Footloose

Lola Aluko — Lulu

Lola trained at the Royal Scottish Conservatoire.

Theatre credits include: Macbeth (ETT); Medea (NTS); Interiors (Vanishing Point) and Opening
Time (A Play, A Pie and A Pint).

Other credits include: The Angry Brigade; The Seagull; Human Animals and Maryland.

Television credits include: The Demon Headmaster (BBC) and The Wedding (Create Anything/BBC Scotland) which was shortlisted for the Digital Broadcast Awards.

Chris Coxon — Coach Roger Dunbar

Theatre credits: The Wizard of Oz (Watermill); Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (Leicester Curve/UK Tour); A Christmas Carol (European Tour); The Muddy Choir (UK Tour); Beauty and the Beast (Alexandra, Bognor Regis); A Midsummer Night's Dream (International Tour); Willy Wonka (DUCTAC, Dubai); Dreamboats and Miniskirts (UK Tour), Aladdin (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds); Alice in Wonderland (Lichfield Garrick); Save the Last Dance for Me (UK Tour); The Machine Gunners (Polka); Dreamboats and Petticoats (UK/Ireland Tour); Rock & Roll Aladdin (Shaw); SpongeBob SquarePants (Hammersmith Apollo/UK Tour); Spamalot (Palace, West End); Good Thing Going - Simply Sondheim (Cadogan Hall); Peter Pan (The Anvil); Comedy of Errors, Jekyll & Hyde, The Tempest, Bleak House, Sense and Sensibility, Treasure Island, The War of the Worlds (all with The Pantaloons).

Film & television includes: The Little Stranger (Film4); The Real Story of Hacksaw Ridge (ITV Studios); Things Not to Say to Someone with Tourette's Syndrome (BBC Three); Sherlock Holmes (The Asylum). Chris also appeared in the Emmy nominated #WeThe15 campaign video.

Other: Chris is a presenter for Durham OnAir, has lent his voice to dozens of audiobooks, animations and videogames, and also runs the audiobook production company Winooski Tyne.

Theo Diedrick — Lyle

Theo trained at the Guildford School of Acting, where he was the winner of the 2022 Timothy West and Prunella Scales Actors Speech Prize.

Theatre credits include: Sleeping Beauty: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto (Theatr Clwyd); Once, The True Adventures of Marian and Robin Hood (The Barn) and RuneSical (Edinburgh Festival).

Credits whilst training include: As You Like It, The Baker’s Wife and Into the Woods.

Other work includes: W.E.B. Du Bois in a reading of new play, Recognition, and a commercial for Wagamama.

Kirsty Findlay — Ariel Moore

Kirsty was nominated with the 2016 cast of Our Ladies Of Perpeutal Succour (NTS/London National) for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Theatre credits include: Forever Home, Exquisite Corpse & Oscar (all for A Play, a Pie & a Pint); A Christmas Carol (Dundee Rep); A Mother's Song (Stirling Macrobert); Islander: The Musical (Helen Milne Productions, New York Off-Broadway, UK tour and London transfer); Jack & the Beanstalk (Perth Theatre); Jamie & the Unicorn (Ayr Gaiety); Christmas Tales (Edinburgh Lyceum); Unspotted Snow (Mull Theatre); Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour (National Theatre of Scotland & Sonia Friedman Productions); Shattered (In Motion TC); Girl Meets Boy (National Theatre of Scotland); and Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast (both Glasgow Rep & St Andrews' Byre).

Film credits include: Close (Tom Gentle Productions); Scenes for Survival (NTS/BBC); On the Outside (Nasreen Sarerei); Good Girls (EIFF/Edinburgh Napier Univeristy); and Lethe (December Works), which won her Best Actress at the Scottish Short Film Festival in 2016.

Recording credits include: Atlantic (Noisemaker Productions); The 306: Dawn, Day & Dusk (NTS); and Islander (HMP).

Connor Going — Chuck Cranston

Training: The University of Glasgow & Royal Academy of Music, London.

