The Stage

Henshall and Andrews to join The Woman in White

Published Tuesday 12 April 2005 at 16:45 by Jeremy Austin

Ruthie Henshall and Anthony Andrews are to take on the roles of Marian and Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White at the Palace Theatre.

The pair will succeed Michael Ball and Maria Friedman who are leaving at the end of their contracts. Andrews, best known for his starring role in television series Brideshead Revisited, takes over on May 2 while Henshall, who originated the role of Roxie Hart in the West End production of Chicago, joins the cast on July 11. Michael Crawford originally played the part of Fosco but had to pull out due to ill health.

• Meanwhile, Hollywood star Richard Gere is producing The Mystical Arts of Tibet at Riverside Studios on June 24. The show, co-produced with the Drepung Loseling Monastery, has been endorsed by Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama. Subtitled Sacred Music Sacred Dance and directed by Geshe Lobsang, it includes a performance featuring meditative music to “encourage spiritual healing”.

• Richard Eyre’s production of Hedda Gabler, starring Eve Best and Iain Glen, transfers from the Almeida to the Duke of York’s Theatre in the West End on May 23 for a limited 12-week run. Benedict Cumberbatch, Lisa Dillon, Sarah Flind, Gillian Raine, and Jamie Sives also appear. Robert Fox presents the production in the West End.