You might expect preparations for a show transferring into the heart of the West End to be reaching strenuous fever pitch the week before it opens, but as rehearsals for the acclaimed production of I Loved Lucy demonstrate, there’s still plenty of time for a laugh or twelve in the build-up to the main event.
Fitting, certainly, for a show which centres on Lucille Ball’s side-splittingly funny TV show “I Love Lucy”. Based on the memoirs of Lee Tannen about his 10-year relationship with the TV comedy legend, I Loved Lucy is a personal portrait of the iconic entertainer. Tannen’s funny, bitter-sweet play reveals the real-life Lucy, and what it was like being her friend to the end.
The critically acclaimed Sandra Dickinson (recent West End credits including Singin’ In The Rain, A Streetcar Named Desire) returns as Lucy, with Broadway leading man Matthew Scott (An American In Paris and Jersey Boys on Broadway) making his London debut as Lee, and both seem to be having a… well, Ball, in rehearsals.
Critically acclaimed in its two London runs last year in 2016, the show, directed by Anthony Biggs, transfers to London’s Arts Theatre for a strictly limited 7-week season from Wednesday 19 July.