Midlife Cowboy

Midlife Cowboy is a warm, funny and entertaining new musical written by comedian and best-selling author Tony Hawks.

Featuring a cast of talented actors and musicians, it is tale of heartache, love, and friendship with some great new country, blues, romantic and comedy songs. The show follows the fortunes of the members of the Swindon Country and Western Club as they discover the true nature of heroism in their bid to end many years of hurt by finally winning first prize at the prestigious local Railway Museum Gala Evening !

The stakes are high but this is not just about country music. A marriage is in crisis, friendships are at risk, there is more than a sniff of infidelity in the air, and lives are changed when two new members to the club arrive and turn everything upside down.

Debra Stephenson stars as Jane, a country music loving puppet-maker who is trying to save her failing marriage and revive their home based Country and Western Club. Debra is one of Britain’s most talented actors and impressionists and her credits include Coronation Street, Bad Girls, Dead Ringers, The Impressions Show and most recently The Imitation Game.

Tony Hawks plays her midlife crisis suffering husband Stuart. A regular on some of BBC Radio 4's best-loved comedy programmes including Just a Minute, I'm Sorry I haven't a Clue and The Unbelievable Truth Tony is also one of the UK's most successful authors having written many best selling books including Round Ireland with a Fridge and Playing the Moldovans at Tennis.

Their friends include Duncan Wisbey (Graham) an actor, musician and impressionist best known for Alistair McGowan’s Big Impression, Dead Ringers, Four in a Bed, The Hive and Ultimate Brain, Georgina Field (Penny) whose multiple skills have led her to perform in numerous musicals around the UK including Godspell, Salad Days, The Phantom of the Opera and Guys & Dolls and James Thackeray (Dan), an outstanding young actor who has been seen in Doctor Who and is soon to appear in Trainspotting: Live at the Edinburgh Fringe

The History

In the 1990’s Tony Hawks wrote and staged a short comedy musical at the Edinburgh Festival called The Heartbreak Kid starring himself and Ben Miller. It was very successful and was selected for the prestigious Perrier Pick Of Fringe. However, as it was only a one-act play it needed re-writing to become a full-length musical and that was something he never got around to doing. Until recently!

In 2016 he staged a charity read and sing through of the new and extended version, now called Midlife Cowboy. It was introduced by Graham Norton and Sir Tim Rice and starred Ben Miller, Alistair McGowan, Jack Dee and Doon Mackichan and received a standing ovation at The Lyric Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. More recently, a further read- through was held in front of an invited audience at the Pleasance Theatre to tighten the plot and story still further and he is delighted to see it finally come to life this autumn at the same venue.

‘Midlife Cowboy is packed full of warm, funny, moving and very entertaining songs’ Sir Tim Rice

‘charming, funny and touching’
Helen Fielding

‘A joyous show with a lot of laughter and silliness’
Andy Hamilton

‘Huge fun to perform in, with some cracking original country songs that I hum to this very day’
Ben Miller

‘A beautiful, funny & moving musical about the bumpy ride through middle aged love and how to get back in the saddle no matter how saddle sore you might be!’
Caroline Quentin