Shirley Valentine coming to Birmingham
It's been 31 years since Willy Russell's heart-warming comedy, Shirley Valentine, took the world by storm.
It told the story of Shirley, a Liverpool housewife. Her kids had left home and she made simple meals for her husband each day while talking to the wall. All the time she wondered: Where has my life disappeared to?
Out of the blue, Shirley's best friend offers her a trip to Greece for two weeks and she secretly packs her bags. She heads for the sun and starts to see the world and herself very differently.
The show was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film, starring Pauline Collins and Tom Conti, and now Jodie Prenger is starring in the first major revival of the national treasure, which reaches Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre on Monday, running until March 11.
Jodie found fame on Andrew Lloyd Webber's TV show, I'd Do Anything and was subsequently cast as Nancy in his 2009 production of Oliver! at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Her recent theatre credits have included UK tours of Tell Me On A Sunday and One Man, Two Guvnors.
Willy Russell's delighted that the show is back. He says: "It's 30 years since Shirley Valentine first walked on to the page, into my life and the lives of many others.
"Since those early days, Shirley has had an incredibly rich and varied life, appearing in many tongues across the globe in countless productions and being performed by many great actresses.
"When producer Adam Spiegel introduced me to Jodie Prenger I knew in an instant that here was a formidable actress, one who possessed the grit and the warmth, the drive and the vulnerability, the energy and the heart to make Shirley Valentine really live again."
