Fears grow for Sheridan Smith as outraged fans claim actress was ‘drunk’ after West End show is halted after 30 minutes
THEATRE-GOERS claimed yesterday that Sheridan Smith slurred her lines on stage before her West End musical was halted after only 30 minutes.
And there was online speculation that the Bafta-winning actress appeared to be drunk.
Bosses at London’s Savoy Theatre insisted Thursday’s cancellation of Sheridan’s show Funny Girl was due to “technical reasons”.
And a spokeswoman for the 34- year-old, whose dad is ill with cancer, said she was not drunk.
But Abigail Richter, who paid £123 for a top stalls ticket, said she watched the Cilla actress speak in a bizarre Irish accent as US character Fanny Brice — and grab the crotches of her co-stars.
She told The Sun: “It was an unbelievable disaster. Sheridan was all over the place. At one point she was standing centre stage and her leg goes from underneath her.
“She started in a Bronx accent but slipped into Irish. Then there was a dance scene where at one point she grabbed the dancers’ balls. She walked off and they literally just dropped the curtains.”
Following a 45-minute delay, the theatre’s front-of-house manager announced the show was cancelled.
Theatre-goer Emma John tweeted: “@funnygirl. Haven’t seen it before. Is Sheridan Smith’s character supposed to sound a bit drunk? Strange artistic decision if so.”
There were claims even cast members were irate at halting the show. But a spokeswoman for Sheridan insisted she was not drunk. She said: “I have spoken to my client and this is categorically not true.”
A representative for the Lincolnshire-born star referred The Sun to the theatre’s official statement.
It said: “This evening’s performance had to be cancelled for technical reasons.” Tickets can be swapped for a later date. Last night’s performance went ahead as planned. Sheridan appeared emotional during the curtain call when she received a standing ovation.
Concern over Sheridan
SHERIDAN’S unpredictable behaviour has sparked concerns before.
Last year she hit out on Twitter as she appeared to dump her soap star boyfriend Greg Wood.
She later blasted suggestions of drunk tweeting, saying she’d been sober more than three years.
Last month she seemed to claim in tweets that she was forced to perform in Funny Girl after her dad’s diagnosis.
Days later she caused fresh worry by posting a tweet mentioning suicide.