Cilla Black collected L S Lowry artworks during her life, and now the musical inspired by her life and career comes to the stage of the arts centre that bears his name.
Running at The Lowry in Salford from August 28 to September 1, Cilla The Musical follows the life of the ordinary teenage girl from Liverpool and rise to fame.
By the age of just 25, she was an international star and by 30 had become Britain’s favourite television entertainer, fronting TV hits including Blind Date and Surprise Surprise.
It was success that allowed her to amass a £700,000 L S Lowry collection including the works Family Group, The Black Church and The Spire—which were sold by her family at Sotheby’s after her death in 2015.
Claire Stewart, curator of The Lowry collection, said, “Lowry painted a lot of scenes from Liverpool and so the settings would have been very familiar to her. The three paintings that she owned were classic examples.”
Cilla The Musical is the stage adaptation of the television series Cilla by BAFTA award-winner Jeff Pope.
Continuing with her portrayal is Kara Lily Hayworth as Cilla, who beat thousands of hopefuls in nationwide open auditions for the role.