Keep an eye on RobbieWilliams.com, as Robbie has promised to share some of the new music soon! Booking for RSC members opens on 18 February, before the public on-sale opens on 18 March.

Our Winter season ensures Shakespeare’s spirit is alive in the most exciting writers of today and demonstrates that we are investing in those new voices in order to better understand and reflect upon the world we live in. Gregory Doran, RSC Artistic Director

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Winter 2019 season has been announced today and it includes the stage premiere of a new musical adaptation of The Boy in the Dress, based on the best-selling novel by David Walliams with songs by Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers.

The musical, directed by Gregory Doran, and adapted by Mark Ravenhill, plays in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from this November.

David Walliams said: “I’m delighted to be working with the Royal Shakespeare Company to bring this, my first children’s novel, to the stage.

“It’s now 10 years since The Boy in the Dress was first published and we’ve come a long way in that time.

“Ultimately, I wanted to write a story that encouraged people to recognise that difference can be celebrated, that it’s ok to be yourself.

“I’ve always loved musicals and, somehow, I’d always imagined this book to be made into a musical so to be working with the RSC, Mark Ravenhill and song-writing partners Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers on this new production feels like a dream collaboration.”

Mark Ravenhill said: “I first came across The Boy in the Dress when I was Playwright in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Company back in 2012.

“I remember thinking that it was such a gripping, entertaining and life-affirming story with all the ingredients of a great stage show.

“The Royal Shakespeare Company has a fantastic track record of producing family shows so when David suggested making his novel into a musical, I thought, let’s go for it!

Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers added: “We’re beyond excited to be working with the RSC on our first musical theatre collaboration.

“We are both big fans of David’s books, so when he approached us about writing the soundtrack to a new musical version of The Boy in the Dress for the RSC, we were genuinely delighted.

“There’s a real freshness, cheekiness and heart to David’s writing which we’ve worked really hard to capture in the music.

“It’s been a really exciting and rewarding journey and we can’t wait to share the show with audiences when it premieres in Stratford-upon-Avon this winter”.

The Boy in the Dress, by David Walliams, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, November 8 – March 8.

Full casting has been announced for The Boy in the Dress musical at the RSC.

The show, directed by Gregory Doran, is Mark Ravenhill's adaptation of David Walliams' text, with music from Robbie Williams and Guy Chambers. The Boy in the Dress is Walliams' debut children's book, which follows 12 year-old Dennis, who is his football team's striker and wants to wear a dress to school.

The lead role of Dennis will be played by Oliver Crouch, Jackson Laing, Tom Lomas and Toby Mocrei.

Darvesh, Dennis' best friend, will be played by Ethan Dattani, Shivain Kara-Patel, Kassian Shae Ahktar and Arjun Singh Khakh.

Asha Banks, Tabitha Knowles and Miriam Nyarko will play Lisa James, Dennis' fashion-savvy friend, while Alfie Jukes and Zachary Loonie will play his older brother John.

Joining the previously announced Rufus Hound, Irvine Iqbal, Natasha Lewis and Forbes Masson in the adult cast will be Charlotte Wakefield (Crazy for You) as Miss Windsor.

Other cast includes David Birch (Maudlin Street Captain), Hannah Fairclough (ensemble), Max Gill (Big Mac), Ahmed Hamad (ensemble), Ryan Heenan (Rory), Charlotte Jaconelli (Lorna), Alim Jayda (ensemble), Christina Modestou (Miss Bresslaw), Alexander Moneypenny (Gareth), Clancy Ryan (ensemble), Cilla Silvia (ensemble), Jack Anthony Smart (Swing), Ben Thompson (Oddbod), Jamie Tyler (St Kenneth's Captain), Georgie Westall (Swing) and Grace Wylde (Louise).

Aletta Collins will choreograph the show, which has design by Robert Jones, lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Paul Groothius and Tom Marshall. Further creative team members are to be revealed.

The production begins previews at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon on Friday 8 November before opening on 27 November and running until 8 March 2020.

@TheRSC’s The Boy in the Dress is a theatrical masterpiece. An explosion of happiness for all ages. A company full of tremendous performances.
@guyachambers and @robbiewilliams’s soundtrack is a toe tapping delight. This is excellent and heartwarming show. SEE IT! #RSCBoyinDress

And let's be honest: there are lots of people in this world who write incredible songs, but songs that stick in your head? That's a different remit. So if you have the bloke who wrote "Millennium" and "Angels" and "She's The One", you bring him to bear and he brings it in spades.

We're so lucky, from music, to choreography, to design to direction to writing to the cast, just everything.
On music, I would say there are only really two pop stars in my life time that really struck me hard. And they are Robbie Williams and Beyoncé.

So in Robbie's time in Take That, I would have been 11 or 12. Then when he went solo, the wall to wall-ness of pop hits was the background of my life. And it really came to a head with "Escapology" which I played on a loop for about six months. There was something about that album that seriously connected with me.

And Guy Chambers' music is as much a part of the thing I loved as anything else. Robbie's written the lyrics and helped write the songs, but it's Guy Chambers that wrote the actual music, and so it's always also been him that I've loved.

So to get the chance to sing their music is a genuinely exciting opportunity. My inner child is thrilled.