Disco Inferno (musical)

Last updated
Disco Inferno
MusicVarious
LyricsVarious
Book Jai Sepple
Premiere2004: Harlow Playhouse, Harlow
Productions
  • 2004 London Premiere
  • 2006 London Revival
  • 2012 UK Tour

Disco Inferno is a 2004 jukebox musical written by Jai Sepple. Set in the East End of London in 1976, the show features songs from the 1970s and is loosely based on the story of Faust .

Contents

Original productions

The musical debuted at the Queens Theatre, Hornchurch in 1999 with revised revivals at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon in 2004 the Kenneth More Theatre, Ilford in 2006.

Character list

The characters in Disco Inferno were named after well-known characters from songs of the era, such as "Jumpin' Jack Flash", "Wuthering Heights" and "Lady Marmalade".

The character of Nick Diablo was omitted from both the 2006 and 2012 productions and Lily were omitted from the 2012 UK tour. Some of the characters names' were changed in the 2012 UK tour: Lady Marmalade was renamed Lucretia MacEvil, Kathy was renamed Roxanne and Terry was renamed Billy.

Original casts

CharactersLondon Premiere
(2004)
London Revival
(2006)
UK Tour
(2012)
JackJai Sepple Sam Attwater
JaneJude StoughtonCaroline Koutsoudes Dani Harmer
TomRichard StoughtonDan PeekJohnathan Tweedie
MaggieTBCRobyn GowersJoanna O'Hare
HeathcliffeNick LuptonSteve TaylorMatthew Goodgame
Kathy / RoxanneTBCSherona KnightJennifer Potts
Lady MarmaladeHarri Sepple Javine Hylton
DukeSteve TaylorMark BrockJoe Connors
Terry / BillySimon PrynnDamien LewisMichael Watson
LilyDave RobertsJamie Riley
Nick DiabloDave Adams

Plot synopsis

The show takes place in 1976, following an aspiring musical ‘Jack’ who works at a nightclub in London, called the ‘Disco Inferno’ Working late one night, Jack meets Lady Marmalade an incarnation of the Devil disguised as a record labels agent. Dreaming of becoming successful, he makes a pact with her, trading his soul to fulfill his dream.

Jack soon becomes an international success, making appearances on radio and television shows, but success proves hollow. He has the fame and fortune he's always dreamed of but is losing something far more important – his girlfriend, Jane and his best friend, Tom. One disaster quickly follows another (Like he runs a little someone over with his car, but if you want to find out you have to watch the show heehee) If only he could turn back time... If only he could make one more deal, trading all he now has for something far more important... love

Performances

Disco Inferno has been performed around the world since it initial debut, countries have included the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Jamaica, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan and Norway.

Music

Generally due to copyright restrictions in different countries songs have varied from production to production. The 2012 UK Tour version of the script was considerably revised.

2004 London premiere

2006 London revival

2012 UK Tour

Publishing and representation

Disco Inferno is published by various Musical Theatre publishers worldwide.

Cancelled UK tour

A new version of Disco Inferno began a tour of the UK in the autumn of 2012. The cast included Sam Attwater as 'Jack', Dani Harmer as 'Jane' and Javine Hylton as 'Lucretia MacEvil'. The tour closed after the first week, with the producer citing 'financial problems'. [1]

References

  1. Hemley, Matthew (2012-09-05). "Cast owed thousands as Disco Inferno folds". The Stage. Archived from the original on 2019-04-28. Retrieved 2019-04-28.