The Mayflower Southampton

Anita Dobson in
Hello, Dolly!
with Darren Day and David McAlister - Cast

Tue 3 - Sat 7 June 2008

Tue - Sat 7.30pm
Thu & Sat 2.00pm

Back to cast list

Darren Day

Darren Day started his career as a comedy impressionist when he was just sixteen years old. He played summer season variety shows, holiday camps, corporate hotel functions and social clubs, finessing his talent.

In 1993 at the age of 21 Darren got his big break when he landed the lead role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the London Palladium, taking over from Phillip Schofield and receiving rave reviews. Later that year he appeared in his first Royal Variety Performance and hosted the Children’s Royal Variety Performance.

1994 saw Darren embark on a touring production of Joseph and play the lead role in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Towards the end of 1994 and into 1995, Darren was back in London’s West End at the Prince of Wales theatre, starring as Tony Parker in Barry Manilow’s Copacabana. 1995 also saw him host ITV’s Saturday night series, You Bet and Don’t Try This at Home, which he co-hosted with Davina McCall.

In 1996 Darren broke all known box office records in the musical Summer Holiday where he performed for the Summer Season at Blackpool’s famous Opera House, following which he signed a record deal with Simon Cowell and had his first top 20 hit with a medley of Cliff Richard’s ‘Bachelor Boy’ and ‘Summer Holiday’, which he performed on Top of the Pops with the original Shadows as his backing group.

The next two years (1996-1998) saw Darren tour the World, back in his lead role in Joseph. In 1999 he returned to the West End to star as Danny Zuko in the hit musical Grease.

Since 2000 Darren has been constantly touring, performing as Frank ‘N’ Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, Billy Bigelow in Carousel, Don in the Summer Holiday (2003) UK tour, Joseph in the Joseph 2003/2004 tour and West End show, and received critical acclaim with his first dramatic role as Alfie in the self-titled theatre production.

He has appeared in TV sitcoms with Jim Davidson, Rob Brydon and Harry Hill and his first feature film Help Reader received accolades at the Cannes Film Festival.

Darren has played many leading parts in pantomime, usually as the bright-eyed Buttons character, but this year Darren is very much looking forward to playing the baddie as King Rat in Dick Whittington at The Lowry in Salford.

In 2007 Darren returned to the music of Barry Manilow in a UK Spring theatre tour of The Music of Manilow and More and is delighted to be starring in Hello, Dolly! in 2008.