Leo Tavarro Valdez returns to play The Engineer

Cameron Mackintosh is delighted to announce casting for his acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg’s legendary musical MISS SAIGON at the Sunderland Empire from 24 October – 17 November 2018.  

Leo Tavarro Valdez will star as ‘The Engineer’, Sooha Kim as ‘Kim’, Ashley Gilmour as ‘Chris’, Elana Martin as ‘Ellen’, Ryan O’Gorman as ‘John’, Gerald Santos as ‘Thuy’ and Aicelle Santos as ‘Gigi’. At certain performances ‘The Engineer’ is played by Christian Rey Marbella, and ‘Kim’ is played by Joreen Bautista.  

Leo Tavarro Valdez returns to the role of ‘The Engineer’ having played the part to audience and critical acclaim all over the world including in the original London production at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, on tour throughout the UK and most recently for two years on the Australian tour. His other theatre credits include ‘Freddie Trumper’ in "Chess”, ‘The King’ in "The King and I" and ‘Tick’ in "Priscilla Queen of the Desert".  He has also recorded six gold selling albums.  

Sooha Kim made her professional debut in this recent production of “Miss Saigon” at the Prince Edward Theatre where she covered the role of ‘Kim’ before going on to play the role in the Japanese production. Her credits whilst training in Korea include ‘Maureen’ in “Rent” and ‘Carmen’ in “Fame”.  

Ashley Gilmour also appeared in “Miss Saigon” at the Prince Edward Theatre. His most recent credits include playing ‘Link Larkin’ in the national tour of “Hairspray”.  

Elana Martin’s West End credits include “Travesties” at the Apollo Theatre and “Merrily We Roll Along” at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Her other credits include the UK tours of “39 Steps” and “Scrooge”.  

Ryan O’Gorman played the role of ‘Tom Collins’ in the 20^th Anniversary UK Tour of “Rent”.  His other theatre credits include “Les Misérables”, at the Queen’s Theatre, “The Phantom of the Opera” at Her Majesty’s Theatre, “Billy Elliot” at the Victoria Palace Theatre and the UK tour of “Oliver!”.  

Gerald Santos was the youngest ever winner of the biggest singing contest in the Philippines, Pinoy Pop Superstar. He has released five studio albums and has won numerous awards including winning twice Best Male Concert performer at the prestigious ALIW Awards.  

Aicelle Santos is a recording and concert artist in the Philippines appearing in many concerts as both a solo performer and one third of the successful trio ‘La Diva’. As an actress, her theatre credits include “Katy”, “Rak Of Aegis” for which she won a Best Actress in a Musical award and “Maynila Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag” for which she won a Best Featured Actress in a Musical award.  

The rest of the company includes Iroy Abesamis, David Allwood, Jonathon Bentley, Vinny Coyle,  Divine Cresswell, Kristine Diaz, Aynrand Ferrer, Ross Lee Fowkes, Seng Henk Goh,  Yukina Hasebe, Rob Herron, David Kar-Hing Lee, Amanda Lindgren, Winchester Lopez,  Jade Ma, Thao Nguyen, Samuel Nicholas, Youngjoo Park, Pierce Rogan, Kerry Spark, Louis Stockil, Eloisa Amalia Tan, Gavin Tsang, Joaquin Pedro Valdes, Brad Veitch, Amadeus Williams, Gabriella Williams, Sian Yeo,  Zheng Xi Yong and Gerald Zarcilla.