Sheridan Smith, a well-known British actress, is taking on her most challenging role yet in the musical Opening Night. The play follows a star with mental health issues who is slowly losing control on stage. The part is close to home for Smith, who temporarily pulled out of Funny Girl in the West End in 2016 due to her own personal struggles. However, Smith says that after a wobble and covering herself in tattoos, she has regained her confidence.
Opening Night is based on the 1977 film of the same name and centres around a theatre company preparing to stage 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. Myrtle, played by Sheridan Smith, is in the midst of a breakdown following the death of one of her fans. The Cilla and Gavin and Stacey star says her character is “clinging to life by her fingernails”, and the audience doesn’t know whether she will make it to opening night.
Smith can draw on her own experiences to help her portray the character effectively. She publicly struggled with stress and exhaustion in 2016 and underwent a difficult period in her life. Smith speaks candidly about her mental crisis and how it impacted her life, stating that “there are definitely parts of myself that I can bring to the character” of Myrtle.
Despite her personal struggles being widely publicized, Sheridan has always been able to count on support from the public, particularly after her father’s death in 2016. The actress says she has seen a groundswell of home-town support for her shows, citing that a whole village showed up to the Legally Blonde musical wearing pink cowboy hats. Smith, who considers herself proudly working class, hopes that things are getting better for less fortunate children to get into drama school.
Sheridan Smith has recently become a mother, and her son may already have the acting bug. Smith jokes that Opening Night is not suitable for a three-year-old, but her son did join her on stage in 2023 in the curtain call for Shirley Valentine. Despite her son’s interest in the arts, the actress isn’t sure she wants him to follow in her footsteps
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