 |
| Patrick Swayze as Nathan Detroit |
|
| Share |
Ill Swayze Delays West End Debut, But Extends RunDate: 7 July 2006
Patrick Swayze (pictured) has delayed his West End debut in Michael Grandage’s multi award-winning revival of Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre because he is suffering from a chest infection (See News, 1 Jun 2006).
A show spokesperson said the Hollywood star has missed a number of rehearsals due to illness and will now open in the show in the week commencing 24 July 2006, although an exact date has not yet been set, depending on how quickly the actor recovers. However Swayze’s scheduled engagement, which was due to start on 10 July and finish on 2 September, will now run until 23 September.
Claire Sweeney will start her run as Miss Adelaide in the show on Monday (10 July 2006) as planned (See News, 1 Jun 2006). She will play opposite understudy Andrew Playfoot as her long-term fiancée Nathan Detroit until Swayze is well enough to return to the theatre. Adam Cooper and Kelly Price continue to star as Sky Masterson and Sarah Brown.
The son of a choreographer, Swayze trained as a ballet dancer and appeared on stage in the Broadway production of Grease before finding international fame in Hollywood. In addition to Dirty Dancing, in which he became a pin-up as holiday camp dance instructor Johnny Castle to Jennifer Grey’s teenaged Baby, his film credits include Ghost, Point Break, City of Joy and, more recently, the Dirty Dancing prequel Havana Nights.
In 2003, Swayze returned to the stage after a 25-year absence to play Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago. Guys and Dolls will mark his UK stage debut.
Speaking at a press conference last month, Swayze revealed concerns about facing London drama critics, who he’d heard can be vicious, saying he expected his press night is “going to be like being shot out of a cannon… If you screw up, nobody can help you because it just moves too fast.” He also admitted that he does feel “an intimidation, a little fear factor about how you’re going to be judged but I think that just makes you work harder.”
Grandage’s version of Frank Loesser’s 1950 musical opened on 1 June 2005 (previews from 19 May) and is currently booking up to 30 December 2006. Based on Damon Runyon’s short stories about New York gamblers and their girls in the 1940s, the musical was made into a 1953 Hollywood film starring Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons and Frank Sinatra. In Grandage’s revival, the first new production of Guys and Dolls in London for 23 years, the part of Nathan Detroit has so far been played by Douglas Hodge, Nigel Lindsay and Neil Morrissey.
The production is designed by Christopher Oram, with choreography by Rob Ashford, musical supervision by Jae Alexander, lighting by Howard Harrison and sound by Terry Jardine and Chris Full. It’s presented by the Ambassador Theatre Group and Live Nation in association with the Donmar Warehouse.
- by Caroline Ansdell & Terri Paddock
Related Content
