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Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
A NEW production of Mike Read's musical, Oscar Wilde,
opens at London's Shaw Theatre, in Euston Road, on October 19,
2004, with previews from October 13.
An apt revival for the 150th anniversary of Wilde's birth, it
also heralds the reopening of the Shaw Theatre.
For this work, Read has concentrated on the last turbulent years
of Wilde's life - of his descent from fame and adulation, to infamy
and ultimate tragedy.
Yet for all that, Wilde will always be remembered for plays such
as An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance and The
Importance of Being Ernest, as well as, and somewhat surprisingly,
the delightful fairy tale, The Selfish Giant.
The production is to star Peter Blake, as Oscar Wilde, who has
starred in many major West End shows.
He was, most notably, Pharoah in the original production of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat; Pontius
Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar; and Frank 'n' Furter
in The Rocky Horror Show, both in the original King's
Road production and West End transfer at the Comedy Theatre.
He has returned to the West End on several occasions over the
years, working with Ray Cooney's Theatre of Comedy, in the original
production of Run for Your Wife, creating the role of
Detective Sergeant Troughton and in the highly-acclaimed revival
of See How They Run.
On TV, he is best known as Kirk St. Moritz in the very popular
BBC series, Dear John, and has also appeared in the likes of Family
Affairs, as Eric, Andy Evol, in Agony, with Maureen Lipman and
David in Split Endz.
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Joining him will be Anita Louise
Combe (as Wilde's wife, Constance), who joins the company directly
from the West End company of Chicago, where she has just
played Velma Kelly opposite David Hasselhoff.
Anita previously played Roxie Hart, making her one of the few
people to have played both roles.
She also appeared at the Adelphi as Betty Shaeffer in Sunset
Boulevard, a role she played in Toronto and Vancouver.
She was nominated for a Dora Mayer Moore Award and a Jessie Richardson
Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She also created the role
of Stephanie Manango in the world premiere production of Saturday
Night Fever at the London Palladium.
Chris Corcoran (Marquess of Queensberry) has starred in Chess,
Evita (he holds the world record having played the role of
Che more than 1,500 times) and Jesus Christ Superstar,
having previously appeared in several Mike Read musicals - including
the title role of 'Scrooge' in A Christmas Carol at Theatre
Clwyd.
Other roles are taken by John de Ville, Craig Nicholls, Frank
Owen, Sarah Redmond, Michael Strasson and Jonathan Tatum.
Mike Read, who is responsible for the book, lyrics and music,
has enjoyed success on both television and radio in a career spanning
more than 25 years.
First a DJ (Radio Luxembourg, Radio One, Classic FM and Capital
Gold) and later host on TV shows such as Pop Quest, Saturday
Superstore and Top of the Pops, he was most recently
seen in I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Read though, is no stranger to the musical and his previous projects
include Great Expectations, A Christmas Carol, Young Apollo,
Ricky Nelson Teenage Idol, The Prince and the Pauper and
Cliff The Musical.
The latter enjoyed a successful run at the Prince of Wales Theatre,
with Read himself starring as the venerable old Cliff looking
back on a life-long career.
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