Sheridan Smith put on a bleary-eyed display as she staggered onto the street during a performance of her new musical Opening Night on London’s West End.
The shocking scenes which took place on Tuesday night are part of her new role, where she plays a Broadway legend who struggles with alcoholism.
Sheridan, 42, covered her eyes with a pair of sunglasses and sported a leopard print coat with a blue jumper and denim jeans with heeled boots.
Sheridan could be seen falling onto the cobbles outside the theatre where the performance takes place, being aided by two stage hands.
Stumbling in the streets, the star played drunk for her brand new role Myrtle Gordon – a troubled actress she’s bringing to life in her new stage show.
Sheridan Smith put on a bleary-eyed display as she staggered onto the street during a performance of her new musical Opening Night on London’s West End
The shocking scenes which took place on Tuesday night are part of her new role, where she plays a Broadway legend who struggles with alcoholism
Sheridan, 42, covered her eyes with a pair of sunglasses and sported a leopard print coat with a blue jumper and denim jeans with heeled boots
She has begun a 21-week sting in the new musical Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre – based on the namesake 1977 film about the actress who is left traumatised by the death of a teenage fan.
The moment is filmed live every night outside the London theatre, for all passersby to see and the audience witnesses the action live via a video transmitted into the theatre.
Sheridan – who exclusively told MailOnline she took on the role to ‘take control’ of her own demons – can be seen outside the theatre as Myrtle, turning up late to the first night of the show after taking a drop too much.
The actress described being offered the role as ‘a gift’ because she can use it to finally extinguish past traumas which threatened to derail her career.
She said: ‘It feels like a moment of taking back control. I feel like the part is a gift, it’s a gift of a part for any actress to play and I’m loving every minute of it, it’s such an honour. I can’t wait for people to see it now.’
The Care favourite is on great form as she speaks enthusiastically about her return to theatre – after getting raving reviews for her most recent role in The Castaways.
Her dressing room, which she calls her ‘shrine’, is littered with pictures of her three-year-old son Billy and it’s where she recuperates after performing her main drunk scene, which she’ll improvise each night, that is so physically demanding she joked about needing to use shin pads.
She added: ‘When I went home on Sunday I have to say, I woke up and I was aching everywhere and I was like my goodness, I’m getting older.’
Sheridan could be seen falling onto the cobbles outside the theatre where the performance takes place, being aided by two stage hands
She has begun a 21-week sting in the new musical Opening Night at the Gielgud Theatre – based on the namesake 1977 film
Stumbling in the streets, the star played drunk for her brand new role Myrtle Gordon – a troubled actress she’s bringing to life in her new stage show
In MailOnline’s exclusive footage earlier last week, Sheridan puffs on a cigarette and drunkenly falls to her knees during a scene that sees the rest of the cast discover her character Myrtle in an intoxicated state.
But Sheridan says she loves the unpredictability of improvising, saying: ‘It’s fun and I love all of that, that’s the excitement and why I want to be an actress. I have never done anything quite like this before. That moment will be live every night so anything could happen.’
‘But that’s the whole point of working with Ivo van Hove, our director, he wants it all naturalistic and to be very real so if people are passing through that scene, every night, he wants that so, we will be doing it live eight times a week in Soho… but it’s so exciting.’
The double Olivier-winning star admits she’s been learning the music for the show since October when she got the part.
But despite her illustrious background in music and theatre, she felt the need to have singing lessons to ensure her vocal delivery matches the standards set by legendary US singer and composer Rufus Wainwright, the man behind the show’s soundtrack.
Sheridan explained: ‘We have had weeks of rehearsals, and I knew I was doing this back in October, so I started learning the music because Rufus Wainwright’s music is just phenomenal, he is a genius but it’s very hard to learn.
Sheridan later gave a thumbs up as she left the theatre following the show
Sheridan posed for photos outside the theatre with fans
‘As you can see, I have some sheet music here but I don’t read music like a lot of the cast, so I have been learning the songs for quite a while and having singing lessons.’
Opening Night is adapted from the 1977 film, starring Gena Rowlands as Myrtle, by Rufus and director Ivo van Hove.
The plot centres around the actress starring in a play called The Second Woman which is limping around dead-end venues before its planned star-studded debut on Broadway.
But its main star is on a dangerous downward spiral, fearing she’s lost her youth, her mind and is also traumatised by the death of a young female fan knocked down and killed outside the theatre, whom she now sees everywhere.
Her volatile behaviour grows to such an extent she has the curtain pulled down on her, which is something Sheridan has previously experienced when she suffered her own breakdown.
Eight years ago, while playing Fanny Brice in the West End show Funny Girl, her mental health hit rock bottom, sparked by her drinking and father’s cancer diagnosis, which saw a show cancelled mid-performance amid reports she was slurring her words.
She later took a four-week break from production citing ‘stress and exhaustion.’
Sheridan looks back at those troubled times with much regret and reassures fans there will be no danger of a repeat in Opening Night.
She told The Guardian: ‘I’ve been through that sort of crisis but there are therapists here that you can talk to.
‘It’s so different from when I had my meltdown eight years ago. There was no support team then. It was just, “Get on stage!”‘
Thankfully for the much-loved star, who’s featured in the likes of Gavin and Stacey, Cilla, and theatre show Legally Blonde, she’s managed to rebuild her career, both on screen and on stage, while also balancing being a mum to Billy, to have her name in lights once again in Opening Night.
