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Iron Lady will take to the stage in Curve's revival of Hot Stuff

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The Iron Lady will take to the stage in Curve's revival of Hot Stuff later next week – despite the death of Margaret Thatcher.

Theatre bosses are sticking to a script which features the former Prime Minister, played by a character called Lucy Fur.

In the jukebox musical, which returns to Curve from April 20 for its 21st anniversary production, actor Ceri Dupree plays the devilish Lucy Fur in a variety of guises, including a sequence as the Tory leader singing the Flying Lizards' top five hit, Money.

Paul Kerryson, Hot Stuff's director and co-deviser, said: "The Iron Lady has always appeared in Hot Stuff and is one of the best moments of the show.

"There's nothing derogatory. It's a 1970s show and Mrs Thatcher came to power at the end of the 1970s. That moment is recognised in Hot Stuff."

Mr Kerryson said he had not considered dropping the scene.

"Mrs Thatcher always used to say 'the show must go on' and in our world of theatre, I'm absolutely in agreement," he said.

Actor Ceri said: "Mrs Thatcher was the first woman I impersonated when I was at school in Swansea, at the age of 14, and I have enjoyed playing her ever since, especially in Hot Stuff.

"Love her or hate her, she was undoubtedly the most famous woman of her time and has left a lasting legacy.

"I'm looking forward to reviving her in this year's Hot Stuff. I'm sure her arrival on stage will have a big response, as it always has!"

The decision comes after another show referencing the former Prime Minister went ahead unchanged.

Just hours after the announcement of her death, the producers of Billy Elliot: The Musical asked West End audience members to vote on whether a song calling for her death should be performed or left out, as a mark of respect.

The musical, which is set in County Durham during the miners' strike of the 1980s, features a song called Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher, which includes the line, "We'll all celebrate today because it's one day closer to your death".

Director Stephen Daldry told the BBC: "After an explanation of the song's content and historical context from the stage, the audience voted overwhelmingly for its inclusion in the second act."

Billy Elliot is not the only West End show to be affected by the death of Lady Thatcher.

According to The Guardian, Peter Morgan's play, The Audience, which features a scene in which Margaret Thatcher meets the Queen, went ahead unchanged.

However, the playwright introduced the show before the performance at London's Gielgud theatre.

He told the audience on Monday: "Today, one of the great figures of post-war British political life and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the 20th century, and therefore the participant of the greatest number of audiences with the Queen, died. I just wanted to mark that occasion with all of you."

Iron Lady will take to the stage in Curve's revival of Hot Stuff


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