

He has recently performed in the seasonal concerts, The Best of the West End at Christmas. He recently sang at the National Theatre’s 50 th anniversary concert, which was broadcast live on BBC 2 and in cinemas worldwide.

His many other roles include Freddy in My Fair Lady directed by Trevor Nunn (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Raoul in The Phantom of The Opera, and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound 0f Music. He has an impressive range of leading roles in a wide variety of hit musicals and plays, and gained Olivier nominations for Oliver in Love Story (Duchess Theatre, transferred from Chichester Festival Theatre) and for Cinderella’s Prince / The Wolf in Sondheim’s fairytale Into The Woods (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) in 2011.

Michael Xavier plays the handsome superintendent, Sid Sorokin.
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Joanna was recently seen on TV as Melissa in Sky’s comedy Stella alongside Ruth Jones, and can be seen as Cinderella’s Mother in the up and coming film of Into the Woods, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Meryl Streep. Further leading West End credits include Blithe Spirit, Billy Elliot, The Witches of Eastwick, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and currently, Stephen Ward, the new Andrew Lloyd Webber musical playing at The Aldwych Theatre, directed and choreographed by The Pajama Game team, Richard Eyre and Stephen Mear. Her other theatre credits include Julie in Carousel and Eliza in My Fair Lady, National Theatre productions for which she won her Olivier Awards, Sarah in Guys and Dolls, Anne in A Little Night Music and Oh! What A Lovely War. Joanna Riding, the double Olivier Award winning actress reprises her role as Babe Williams. It was a long wait to discover what an entrancing, joyful, tuneful and sharp show it is.” I had never seen it until I directed it at Chichester. Richard Eyre said “The Pajama Game was the first musical I ever heard – on an album belonging to my sister when I was 14. This much-anticipated transfer will burst across the West End stage reminding us of the pedigree of its 1954 original creators: George Abbott, Richard Adler, Jerome Robbins, Hal Prince and Bob Fosse, who understood high-octane entertainment so very well and were all destined to become Broadway aristocracy. Will love, eventually, conquer all?ĭescribed by the critics as ‘A romping, uplifting, funny, touching revival from Richard Eyre…truly joyful dancing and fabulous big numbers’ (The Times), ‘A glorious tide of melody’ (The Guardian) and ‘smart, sexy and funny …’ (Daily Express). Sparks fly when the employees are refused a seven-and-a-half cents raise, leaving Sid and Babe deliciously at odds as the temperature rises. In 1950s America, love is in the air at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory as handsome new Superintendent Sid Sorokin (Michael Xavier) falls head-over-heels for firebrand Union rep Babe Williams (Joanna Riding). The Pajama Game opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 13 May, with previews from 2 May, playing until 13 September 2014.Ī buoyantly blissful blend of romance and comedy starring Joanna Riding reprising her feisty heroine, and Michael Xavier, the show features golden hits such as Hey There (You With The Stars In Your Eyes), Hernando’s Hideaway and Steam Heat. They join the previously announced Joanna Riding and Michael Xavier. Peter Polycarpou and Colin Stinton reprise their roles as Vernon Hines and Hasler, with Gary Wilmot taking over the role of Vernon Hines from 2 June. Peter Polycarpou, Gary Wilmot and Colin Stinton join the cast of the West End transfer of Chichester Festival Theatre’s sparkling production of the Broadway smash hit musical, The Pajama Game, directed by Richard Eyre.
