Top Five Celebrities Who Should Come To The West End
Published on Thursday 20th August, 9.14am, Written by Kelly Pentland
There is always a lot of talk and hype over the big celebrity names chosen to appear in the West End.
I’m sure that most of you are aware that Mrs Cosby herself, Phylicia Rashad, is billed to appear in upcoming Broadway transfer, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and we’ve already had long disputes about X Factor’s Diana Vickers’ upcoming role in Little Voice.
These choices anger or excite the theatre critic within us all. Professional reviews become almost redundant when there’s a big name involved, people flock to the theatre regardless of star ratings.
Be they A-listers or Z-listers, celebrity names draw a lot of attention, lots of it. That’s why I’m proposing a list of celebrities that I would personally love to see grace the West End stage.
1) Britney Spears — Grease the musical
Ok, before you gasp in shock and horror at my choosing Britney Spears to be my number one I will start by pointing out that Britney Spears is a legitimate actress. Her cameos in US comedies like How I Met Your Mother and Will and Grace over the last few years were painless and dare I say, entertaining. Good old Britters even had a part in an off-Broadway production called Ruthless in 1992 and let’s not forget Crossroads (my favourite film).
Ok ok. I will admit that Britney isn’t the strongest singer in the world but I still think she would do great justice to the role of Sandy in Grease the musical. Blonde princess turns bad girl has Britney all over it. And if her long career is proof of anything is that Britney can do anything.
2) Natalie Portman — Oliver!
Natalie Portman is probably not a very surprising choice; in fact, she has gained a reputation as a serious actress and has played a huge variety of roles ranging from Alice in Closer to Queen/Senator Amidala in Star Wars.
While it should not be disputed that she would be marvellous in any number of serious plays, I believe that she would shine as Nancy in Oliver. The only question really is: can she sing?
I think this can be answered not just by the expanse of her training but by the fact that she too had a role in the 1992 off-Broadway production, Ruthless, with Britney Spears.
3) Donald Faison — Dirty Dancing London
For those of you who know Donald Faison as the loveable surgeon ‘Chris Duncan “Turkleton” Turk’ on hit US comedy Scrubs you already know that he is the real deal as far as acting goes. Donald has enjoyed a long and varied career from his days in Clueless (both the movie and television series) to his present day role on Scrubs. Some of you would no doubt love to see him replace Richard Blackwood to join the all black cast of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I say leave RB alone and bring Faison to Dirty Dancing (theatre breaks available with Show and Stay).
Faison would make a marvellous Johnny Castle with his slick dance moves and smooth voice. Those of you that watch Scrubs know that this man can sing and dance like nobody’s business.
4) Amy Winehouse — The Sound of Music
I must admit that there is a little sadistic comedy behind this. I’d give up a month’s salary, maybe even two, to see Amy Winehouse play the role of Maria in The Sound of Music. I mean there’s something hilarious about the thought (acting aside) of Amy Winehouse portraying the role of a nun who takes care of children.
The song How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria does fit Winehouse’s personality perfectly, after all she is proving to be quite the problem over the last few years.
Sure she can sing, but has she got the dedication and can she act? Sadly I think this is the least likely to occur but I’d still love to see it happen. If anyone sees Amy staggering around the West End, try and steer her towards a theatre and see what happens.
5)Lindsay Lohan — Breakfast at Tiffany’s
I’m sure we all remember a time when Lindsay Lohan was hot, even better, super-hot, I’m sure we all remember a time when she was a talented actress, destined for greatness (when she was in Mean Girls). Well I’m willing to bet that Lindsay’s talent is still in there- somewhere. And I’ve figured out how to tap into it, all we have to do is get her to play a role she knows so well: a tired party girl who just needs that one last chance.
I say let’s get Lindsay to play Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s so that she can return to greatness. All the poor girl needs is a few Cornish Pasties and a decent role to get her teeth into.
A few people deserve honorary mentions as we’ve already seen them sing, dance and act all over our screens and I’m sure they would do the stage justice in addition to bringing positive hype: Zach Efron, Miley Cyrus and Beyonce.
Paris Hilton nearly made the list until I realised that such a suggestion would probably result in my immediate firing.
Have you got any suggestions on celebrities you would like to see grace the West End stage?
I’ll agree to disagree with you over Britney, but I definitly agree that Natalie Portman needs to do something over here. She is an insanely talented actress..for some reason I think she can sing though I don’t recall ever hearing her. We know she can rap at least ;) Not sure I can really see her as Nancy though.
Donald Faison would make a dynamite Seaweed in Hairspray, with his dancing skills and whatnot. A tad too old, but let’s just ignore that part.
I’d love Zooey or Emily Deschanel to come to the West End and do something. Zooey would be stronger vocally while Emily would take the lead with acting, but I think they could both pull off a West End debut very well. Perhaps it’s time for a Side Show revival?
Paris Hilton has no talent!
I would do a week as Jean Valjean in Les Mis, complete with fake beard and Colm-style vibrato, in exchange for seeing Amy Winehouse as Maria. It would be musical theatre gold (as would my rendition of Bring Him Home, no doubt).