Ruthie Henshall to Get Ghostly in West End Blithe Spirit

Ruthie Henshall is set to star as the title ghost Elvira in a West End revival of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit directed by Thea Sharrock. The play will begin performances on March 2, 2011 at the Apollo Theatre. The cast also features Alison Steadman as Madame Arcati, Hermione Norris as Ruth Condomine and Robert Bathurst as Charles Condomine.

Henshall's many West End credits include Chicago (a show she's also appeared in twice on Broadway, first as Velma and most recently as Roxie), Marguerite, Peggy Sue Got Married, Oliver! and She Loves Me. Steadman has appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Memory of Water and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Norris is best known for her TV work on shows such as Cold Feet and Wire in the Blood and has appeared onstage in Petronella and Blinded by the Sun. Bathurst's theater credits include Noises Off, St. Joan and Lady Audley's Secret.

Blithe Spirit finds a married couple suddenly haunted by the ghost of the husband's first wife when an eccentric dinner guest conjures her spirit during a seance. A national tour of the production will begin in Brighton on November 16 and make stops in Cambridge, Richmond and Bath before transferring to the West End.