Charing Cross Theatre, London
Running time: To be confirmed
Age Restrictions: To be confirmed
Tickets from £24.75
In Italy during the 18th century, an average of 5,000 boys were castrated annually. Almost exclusively, they came from poor families. Their treble voices intact, castration promised those who survived a chance to earn fame and fortune by singing female roles in the opera. A few made it, but most didn’t and were swept aside.
Stiletto, a new musical with Music and Lyrics by three-time Grammy nominee, Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Matthew Wilder (Disney’s Mulan), Book by double Olivier Award nominee Tim Luscombe (Noël Coward’s Easy Virtue, Terrence Rattigan’s The Browning Version and Harlequinade), is set in Venice, Europe’s opera capital.
During the winter of 1730-31, Venice is a city bristling with opportunity where fortunes can be made but life is cheap. A city of lustre and intrigue with plenty of chances of success for Marco, who was castrated as a child to retain his perfect voice. Opera stars being the rock stars of their day, Marco is on course to be an 18th-century Jagger or Bowie, to snag a powerful patron and play leading roles.
In a busy square he meets Gioia, confident, strong willed...and supremely talented. But despite her musical gifts, being the daughter of an African slave, there’s no chance for her to fulfil her dreams. Marco recognises her talent and, sensing that they are both outsiders as well as sharing a love for music, they fall in love.
In an attempt to get her on stage, Marco introduces Gioia to society and his patron, the Contessa Azzurra, but at the end of the evening, a body lies dead and Gioia is hauled off to prison. To free her, Marco must overcome the demons of his past and the morally corrupt forces of the present.
Charing Cross Theatre
Charing Cross Theatre
(formerly New Players Theatre), The Arches, Villiers Street
London
WC2N 6NG
The Charing Cross Theatre: The Venue
The Charing Cross Theatre is one of the smallest West End theatres with only 275 seats. The theatre was rebuilt in 1989 as part of the Charing Cross re-development to meet the demands of national and international producers wanting a theatre that offered a degree of intimacy and is the equivalent of an Off-Broadway space.
The Charing Cross Theatre: History
Founded in 1936, Charing Cross Theatre (formerly the New Players Theatre) occupied several premises in the West End before locating to its present site under The Arches below Charing Cross Station. The current site was a famous Victorian music hall which went on to produce many musicals, pantomimes and melodramas.
Ideally situated under the arches of Charing Cross Station, London's Charing Cross Theatre (formerly the New Players Theatre) is brimming with history and is proud to be one of London’s last remaining music hall venues. Over 100 years of entertainment lives within these walls creating a beautifully theatrical atmosphere bursting with memories of London’s finest entertainers - and, back in the days, if you were willing to buy a pint and a cigar then your entrance was free! With the smoking ban now in force The Charing Cross Theatre must charge a little more than that, but it remains a competitively priced, central London venue, giving audiences the chance to see, with ease, a range of entertainment.
Charing Cross Theatre strives to continue the historical spirit of the venue by entertaining audiences with many kinds of events from late night cabarets, plays, comedy and musicals to showcases, fashion shows and music gigs.
The Charing Cross Theatre is beautiful and still has the original Victorian bar at the back of the auditorium with the original Victorian glass panelling, creating an atmosphere that is truly one of a kind. The theatre is perfectly complimented with a newly renovated bar and restaurant which is open until 2.30am. The Charing Cross Theatre is a venue which hardly sleeps.
The Cross' small in-house team are filled with passion and love for the venue, making this a home for all that visit and a place they will want to return to.
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Charing Cross, Embankment