Rising star Vikki and her top new theatre role
A MUSICAL theatre graduate from the Cynon Valley has landed the lead role in Tiger Bay the Musical, a show that is described as the Wales Millennium Centre’s most significant production to date.
Vikki Bebb, from Abercynon, will take to the stage and play the character of Rowena Pryddy, also a Valleys girl, fighting for her place in the world and looking for true love, aspiring for prosperity.
The role will be Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) graduate Vikki’s professional debut in a major role in musical theatre.
She said: “I couldn’t believe it when I found out I had landed the role of Rowena. She is such a unique and interesting woman and she comes from the village just a stone’s throw from where I live.
“Starring alongside one of the biggest names in musical theatre, John Owen-Jones, is a dream come true. I doubt he remembers, but I’ve actually sung with him before and I can’t wait to be sharing a stage with him again.”
Spotted by producers whilst performing at a special gala concert for the RWCMD, Vikki was invited to audition for the principal role of Rowena, and said she was overjoyed when the creative team selected her as their leading lady.
In her first big break, she will perform alongside a Welsh cast including award-winning West End and Broadway actor John Owen-Jones, who will play the role of John Stuart, Third Marquess of Bute. Vikki, who was awarded a scholarship from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation to study at the RWCMD, will take on the role when the musical rehearses and previews at Artscape, Cape Town, South Africa in April and May.
Tiger Bay the musical dates back to the early 1900s in old Butetown, the docklands and Cardiff city centre at a turning point in the history of the city, when coal was king.
Vikki’s character Rowena longs for a future away from David Morgan’s shop floor and its boarding house in central Cardiff.
Drawn to the vibrant cosmopolitan community in Butetown, Rowena rails against the social and racial prejudices held by everyone above and below the canal bridge.
Vivien Care, the head of musical theatre, at the RWCMD said: “We are terrifically proud that Vikki will be starring in Tiger Bay the Musical, and representing our professional musical theatre training at RWCMD.
“Everyone who worked with Vikki thought she was special; she has a glorious voice, acts with integrity and detail, is a hard worker and wonderful person and she grew up minutes from where this story is set!
“The casting feels so perfect for her. We can’t wait to see the show!”
The musical, which recounts the story of growing conflict between the powerful Bute Dock Company and the Butetown community, will be set to a score by award-winning Welsh composer Daf James.
The world premiere of Tiger Bay the Musical is on November 15, 2017, at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff and will preview in Cape Town in April and May.