Bonnie’s leaving the East End for 42nd Street
BONNIE Langford knows the songs from the show 42nd Street pretty well, having played the ingénue Peggy Sawyer on tour. And now the super trouper will take on the ‘grown up’ role of Dorothy Brock.
Langford will take a leave of absence from playing Carmel Kazemi on EastEnders to appear as Dorothy, the star of the show-within-the-show that is 42nd Street, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from September 3.
‘I think I know the numbers,’ the actress said, drily. In fact, I see Langford at most of the big first nights and I bet she knows the scores of most of the shows around town. 42nd Street producer Michael Linnit marvelled: ‘She knows every move — and every line!’
She knows her way around most of London’s stages, too; although she last played the Drury Lane in 1972. ‘I was seven years old. I was playing the role of Bonnie in a musical of Gone With The Wind,’ she recalled, adding that she can still remember standing in the wings, waiting to go on.
Since then, she has had one of the most amazing careers in showbusiness. She worked with Broadway giants Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents and Angela Lansbury on a Seventies revival of Gypsy that transferred from London to Broadway. And she’s proud to have been in the original company of Cats at the old New London — recently renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre after the legendary choreographer who gave that show and The Phantom Of The Opera their moves.
The actress is clearly thrilled about becoming a mainstay on EastEnders but is looking forward to being on the boards again. ‘The thing about Dorothy Brock is that she’s a bit of a diva — which I’m not,’ she said with a sigh. ‘But I will find the Dorothy diva in me.’
42nd Street will run at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane through January 5, when it will prepare to tour around the UK, Australia and possibly Broadway.