Sadie Frost Gets Touched by Solo Madonna in Feb

As previously tipped (See The Goss, 8 Jul 2008), Sadie Frost (pictured) will make her West End debut in a new comedy in the new year. Four months before her ex-husband Jude Law takes to the stage in Michael Grandage’s Donmar West End production of Hamlet, Frost will star in Touched… For the Very First Time, Zoe Lewis’ one-woman play about an obsessive Madonna fan (clearly not Guy Ritchie), which will have a limited season from 4 February to 14 March 2009 at the 100-seat Trafalgar Studios 2.

Lesley, a 36-year-old Mancunian, is a modern woman who dreams of being best friends with Madonna. She narrates her life from that earth-shattering moment as a plump 14-year-old in 1984, when she hears “Like a Virgin” for the very first time. Convinced that her desire to ‘have it all’ is inextricably linked with Madonna’s own life, the love affair of a lifetime begins. Touched… For the Very First Time is set against a backdrop of pop classics from the 1980s and 1990s.

Frost began her career on stage at the Manchester Royal Exchange and went on to appear in more than 20 films such as The Heavy, Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula and, appearing alongside her first husband Gary Kemp, The Krays. She largely gave up acting in the late 1990s after marrying and having three children with fellow actor Jude Law. After the break-up of their marriage, she relaunched herself as a clothes designer, though her private life, including her relations with Law and friendship with Kate Moss, has kept her regularly in the headlines.

Touched had a try-out, without Frost, at the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s directed by Douglas Rintoul and designed by Colin Richmond, with lighting by Katharine Williams and movement by Jamie Bradley. The production is presented by ILW Productions. Author Zoe Lewis’ other plays include Flanders Mare, Glastonbury, Guns and Noses, Paradise Syndrome and Sharp Relief.

Those hoping to catch sight of the real Madonna on Touched’s opening night will probably be disappointed. Promotional material states that the play “has not been authorised or approved in any manner by Madonna and she is not responsible for the content of the production”.

– by Terri Paddock