'I FELT THAT I'D LET THEM DOWN': SHERIDAN SMITH SPEAKS OUT AFTER HER MUSICAL COMEBACK FLOPPED
Her comeback musical flopped after theatre-goers branded it boring, with many walking out at the interval.
Now Sheridan Smith has revealed her upset about the stage show Opening Night ending two months early. ‘I was just heartbroken for the company,’ said the actress, 42. ‘I felt that I’d let them down in a way, that I couldn’t sell it.’
Despite the disappointment, however, she has no regrets and won’t be put off new projects.
‘I feel bad for the team and all the work they put in but I’m at that age now where I want to be challenged,’ added Ms Smith. ‘I want to do new things, I don’t want to do the same old boring stuff. I would do it again in a heartbeat so I have no regrets.’
Opening Night tells the story of a functioning alcoholic actress Myrtle Gordon, played by Ms Smith, who gets a second chance and is based on the 1977 film of the same name starring Gena Rowlands.
But the play has been plagued with difficulties, such as poor reviews, and will now end its run at the Gielgud Theatre, London, on May 18 instead of July 27.
Producers blamed a ‘challenging financial landscape’. Announcing the news in April, they said the play ‘may not have had the life we had hoped for’.
Ms Smith, whose many roles include starring in TV drama Cilla, admitted the part had forced her to confront her own demons after suffering a highly publicised breakdown while performing in Funny Girl in London’s West End in 2016.
‘I was very ashamed of that time of my life, and I wanted to do this part to prove that I could do it, that I could face my demons head on,’ she told The Sunday Times Style magazine.
‘I’m so much stronger than I was back then. I went off the rails a bit, dated all the wrong people, obviously my breakdown. Now I feel like I’m a mum, I’m very grateful for everything I’ve got in my life. I feel like the best is yet to come.’
Ms Smith has a three-year-old son, Billie, with former boyfriend Jamie Horn. They split up in 2021 after three years together.
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