London's Almeida Theatre's New Season Includes Paul Mescal in Streetcar Named Desire, Katie Brayben & Andrew Rannells in Tammy Faye Musical & More

London's Almeida Theatre has announced a slew of star-studded new productions for its upcoming season. 

Kicking off the 2022-2023 season is the world premiere production of Tammy Faye, a new musical based on the true story of the famous religious revolutionary of the same name. The musical, written by Elton John, James Graham and Jake Shears, is directed by Rupert Goold. Olivier Award winner Katie Brayben stars in the title role alongside Tony nominee Andrew Rannells as Jim Bakker and Olivier nominee Zubin Varla as Jerry Falwell. The cast also includes Kelly Agbowu, Amy Booth-Steel,  Ashley Campbell, Peter Caulfield, Danny Collins, Richard Dempsey, Fred Haig, Georgia Louise, Robyn Rose, Nicholas Rowe, Martin Sarreal, Steve John Shepher and Gemma Sutton. The creative team includes choreographer Lynne Page, designer Bunny Christie, costume designer Katrina Lindsay, lighting designer Neil Austin, sound designer Bobby Aitken, musical supervisor co-orchestrator and arranger Tom Deering, co-orchestrator Mark Dickman, video designer Finn Ross, musical director Oli Jackson and casting directors Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher. The production will begin performances on October 13 and run through December 3. 

Emmy nominee Paul Mescal, known for starring in Normal People, will then take the stage as Stanley in a new production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. The Almeida's associate director Rebecca Frecknall directs the production that will also feature Anjana Vasan as Stella and Lydia Wilson as Blanche with Dwane Walcott as Mitch. The play is set to run from December 10 through February 4, 2023. Additional casting and creative team is to be announced. 

The world premiere of Lulu Raczka's Women, Beware the Devil will bow from February 11, 2023 through March 25, 2023. The haunting new work is set in the 17th century and tells the story of treachery and trickery. Additional information is to come.

April 2023 will bring the UK premiere of The Secret Life of Bees, the musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel of the same name by Lynn Nottage, Duncan Sheik and Susan Birkenhead that premiered off-Broadway in 2019. Whitney White will direct the production that is set to run from April 4, 2023 through May 27, 2023.

The Almeida will also present a trilogy of community productions from 2023-2025 exploring what it means to live, work, pray, celebrate and mourn in Islington, the London borough where the theater is located.