Theatre credits: Noises Off, Around the World in 80 Days & The Wind in the Willows (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Sunshine on Leith (PFT & King’s Theatre Edinburgh); Footloose! (West End, UK & International Tour); The Choir of Man (Straz Center, USA Tour & Australia Tour); Robin Hood (Theatr Clwyd); Indecent Proposal (Southwark Playhouse); A Christmas Carol (Barn Theatre Cirencester); The Pirates of Penzance (Reid Concert Hall).

Television, Film & Audio credits: Good Omens S2 (Amazon Prime); Behind Her Eyes (Netflix); The Dad Squad (BBC); Cinderella (Sony Films); Harry Potter & The Cursed Child (West End); The Choir of Man (Original Cast Recording & Christmas Album); U2 at the BBC (Abbey Road Studios); The Beatles Orchestrated (Abbey Road Studios); Donald & Benoit (SoundStage).

Charlotte Grayson — Wendy Jo

Charlotte is an actor and musician. She trained at Mountview.

Theatre credits: Sunshine on Leith (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Lord of the Rings the Musical, Whistle Down the Wind and A Christmas Carol (Dundee Rep); Songs for a New World (The London Palladium); A Christmas Adventure (Oxford Playhouse) and Song of the Far Isles (Oxford Playhouse).

Nina Kristofferson — Ethel McCormack

Nina is a Multi-Award Winning Actor, Singer, Writer, Producer, Director and Teacher and has won the Award of Excellence at The Houses of Parliament; a Legend Award for Services to the Community & Humanity at Trinidad & Tobago Awards ; GAB Award for Excellence in The Arts for Africa & Africans around the World; UK Africa Diaspora Forum Award for Making a difference in the Community as an Opera Singer and nominations include WhatsOnStage Awards.

Nina trained at the Guildford School of Acting - Conservatoire and some of her leading roles from the West End include: Liz Imbrie in High Society; Chiffon in Little Shop of Horrors; Mrs Vanderkieft in The Sting; The Girl in Blues In The Night; Medea in Medea; Cleopatra in Anthony & Cleopatra and Billie Holiday in her self-penned West End award-winning, sold-out hit shows Billie Holiday Story and Timeless.

As a Singer & Actor, Nina has worked around the World in Film, TV, Radio including Colourful Radio & regular appearances on BBC London Radio as well as being a Co-Presenter for Channel 2 – Talk Radio, Women in Business Radio Show. Event’s Host, Voice Over Actor for Commercials, the Gaming Industry and countless Theatre projects. Nina has also been performing in concerts internationally for many years, some of which include: Billie Holiday Story; Deena in Dreamgirlz; Sweet Inspirations in Elvis, Classical & Opera; Nina Kristofferson Sings Jazz & Blues, Motown; Nina Kristofferson Sings Billie Holiday; Nina Kristofferson’s Timeless (a concert in 5 different languages) in London, UK, Europe, Dubai and USA for Hilton, The Oil Barons Ball, The Pheasantry, Zedel’s Crazy Coqs, Man Group plc, Tesco, Mary K, Grosvenor House, Jewish Events, Channel 4, Damien Hirst and many more Corporate Events.

Contact: nksbilie@yahoo.com Website: http://www.ninakristoffersonsbillieholidaystory.com

Signe Larsson — Urleen

Signe grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and moved to London in 2020 to study Acting Musicianship at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, where she became the first actor-musician to receive the Gyerbour Asante Award for Acting. Since graduating in 2023 and has performed in theatres all over the UK.

Theatre credits include: The Wizard of Oz (The Watermill Theatre); Beautiful, the Carol King Musical (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Sense & Sensibility (The Roman Theatre); & Footloose (The New Wolsey Theatre).

Myles Miller — Travis

Myles trained at Mountview Academy of Performing Arts, graduating in 2021 with a BA (Hons) Performance in Actor Musicianship.

Professional credits include: Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, A New Musical (Sort Of!) Workshop (Soho Theatre); Dick Whittington and His Cat (New Wolsey Theatre); Alice in Wonderland (Liverpool Everyman Playhouse); Beautiful the Carole King Musical (Curve and UK Tour) and Beauty and The Beast (Nottingham Playhouse).

