Scottish dancer Leonardo McCorkindale is taking on a leading role in Matthew Bourne’s acclaimed dance thriller The Car Man as the production continues its run Glasgow’s King’s Theatre.
The award-winning New Adventures production is at the King’s until Saturday 31 October as part of its 2026 UK tour. McCorkindale shares the role of troubled outsider Angelo with Harry Ondrak-Wright.
Will Bozier and Harrison Dowzell, both former lead Swans in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, share the title role of Luca, known as “The Car Man”.
Cordelia Braithwaite and Ashley Shaw play Lana, while Anna Maria de Freitas and Kurumi Kamayachi make their leading role debuts as Lana’s sister Rita.
Danny Reubens and Alan Vincent – the original “Car Man” – take on the role of Lana’s jealous husband Dino.
The Car Man was first staged in 2000 and went on to win the Evening Standard Award for Musical Event of the Year and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award for Best Choreography.
It was revived in an expanded production at the Royal Albert Hall in 2022, but the current run marks the first time the show has toured since 2015.
Loosely inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, Bourne’s production transports the story from a 19th-century Spanish cigarette factory to a garage-diner in a small American town in the 1950s.
The arrival of the mysterious Luca disrupts life in the fictional town of Harmony, setting off a story of desire, jealousy, betrayal and revenge.
Matthew Bourne said the central characters had become an important part of British dance since the production was first created.
He said: “As we announce a thrilling new 2026 cast for our dance thriller, THE CAR MAN, it’s interesting to reflect on how iconic, unique and sought after the leading roles in this show have become since it was made in 2000.
“We are still the only company in the world to perform this production and yet the roles of Luca, Lana, Angelo, Rita and Dino have become as legendary as the show itself and a unique part of the UK dance landscape for several generations of young dancers.
“I’m proud that New Adventures never just ‘revives’ a show; we re-invent, question and grow with each new cast which is why I’m so excited to revisit the small town of Harmony this summer and, much like Luca himself, shake things up a bit!”
The production is directed and choreographed by Bourne, with music by Terry Davies and Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite, based on Bizet’s Carmen. Design is by Lez Brotherston, lighting by Chris Davey and sound by Paul Groothuis.
Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man is at the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, until Saturday 31 October, tickets available here.
The tour then moves to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre from Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 November.