Date/Time: Thursday, 28th March 2024 at 14:30
Location: Gielgud Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 6AR
Price: £58 per person. Member and guest £116. Face value £85pp
Event Organiser: Pete Wells. 7, Wayfaring Court, Safflower Lane, Romford RM3 0LQ
Sheridan Smith is to star in a musical based on John Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night, about an actor struggling with her new stage role. The show is directed by Ivo van Hove, whose book accompanies Wainwright’s music and lyrics.
Widely regarded as one of the best films about theatrical life, Opening Night starred Gena Rowlands as Myrtle, who is haunted by the death of a teenage fan and bullied by her director during the out-of-town tryouts for a play heading to Broadway. Cassavetes, Rowlands’s husband, played Myrtle’s co-star and former lover. Wainwright said the film “has long been a shining beacon representing both excellence in cinema and the might of live theatre. An intense marriage of film and stage, it is about a very personal mental and creative survival that I think we can all relate to on a very deep human level.” He added: “I’ve been waiting for ages to write my first musical, I don’t think I could have aimed any higher.”
Smith, who had a West End hit with Shirley Valentine earlier this year, said that Myrtle was a “complex and challenging character” and that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Wainwright and Van Hove: “Quite frankly, if they’d asked me to read out the back of a cereal packet, I’d have been there.” Van Hove said that Opening Night “not only gives us an insight into the trials and tribulations behind the scenes of the theatre, but is also the heartbreaking story of a woman fighting for hope and self-determination in a world that doesn’t want to listen”.
Event Booking
Please note that all bookings are subject to our Event Booking Rules.
The standard, printable event booking sheet is downloadable here.