Letitia Dean wins rave reviews as Disney blockbuster hits the stage 7th July 2008
The stage version of the Disney hit High School Musical made its London debut on Saturday night to an audience of screaming fans. The show is the latest new outing for the record-breaking global phenomenon, which first appeared as a children's TV film over two years ago. The 32-strong cast includes former EastEnders star Letitia Dean, who is winning critical acclaim for her portrayal of drama teacher Ms Darbus.
The stage version is based on the original film, which has been seen by millions of viewers worldwide and became the fastest-selling TV movie on DVD. The show's nine-week run coincides with a UK-wide tour, which has already visited a number of cities including Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham.
Donning glasses and a variety of flowing outfits, Letitia plays the role originally made famous by Alyson Reed in 'High School Musical' and 'High School Musical 2' - and even debuts her vocal talents at the end of the show. Speaking about the role earlier this year, Letitia said: 'I'm so, so excited. I can't wait to get started. I adore musical theatre - I grew up loving shows like 'Calamity Jane'. But the last time I was actually in one myself was when I was 13 and in 'Annie'. So this is my chance to polish up what I learned in my youth. It's very nerve-wracking and I only hope I do the role justice. I've been working on my American accent and I'm getting there!'
A donation from the show was made to Great Ormond Street Hospital's children's charity as part of Disney's partnership with the hospital. Steve Fickinger of Disney Theatrical Productions said: "Since High School Musical is a story about young people and for young people, and has been embraced by kids worldwide, it is only fitting that our London premiere will benefit one of the world's leading children's hospitals."
Paul Nicholls was only 16 when he first found fame - as the schizophrenic Joe Wicks in EastEnders. He had everything: a £70,000-a-year salary, the adulation of millions of fans, was twice voted TV's sexiest actor, and had affairs with the soap's leading ladies, Martine McCutcheon and Daniella Westbrook. But in a classic case of life imitating art, Nicholls became as troubled and depressed as the character he was playing.
Suffering an identity crisis, he turned to drink and drugs, and after two years quit the soap because he couldn't cope. Only now, at 29, does Nicholls feel he is emerging from the wilderness.
It has been a long and tortuous escape route from the grimy streets of Walford - the fictitious setting for EastEnders - to the glossy consulting rooms of London's Harley Street, where he is playing a dashing young doctor in ITV's eponymous medical drama. In the intervening years he has pulled himself together, and now, with his good looks, green eyes and trim physique, looks in better shape than ever.
There is pressure, of course. ITV pinned its hopes on him to deliver good audience figures with his co-stars Suranne Jones, Shaun Parkes and Oliver Dimsdale, and 4.3 million tuned in for the first episode. Viewing figures have held up well enough for ITV to commission a second series, to be shown next year, and a DVD set of the current shows is being released this month.
And Nicholls has a major role in a new film, Faintheart, due for release in September. He plays a school sportsmaster who has an affair with the mother of one of his pupils because her husband (Eddie Marsan) is too absorbed in his hobby - re-enacting Viking battles - to give her any attention.
So how does Nicholls feel about the challenges he is facing this year? 'I know who I am and where I want to go,' he says. 'People said I had too much too soon when I was playing Joe Wicks, and maybe they were right. I didn't want to be a heart-throb, and I could not handle the attention.'
Initially, though, Nicholls found the fame exciting. It was flattering, too, to have girls chasing after him - he even had to have a minder to keep them at bay. 'But I soon realised it was all false. The only way I felt I could get my life back was to leave EastEnders, but by this time the rot had set in so much that I had less confidence than when I started'.
First flush of fame: Paul Nicholls as Joe Wicks, with Jacqueline Leonard as Lorraine Wicks, in EastEnders
Although he went straight into the police TV series, City Central, playing PC Terry Sydenham, he soon felt trapped again and asked for his character to be written out. 'I was well on my way to a total breakdown. I was drinking a lot and taking drugs. I had lost control of my life. The more I partied, the more I was telling myself, "Wow, this is what acting is all about" Everything spun out of control. I had an appetite for craziness.'
But his love life diverted public attention from the drink and drugs. He was often seen out with McCutcheon and Westbrook, and later he admitted to having flings with them both, as well as former Hollyoaks actress Joanna Taylor. He insisted that their dates were 'fleeting, nothing serious', but Westbrook claimed he was the father of her son, Kai, although a paternity test established that he was not.
