The award-winning Everyman Company open their second repertory season with a loud crack of a whip, as 14 actors travel to a brave new world in a major revival of Lerner & Loewe’s Broadway musical Paint Your Wagon –  a show not performed as a large-scale production since 1996.

Director Gemma Bodinetz, winner of Best Director at the U.K. Theatre Awards 2017, and the creative team behind the Company’s whirlwind 2017 production of Fiddler on the Roof are reunited to re-create the same intimate and electric atmosphere of last year’s stunning musical set in-the-round in the Everyman auditorium.

Paint Your Wagon is a musical filled with infectiously energetic and effortlessly beautiful songs, including I’m On My Way, There’s a Coach Comin’ In, I Talk to the Trees and chart-topping Wandrin’ Star – a song made famous by Lee Marvin’s rendition that reached number one in 1970…keeping the Beatles’ Let It Be off the top spot.

Set in 1853 in Gold Rush California, experienced gold miner Ben Rumson stakes his claim on land in the California Hills, founding Rumson Town for him and his beautiful daughter Jennifer to live.

In the settlement of no more than 400 people, rumours of gold veins buried across the land spread.  With high aspirations and the will to send Jennifer to school on the east coast, Ben works hard to make the town survive and thrive, as miners arrive every day in search of riches. But in a world where nothing is guaranteed, how can Ben keep his community together.

Returning Company members Patrick Brennan and Emily Hughes reunite as father and daughter following their roles as Teyve and Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof, to play affable Ben Rumson and his daughter Jennifer.

Making his first appearance in the Everyman Company is Marc Elliott as Mexican miner Julio Valverdas. Ambitious and passionately in love with Jennifer, Julio is forced to live and work away from the town for fear of accusation and chastisement.

With over 40 different characters in the original production, the full company of actors will play a wide variety of characters including miners, fandango dancers, husbands, wives and townspeople, with actors playing different genders throughout the production.

New members of the company Emma Bispham, Paul Duckworth, Cerith Flinn, Nathan McMullen, Golda Rosheuvel and Young Everyman & Playhouse (YEP) acting trainee Nadia Anim join returning members Richard Bremmer, George Caple, Zelina Rebeiro, Keddy Sutton and Liam Tobin to bring Paint Your Wagon’s American Dream to life.

Director Gemma Bodinetz said: “Traditionally performed with over 40 performers, we are having great but exhausting fun doing this great musical justice with just 14. We hope that we are simultaneously true to the joyous spirit of the original, whilst also revealing its gold in a fresh way for a whole new generation of prospecting theatre goers.”

The musical runs from Saturday 3rd March to Saturday 31st March before playing as part of the repertory season until Saturday 14th July alongside A Clockwork Orange, Othello and The Big I Am.

Tickets for Paint Your Wagon and other company shows are on sale now.  A variety of prices are available across the season, with tickets priced at £10 to £40 – or just £5 for young people – at all performances, as the Everyman & Playhouse continue to make their work accessible to all.

Captioned and Audio Described performances are available for all four productions, with a relaxed performance of Paint Your Wagon on Tuesday 3rd July. To support the visits of those attending with Access needs, the Everyman has increased the discount and continue to offer a companion seat where additional support is required.

Bookers have the opportunity to see multiple productions through subscription packages, from as little as £28. To find out more about the prices available for all shows and to buy your tickets, visit: https://www.everymanplayhouse.com/the-everyman-company-2018.