Rhea Perlman will make her London stage debut on June 25 when she joins the cast of Boeing-Boeing, the '60s farce currently enjoying a successful revival at the Comedy Theatre. Perlman will replace Patricia Hodge in the role of long-suffering housekeeper Bertha, joining the rest of the show's recently renewed cast, which includes Adrian Dunbar, Doon Mackichan, Amy Nuttall, Elena Roger and Neil Stuke.
Perlman first came to the public's attention playing opposite her husband Danny DeVito in the TV comedy Taxi. A four-time Emmy Award winner, she was nominated an unprecedented 10 times over 11 years for playing waitress Carla Tortelli in Cheers. Perlman's other television credits include guest appearances in St. Elsewhere, Mad About You, Ally McBeal, Fraiser, Karen Sisco and Kevin Hill, as well as Executive Producing and starring as Kate Brasher in ABC's Pearl. Her U.S. theater credits include The Exonerated, The Tale of Allergist's Wife and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Her film credits include Matilda, in which she was directed by and co-starred opposite DeVito,Sunset Park, Carpool, Canadian Bacon, Class Act and Ted and Venus. The recently began writing a series of children's books entitled Otto Phillip: Undercover.
Boeing-Boeing centers on a philandering Parisian playboy called Bernard who has devised a sophisticated timetable with his housekeeper to organise his simultaneous affairs with three air hostesses; one Italian, one German and one American. They each work for different airlines and spend the night at his apartment whenever they stop over. Each believes she is the only one, but the subterfuge is threatened when there's a change of flight schedule for one of the girlfriends and the arrival of an old friend Robert who wants to stay at the apartment for a day or two. Marc Camoletti's classic farce originally played in London from 1962-69. The present production opened at the Comedy in February and is currently booking until October 20.
