- charlotte gallagher
- culture reporter
Sheridan Smith is one of Britain's best-known actresses, but her new role may be her most challenging yet.
She stars in the musical “Opening Night,'' which tells the story of a star with mental health issues that he resolves on stage.
Smith said the part was “close to my bones” after he briefly pulled out of Funny Girl in the West End in 2016 due to personal issues.
But the 42-year-old star said she has regained her confidence after “feeling lightheaded” and “covering up with tattoos”.
Based on the 1977 film of the same name, Opening Night is about a theater company preparing to perform a show on Broadway.
The music and lyrics are by singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, and the show is directed by Olivier Award winner Ivo van Hove.
In the story, Myrtle, played by Smith, has a nervous breakdown after one of her fans dies.
The Cilla, Gavin and Stacey star told the BBC that audiences had no idea whether Myrtle would make it to her opening night as she was “clinging to life by the claws”.
Parallels with her past are drawn by Smith herself. “I've had mental health crises before, and it's been pretty publicized, so there's definitely parts of myself that I can bring to this role,” she says.
It's been eight years since Smith quit the musical Funny Girl, citing stress, exhaustion and dealing with her father's cancer diagnosis.
Although she later returned to the show, that period had a deep impact on her.
“I was unsteady and had tattoos to cover my body. I lost a lot of confidence at that time, but thankfully thanks to friends and supportive people I regained my confidence.”
Opening night will be the first time she will be able to show off her tattoos at work. Usually they are covered with heavy makeup.
Part of opening night takes place outside the theater, with Myrtle in an inebriated state collapsing outside the stage door, and the scene is shown on a screen inside the auditorium.
Word is now spreading about the scene, and Sheridan says people are “flocking” to West End theaters to watch it.
“We’d love to get people involved,” she laughs. “Because it gives everything depth and makes everything so vivid and real. That's something that would never be done in the theater.”
“The people understood that I was sad.”
Despite calling her struggles “well known,” Smith said she has always been able to rely on support from the public, especially after her father passed away in 2016.
“No matter what happened in the press, the public always supported me, so I'm very grateful,” Smith told the BBC. “They understood that when you're grieving, you can't really explain what you're going through, and people stopped me and hugged me on the street. ”
She said people from her home near Doncaster often come to London to see her shows, adding: “Whole villages came to see Legally Blonde the Musical wearing pink cowboy hats.”
One of the issues being debated at the moment is whether there is too much of an upper-class or private school background in the arts.
Smith describes herself as “proud working class” and says she is one of the lucky ones who has worked consistently since moving to London at the age of 16.
She hopes that “things are getting better now that working-class kids are getting into drama schools.”
Smith became a mother in 2020 and says her son is the reason “I'm doing everything.”
Smith has visited her at the theater and seen her backstage, but he jokes that “Opening Night'' is not a show for 3-year-olds.
Her son joined her on stage at the curtain call of another recent play, Shirley Valentine, in 2023.
“He loved it, coming out to take a bow and waving to the crowd,” Smith said.
However, the actress is probably not so keen on her son following in her footsteps.
“I thought, oh no! There's something in him, he loves everything!” she laughs.
Opening Night will run at London's Gielgud Theater until July 27th.