Angela Lansbury stars in Blithe Spirit US Tour alongside Charles Edwards & Jemima Rooper

Angela Lansbury is to once again reprise her celebrated performance in Noël Coward's comedy Blithe Spirit. She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Madame Arcati on Broadway in 2009 and played the role in this year's successful West End run.

West End cast members Charles Edwards (Downton Abbey / The 39 Steps) and Jemima Rooper (One Man, Two Guvnors / Breeders) will also return to their roles for the North American tour which begins in December in Los Angeles. The production will also visit San Francisco, Toronto and Washington D.C. The play will run in Washington at the National Theatre where Lansbury made her first pre-Broadway stage debut nearly 58 years ago.

Blithe Spirit is a box office sensation!

According to the Daily Mail, Blithe Spirit has already paid back the £750,000 it cost to put on in just six weeks. Baz Bamigboye claims the production is taking in roughly £350,000 a week.

Directed by Michael Blakemore, Blithe Spirit stars the formidable Angela Lansbury, marking her triumphant West End return. Lansbury stars opposite Janie Dee and Charles Edwards. The cast also includes Jemima Rooper, Sandra Dickinson, Simon Jones and Patsy Ferran.

Review: Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre

Blithe Spirit 
Gielgud Theatre
Reviewed on Saturday 15th March 2014

Marking Angela Lansbury's return to the West End stage, many hailed Blithe Spirit a huge hit before rehearsals had even begun, but does it live up to the high expectations? YES! Noël Coward's masterpiece has been staged to perfection with Lansbury reprising her Tony Award-winning portrayal of Madame Arcati.

Big Interview: Janie Dee (Part 2)

Janie Dee is one of theatre’s biggest stars, having played countless starring roles in musicals and plays in both London’s West End and in some of the UK’s most prestigious regional theatres. 

She won the Olivier, Evening Standard and Critics Circle Awards for Best Actress in a Play, as well as the Obie and Theatre World Best Newcomer Award in New York, for her legendary performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn's 'Comic Potential' which was written especially for her.

No stranger to awards success, Janie has also won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her performance as Carrie Pipperidge in Nicholas Hytner's acclaimed production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's 'Carousel' at the National Theatre. Most recently she won a UK Theatre Award for her critically acclaimed portrayal of the title role in Hello Dolly at the Leicester Curve. Not only has the star worked closely with Harold Pinter and Alan Ayckbourn, but she has also worked extensively on screen and completed work on two films last year.

Just a few of Janie’s other theatre credits include: Noises Off, Calendar Girls, Shadowlands, Donkeys Years, The King and I, South Pacific, The Sound Of Music, Cats, Cabaret, Twelfth Night and Private Lives.

Janie is currently starring in the London premiere of Putting It Together at the St James Theatre. First produced by Cameron Mackintosh in New York, with Julie Andrews over 20 years ago, the London premiere also stars David Bedella, Daniel Crossley, Damian Humbley and Caroline Sheen. Later this year Janie will star alongside Angela Lansbury in Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre. The most anticipated play of the year is directed by Michael Blakemore.

Recently I spoke to Janie, who is one of the most inspirational people I have ever had the pleasure of interviewing, about her last minute casting in Hello Dolly, her awards success and why she’s so excited to be starring in Putting It Together at the St James Theatre…

Just over a year ago now you starred in Hello Dolly at the Leicester Curve Theatre. What was the whole experience like for you? The response was just out of this world!

Well, I’ll tell you what happened! I was leaving my parents’ house in France to come home after a holiday and just as I was getting into the car my father said “When are you doing to do Hello Dolly Janie?” I looked back and said “Daddy, oh my god” because I have done all these wonderful parts but he had never asked me “When are you going to play Anna in The King and I?” or “When are you going to do South Pacific?”

 

UPDATED: Angela Lansbury to star in Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre alongside Charles Edwards & Janie Dee

According to the Daily Mail, Angela Lansbury (pictured right) is set to return to the West End for the first time in more than 30 years, reprising the role of Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit. Lansbury previously played the role on Broadway in 2009.

The production will open at the Gielgud Theatre on 18th March 2014 (previews from 1st March) for a 15 week run and will be helmed by Michael Blakemore, who also directed the Broadway production that also starred Rupert Everett. The cast will also include: Charles Edwards as Condomine, Janie Dee as Ruth and Jemima Rooper as Elvira.

Angela Lansbury’s Broadway performance as Coward’s infamous clairvoyant earned her the 2009 Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress and became her fifth Tony Award. Her professional career spans more than a half-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a Broadway musical star and most recently as the star of Murder, She Wrote. Lansbury was last seen on the London stage playing Gertrude in the National Theatre’s production of Hamlet in 1975. Prior to that, she starred in the celebrated production of Gypsy at the Piccadilly Theatre and in the RSC production of All Over at The Aldwych. In November this year Lansbury received an honorary Oscar in recognition of her outstanding 70 years of contribution to the film industry.