The BBC television production "The Last of the Blonde Bombshells" is set to join Phantom and Cats in London as a West End musical sometime in 2002.

The television production, which is also well known to Americans from its HBO presentation, starred Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ian Holm, and Olympia Dukakis, together with the late "Carry On" actress Joan Sims in her last role.

Dame Judi won a Bafta Best Actress award for her role in "Bombshells." She also received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Film earlier this year, and was nominated for an Emmy award.

"Bombshells" tells the story of a recently widowed woman struggling to live life to the fullest in her twilight years. In a move to reconstruct her life following her husband's death, she reassembles the all girl swing band she played with in England during World War II.

Alan Plater, who wrote the script for the drama, has been commissioned by the Theatre of Comedy Company (TCC) to turn it into a musical. TCC owns London's Shaftesbury Theatre, but at this point it has not been determined where the musical will be staged.

Swing music is increasingly popular amongst younger audiences and Alan Plater's screenplay features such classics as "It Don't Mean a Thing If You Ain't Got That Swing," "Taking a Chance on Love" and "When the World Was Young."

—by Theatrenow