'Although I was often out of it on drink and drugs, I was never so far gone that I didn't know at the back of my mind that something had to give. The life I was living would have destroyed me and my career. So I made myself stop.'
Despite the magnitude of his problems, Paul didn't go to rehab but somehow managed to wean himself off everything. Now he is teetotal and no longer takes drugs. 'I discovered I can't just have a couple of drinks and then stop. It's not in my make-up.'
Just when he thought he had his life back on track, he had another shock. In 2006 he had to drop out of a London stage production of the Greek myth Phaedra when it was found he had a benign growth on his vocal cords. He recalls: 'That scared me. I had to drop out of the play and have an operation, which meant I couldn't speak for a while. It had a knock-on effect for the rest of the year as I couldn't audition. But then, last year, I got an audition again and I have worked continuously since.'
On the beat: Paul Nicholls returned as PC Terry Sydenham in City Central
Today, Paul is happily embracing a new lease of life, and hoping that Harley Street will re-establish his TV acting credentials. The series is set in a private practice run by three GPs. Nicholls plays Dr Robert Fielding, who, despite the custom-made suits that his well-off patients fund through their inflated medical bills, believes he owes everything to the NHS, which trained him.
He repays the system by working night shifts in a busy hospital A&E department. His colleagues are the upper-crust Dr Martha Elliot, played by Suranne Jones, and cosmetic surgeon Dr Ekkow Obiang (Shaun Parkes). Fielding's rival for Martha's affections is the aristocratic Dr Felix Quinn, played by Oliver Dimsdale.
Drama series about medical matters have been a TV stalwart for more than 50 years. From Emergency-Ward 10 in the Fifties, Dr Finlay and Dr Kildare in the Sixties, and more recently Holby City, Casualty and U.S. imports like ER, they have attracted huge audiences. The idea for this one was born in the canteen at the Royal National Theatre. Writer Marston Bloom, then an actor, was rehearsing when one of the actresses twisted her ankle and was sent to a Harley Street specialist for treatment.
'When she came back, she was entertaining us all in the canteen about how she'd been seen by a very handsome doctor', says Bloom. 'She'd forgotten about the pain - just looking at him and having his strong hands running over her leg was the best medicine.
'It became a running joke among the cast, with other actresses pretending to be injured so that they, too, could check him out. When I tried my hand at script writing later, a story idea based on a good looking doctor leapt to the front of my mind.'
As viewers will have seen, Nicholls has some on-screen chemistry with Suranne Jones's Dr Martha; but offscreen he says there is no chance of a repeat of his EastEnders' love life. Last month he married Scots model Chantal, whom he first met in 1997 when she was going out with one of his friends. They have now been together for three years. 'My work life is great, my personal too,' he says. 'My life is on track and I won't blow it away again.'
Barry from EastEnders has found himself a new gig - and this time neither Ricky Gervais nor Stephen Merchant is in sight. Barry - AKA Shaun Williamson - is one of the stars of a new Football Association campaign to encourage players to show more respect to referees. He is joined by a host of other celebrities, although frankly none of them as famous as Barry, such as Strictly Come Dancing's Gethin Jones, and footballers including Les Ferdinand and Dave Beasant. But who's the chap in the glasses at the very end who turns down the chance to be ref? He looks strangely familiar. Good to hear his English is coming on so well. He probably shouldn't take up a career in acting, though.
Is disrespect of referees a such a huge problem that you need a celebrity campaign? I realize football is huge in the UK, but it's the same with ice hockey here and there's never been such a campaign that I know of.
There's quite a few stories in school-level football where refs have been threatened or even attacked (by parents), but I'm not sure of this particular campaign.
IMO, the EPL has a huge problem with some teams and their treatment of refs. They crowd, yell and contest every call against them. It is beginning to spread to all teams, including to some extent, my own team. I understand that refs make mistakes and that they are not perfect and maybe sometimes they make calls that should be argued, but not to the extent that they are being argued now.
It is a HUGE pet peeve of mine... the treatment of refs. In rugby, the refs are barely even questioned, much less verbally attacked or crowded. In American football, it happens sometimes, but not very often. Now, having said that, it is true that American football has some sort of replay function in place that the EPL does not, so that lends the refs a little leeway. But I really hate the way that the big name players crowd the refs demnding their own way. It is one argument for replay.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You cannot download files in this forum
I think she might want to hang a picture of you on her fridge --- keep up the good work!
