TWO of our biggest soap stars are poised to quit their TV roles and star in a brand new musical comedy The Addams Family in Southampton next year.

Samantha Womack will take on the role of Morticia Addams fresh from leaving BBC1’s EastEnders after nearly a decade as Ronnie Mitchell.

Meanwhile, comedian and actor Les Dennis, who spent the last three years playing burglar-turned-Romeo, Michael Rodwell, in ITV’s Coronation Street will play Fester.

From the makers of Jersey Boys, the UK and Irish premiere of The Addams Family will visit Mayflower Theatre for a two-week run from July 18 to 29 next year.

Also starring, as Wednesday Addams, is Carrie Hope Fletcher whose recent theatre credits include Eponine in Les Misérables (London and Dubai), Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK & Ireland Tour), Beth in Jeff Wayne’s Arena Tour War of the Worlds, and Wind in the Willows (Regent‘s Park Open Air Theatre).

Although best known for EastEnders, Samantha Womack has also played Tanya Dawson for three series of the hit comedy Mount Pleasant (Sky1) and, on film she will be reprising her role next summer as Michelle Unwin in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Her stage credits include Nellie Forbush in the Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-winning production of South Pacific (Barbican Theatre & UK Tour), Michael Grandage's West End production of Guys & Dolls opposite Patrick Swayze (Piccadilly Theatre) and Peter Hall's production of Pinter's Betrayal (Theatre Royal Bath).

Immediately prior to starring in The Addams Family, Les Dennis will appear at the Menier Chocolate Factory in the musical She Loves Me. Les’s other stage credits include the musicals Me & My Girl, Chicago, Monty Python’s Spamalot and Hairspray. He took a hit one-man play Jigsy, to the Edinburgh Fringe and, in 2016, produced and starred in the sell-out 40th anniversary production of Alan Bleasdale’s Down the Dock Road at the Royal Court Liverpool.

In this exciting new musical comedy Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family! Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents. All the usual clan are present - Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley et al.

The original Broadway production starred Nathan Lane as Gomez and Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia. The production also toured the US and international productions have been seen in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, Australia, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Directed by Matthew White (The Producers, Top Hat), the show, based on the characters created by Charles Addams, comes to the UK with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, the creators of multi-award winning Jersey Boys, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa.

Addams' original stories were adapted into two Hollywood films in the '90s, The Addams Family and its sequel The Addams Family Values, which starred Anjelica Huston, Raúl Juliá and Christina Ricci.

For further information, please visit www.addamsfamilymusical.co.uk. Twitter: @AddamsFamilyUK

Tickets for The Addams Family (Tuesday 18 – Saturday 29 July 2017) are on sale from Mayflower Theatre Box Office tel: 02380 711811 or online at mayflower.org.uk. Ovation Restaurant bookings: 02380 711833