News about Pauline Collins

In her simple ensemble, the actress, 42, put on a stunningly chic look, wearing light blue jeans, a navy jumper, and black knee-high boots.

CHRISTOPHER HART: They were once seen as sun-drenched and desirable in the 1980s and 1990s. However, today, the British people are still out of love with the conservatory. They're increasingly perceived as ugly, vulgar, old, and environmentally unsound, especially by younger home owners. And the number of them have decreased correspondingly from half a million built in 2006 to just 77,000 in 2017, down 81%.

Sheridan Smith has made history by breaking the Duke Of York's box office record after her Shirley Valentine performance opened to advance bookings totaling £4 million. The actress, who was 41 years old in a 1989 film of the same name, has been chastised for her one-woman role as the middle-aged lonelyheart. Her press night appearance attracted a rapturous reception, with an emotional Smith clearly taken aback by the response as she closed the performance by welcoming her 22-month-old son Billy into the audience.

On Wednesday evening, Sheridan Smith, a middle-aged lonelyheart, received a standing ovation. In a new West End production at London's Duke Of York Theatre, the actress, 41, has stepped into shoes first worn by Pauline Collins in a 1989 film of the same name to play Valentine. And her press night appearance was met with a rapturous reception, with an emotional Smith evidently taken aback by the performance as she closed the matinee performance by welcoming her 22-month-old son into the audience.

PATRICK MARMION: It's as if sunshine breaks through the stage when the curtain rises on Sheridan Smith's return to the West End. Willy Russell's onewoman story of a lonely, middle-aged Liverpool housewife is simply irresistible, with the warmth of her smile. And if you agree that this 1989 film starring Pauline Collins as Shirley and Tom Conti as Costas, her leery Greek lover, is untouchable, there is a good chance you'll love this two-and-a-bit hour solo performance even more. Sheridan is a pint of pints to the film's pint of Watney's Red Barrel, complete with cocktail umbrella.