The exclusive limited season plays 18 July until 31 August.
The View UpStairs opens in present day when Wes, a young fashion designer, buys an abandoned space not realising this had been the UpStairs Lounge – a vibrant ’70s gay bar in the French Quarter of New Orleans which was burned down in an arson attack, killing 32 people in 1973.
The event marked the worst attack on the LGBTQ community until the 2016 shooting at The Pulse nightclub in Orlando. The show takes audiences on an exhilarating journey of seduction and self-exploration, celebrating forgotten lives while featuring a soulful, rock and jazz score.
The View UpStairs is written by Max Vernon and is directed in London by Jonathan O’Boyle, with choreography by Fabian Aloise.
Related: Meet Sonia Friedman: British Theatre’s most important LGBTQ advocate
“As a devotee and lover of British theatre, art, music and culture (from Caryl Churchill and Joe Orton to Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, Roxy Music, T. Rex and Siouxsie and The Banshees), it has been a lifelong dream of mine to bring an original musical to London,” said Max, a three-time Drama Desk nominee.
“For that show to be The View UpStairs – which is high fashion, rock and roll, queer, subversive, and speaks to an important forgotten history in the LGBTQ community – that is an enormous opportunity.
“I’m obsessed with the director and producing team’s vision for how to mount this work. We are ready to turn it the f*q out and create something iconic and unheard of at the Soho Theatre.”
The London production of the musical is one of ten that have been and are being mounted around the world between 2017 and 2019, and there is an original cast recording available on Broadway Records.
Director Jonathan O’Boyle said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Max Vernon on his brilliant new musical The View UpStairs for its European premiere at Soho Theatre this summer. The View UpStairs is a beautiful, uplifting musical that celebrates the lives of these forgotten people.
“Max is a brilliant new voice in modern musical theatre, and this show, inspired by true events, takes us on a radical, rollercoaster ride through the extraordinary lives of these special human beings.”
The View UpStairs is produced by Take Two Theatricals, a new company focussed on developing and producing international stage productions and concerts.
Casting for the London production will be announced in the coming weeks.
More information can be found here.
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