HE brought us Sweeney Todd and West Side Story and now Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece Road Show will be staged in Hampshire this week.

Hayling Island’s Station Theatre plays host to the work by the great composer-lyricist from tonight until Saturday.

CCADS have presented rare local productions of Sondheim’s works before, including an acclaimed run of Passion and, most recently, a highly successful production of Company that played sell-out runs in Chichester and at The Station Theatre in 2013/14.

Now they are proud to be behind the UK Amateur Premiere of his latest musical Road Show, on which he collaborated with his Pacific Overtures and Assassins collaborator John Weidman, which was first seen in New York in 2008 and at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory in 2011.

Spanning 40 years from the Alaskan Gold Rush in the 1890s to the Florida Real Estate Boom in the 1930s, Road Show tells the tale of American Dreamers who scramble for success, identity and love in the early 20th Century – and specifically focuses on the true story of Addison and Wilson Mizner, two brothers who are constantly looking for the next way to strike it rich.

This quest will change their lives in unexpected ways … In this brand new production, which celebrates the legendary composer’s 85th birthday year, CCADS artistic director John-Paul McCrohon plays Wilson alongside Pete Westmorland, leading man in the recent award-winning CCADS production of Birdsong (Best Amateur Drama, News Guide Awards, 2015), as Addison.

They are joined by a hand-picked cast of the area’s finest talents including Ross Cobbold, recently seen playing alongside Darren Day in the UK Tour of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and, as the Mizner parents, award-winners Kerry McCrohon (recently seen as Joanne in Company) and Kevin Redfern.

The Station Theatre will provide the ideally intimate atmosphere in which the story unfolds with musical accompaniment by local musician/composer Louise Helyer on Grand Piano to give the piece a ‘chamber’ rendering that places you at the heart of the tale.

CCADS has an enviable reputation for bringing vivid productions of plays and musicals never before seen in the area to life alongside fresh new interpretations of more established classics.

Their special interest in Sondheim’s work is planned to continue on a yearly basis – with next year’s trip Into the Woods already confirmed.

  • Tickets can be booked in person at the theatre or by calling 02392 466363.