American comedy icon Joan Rivers will celebrate her 75th birthday by making her London acting debut in a self-penned autobiographical play in September.
Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress opens at the Leicester Square theatre, which was formerly known as The Venue, on 2 September (previewing from 29 August). The short season will run until 18 September before returning for a festive stint between 2 December and 29 January, after which it will transfer to Broadway.
Rivers, who turns 75 on 8 June, is one of the American entertainment industry’s most recognisable personalities. Best known as an acerbic comedienne, the multi-talented Rivers is also a Tony Award-nominated actress (for her co-authored work Sally Marr And Her Escorts), an Emmy Award-winning chat show host, best-selling author, playwright, screenwriter, jewellery designer and cosmetic company entrepreneur.
Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress is set backstage at the Oscars, where Rivers is considered an institution, giving commentary on the fashion hits and misses as they parade down the catwalk. But all is not well… Rivers’s dressing room is B not A; her complimentary cheese is puny, not plentiful; and her producer is the bigwig's nephew, not the bigwig! The tension and drama provides a catalyst for an introspective look back over her five decades in showbusiness, being a woman in Hollywood and growing older.
The production is directed by Sean Foley, co-founder of The Right Size, which had incredible success with its first West End production, The Play What I Wrote.
MA