Debbie Reynolds to Tour U.K. in One-Woman Show; West End Dates Set

By Mark Shenton
November 13, 2009

A Hollywood legend is to bring her one-woman show, Debbie Reynolds Alive and Fabulous, to the U.K, launching a 15-date regional tour at Theatre Royal, Norwich on April 7, 2010, prior to a run at the West End's Apollo Theatre, beginning performances April 28. Opening will be April 29 for a run through May 9.

In the show, Reynolds, the M-G-M legend and star of such films as "Singin' in the Rain," "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and "That's Entertainment!," celebrates over 50 years in show business, showing movie clips as she reminisces about her career, her many husbands and her life of song and dance. In a press statement, she has said, "It's a variety show. I get to do impressions of Barbra Steisand, Mae West, Katherine Hepburn – even Jimmy Stewart!" The season, produced by David King for Spirit Productions Worldwide, marks her first London theatre performances in 34 years. Her musical director is Joey Singer.

Following her opening at Norwich, she will also tour to Liverpool, Manchester, Cardiff, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Basingstoke, Leicester, Windsor, Southend, Northampton, Cambridge, Malvern and Leeds, ahead of her West End season.

Nominated for the Best Actress Oscar (for her performance in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in 1964, which she lost to Julie Andrews for "Mary Poppins") and two Golden Globes (for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for "The Debbie Reynolds Show" in 1970, and Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy" for "Mother" in 1996), she won the Emmy Aard for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance as Bobbi Adler in "Will and Grace" in 2000. In 1996 and 1997 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy in the American Comedy Awards. Her film career began at M-G-M after she won a beauty contest at age 16 impersonating Betty Hutton. Most of her film work was in M-G-M musicals, as perky, wholesome young women. In recent years she has appeared across the globe in her nightclub act, which she most recently played at New York's Café Carlyle in June 2009.

She has previously appeared on Broadway in the 1973 revival of Irene (at the Minskoff Theatre), for which was nominated for the 1973 Tony Award for best Actress in a Musical; in the eponymous revue Debbie (again at the Minskoff, in 1976), and as a take-over in Woman of the Year (at the Palace Theatre).

She is also famous as the mother of actress and writer Carrie Fisher, who is currently seen on Broadway in her own one-woman show Wishful Drinking, which references Reynolds, playing at Studio 54.

To book tickets for the West End season at the Apollo Theatre, contact the box office on 0844 412 4658, or visit www.nimaxtheatres.com. For details on the tour, visit www.debbiereynolds.co.uk