Casting has been announced for the UK premiere of Bhangra Nation – A New Musical, which plays at Birmingham Rep from 17 February-16 March 2024.

Bhangra Nation – A New Musical is a powerful and pulsating new show about competitive Bhangra dancing. When Mary and Preeti’s Bhangra team qualifies for the USA nationals, they set off on opposing quests to dance to their own beat. Drawing from competitive Bhangra and mixing it with other Indian and Western dance forms, Bhangra Nation – A New Musical is a brash, intoxicating and joyous musical comedy for today.

The cast includes Zaynah Ahmed as Preeti, Gregory Armand as Jake, Siobhan Athwal as Sunita, Tia Antoine Charles as Lily, Lydia Danistan as Shilpa, Kyle Evans as Noah, Iván Fernández González as Billy, Kuldeep Goswami as Mohan, Bob Harms as Wallace, Raimu Itfum as Varun, RoMaya Jey (Swing), Sophie Kandola as New Mary, Arysha Kelly as Shetal, Ai Kumar as Constance, Aaron Mistry (Swing), Mervin Noronha as Amit, Jena Pandya as Mary, Ajay Sahota as Gobind, Edward Turner (Swing) and Leo Udvarlaky as Bob. Further casting will be announced in due course.

With a book by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza, music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, direction by Stafford Arima and choreography by Rujuta Vaidya, this ambitious and exhilarating new musical will be built and rehearsed at The Rep. Joining the already announced creative team are set designer Michael Taylor, costume designer Linda Cho, lighting designer Nick Richings, sound designer Adam Fisher, projection designer David Bengali, with additional choreography and musical staging by Rebecca Howell, bhangra consultancy by Parambeer Samrai, musical supervision by Richard Morris, orchestrations by Matthew Malone, additional arrangements and orchestrations by Kuljit Bhamra, and casting by David Grindrod for Grindrod Burton Casting.

The Tony Award-winning producers Mara Isaacs (Hadestown) and Tom Kirdahy (Hadestown and The Inheritance) said: “Bhangra Nation – A New Musical is a joyful, exuberant celebration of Bhangra and a deeply felt exploration of identity and community among young people finding their own way forward in the world. We can’t imagine a better home to help launch Bhangra Nation in the UK than in Birmingham!”

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