Seventy years after it opened on Broadway, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Allegro is finally to get its European premiere at London’s Southwark Playhouse.

Directed by Thom Southerland and produced by Danielle Tarento, this musical which opened in 1947 to the highest advance in Broadway history is now arriving in London for the first time.

In 1905 in a small Midwestern town, the wife of a local doctor gives birth to a baby boy, Joseph Taylor Jr. Allegro chronicles nearly four decades in the life of this average Joe – through his childhood, from college dorm to marriage altar, and on to his own medical career; from the tranquility of his hometown to the hectic din of big city life and a mid-life discovery of who he is and what his life is truly about, ultimately learning the most important lessons of all – the value of family, that money isn’t everything and that home really is where the heart is.

Allegro, featuring the music of Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II,was the duo’s third collaboration for the stage following Oklahoma! and Carousel.

This new production will open for a six week run at the Southwark Playhouse from the 5th August, with the cast and full creative team yet to be announced.

New Artistic Director of the Charing Cross Theatre Thom Southerland’s previous credits include productions of  the musical Titanic and more recently the hit production of Grey Gardens which also ran at the Southwark Playhouse.

Allegro will run at the Southwark Playhouse from the 5th August until the 10th September. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/allegro/.