UK Tour of LITTLE VOICE Launches in Guildford, 31 Aug - Starring Corrie's Beverley Callard

Written and directed by Jim Cartwright, the Olivier Award-winning THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE will begin a national tour at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre tonight, 31 August, with opening night on Tuesday 4 September. The show stars Beverley Callard as 'Mari Hoff', Ray Quinn as 'Billy', Joe McGann as 'Ray Say', Duggie Brown as 'Mr Boo' and Jess Robinson as 'Little Voice'.

In this heart-warming northern fairytale, shy Little Voice spends most of her time immersed in her late Father's record collection and perfecting her astonishing impersonations, much to the dismay of her fun loving, out of control mother Mari. Overheard singing by Ray Say, a hapless talent scout and Mari's man of the moment, Little Voice is propelled to stardom as Ray sets about creating the show of the century in a dingy local working man's club. With an agent from London coming and everything counting on this one performance, Mari and Ray's ticket to the big time rests squarely on Little Voice's shoulders. But has anyone asked Little Voice what she wants?

Featuring songs from some of the world's most iconic divas including Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Bassey and Judy Garland, this is a night of star-filled magic to remember.

Beverley Callard is best known as Coronation Street's 'Liz McDonald', a role she played for over 21 years. She made her television debut in 1983 as 'Angie Richards' in the ITV'S "Emmerdale Farm", and the following year played the role of 'June Dewhurst' in "Coronation Street." In 1989 Beverley returned to "Coronation Street", this time as 'Liz McDonald', and went on to become one of the Rover's Return's most iconic landladies. In 2001 Beverley was cast as 'Flo Henshaw' in the popular BBC Three sitcom "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps', a role she went on to play for four years. Other television credits include roles in "Hinge and Bracket", "Dear Ladies", "Hells Bells", "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" and "The Practise". In 2010 Beverley was also a recurring panelist on ITV's flagship daytime show "Loose Women".

Ray Quinn began his career in Channel 4's "Brookside" playing 'Anthony Murray', for which he won numerous awards including Best Dramatic Performance at the Soap Awards 2002. Ray is also well known as a finalist on ITV's award-winning reality programme 'The X Factor' in 2006, in which he came second to Leona Lewis. He has since had a No.1 platinum selling album 'Doing It My Way' and his own sell-out tour as well as appearing on the X-Factor tour in 32 arena shows all over the UK. In 2009 Ray took part in and won ITV's 'Dancing On Ice', and in 2011 he also competed in the winning team on ITV's primetime show 'Sing If You Can.' Ray's West End credits include 'Billy Kostecki' in "Dirty Dancing" at the Aldwych Theatre and 'Danny' in "Grease" at The Piccadilly Theatre. Other theatre includes "Buster" at The Playhouse Theatre, "Me and My Girl" at The Empire Theatre and "Peter Pan" at The Neptune Theatre. Film credits include "Bulletproof" and "The Singing Cactus", and television credits include "Mersey Beat" and "Doctors".

Joe McGann is perhaps best know as 'Charlie Burrows' in the ITV comedy series "The Upper Hand", a role he played for six years. On television Joe has also appeared as 'Alex Wells' in the ITV soap "Night and Day". Joe's many stage credits include "Tom, Dick and Harry" at the Duke of York's Theatre, 'Grimes' in "The Water Babies" at Chichester Festival Theatre, 'Nathan Detroit' in the UK Tour of "Guys and Dolls", 'Tevye' in the UK Tour of Fiddler on the Roof, and most recently 'John' in the UK Tour of "Calendar Girls".

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