Australian comedian Barry Humphries will transfer his farewell tour Eat Pray Laugh! to the West End later this year, when many of his well-known alter egos, including Dame Edna Everage, will play a limited season at the London Palladium.
Playing from 13 November (press night 15 November) to 8 January, Eat Pray Laugh! will also feature performances from grandfatherly figure Sandy Stone and inebriated cultural attaché Sir Les Patterson, before Dame Edna takes to the stage to meditate on issues of loss, gender, climate change, gay marriage and ethnicity.
Talking about her return to the West End, the bespectacled character, who won a Tony Award for her Broadway show The Royal Tour, said: “I’ve been away from home too long possums, and my true home is the London Palladium. Book now for the housewarming party of the century!”
The show will be directed by Australian director Simon Phillips, whose credits include Priscilla Queen Of The Desert The Musical at the Palace theatre, with designs by Tony Award winner Brian Thompson, who has previously worked on London productions of Jesus Christ Superstar and The Rocky Horror Show.
Eat Pray Laugh! will tour to Milton Keynes, Cardiff and Edinburgh before opening at the London Palladium, where it will bridge the gap between the Olivier Award nominated production of A Chorus Line, which is set to close on 31 August, and the world premiere of Harry Hill-penned production I Can’t Sing – The X Factor Musical, which opens at the venue next year.