Comedienne Rebel Wilson makes London stage debut in ‘Guys and Dolls’

LONDON (Reuters) – Having made audiences laugh in movies such as “Bridesmaids” and “Pitch Perfect”, Australian comedienne Rebel Wilson now sets her sights on the London stage, making her West End debut in musical “Guys and Dolls”.

The 36-year old plays club singer Miss Adelaide in an eight-week run in the latest revival of the famed 1950s Broadway show.

“So I got the offer to be in the show and I was like, ‘…ok, yeah’. It was kind of like a definite yes just because I’ve never done a West End show before and I’ve always really wanted to,” Wilson told Reuters in an interview.

“Miss Adelaide is such an iconic role and so I thought it would definitely be a challenge because I’ve never done the eight-show-a-week schedule but I was just really excited.”

Wilson, whose character Fat Amy is known for her wild antics in musical film “Pitch Perfect” and its sequel, said many people were not familiar with her theater background, having trained at the Australian Theatre for Young People.

“Most people don’t know, they’re like ‘yeah Rebel’s just like come up in ‘Bridesmaids’ or ‘Pitch Perfect’ … and a lot of people think … you are those characters because they’ve seen them a lot,” she said.

“But what they don’t know is that I trained in theater school in Australia and did like a lot of productions.”

Wilson took to the stage at London’s Phoenix Theatre last week and will appear in the show until August. After that, she said would film “Pitch Perfect 3”, set for release next year.

(Reporting By Francis Maguire; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Toby Chopra)