If you find yourself walking down Shaftesbury Avenue in the next few months, be warned, there’s every chance you may begin to wonder whether Harry Styles has tweeted he is heading to a show. But it’s something far more exciting than that, we can assure you. Angela Lansbury is back in town.
Following almost 40 years away from the London stage, the Murder She Wrote star and theatrical legend is back to reprise her role as the eccentric Madame Arcati in director Michael Blakemore’s new sumptuously staged production of Blithe Spirit. Judging from yesterday’s Twitter-hijacking photo of the Gielgud Theatre’s stage door, where fans as far as the eye could see surrounded Lansbury in an excited frenzy, or today’s Guardian quiz dedicated to her screen alter-ego Jessica Fletcher to celebrate her arrival, London has Lansbury fever.
That’s why we are so thrilled to be able to offer you a first look at production images from the revival of Noël Coward’s popular comedy. From Jemima Rooper’s bombshell blonde makeover to Janie Dee’s elegantly suspicious pose and, most importantly, Lansbury’s Princess Leia meets Babushka getup, Blakemore’s vision looks tantalisingly elegant and eccentric in equal measures.
If after looking through the images above you, like us, come down with the fast-spreading Lansbury Fever, fear not.