Why Alexia is ready to start jammin' with Bob: Actress starts rehearsals as reggae star's wife Rita in musical about his life
After playing four of the biggest female leads in musical theatre, Alexia Khadime was looking for a different kind of role.
And she found it when director Kwame Kwei-Armah cast her as Rita Marley — wife of reggae legend Bob — in One Love: The Bob Marley Musical.
‘It’s just so far removed from anything that I’ve done,’ Alexia told me. ‘It’s about someone’s life! I’m not playing a made- up character.’
After playing four of the biggest female leads in musical theatre, Alexia Khadime was looking for a different kind of role
I first saw her as Nala in The Lion King. Then she played Elphaba in Wicked; followed by Eponine in Les Miserables and, most recently, Nabulungi in The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre.
To prepare for Rita (rehearsals start on Monday) she has been immersing herself in books and documentaries about Marley and his life.
‘Rita could easily be seen as “the wife”, who didn’t contribute — but she did,’ Alexia said. ‘She was his rock. She had kids with him. And she was known to sing prior to meeting Bob Marley.’
The 33-year-old actress has the right heritage to portray Cuban-Jamaican Rita, because her parents and grandparents were born and raised in Jamaica (though Alexia herself was born in North-West London).
She said she’s often surprised at the good luck she has enjoyed.
Director Kwame Kwei-Armah cast her as Rita Marley (right) — wife of reggae legend Bob — in One Love: The Bob Marley Musical
‘When I was younger, being an actress never entered my mind as a career. I was at school studying psychology, maths and English literature — and then I was offered a job playing Ronnie Spector in Leader Of The Pack.’
One Love will run at Birmingham Rep from March 10. Bob Marley will be played by Amsterdam-based singer Mitchell Brunings, who portrayed the singer when the musical premiered (under a different title) at the Centre Stage Theatre in Baltimore, where Kwei-Armah is artistic director. He has subsequently rewritten the piece for its British run.
Jacade Simpson will play Peter Tosh, and Newtion Matthews will be Bunny Wailer — who, with Bob, made up The Wailers.
NHS nurses can get two free tickets each to watch the dress rehearsal of new musical The Girls, by Gary Barlow and Tim Firth, on Saturday, January 28.
They have to show their NHS ID card to pick up tickets in person at the Phoenix Theatre box office at 10am, when it opens, for the 2.30pm dress rehearsal of the musical’s first preview that night.
The show is based on the film Calendar Girls, about how members of the Rylestone and District Women’s Institute posed nude for a charity calendar.
Producer David Pugh said he wanted to do something for nurses, whom he felt are underappreciated.
Can't sing, won't sing, says Nicholas
Nicholas Lyndhurst has joined Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe in Carousel — but he won’t be singing.
I asked if he could, in fact, sing, and he replied cheerily: ‘Not at all!’ Before adding: ‘Fortunately, I don’t have to.’
Lyndhurst has taken the dual roles of the Starkeeper and minister Dr Seldon in the show about star-crossed lovers Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow.
Nicholas Lyndhurst has joined Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe in Carousel
The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic will run at the London Coliseum, complete with 70-piece orchestra, from March 10.
In fact, the actor can ‘technically’ sing — as fans of his TV show Goodnight, Sweetheart will know — but not like Boe or Jenkins. ‘The producer said: ‘We shouldn’t be offering you this part!’
Indeed, when I spoke to Michael Linnit, who’s putting on the show with Michael Grade, he laughed and said: ‘He can’t sing a note. But he’s thrilled to be in a musical. He just likes doing different things.’
Lyndhurst was bowled over when he saw Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard at the Coliseum last year. ‘The fact it was semi-staged gave you an opportunity to focus on the performance,’ he said.
But there are personal reasons for jumping onto Carousel. His grandfather, Francis Lyndhurst, was a scenic designer for what was known as the ‘Lone Panto’ — staged at the Coliseum in 1939 and so-called because it was the only panto in town that year. ‘You can imagine why they weren’t in the mood for “It’s behind you!” ’
And the Coliseum is where he first saw his wife: Lucy Smith.
Nicholas was starring in a play at Wyndham’s Theatre. Some ballet dancers saw the show at a matinee. ‘They sent us a note saying if we ever wanted tickets to see them at their matinee, to let them know. We pitched up at the Coliseum, and she was dancing in Cinderella,’ he recalled.
He watched her in the corps de ballet and knew she was the girl for him.
‘It’s come full circle for me and the Coliseum,’ he said.
Ben a billionaire against all odds
Ben Whishaw will star in American playwright Christopher Shinn’s new play, Against
Ben Whishaw will star in American playwright Christopher Shinn’s new play, Against, which Ian Rickson will direct as part of the Almeida Theatre’s new season.
Opening night is set for August 23, though tickets will go on sale in May.
Against is about an aerospace billionaire who experiences a life-changing moment, and then sets out to change the world.
It made me think of the late eccentric American entrepreneur Howard Hughes, except the play is contemporary, and Hughes died back in 1976. In any case, the name of Whishaw’s character is Luke.
The actor last appeared on the London stage at the Almeida a couple of years ago in James Macdonald’s production of Bakkhai.
Most watched News videos
- Van driver gets blocked in by another driver, and he has no idea why
- 'Cheating' boyfriend's cruel prank hilariously backfire on him
- Trump cheered as he leaves Washington DC hotel
- Documentary shows what it's like living with the Huaorani
- Michelle Obama takes one last walk through the White House
- Spanish bagpipe band plays AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' track
- Sickening video shows moment boy shoots his classmates
- She speaks! Melania Trump takes the mic at pre-inaugural luncheon
- Donald Trump greeted by cheers and handshakes at his hotel
- Surveillance video shows man fatally shot 13 times in Florida
- Inside Bruce Makowsky's $250m Bel Air mansion
- SeaWorld Orlando is currently home to a number of Orcas
- Seconds from horror, a tormented whale and the trainer he...
- Rock in Peace, Dad: All three of Rick Parfitt's wives and...
- 'An avalanche has hit. The hotel isn't there any more': Boss...
- What billionaires' dreams are made of: The most expensive...
- How did YOUR local school do? Use our interactive table to...
- ‘I’m not moving it!’: Bizarre moment a motorist refuses to...
- Former child sex slave sold into Belgian aristocratic...
- Life among the monkey hunters: The Amazon tribe that has...
- Donald rocks DC (get used to it, it's the new normal): Trump...
- Wife, 18, stabbed her husband's teenage mistress six times...
- Betrayed before she was born: Social workers knew Poppy, who...
- 'Nope' - The last word of cold-blooded killer who...