Lancaster Joins Stewart Show for Final FortnightDate: 27 September 2004
Penny Lancaster tonight (27 September 2004) joins the cast of the West End musical based on the hits of her boyfriend, Rod Stewart. For the next two weeks, until the show closes on 9 October 2004 after a year in the West End (See News, 29 Jul 2004), Lancaster will play one of the Hot Legs girls in Tonight's the Night at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
The model previous made a one-off appearance in Tonight's the Night in June as part of a charity gala performance in aid of the Royal National Institute of the Blind (See News, 8 Jun 2004).
The musical - written and directed by Ben Elton, whose previous musical credits include Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game and Queen’s We Will Rock You - had its world premiere at the Victoria Palace on 7 November 2003, following previews from 15 October. In the months leading up to its closure announcement in June, producers launched a mass advertising campaign effectively rebranding Tonight's the Night as “The Rod Stewart Musical”.
One of the UK's biggest rock stars in the late 1960s and 1970s, Stewart's many hits over the years have included "Maggie May", "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy", "You Wear It Well", "Hot Legs", "The Killing of Georgie", "First Cut Is the Deepest", "You're in My Heart", "Sailing" and "Tonight's the Night".
Tim Howar, Hannah Waddingham, Dianne Pilkington and Michael McKell lead the 36-strong cast of Tonight's the Night, a Faustian tale in which shy Stu makes a deal with the devil to be more like his idol Rod Stewart so that he can get girl of his dreams Mary.
Tonight's the Night is designed by Lez Brotherston and choreographed by Stephen Mear, with lighting by Mark Henderson and musical supervision by Gareth Valentine. It's presented in the West End by Phil McIntyre and Arnold Stiefel.
The next production scheduled for the Victoria Palace is the Christmas pantomime Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Lily Savage (aka actor Paul O'Grady), which runs for 50 performances only from 17 December 2004 to 23 January 2005 (See News, 23 Jun 2004). Next spring, it will be followed by the much-anticipated world premiere of Billy Elliot - The Musical, now scheduled to open on 11 May 2005 after staggered previews from 24 March 2005 (See News, 17 Aug 2004).
- by Terri Paddock
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