Debbie Reynolds Feels Fabulous at Apollo, 29 Apr

Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds is bringing her one-woman show, Debbie Reynolds Alive and Fabulous, to the West End for a ten-date season at the Apollo theatre next year. The autobiographical show, which runs from 29 April to 9 May 2010 (preview 28 April), will mark her first London theatre performances for 34 years.

Reynolds, now 77, starred in MGM classics such as Singing in the Rain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and That’s Entertainment!, and is celebrating more than 50 years in showbusiness.  She was first signed to MGM at the age of 16 after she won a beauty contest impersonating another acting legend, Betty Hutton

In Debbie Reynolds Alive and Fabulous, she reminisces about her career with the aid of movie clips, as well as her three marriages and her more recent comedy and cabaret career. Reynolds herself describes it as “a variety show”, adding “I get to do impressions of Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Katherine Hepburn – even Jimmy Stewart!”

Reynolds, who has been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar and two Golden Globes, has more recently been seen in Will and Grace, as Grace’s mother, and is known for her ever-growing film memorabilia collection. She is also the mother of Carrie Fisher, best known as Star Wars’ Pricess Leiah.

Prior to Reynolds, the Apollo hosts the West End run of Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, which opens on 10 February (previews from 28 January) and continues to 24 April (See News, 18 Sep 2009).