing
Casting Rosie Pearson of Pearson Casting
Producer and General Management Kenny Wax Family Entertainment
Chris Bush
Chris is an award-winning playwright and lyricist. Her recent credits include The Band Plays On and Standing at the Sky’s Edge (Sheffield Theatres), Nine Lessons and Carols (Almeida Theatre), Faustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong) and Pericles (National Theatre). Her awards include: Brit Writers’ Award, Perfect Pitch, two UK Theatre Awards and the National Young Playwrights’ Festival.
Miranda Cooper
Miranda Cooper is a British songwriter. She has written 35 top 10 hits including 4 number ones - Round Round, Hole in the Head for the Sugababes and Sound of the Underground And The Promise for Girls Aloud. Miranda has co-written new musicals of David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy (Nuffield, Southampton) and Son of Rambow.
Jennifer Decilveo
Jennifer Decilveo is a Grammy, Brit and Mercury prize-nominated songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, sought-after producer praised for work across genres with many of the industry's most interesting artists to break in the last 5 years. Most notably, Decilveo co-penned/produced Grammy-nominated 'Rise Up' from Cheers to the Fall by Andra Day, earning the Ashford and Simpson's Songwriters' Award for the album's multi-platinum global success. The New Jersey-native has played a major part in projects by Hinds, Beth Ditto, Ryn Weaver, as well Anne Marie, Ben Platt and Miley Cyrus with 'High'.
Amy Hodge
Amy’s recent production of Mr Gum and The Dancing Bear – The Musical! at the National Theatre was nominated for an Olivier Award for best family show 2020. She has directed in some of the biggest theatres in the country including, The Globe, The Royal Exchange and The Young Vic. She was Associate Director at Headlong 2015-18 and recipient of the Jerwood Directors Award 2008.
Joanna Scotcher
Joanna is a multi award-winning production designer, working across the UK and internationally. Her credits include commissions from The Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, Old Vic, Channel 4 Arts and UNICEF UK. Her recent theatre work includes productions at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Young Vic, Manchester Royal Exchange, Chichester Festival Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. Awards include the Olivier for Best Costume Design, Emilia and Whatsonstage ‘Best Set Designer’ Award for The Railway Children.
Dannielle Lecointe
Dannielle ‘Rhimes’ Lecointe is a choreographer with credits including Dick Whittington (National Theatre), Into the Hoods: Remixed (ZooNation: The Kate Prince Company) and Digitized, Limitless, Limitless The Reboot and Up Close and Personal (Diversity). Associate choreography credits include Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and An Officer and a Gentleman.
Zoe Spurr
Zoe Spurr is an award-winning lighting designer who has worked on the West End, throughout the UK and internationally. Recent designs include Wuthering Heights for the Royal Exchange; Run Sister Run for Sheffield Crucible/Paines Plough; Hedda Tessman for Chichester Festival Theatre; How Not to Drown at Traverse Theatre; The Phlebotomist for Hampstead and Emilia in the West End.
Carolyn Downing
Carolyn Downing is an Olivier award winning sound designer working in a variety of fields including exhibitions, fashion, theatre and live events. Creativity and collaboration is at the heart of her work from initial concept development with fellow designers through to realisation with technical and project delivery teams.
Carolyn’s work in theatre includes Summer & Smoke for Sonia Friedman Productions/Almeida nominated for Olivier Award for Best Sound Design 2019; The Welkin (2020), Downstate (also at Steppenwolf Chicago 2018/19), Mr Gum & The Dancing Bear - The Musical (2019) for the National Theatre; Death Of A Salesman (Young Vic/WE 2019/20); All My Sons for The Old Vic Theatre (2019); Chimerica for Almeida & Sonia Friedman Productions/West End awarded Olivier for Best Sound Design 2014. Her work in exhibitions spans a variety of styles and venues including Reimagining Wordsworth for The Wordsworth Trust, Grasmere (2020); and Mary Quant (2019).
Kenny Wax
Kenny has produced some of the best family theatre both in the West End and on tour in the past two decades. Productions include: We’re Going On A Bear Hunt, Around the World in 80 Days, The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on the Broom, What the Ladybird Heard, Oi Frog and Friends (Olivier Award nominated), Mr Popper’s Penguins, the stage adaptations of Jacqueline Wilson’s Hetty Feather (Olivier Award nominated) and Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch (winning the Olivier Award for ‘Best Family Show’). SIX is Kenny’s smash-hit musical in the West End, on a UK Tour, in Australia, and on Broadway. Kenny has also produced several shows with comedy troupe Mischief including The Play That Goes Wrong, Magic Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery. He is also an Executive Producer of the incredibly popular TV series The Goes Wrong Show. He is delighted to be bringing the joy of theatre back to families with new pop musical Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World.