Wendy Paver — Vi Moore

Wendy trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama on the Actor Musician course.

Theatre credits include: Footloose (UK Tour & Dubai); Cinderella (Hall For Cornwall, Truro); The Crucible, The Blonde Bombshells of 1943, North and South and Summer Holiday (Pitlochary Festival Theatre); Ballad of Rudy (Tour & Chelsea Theatre, London); Singin' In The Rain (UK Tour); Alice in the Walled Garden (London); Lady Windermere's Fan, A Chorus of Disapproval, Hello Dolly (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); The Wind in The Willows (Brewhouse, Taunton); Dick Whittington (Gatehouse, Stafford); Buddy vs The Killer (Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton); The Young Ones (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch); Anthems (Royal Albert Hall); Jack and the Beanstalk (Theatre at the Mill, Newtownabbey); The Mysterie of Maria Marten and A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch); Dreamboats & Petticoats (Savoy & Playhouse Theatres, West End & UK Tour); Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story (Duchess Theatre, West End & UK Tour); Chess (Royal Albert Hall) and Return to the Forbidden Planet (Basingstoke Haymarket & UK Tour).

Other work includes: Ladbrokes (Commercial), Winterset (Theatre Royal, Haymarket) and W@RN Theatre Company touring a show about domestic violence (Regional Tour).

Wendy is also an original member of the all girl Rock and Roll band The Daisy Chains - www.thedaisychains.co.uk

For more information about Wendy go to: accessuk.agency.

Elizabeth Rowe — Rusty

Elizabeth trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts on the Actor-Musicianship course.

Her credits include: Mighty Woman (Workshop for JAS Theatricals at Wonderville Theatre, Haymarket); Dick Whittington and His Cat and Goldilocks and the Three Bears (New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich); Zelda (Workshop for Creative Rights International at The Umbrella Rooms, Shaftesbury Avenue); Dick Whittington (Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford); Pauline in One Man, Two Guvnors (Nuffield Theatre, Southampton); Nancy in Oliver! With a Twist (Leicester Square Theatre); Artful Dodger in Oliver! With a Twist (Underbelly Cowbarn, Edinburgh); Jill in Jack and the Beanstalk (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch); Helen in Fat Busters, the Musical (Workshop with The Park Theatre, Finsbury); Nell Gywn in Pretty, Whitty Nell (Workshop with Rogue Shakespeare Company at Etcetera Theatre, Camden); Sinbad (New Wolsey, Ipswich); Made in Dagenham (Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch/New Wolsey, Ipswich); Jane Eyre (Jackson Lane Theatre); Joan in Touched (Bernie Grant Arts Centre, London); Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (Karamel Club, London).

Elizabeth can also be seen performing with UK Fleetwood Mac as Christine McVie.

Robin Simpson — Reverend Shaw Moore

Robin appeared in Gaslight and Men of the World as part of Devonshire Park Theatre’s rep season last summer.

Other recent theatre includes: Guy Fawkes (York Theatre Royal), the repseason at Harrogate Theatre and Classic at the Edinburgh Fringe (Hope
Mill Theatre/Her productions.)

Robin played Benedick in Northern Broadsides’ Much Ado About Nothing and recently filled in for cast absences on their tour of As You Like It.

Other theatre includes: Macbeth/Midsummer Night’s Dream (Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre); Dirty Laundry (Claybody Theatre); Almost a Sacred Duty, Anna of the Five Towns, Beryl, A Voyage Round my Father and Laurel and Hardy (New Vic); Chamaco (HOME); Neverland (Lakeside Arts); Boeing Boeing, Bedroom Farce, David Copperfield, The Hound of the
Baskervilles, The Road to Nab End and Travels with my Aunt (Oldham Coliseum); The Travelling Pantomime, The Wind in the Willows, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Seagull, Hansel and Gretel, The Railway Children, Pinocchio, Pygmalion and The Little Mermaid (York Theatre Royal); Inside Out of Mind (Meeting Ground Theatre Co.); Grandpa in my Pocket (Nottingham Playhouse); Lost Boy Racer (Lawrence Batley Theatre); We Love You City! (Coventry Belgrade); Me, as a Penguin, It’s a Lovely Day Tomorrow and Flat Stanley (West Yorkshire Playhouse); A Passionate Woman (Chester Gateway and The Theatre by the Lake); Frankie and Tommy, The Rivals, Red Skies over the Severn, The Century Plays (The Swan
Theatre).

