
Smash '00s romcom ‘50 First Dates' is being turned into a major new London musical
It's coming to The Other Palace in Victoria, which is very much off-West End rather than West End, but that looks like something of a treat for us: the musical comes with a powerhouse US creative team at its helm, most notably director-choreographer Casey Nicholaw, whose UK hits include Mean Girls and a little show called The Book of Mormon, strongly suggesting this run is a de facto Broadway tryout. The songs and book are by David Rossmer and Steve Rosen, whose work hasn't been seen over here, but they have strong comedy pedigree – the show is shaping up to be more com than rom.
Exactly how close to the spirit of the original film it'll be remains to be see: 2004 was a long time ago, and there are aspects of the movie that have potentially dated, notably the running gag about Henry's ambiguously gendered assistant Alexa. Plus his crew includes a penguin and a walrus, although these all seem like fun challenges rather than insurmountable obstacles.
It's a Brit cast, with Josh St. Clair (who starred in the recent UK tour of Ghost) as Henry and in the role originally played by Drew Barrymore Mean Girls alumnus Georgina Castle will star as amnesiac art teacher Lucy. Tickets are on sale now.

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Times
2 hours ago
- Times
The Times Luxury Cartoon: July 28, 2025
Enrico Pinto is a cartoonist and architect from the south of Italy. He lives in Paris and he is working on his second graphic novel. His work has been published in The New Yorker, Internazionale and Le Fooding.


Daily Mail
8 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Adam Sandler honors late costar Cameron Boyce in Happy Gilmore 2... six years after his tragic death at age 20
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Scottish Sun
11 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Dark side of 90s pop from crack addiction to boozy brawls and sex for money revealed
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In fact, his habit was so bad it nearly killed him and even saw him sectioned back in 2019. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Jon revealed that he got into crystal meth - a highly addictive 'party' drug that can cause psychosis, hallucination, paranoia and mania - when he was in his thirties - long after S Club had gone their separate ways. I was a Noughties popstar who couldn't go 20mins without a drink - now I'm sober with a new career He revealed: "I didn't even recognise myself at that time. Sometimes, in the midst of one of the psychotic episodes where I'd be smashing my flat up with a hammer, I'd catch sight of myself in the mirror and say: 'What the f***?'. Advertisement "I'd have a moment of lucidity, thinking: 'I was a successful young man, I had a brilliant career, incredible life. What am I doing?' "I'd be standing there, holes in the walls around me, cuts all over my knuckles, my eye swollen from where I'd been punching myself in the head. I'd shaved my hair too. 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I would never have taken drugs without alcohol. But yeah, I was like a loose cannon for some of those times, got myself into some situations.' AJ McLean - Backstreet Boys 8 AJ McLean battled addiction for 20 years before finally finding a way to stay sober Credit: The Mega Agency The Backstreet Boys became one of the biggest boybands worldwide in the 90s thanks to hit songs including I Want it That Way and Everybody (Backstreet's Back). The five piece - consisting of AJ, Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson and Howie Dorough - have sold over 130 million records worldwide. Advertisement But despite their huge success, AJ, 47, hid a dark secret from fans and his bandmates. AJ battled a drug and alcohol addiction for two decades, and revealed that when he was at rock bottom, he was "never sober, not for a second". But his bandmates staged an intervention and he went to rehab, but it wouldn't be the only time. 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He told The Sun: "The problem was, the best way to secure us was to lock us in our rooms, and what is in the room? A mini-bar. "So I had a party-for-one that seemed to carry on for years. It was wild but the only way you could get frustration out." Due to the constant pressures from their record company, Jimmy descended into alcoholism, infamously appearing drunk on SM:TV Live - the Saturday morning kids' show hosted by Ant and Dec and Cat Deeley. Advertisement After the band split in 2000, Jimmy sought solace in drink, downing 10-12 bottles of wine every day with his then-girlfriend. "I felt it was easy just to drink all day, and then when the drink didn't numb it anymore, I turned to the drugs.' Thankfully, Jimmy has overcome his demons and is now a paramedic. Ritchie Neville - 5ive 8 5ive's Ritchie Neville was arrested in Dublin after a fight and when the band split, he started to drink too much Credit: BBC Advertisement Known as the bad boys of pop, 5ive were signed by Simon Cowell in 1997. They had a meteoric rise to face and topped the charts with hits including If Ya Gettin' Down, Keep on Movin' and Everybody Get Up. But as with other boybands, the pressure of their hectic schedule, being swarmed by fans and press and still being so young was a melting pot of disaster waiting to happen. In 2000, Ritchie, 45, and bandmate J Brown, 49, were arrested in Dublin after getting into a fight with a man who had said Irish boyband Westlife were better than 5ive. Advertisement When the band imploded in the early Noughties, Ritchie spiralled. He told The Sun's TV Mag: "After the band, you know, I hit an epic low. "I just didn't know what I wanted to do. I was completely emotionally and spiritually lost. "So I did drink way more than I should for a few years there. I drank to forget." Advertisement