Marilyn - Apollo Theatre
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
THE PETER Schaufuss Company is presenting Marilyn, a dance musical that celebrates the life of screen legend Marilyn Monroe, at the Apollo Theatre where it runs for a strictly limited season – from Wednesday, June 3 to Saturday, June 13, 2009.
From a childhood that lacked love – as an infant, her schizophrenic mother tried to strangle her; as an abused 16 year-old, she married to avoid being sent to an orphanage – Norma Jeane went on to become one of Hollywood’s most beautiful icons – Marilyn Monroe.
Although her career as an actress spanned just 16 years, she made a total of 29 films – 24 of them during the first 8 years. They include classics such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch and Some Like It Hot.
However, typecasting as a “dumb blonde” limited her career prospects and eventually it was her private life, including marriages to baseball player Joe DiMaggio and playwright Arthur Miller, that made headlines. Her final years were marked by illness, personal problems, and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death from an overdose of barbiturates are still the subject of conjecture and wild conspiracy theories.
In 1999, Marilyn Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute. More recently, Empire film magazine crowned her the ‘Sexiest Female Movie Star of all Time’, Playboy hailed her the ‘Number One Sex Star of the 20th Century’, and People magazine voted her the ‘Sexiest Woman of the Century’.
Marilyn features original music from Monroe’s films and performances as diverse as Happy Birthday, Mr President and My Heart Belongs to Daddy, as well as a company of 15 dancers choreographed and directed by Olivier and Evening Standard Award-winning Peter Schaufuss.
Marilyn is played by British ballerina Zara Deakin, who trained at The Royal Ballet School and for whom Sir Frederick Ashton created the ballet Nursery Suite in honour of Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday. Her previous West End credits include Divas, in which she created the role of Marlene Dietrich and the acclaimed production of Diana – The Princess, in which she portrayed Diana.
Schaufuss, a former director of the London Festival Ballet (now the English National Ballet), set up his own company, the Peter Schaufuss Ballet, in Denmark in 1997. His work includes the controversial dance piece based on the life of the Princess of Wales, Diana – the Princess; Divas, a tribute to Edith Piaf, Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland; and Satisfaction, which uses the Rolling Stones greatest hits as a backdrop.
Tickets: £12 to £41 (includes £1 restoration fee). Buy tickets
Times: Monday to Saturday at 8pm, Saturday matinee at 3pm.
Three Days of Rain continues at the Apollo Theatre until May 9, 2009.
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