Essex brings the fair to MK theatre

Inspired by his album of the same title, the musical was written by the pop icon along with Boogie Nights creator Jon Conway.

Featuring Essex hits such as Winter’s Tale, Hold Me Close, Gonna Make You a Star and Me and My Girl, as well as many new compositions, the show is a rollercoaster ride telling the tale of an East End fairground family.

Essex, who worked at a fun fair when he was 14, said: “A fairground is a good place to set a story about relationships, it’s a world we don’t really look into or know about. I think men especially will enjoy it and relate to the characters, and there’s a very dramatic twist at the end. It was my album which inspired the musical but the story was important to us as we didn’t want to do a jukebox musical. We wrote the story then looked at which songs would fit, and there’s some new stuff I wrote for it.”

The show is at Milton Keynes Theatre from February 7-11.

Essex said: “I’m looking forward to it. We have had a tinker with the show [since the West End] and this is the definitive version. When you come back to it it’s fresh, we take a different look at the characters, see what we can do with the lines and so on. It’s a mixture of cast members from the original version and some new people. My character’s son, Jack, is played by Rob Compton who is brilliant. It’s a nice mix, it’s a very happy and talented cast.”

Call 08448717652 to book.