Actress Patricia Hodge joins the cast of hit comedy Boeing-Boeing from 30 April until 23 June. Hodge replaces Frances De La Tour in the role of long-suffering housekeeper Bertha. Of the original cast, Roger Allam, Mark Rylance, Daisy Beaumont and Michelle Gomez are all expected to stay with the production until 23 June.
Hodge has worked a great deal at the National Theatre, where she has appeared in productions including His Dark Materials, Noises Off, Summerfolk and Money, for which she won a Laurence Olivier Award. Elsewhere in London her credits include Heartbreak House, The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie, Noel And Gertie and Separate Lives. On screen her many characters have included Phyllida Erskine-Brown in Rumpole Of The Bailey, Margaret Thatcher in The Falklands Play and Mary Fisher in The Lives And Loves Of A She-Devil.
Boeing-Boeing follows successful architect Bernard, who somehow manages to juggle his three air hostess fiancées so that they never meet. When Boeing introduce a new super-fast plane, flights are delayed and schedules change, Bernard’s juggling act gets far more difficult just as old school friend Robert arrives.
When Boeing-Boeing first opened in the West End in the 1960s it broke the record for the longest-running comedy. It subsequently transferred to Broadway and was made into a film starring Tony Curtis, Jerry Lewis and Thelma Ritter. The current production, playing at the Comedy, opened in February and is currently booking until 20 October.
MA