Stars are queuing up to play Big Daddy of a role
JOSIE ROURKE is sharing the gospel of The Rhythm Of Life in the musical Sweet Charity.
Tomorrow night is the first performance of her final production as artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden.
Anne-Marie Duff plays dance hall hostess Charity Hope Valentine; while Arthur Darvill is the man she hopes will love her.
Rourke noted that book writer Neil Simon, composer Cy Coleman and lyricist Dorothy Fields realised they needed a big number to give the second act a real kick. So they came up with The Rhythm Of Life, which sort of stands on its own within the show.
Rourke, however, came up with the idea of having a series of guest artists play funky love guru Rev Big Daddy Brubeck, who preaches at a nightclub known as the Rhythm of Life Church, and gets to sing the showstopper.
Rourke tested out the idea on Adrian Lester, whom she worked with on her film Mary Queen Of Scots. ‘I said: “If I was to ask someone like you, what would you think?” He said: “Oh my God, yes!”
‘That gave me the confidence to approach others, and have more people in the rest of the run.’ Shaq Taylor, who was in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre and Hadestown at the National, will play Big Daddy from tomorrow up to April 13. He will be followed by Lester from April 15-17.
Performance artist and singer Le Gateau Chocolat will do seven performances from April 29. Beverley Knight takes on the part from May 6, playing it eight times while Clive Rowe appears from May 13. Others will be contracted soon for the remaining Big Daddy slots.
‘It’s a very fancy karaoke, essentially,’ the director joked. I asked her about Knight playing Big Daddy and she responded that there’s a precedent for a female taking the part (it was done in Manchester several years ago).
Rourke added she saw music as a religious sect, saying: ‘I’m certainly from the church of Beverley Knight.’
She also wanted to give a nod to the Donmar’s past. In casting Lester and Rowe, she’s honouring the venue’s tradition of exploring classic musicals. Both men were in the celebrated production of Company directed by Sam Mendes — the first artistic director of the modern-day Donmar.