New theatre company bring Les Miserables to Wakefield

A new and exciting theatre company, POWERHOUSE officially opened their doors in February, welcoming the stars of the future to work alongside industry professionals, in their first production, a reimagining of one of the world’s most popular musicals, LES MISERABLES. The company is entering the final stages of rehearsals now as this epic musical is staged at Unity Hall in the centre of Wakefield next month.

Powerhouse has been founded by Andrew Ashley and Andy Fretwell, two well established theatre makers, who recently celebrated 10 successful years of their company Diva Productions. Diva has fast grown a reputation for producing high quality theatre in Yorkshire and their recent productions of Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grease, Ghost and Legally Blonde at Theatre Royal Wakefield, as well as an immersive new production of Sweeney Todd last year at Unity Hall, played to packed houses and received 5 star reviews. Diva also undertook a National Tour and made its West End debut in 2024 with a production of Rita, Sue and Bob Too.

“After 10 successful years establishing Diva Productions, we wanted to expand what we offer as a company and to grow and nurture the talent of tomorrow. We found some exceptional talent to join us in this exciting project performing one of the world’s most loved musicals.” says Artistic Director Andrew Ashley. “Our cast of young performers have not been afraid to work hard and be challenged by our team of top creatives in this new interpretation of the musical. We have an exciting, fresh and powerful production ready for audiences next month and we cannot wait for Wakefield to see just how incredible these young people are.”

Les Miserables: School Edition will be performed at Unity Hall on Westgate in Wakefield - just opposite the Theatre Royal Wakefield. Performances run from 23 to 26th July at 7:30pm with matinees on Friday and Saturday at 2pm. To book tickets go to: www.ticketsource.co.uk/wearepowerhouse.