Robin is resident Dame at York Theatre Royal and was nominated for a National Pantomime award in 2022. He’s looking forward to Aladdin this Christmas.

Television credits include: The Continental (from the world of John Wick), Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Doctors, Holby City, Waterloo Road, Liverpool 1, Home Fires and See No Evil – The Moors Murders.

Luke Thornton — Willard

Luke was born in Southend and trained as an Actor Musician at Rose Bruford College. His many varied instrument skills include: drums, bass, guitar and harmonica.

He is delighted to be returning to the New Wolsey Theatre and joining the cast of Dick Whittington.

Stage credits include: Brief Encounter, Dick Whittington and his Cat, Goldilocks and the Three Bears (New Wolsey Theatre); Romeo & Juliet (440 Theatre UK Tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scoot Theatre UK Tour); The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole the Musical, Love Letters (Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch); Weapons of the Weak (The Other Palace); The Crucible, Summer Holiday (Pitlochry Festival Theatre); Midnight (Union Theatre, Southwark); Summer Holiday (Octagon Theatre Bolton); Beauty and the Beast, The Panto That Nearly Never Was, Jack and the Beanstalk, Dick Whittington, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin (Theatr Clwyd); Welsh Musical Theatre Orchestra - A Night at the Musicals (Congress Theatre); Footloose (UK Tour), Dusty (Charing Cross Theatre); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium and Sunderland Empire) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Queen Elizabeth Hall).

Luke also sings as part of the Four Harmonies (Jersey Boys Tribute) and has sang as a soloist at the Royal Albert Hall and Sydney Opera House.

Luke Wilson — Ren McCormack

Luke Wilson trained at RADA.

His theatre credits includes: Much Ado About Nothing (RSC); Rockets & Blue Lights (RNT); Under the Sun (The Royal Court); The Mountain Top (Chipping Norton Theatre); Bootycandy (Gate Theatre); Run it Back (Talawa); Fragments of a Complicated Mind (Theatre503); Romeo and Juliet (Red Rose Chain); Twelfth Night (Southwark Playhouse); La Bayadere (Royal Opera House); Twelfth Night (The Handle Bards); The Odyssey Festival (Promethius Unbound) with Dame Janet Suzman (Cadogan Hall); Shakespeare Birthday Luncheon (The Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award) with Dame Judi Dench; The Scottsboro Boys (Fiery Angel) and The Lion King (Disney) both in the West End.

Jeanine Byrne — Lighting Designer

James Cook — Sound Designer

James won 'Best Sound Design' at the Panto Awards in 2019 and was also nominated for the 2022 Awards. He has extensive experience with actor-musician based musicals and enjoys overcoming the challenges that arise with the complex format. James has also worked on plays with immersive soundscapes and a dash of modest composition, in many regional theatres including the New Wolsey Theatre, Yvonne Arnaud and Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch to name a few. He has also designed for many commercial national touring shows.

Along with the aural aspects of Sound Design, James enjoys creating the design of the system and technical aspects that combine to create the experience for the audience. Find out more at www.james-cook.me.

Robin Hellier — Fight Director

Charmian Hoare — Dialect Coach

Kally Lloyd-Jones — Choreographer

Toby McFarlane — Sound No.1

Richard Reeday — Musical Director

Adrian Rees — Designer

Douglas Rintoul — Director

Douglas is an award-winning theatre-maker and cultural leader. He was born in Suffolk, grew up in Essex, read Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham and was awarded a bursary on the Regional Theatre Young Director Scheme to Salisbury Playhouse where he trained as a director. He is the Chief Executive/Artistic Director of the New Wolsey Theatre, was the Artistic Director of Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch (2015 - 2022), founder of the national touring theatre company Transport (2010 - 2017), and an associate of Complicité (2004 - 2010).