Odds & Ends: Sunset Boulevard's Glenn Close on Stopping the Show, Samuel Barnett Lands Dirk Gently & More

Here's a quick roundup of stories you may have missed today.

Sunset Boulevard's Glenn Close on Stopping the Show
It’s as if the three-time Tony winner never said goodbye in London right now! Glenn Close is about to reprise her Tony-winning role of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard at the English National Opera and she recently spoke with Good Morning Britain about the upcoming limited engagement. Along with revealing why she "stopped the show once in Sunset Boulevard," she also adorably admitted that she sleeps with a teddy bear. The semi-staged production, with the full ENO orchestra, will run April 1 through May 7 and officially open on April 4 at the London Coliseum.


Samuel Barnett Lands Dirk Gently
Two-time Tony nominee Samuel Barnett (Twelfth Night, The History Boys) will star as the titular holistic detective in BBC America’s Dirk Gently, opposite Elijah Wood as his unenthusiastic assistant Todd. Deadline reports that the eight-episode series is based on Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency novels and will be penned by Max Landis. The project is scheduled to bow in fall 2016.

Tributes Pour in for Patty Duke & James Noble
Some sad news now. Patty Duke, who won an Oscar at age 16 for her role of Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker, which she had originated on the Great White Way, died at the age of 69 on March 29, according to NBC news. Along with playing identical cousins in her own sitcom, she also appeared on Broadway in Isle of Children and Oklahoma!. And James Noble, best known for his work on hit 1980s sitcom Benson, died on March 28 in Connecticut at the age of 94, the New York Times reports. His Main Stem credits included The Runner Stumbles, 1776 and Strange Interlude.

Idina Menzel Tapped for Tribeca Film Festival
Switching gears, if screlting "Let It Go," with Idina Menzel isn't your thing, the Broadway supernova is helpfully providing other options. The Tony winner is set to take part in this year’s Tribeca Film Festival; she will appear in the (open to the public) Storytellers series at the SVA Theater 1 Silas on April 18. Or you could do both.