Sheridan Smith is to star in a musical by Rufus Wainwright based on John Cassavetes’ 1977 film Opening Night, about an actor struggling with her new stage role. Directed by Ivo van Hove, whose book accompanies Wainwright’s music and lyrics, the show will open at the Gielgud theatre in London in March.
Widely regarded as one of the best films about theatrical life, Opening Night starred Gena Rowlands as Myrtle, who is haunted by the death of a teenage fan and bullied by her director during the out-of-town tryouts for a play heading to Broadway. Cassavetes, Rowlands’s husband, played Myrtle’s co-star and former lover. Wainwright said the film “has long been a shining beacon representing both excellence in cinema and the might of live theatre. An intense marriage of film and stage, it is about a very personal mental and creative survival that I think we can all relate to on a very deep human level.” He added: “I’ve been waiting for ages to write my first musical … I don’t think I could have aimed any higher.”
