A new musical, based on the work of Victoria Wood, has had its run extended due to demand.
Fourteen Again is due to be premiered next year at the former Old Laundry Theatre – now known as the Victoria Wood Theatre – in Bowness.
The theatre was recently renamed in the actress and comedian’s honour.
Tickets went on sale around two weeks ago and 85% have been sold – prompting the theatre to extend the show’s run by seven days.
It will now run from Friday May 1 to Saturday May 30.
Fourteen Again features music and lyrics by Wood and was written by Tom McRae, who was behind Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.
The musical begins when Peggy is reunited with Lou at the local slimming club, her best friend from school, who she hasn’t seen since they were teenagers.
As kids, no two friends were ever funnier or more fun, but here, now, today they are shadows of their younger selves – and a story unfolds of looking back to the future, full of comedy, love and pain, with Wood’s songs moving the musical fast forward.
Casting is to be announced.
Tom said: “I wanted to create a show that is genuinely dramatic and surprising, with high stakes and real tension, as well as celebrating Vic’s innate sense of comedy and the warmth of her world, populated with loveable, relatable characters and celebrating friendship.
“My starting point was The Ballad Of Barry And Freda.
“The one song that was tricky to place was Litter Bin about a teenage mum abandoning a child in a bin in a multi-storey carpark. It was just so sad.
“How could I introduce that idea into a comedy? And then I had a brainwave – and that brainwave unlocked an idea that the entire show is now built around.
“Left to my own devices, I don’t know if I ever would have integrated such a tragic element into such an upbeat story. So, thanks Vic, my amazing and inspirational collaborator – I owe you one.”
