Barrymore & Henry Make West End Comedy DebutsDate: 27 June 2003
Television comedians Michael Barrymore (pictured) and Lenny Henry, along with Bill Bailey, will make their West End debuts this autumn as part of a two-and-a-half month season of comedy at Wyndham's Theatre. The season runs from 15 September to 29 November 2003.
Michael Barrymore - who brings his latest improvisational stand-up to London after a tour of Australia and New Zealand in May - kicks off autumn schedule from 15 September to 11 October, returning from 20 October to 8 November. His previous stage show Laid Back enjoyed an extensive UK tour in 1998.
Born Michael Parker, Barrymore was inspired to change his name after reading a biography of the famous American acting dynasty. In the 1980s and 1990s, after many years of stage variety and comedy, Barrymore rose to become one of the most powerful figures in British TV entertainment, performing in and presenting myriad series such as Strike It Lucky, Saturday Night Out, Kids Say the Funniest Things, Animals Do the Funniest Things and the eponymous Michael Barrymore Show, Barrymore and Barrymore on Broadway. He later starred in the comedy drama Bob Martin.
Controversy came in 1995 when Barrymore announced that he was homosexual, despite being married for nearly 20 years. Over the next several years, he continued to receive a rough ride in the tabloid press for perceived drunken and unruly bad behaviour. The situation culminated in March 2001 when a man was found dead in the pool of Barrymore's Essex home after an impromptu late night party.
Speaking about his new London season, Barrymore said: "I am delighted to be returning to my roots and my first love of live theatre and am very much looking forward to performing to a West End audience."
Bill Bailey brings his show Part Troll, which was a hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, to Wyndhams from 13 to 18 October 2003. The British Comedy Award winner and star of BBC2's Never Mind the Buzzcocks returns to the screen later this year in the third series of Black Books.
Lenny Henry's new one-man show runs from 10 to 29 November 2003. The show, which follows the formula of TV's This Is My Life, reunites Henry with the creative team of writer Kim Fuller and Complicite director Simon McBurney. Henry, who's married to fellow comedian Dawn French, is a familiar face on screen from the likes of The Lenny Henry Show and Chef.
Currently at Wyndham's, Franco Zeffirelli's revival of Pirandello comedy Absolutely! perhaps - starring Joan Plowright, Oliver Ford Davies and Liza Tarbuck - is scheduled to continue its limited season to 30 August 2003. The Wyndhams comedy season is presented by ISI.
- by Terri Paddock
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