Musicals Extend: Blonde, Dirty, Thriller & WWRY
A number of West End musicals have recently extended their booking periods until 2011.
The screen-to-stage musical centres on homecoming queen Elle Woods as she heads to Harvard Law school in order to prove herself to ex-boyfriend Warner.
(Sheridan Smith) heads the cast as Elle, while Duncan James steps down as Warner next week (14 June 2010), and will be replaced by former Coronation Street star Richard Fleeshman (See News, 11 May 2010).
Another blockbuster film adaptation, Dirty Dancing, has also extended its booking period, this time until 9 April 2011, taking it into its fifth year at the Aldwych Theatre.
Set at an upmarket American holiday camp called Kellerman’s in the 1960s, the 1987 film of Dirty Dancing
starred Jennifer Grey as the teenaged Baby Houseman who falls in love
with the camp’s working class dance instructor Johnny Castle, played by
Patrick Swayze, whose climactic line, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner”,
has since become a classic.
A new cast, including by X Factor star Ray Quinn, will take over from 26 July (See News, 28 May 2010).
At the Lyric Theatre, Michael Jackson tribute show Thriller – Live has extended until 9 January 2011.
Thriller – Live opened on 21 January 2009 (previews from 2 January), initially for four months only, but increased demand after Jackson’s death last year has led to numerous extensions in the West End – as well as the launch of a separate, extensive world tour.
And finally, long-running Queen musical We Will Rock You has extended by a further six months and is now booking until 16 April at the Dominion Theatre.
The show, which opened on 14 May 2002, has a book by Ben Elton and features 32 of Queen’s greatest hits including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Under Pressure”, “Radio Gaga” and, of course, “We Will Rock You”.
