Dateline 12th December, 1999
Lewis bio-musical to close early
The musical biography of rock singer Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire, is to close on 18th December. Playing at the Cambridge, it had been booking until 26th February.
Anna Weiss closing
Mike Cullen's Anna Weiss, one of the hits of the 1998 Edinburgh Fringe, is also to close on 18th December after just four weeks. It was booking until 22nd January but generally poor reviews have forced its closure. Also closing on the same day is Antigone at the Old Vic.
Gormenghast for the small screen
Centrepeice of BBC2's winter season is a major dramatisation of Mervyn Peake's
TV honour for June Whitfield
Actress June Whitfield, best known for her appearances in Terry and June, the Carry On films and, latterly, Absolutely Fabulous, has been inducted into the Royal Television Society's Hall of Fame at a ceremony and dinner at the BAFTA headquarters in Piccadilly.
Peggy for the West End
Alan Plater's play Peggy for You, about literary agent Peggy Ramsay who died in 1991, will transfer to the West End after it finishes its run at the Hampstead Theatre on London's Fringe on 15th January. It will re-open at the Comedy on 27th January. The play stars Maureen Lipman as Ramsay.
Side Man to open in the West End
Warren Leight's Off-Broadway success Side Man, about a man whose obsession with jazz destroys his marriage and his wife's sanity, will open at the Apollo on 17th February, with several of the original cast.
Dusty: The Musical
23rd February will see the premiere of a new musical about the life of singer Dusty Springfield at the Churchill, Bromley. It will then go on a national tour before arriving in the West End in the summer. The lead will be played by eighties pop star Mari Wilson.