News this week that Dame Edna's "manager" Barry Humphries is returning to his UK roots this spring.
No, you little minx, I don't mean that Edna is lending him to the Queen to be a gardener at Buckingham Palace. I refer instead to his theatrical roots. Call me old fashioned, but I do!
Humphries first broke into the UK entertainment scene with a role in the original London cast of Oliver! in 1960. And now the BBC have just announced that Humphries will be a judge on the upcoming talent search program "I'd Do Anything" (...well from what Dame Edna has to say, Barry Humphries is a desperate sort...and she means that nicely!). He'll join fellow West End judges in search of the new stars to play the roles of Nancy and Oliver.
The BBC press release tells us:
His first break on the British stage was as creator of the role of undertaker Mr Sowerberry in the original 1960 London stage production. He recorded Sowerberry's feature number That's Your Funeral for the original London cast soundtrack album, and went on to reprise the role on Broadway in 1963.
In 1967 he starred as Fagin in the Piccadilly Theatre's revival, and subsequently reprised the role in Cameron Mackintosh's award-winning staging at the London Palladium.
The program is due to start next month on BBC One. Barry Humphries back in the UK! Don't miss it, Possums!
