Film and musical star Samantha Barks was featured on the front of the London Evening Standard attending the opening night of the musical City of Angels.
Pictured with producer Cameron Mackintosh, the singer and actress is performing in the musical which runs at the Donmar Warehouse until February 7.
Miss Barks, who comes from Lonan, is playing the part of Mallory Kingsley in the musical comedy which is based on a book by Larry Gelbart, who also penned the American television series MASH. The show features a jazz score by Cy Coleman.
Described in the programme details as a ‘witty and glorious celebration of Film Noir’ and ‘Hollywood in black and white and colour’, the production is directed by Josie Rourke.
Miss Barks, who has had roles in Cabaret and Les Miserables, was also featured in an interview in the Daily Telegraph.
She told the Telegraph she was not driven by a desire to become famous but by the thrill of performing in front of audiences, but she didn’t know anyone in the Isle of Man who had become an actress so it had not been an obvious career choice for her. Her mother teaches children with special needs and her father is a building surveyor who, along with a team of enthusiasts from the island, took land speed records at Bonneville in 2012.
‘If you have a dream, you do everything you can to make it happen,’ she said.
City of Angels had its Broadway premier in 1989 and reached London’s West End in 1993. It won the Tony Award and the Olivier Award for the Best New Musical and has now been revived after 20 years.
For Miss Barks, it is her Donmar Warehouse debut.
Set in the 1940s, the musical tells the story of a New York novelist called Stine, played by Hadley Fraser, who is lured to Hollywood by the promise of money and fame to write a screenplay.
Many members of the cast play two roles as the real life action is reflected in the fictional screenplay.
In 2008, Miss Barks reached the finals of the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything, in which Andrew Lloyd Webber searched for an up-and-coming actress to play the part of Nancy in the Musical Oliver. Though she didn’t win, the show brought recognition. Playing Epinone in the Hollywood blockbuster Les Miserables, she performed along side various star names including Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman.