There’s going to be a lorra lorra laughs & maybe a few tears along the way when popular actress Sheridan Smith once again plays Cilla Black, a role which brought her much acclaim in Jeff Pope’s BAFTA award-winning ITV series. This time, though, audiences will have the chance to see her in Bill Kenwright’s touring stage production of Cilla The Musical, also written by Pope, and opening on 23 September for a four-week season.
Cilla The Musical will follow the Liverpool Empire run with visits to Aylesbury, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Leeds. Smith wowed fans and critics alike with her portrayal of the nation’s favourite singer and TV personality in Pope’s BAFTA award-winning ITV series. Her acclaimed portrayal of the British icon won the actress both a 2015 National TV Award and a 2015 TV Choice Award, and went on to see her nominated for a BAFTA (2015) and a second international EMMY Award (2015).
The musical is a heart-warming musical adaptation of the TV series. The 2017 debut tour was met with five-star reviews and standing ovations up and down the UK.
The story follows the extraordinary life of an ordinary teenage girl from Liverpool, Priscilla White, and her rocky, yet incredible, rise to fame. By the age of just 25 she was recognised as international singing star Cilla Black. By 30 she had become Britain’s favourite television entertainer headlining series of Blind Date, Surprise Surprise and many more. The musical score features the ultimate soundtrack to the 1960s including Black’s greatest hits ‘Anyone Who Had a Heart’, ‘Alfie’ and ‘Something Tells Me’, alongside a backdrop of the legendary “Liverpool Sound”.
Sheridan Smith is widely considered Britain’s favourite actress. After starting a career in such sitcoms as The Royle Family, Two Pints of Lager, Gavin & Stacey and Benidorm, she starred in Jonathan Creek (2013) and went on to receive acclaim for a succession of television dramas such as Mrs Biggs (2012), Cilla (2014), The C Word (2015), Black Work (2015) and The Moorside (2017).
Theatre credits include her first Olivier Award nomination for Little Shop of Horrors at the Menier Chocolate Factory and her first Olivier Award for her role as Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. Following this, she won an Olivier Award and an Evening Standard Theatre Award for her role of Doris in Flare Path. She also enjoyed a hugely celebrated run in the West End as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.
