ASHLEY WANG - Chowee Leow

I have worked with Chowee on many occasions and have seen him in and out of drag many times. So it’s no surprise to me that he could understand and play Ash well. This time however, I think he has even surpassed my expectations. Whilst surviving on minimum sleep fulfilling his duties as a producer and actor, he brought warmth and humour to the part making Ash a totally convincing and sympathetic character. He was able to embody the essence of Ash, allowing the audience to understand his desires and challenges as a man and “woman”.

In a career spanning over 18 years Chowee has played male, female, gangsters, prostitutes, ghosts, goddesses, dogs and one half of a Siamese Twin on stage and screen. His critically acclaimed solo show ‘An Occasional Orchid’- an intercultural horticultural wandering in a Wonderbra- was the Pick of the London One Person Play Festival. It transferred to the Battersea Arts Centre as part of Time Out’s “I wished I’d Seen That!” season and was subsequently showcased at the ICA and toured to Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

His first play ‘The 3rd Sex’, directed by Ray Yeung was a sold out hit at the Hong Kong City Festival. West End credits include ‘M. Butterfly’, ‘Anything Goes’ and ‘The Letter’. He performed in Tokyo in ‘Pulau Antara’, a project by the Japan Foundation Cross Cultural Exchange Program and played Lord “Bosie” Douglas in the Malaysian premiere of ‘Gross Indecency- The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde’.

MELVYN SHU – Steven Lim

When I first wrote the script, I knew that it would be a challenge to find a muscle-clad Chinese actor in London to play Mel. During the casting process, a friend mentioned Steve who had freshly graduated from LAMDA. Not only did he have the body and the looks required for the part, Steve was also an experienced actor and TV star from Singapore before making his journey to the West. Mel is a complex role and Steve was able to portray the many facets of his personality with empathy and comedy.

Cut Sleeve Boys is Steven’s first major role since arriving in London. The role of Mel is a departure from previous roles that generally saw him being cast as the boy-next-door girls would gladly bring home to meet the parents. Playing Mel, he is miles away from that squeaky clean image and he embraces the character who in contrast would probably not be up for meeting the girl, much less her parents.

Steve has appeared in numerous television series in Singapore including ‘School Days’, ‘Now Boarding’, ‘Touched’ and ‘Growing Up’. †Feature film credits include ‘That’s The Way I Like It’ and ‘Teenage Textbook’. Theatre credits include ‘The Swimming Instructor’, ‘Hotpants’, ‘Walking into Doors’ and ‘Dreams of the Red Chamber’. †He recently appeared in a British film, ‘Jam.’

TODD CHARRINGTON - Gareth Rhys Davies

A week before we were due to start rehearsals we lost the actor we had cast for the role of Todd. In an emergency recast of a dozen actors that weekend, Gareth was the last on the list. After his audition, we were thankful the original actor had dropped out. Not only did Gareth meet all the physical criteria of Todd, he was able to convey the subtleties required of the part with amazing accuracy and insight. We signed him immediately that afternoon and knew we had found the perfect actor for the role.

An ex-model with Storm Model Management, Gareth has modelled for numerous international magazines including L’Uomo, Japanese Vogue, The Face, Sleazenation, FHM and ID. He has walked down the runway for Andrew Mackenzie and featured in many music promos and advertising campaigns including Ben Sherman, Tommy Hilfiger, Kickers, Moet & Chandon and Rimmel. As the subject of the fly-on-the-wall documentary, Gareth was trailed by a camera crew for ‘Gareth and Wil’ , a Welsh program focusing on two jobbing male models. He played the lead characters in the feature film ‘Modern Monsters’ and ‘Plastic Wolves’, a short film.

ROSS FOREMAN - Neil Collie

Casting Ross was always going to be interesting. For the character to work, the challenge was to find an actor who oozed sexy manliness and also be comfortable and convincing as a feminine secret cross dresser. Ross was initially written as an older and distinguished army officer. But after meeting Neil and seeing what he had to offer, we knew it would be much more interesting to see the character as a butch working class ex-squaddie. On the first day of rehearsals Neil seemed a bit nervous but by the end of the day he had already snogged Chowee. (He later confessed it was the first time he had ever kissed a man!) Once the ice was broken, Neil was happy to step into stilettos and had no problems prancing around in a baby doll negligee in front of a full crew.

Neil trained at The Academy of Live & Recorded Arts. He is currently the new face of Thompson Travel Channel, a job where he is paid to travel around the world on holiday. His theatre credits include playing Phil, a stripper in Girls Night Out, Carlo another stripper in The Real Monty and Kerry, a raving bisexual in Noon. He was Stefan in the BBC’s Manchild and appeared in the films, British Boys and New Town. Since playing Ross in Cut Sleeve Boys, Neil has appeared in Coming Clean, playing a bitchy American writer where he has to snog another man but gets to keep his clothes on. That’s the price you pay for being a sex symbol!

DIANE/DAN – John Ebb-On-Knee Campbell

Ebbs and I did a play together in ’95 and I knew then I wanted to work with him again. He is an excellent comedy actor with a larger than life personality that shone on stage. However, I was slightly unsure about capturing him on film. I wondered if his mannerism would be too big for the medium. But ever the professional showgirl, Ebbs took on board the direction and controlled his big gestures to suit the screen effortlessly. In making this transition, what we got was a very natural, funny and touching portrayal of Diane. A natural born actor, he is someone I know I will want to work with him again and again.

A veteran of the London cabaret circuit, Ebbs is also a truly international artiste who has performed all over the world and in many West End musicals, plays, cabaret and opera including being directed by Franco Zefferelli at the Royal Opera House. He has performed with luminaries such as Patti Boulaye, Eartha Kitt, Grace Jones, Placido Domingo, Andy Bell, Susan Black and Lily Savage. His TV work includes The Bill, Eastenders, Wogan, and Watch with Mother.

An ex-boy band member, Mark is not just about looks, he also has substance. With his masculine mannerism I was initially concerned that he couldn’t play camp for the 80’s flashbacks. But on the day of the shoot, helped along with some advice from Ebb-on-Knee, Mark relaxed his shoulders and hips and voila, a screaming queen was born!

Mark first appeared onscreen alongside F. Murray Abrahams and Marco Leonardi in ‘Shattered Dreams’, an Italian prison drama set in Thailand. Since then he has appeared in Tomb Raider 2, Bad to The Bone and Rogue Trader. On British television, he has been seen in ‘Jonathan’s Creek’,Grange Hill’, ‘In The House With Cleopatra’ and ‘Casualty’. He has featured in numerous commercials for Europe and the Far East. On stage he played Oberon in Little’s Goblin’s production ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. A filmmaker himself, Mark wrote and directed Big Lizard.

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