These two best mates from Aigburth have landed roles in Cilla The Musical

Two friends from Aigburth are celebrating after landing dream roles in the UK tour of Cilla the Musical. Alex Patmore (23) fought off tough competition for the part of Bobby Willis in the smash hit musical, while best friend Tim Lucas (23) landed the role of his brother, Kenny Willis.

The pair, who trained in musical theatre at Liverpool Theatre School, landed the roles after impressing Bill Kenwright and his team during the London auditions for the show. Alex and Tim, both former pupils at St Michael in the Hamlet Primary School and St Margaret’s Academy, have been best friends since childhood and they still live two doors away from each other in Aigburth.

Tim is thrilled to be playing Kenny Willis in the UK tour of Cilla the Musical alongside his good friend Alex. He said: “I feel so blessed and so grateful. It’s fantastic to get such a big part and it makes it even better that me and my best mate get to play brothers on stage.

“We’ve done so much together over the years from going to the same schools as kids, training in musical theatre at Liverpool Theatre School and even working at the same pub until we both landed parts in the UK tour of Cilla the Musical.”

Alex, who plays Bobby Willis, explained: “We both had our first audition for the show on the same day. I was originally auditioning for the role of Kenny, while Tim auditioned for Bobby but we were asked to swap parts. The director then invited us to read together and we obviously had great chemistry on stage but we didn’t tell them we were mates until the final audition with Bill Kenwright.

“We both found out at exactly the same time that we’d be joining the cast. As we live just two doors away from each other, we both ran outside straight away and we were jumping up and down celebrating together. This is our first big break since graduating from Liverpool Theatre School so it was like winning the lottery. I couldn’t be happier!”

Maxine Ellis, Principal at Liverpool Theatre School, said: “Alex and Tim have always been very talented performers with real potential. As students at Liverpool Theatre School, they were a lot of fun to be around but they always worked extremely hard.

“Celebrating the success of our graduates means so much to me and the rest of the staff at Liverpool Theatre School. We’re all absolutely thrilled for them both and I am delighted that their hard work and dedication has paid off. I know I will be brimming with pride when I watch them perform in Cilla the Musical.”

Alex and Tim graduated from Liverpool Theatre School in 2015. The Aigburth theatre school is only one of two places in the north west to offer students the highly regarded Trinity College London diploma in both professional musical theatre and professional acting. The college has also been selected as one of a handful of training organisations in the country to offer The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation scholarship.