Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist Tickets

Is it a musical? Is it a gig? Is it a ballet? This show is all three, complete with a multi-genre pop score from the brilliant Tasha Taylor Johnson and Jack McManus, redefining musical theatre. Gossip, scandal and deadly royal peril await you. Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist takes on one of history’s best-known, least popular queens, back in London for a limited run.

A quirky take on the life of a queen everyone hated

This quirky new musical is based on Marie Antoinette’s life story, blending modern music with the frothy fashions of 1700s France to weave a plot you won’t forget. The show imagines what happened when Marie was accused of trying to defraud the crown jewellers of a diamond necklace in an infamous historical scandal that helped end her reign.

No wonder this woman sparked a revolution. The real-life Marie Antoinette was dogged by scandal. She was an unpopular queen thanks to her extravagance, promiscuousness, illegitimate children and sympathies for France's enemies. Her opposition to social and financial reform blackened her reputation even more. And when she was accused of nicking a diamond necklace her fate was sealed, even though she was innocent. The people hated her... and the French Revolution finally kicked off.

Marie was tried in court by the Revolutionary Tribunal in October 1793 and beheaded by guillotine just after noon on 16th October 1793. Another Marie, Marie Tussaud, made a death mask of her head, and then the ex-queen’s remains was hurled into an unmarked grave in the Madeleine cemetery. The cemetery closed in March 1794, leaving the queen’s body forever lost.

Star-studded West End favourites

Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist was originally commissioned by Paul Taylor-Mills, who gave us Heathers, In the Heights and My Son’s A Queer. If anything can re-define our expectations of what a musical can be, this is it.

Reprising her role is West End star Zizi Strallen (Rock Follies, Strictly Ballroom, Mary Poppins, Cats, Scrooge, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Hairspray, Chicago and more) as Marie Antoinette. Playing the original Catherine of Aragon in the award-winning musical SIX, Renée Lamb, who also delighted audiences in Be More Chill, plays Jeanne. Her other stage hits include Little Shop of Horrors and Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World.

The creative team speaks for itself. As well as Book by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm (Emilia) and Tasha Taylor Johnson (The Cat In The Hat), and Music and Lyrics by Jack McManus and Tasha Taylor-Johnson, we have the Director Bronagh Lagan (Cruise) on board. The production is based on the original staging by Drew McOnie (In the Heights, Jesus Christ Superstar) with additional choreography by Christopher Tendai (Closer To Heaven). Your Set and Costume Designer is Sami Fendall. Lighting design comes from Joshie Harriette, the Casting is by Will Burton and Bill Kenwright Ltd and Paul Taylor-Mills produce the magic.

Heading to London for a limited run, Cake: The Marie Antoinette Playlist blends a diverse pop score with 18th-century French history to narrate the story that ignited a revolution.