Cilla Leads the Laughs As Matthew Rhys Wows West End
South Wales Echo
Jo Manning
April 6, 2000
Welsh-born actor Matthew Rhys may not have grabbed the headlines - but he certainly won the applause at his big night in the West End. Column inches, chat shows, TV previews and gossips had all been busy talking about Hollywood co-star Kathleen Turner's nude scenes. But in last night's star-studded opening of The Graduate at the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, it was Matthew who stole the show.
And the watching Blind Date host Cilla Black added: "I must put in a word for Matthew Rhys - he was incredible." The former student of Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in Llandaff excelled as Benjamin Braddock - and his proud parents Glyn and Helen Evans and sister Rachel were there to see it all, together with a host of stars including Black, Hugh Grant, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Barbara Windsor.
Mum Helen told the Echo after the curtain calls: "We went to see the play in its earliest preview last week. Matthew has grown in confidence immensely since then. They have changed a few things and the play ran incredibly smoothly. We were sat in front of Cilla Black in the stalls and we could hear her laughing all the way through. Kathleen has been very kind about Matthew and it was good he had somebody so experienced with him. She is a very charming lady and Matthew and her get on so well."
The first sight of 45-year-old Ms Turner baring all caused a gasp to ripple through the stalls. Famed for her slender frame in films including Body Heat and Romancing The Stone, the star has still managed to maintain an excellent figure. She received thunderous applause at the final curtain.
But the biggest cheers were reserved for Matthew. His family revealed how they could see his own mannerisms creeping in. His sister, Rachel, said: "When Matthew gets nervous he fiddles with his hands. He also shouts and slams doors. "We ended up laughing in the moments when everyone else was quiet because we could see him doing it."
One person who could not be there was Matthew's old school chum, housemate and fellow actor Ioan Gruffudd who had to rush to Paris to film the final scenes of 102 Dalmatians.
REVIEW: The Graduate at The Gielgud Theatre
Excellent performances overshadowed the headline-grabbing nudity at last night's grand opening. Rhys, in his boxers, and Turner in her birthday suit merely added to the feel-good factor of the production, which also boasts a great script and spot-on comic timing.
The story revolves around university graduate Benjamin Braddock (Rhys), his dalliances with Mrs Robinson (Turner), the wife of his father's business partner, and his attempt to woo Mrs Robinson's daughter Elaine. Just like the film, the play is set in California in the 1960s but there are differences - writer/director Terry Johnson based his version on the novel by Charles Webb.
Rhys' performance is by far one of the highlights. The few scenes in which he did not appear suffered from his absence and he more than filled the shoes of the original graduate Dustin Hoffman, dropping his Welsh accent for a convincing Californian drawl.
The Graduate is at the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Theatre until June 17.
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