The Thorn Birds is a musical adaptation of the best-selling novel of the same name

The Thorn Birds

The Thorn Birds is a 1977 best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, an Australian author.In 1983 it was adapted as a television mini-series that, during its television run 27–30 March, became the United States' second highest rated mini-series of all time behind Roots; both series were produced by...

 by Colleen McCullough

Colleen McCullough

Colleen McCullough-Robinson, , is an internationally acclaimed Australian author.-Life:McCullough was born in Wellington, in outback central west New South Wales, in 1937 to James and Laurie McCullough. Her mother was a New Zealander of part-Māori descent. During her childhood, her family moved...

.

It starred Matthew Goodgame

Matthew Goodgame

Matthew Goodgame is a professional actor, singer and dancer from Kent.Goodgame has just finished playing Steven Kodaly in 'She Loves Me' at the Chichester Festival Theatre, after playing the role of Danny Zuko in the West End production of GREASE The Musical.Matthew closed the West End Production...

 as Father Ralph de Bricassart

Father Ralph de Bricassart

Father Ralph de Bricassart is a fictional priest in The Thorn Birds, a 1977 best selling novel by Colleen McCullough, an Australian author. Set primarily on Drogheda, a fictional sheep station in the Australian outback, the story focuses on the Cleary family and spans the years 1920 to 1969...

, Helen Anker

Helen Anker

Helen Anker, born in 1972 in Banbury, Oxfordshire, is an actress and singer who trained at the Royal Ballet School and Bird College. She is best known for playing Zelda Fitzgerald in the West End musical Beautiful and Damned, a role she first played at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford before...

 as Meggie Cleary

Meggie Cleary

'Meggie Cleary is the main character of The Thorn Birds, a 1977 best selling novel by Australian author Colleen McCullough. The book was turned into a 1983 television mini-series starring Rachel Ward as Meggie....

 and Peter Karrie

Peter Karrie

Peter Karrie , is a Welsh singer, best known for his portrayal of the lead role in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera. He played the part in London, Toronto, Vancouver, Singapore, Hong Kong and on the UK Tour in Bradford, and Manchester...

 as Cardinal di Conti-Verchese. It was adapted by the author, Colleen McCullough, and directed by award-winning director Michael Bogdanov

Michael Bogdanov

Michael Bogdanov , is a British theatre director known for his work with new plays, modern reinterpretations of Shakespeare, musicals and work for Young People.-Early years:...

behind Wales Theatre Company.

The cast included Andrea Miller, Kieran Brown, Leuan Rhys, Phylip Harries and Llinos Daniel. The UK tour features visits to Poole, Swansea, Wolverhampton, Aberystwyth, Bradford, Hull, Llandudno, Windsor, Plymouth, Malvern, Birmingham and then finishing in the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff in July.