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‘The Morning Show’ Star Billy Crudup to Make West End Theatre Debut, Reprising Role as ‘Harry Clarke’

Billy Crudup, known for his roles in "Almost Famous" and "The Morning Show," will reprise his multi award-winning portrayal of "Harry Clarke" in David Cale's one-man show of the same name and make his West End theatre debut at the Ambassadors Theatre in March until May, Playbill reports.

Leigh Silverman will once again don the director's cap following a multi-record breaking limited engagement run of the solo show in the Berkeley Repertory's Roda Theatre last year, from November to December. 

(Photo : Thousandrobots via Wikimedia Commons)
A photo of Billy Crudup in a table read at a New York event, taken in January 2011. Crudup gears up for a West End transfer of his multi-award-winning portrayal in the one-man show "Harry Clarke."

Billy Crudup in David Cale's 'Harry Clarke'

Crudup first played the titular character, alongside 18 other characters, in an initial off-Broadway production of the one-man play in New York's The Vineyard Theatre back in November 2017.

The story revolves around a reserved Midwestern man who ends up beguiling an affluent New York family and conning them to believing he is an English representative of the singer "Sade." Eventually, his increasingly risky and "sketchy" behavior catches up to him. 

In a past statement to The Mercury News when he reprised the role in Berkeley Rep last 2023, the actor said: "It's part charm show, it's part thrill ride, and then it's a claustrophobic attack in the style of film noir. And you just don't see that very much in the theater."

After the inaugural run of the one-cast production, Crudup has bagged more than just award, as the show also enjoyed great critical success. 

One particular review by Jesse Green of the New York Times said that Crudup appeared "to be having the time of his life in a sly role terrifically suited to his gifts" during the show. 

In 2018, the play was transferred to New York's Minetta Lane theatre for a one-off stage show sponsored by Audible, which in turn recorded Crudup's enthralling performance and turned it into an audio drama.

Of the show's upcoming transfer to West End, Crudup said in a statement: "I love London and I have loved seeing theatre in London for decades. West End theatregoers are some of the most discerning, intelligent, and hungry audiences in the world."

"I'm grateful to be given the opportunity to share the work Leigh, David, myself and all our producers have created on the London stage," he added.

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