Mackintosh & McCutcheon Round Three???

Impresario Cameron Mackintosh has poured more salt into the My Fair Lady wound this week. A year and a half after his original Eliza Doolittle left the West End production, Mackintosh has denounced the conduct of soap star Martine McCutcheon, who, suffering from a recurrent throat infection, chalked up fewer performances than her understudy during her run. Mackintosh admits that McCutcheon "no doubt" contributed to the musical's initial box office success, but "we never knew if she was going to turn up", which put unnecessary strain on her fellow cast members and disappointed the public who'd booked months in advance. "So however wonderful she was on the occasions she would deign to come on, you can't run a show like this." In addition to her unreliability, Mackintosh suggested that McCutcheon wasn't up to the rigours of performing to a theatre audience. "She just isn't capable of dealing with it", he said, often becoming "hysterical" at the thought that her performance wasn't "perfect". Mackintosh has previously said he'd never hire McCutcheon again (See The Goss, 28 Mar 2003) - and the lady herself has similarly dished the dirt and turned her back on theatre (See The Goss, 10 Feb 2003) - though this is the first time he has done so in quite such a vehement and high-profile manner. The interview will be broadcast on BBC One tomorrow night (Thursday 22 May) as part of a new documentary series titled So What Did You Do All Day?, in which a film crew follows a successful celebrity around for a working day. The cameras also show Mackintosh planning his upcoming production of Mary Poppins, overseeing advertising decisions for Les Miserables and recasting for My Fair Lady as well as working out with his personal trainer.

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