TABOO
The Boy George Musical

TABOO, the award-winning Boy George musical, which took the West End by storm when it opened in London in 2002, has been touring the UK since December 2003, opening with a five-week Christmas season at The Lowry on Salford Quays from 11 December.  The show, starring MARK LITTLE for the first 17 dates, will subsequently play 27 venues across the country from 19 January 2004.

Taboo is a musical portrait of a brief but remarkable era – London in the early 1980s.  These gloriously self-indulgent years, played out against a backdrop of mass unemployment and social upheaval, sparked a rebellion among young people which ultimately found its expression in outrageous fashions and a decadent nightlife.  These were the “New Romantics” – leaders of a phenomenon which left a lasting influence on both the face and fate of pop.

Taboo focuses on two young men – Leigh Bowery, a brilliant, anarchic performance artist and designer, and George O’Dowd, a young, rough-edged boy who arrives in London and, once swept up into the exciting artistic climate, becomes the surprising crossover star of the Scene, Boy George.  From squat to superstardom, from rock to rock bottom, both men’s stories are played out against the fantastic background of Taboo, the nightclub that came to symbolise the excess and decadence of 1980s London and subsequently defined a generation.

MARK LITTLE will play Leigh Bowery.  Little played the role to great acclaim in London last year, and is well known as an ex-Neighbours star, Big Breakfast host, stand-up comic and theatre actor.  His one-man show, Defending the Caveman, became the longest-running one-man show in the West End for a decade.

BOY GEORGE provides the music and the lyrics. His extraordinary score includes many brand new songs together with some of his greatest hits, including Do You Really Want To Hurt Me and Karma Chameleon. Taboo is directed by award-winning West End and Broadway director Christopher Renshaw (The King and I, We Will Rock You), with a book by This Life writer Mark Davies. The show has set design by Tim Goodchild, costumes by Mike Nicholls, lighting by Chris Ellis and sound by Jem Kitchen.

TABOO received its world premiere at The Venue in London, where it opened on 11 January 2002 to rave reviews and packed houses and was nominated for three Olivier Awards.  In London, The Guardian wrote “It’s fantastic”, “a spine-tingler” said the Sunday Times, whilst the Mirror encouraged “Do yourself a favour and go” and the Telegraph punned “By George, Boy George has done it!”

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