Celia Imrie: I’ve always wanted to do cabaret and if I don’t do it now I never will

 
Seizing the moment: Celia Imrie, fresh from shooting The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, will use stories from her life (and beautiful dancing boys) in her revue (Picture: Lucy Young)
Lucy Young
The Weekender

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Celia Imrie will draw on anecdotes from her life in acting for a new one-woman cabaret show she admits she would never have dared perform when younger.

The 62-year-old star of Acorn Antiques, Calendar Girls and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel said she had embarked on her new life in revue after deciding to seize the moment.

“It’s something I’ve always thought I would quite like to do and I’m running out of time slightly. I’m just being realistic without being dramatic — I’ve got about 20 years left,” she said. “If I don’t do it now, I never will, probably.”

She said she is “thrilled” to be appearing in Laughing Matters with “two beautiful dancing boys” who “take their tops off, of course”. She added: “Laughing is a great cure for any ill. Come and have a bit of fun.”

She has just shot The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with a reunion of the all-star cast of Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Bill Nighy and new members including Richard Gere. “It was thrilling to be with the two dames. I’m very proud to be in it,” she said.

Laughing Matters, St James Theatre Studio, August 12-17. stjamestheatre.co.uk

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