Ruthie Henshall to Star in Blithe Spirit

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: Arthur Leone PR

Final cast details have been announced for Blithe Spirit, Noel Coward’s timeless comedy, directed by Thea Sharrock (After the Dance, The Misanthrope, Equus), which opens at the Apollo Theatre March 2nd 2011 after previewing at Theatre Royal Bath. Award winning actress, Broadway and West End star, Ruthie Henshall is to play the part of Elvira, joining cast members Alison Steadman, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst.

Multi-award winning actress Ruthie Henshall is famous for her iconic roles in musical theatre. A four-time Olivier award nominee, she won the award for Best Actress in a Musical for She Loves Me in 1995. She was also the original Roxie Hart in the West End transfer of the Broadway hit musical Chicago, a part she returned to this year. Other major roles include Peggy Sue in Sue Got Married; Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s 1996 revival of Oliver!, directed by Sam Mendes; and the lead role in Marguerite in 2008. Other theatre credits include The Other Woman on Broadway and The Vagina Monologues in London.

Ruthie is a successful singer, whose albums include ‘The Ruthie Henshall Album’, and has performed at both the Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall. She has appeared in numerous American TV shows: the hit TV comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm,‘Mysteries of 71st Street and Law and Order.

Blithe Spirit opened in 1941 when it played for over 2,000 performances. It has been one of the world’s favourite comedies ever since. Novelist Charles Condomine (Robert Bathurst) and his second wife Ruth (Hermione Norris) are literally haunted by a past relationship when an eccentric medium manages to conjure up the ghost of Charles’s neurotic first wife, Elvira, at a séance.

They have assumed the preposterous Madame Arcati (Alison Steadman) is a fraud who will simply entertain their dinner guests with a little chicanery and supply Charles with material for his forthcoming novel. But when Elvira appears, visible only to Charles, and is determined to sabotage his current marriage, life – and the afterlife – begins to get complicated.

Blithe Spirit

Tour dates:
Tue 16th – Sat 21st Nov Brighton Theatre Royal
Mon 22nd – Sat 27th Nov Cambridge Arts Theatre
Mon 14th – Sat 19th Feb Milton Keynes Theatre
Mon 21st – Sat 26th Feb Richmond Theatre