Curtain comes down on The Graduate

Smash hit The Graduate was finally ending its 19 month run in London’s West End today, with former Dallas star Linda Gray giving her last performance as Mrs Robinson.

The production has seen a string of leading ladies baring all on stage but the curtain is coming down ahead of a transfer to New York’s Broadway.

London’s theatreland has been struck by a wave of closures in recent months as tourists stay away after the foot and mouth crisis and September 11 attacks.

The Graduate was a big seller when it was first announced with Kathleen Turner in the role of Mrs Robinson, but the revelation that its star would seen in the buff led to a ticket stampede.

The play was scheduled for only a short run after its April 2000 premiere but was continually extended to meet demand.

When Turner’s replacement Jerry Hall was announced there was a similar stampede for seats. However one reviewer noted of her slight frame that all he saw were two fried eggs in the gloaming.

Since then Amanda Donohoe has stepped in for a stint, then Anne Archer. The oldest star to fill the role was Linda Gray who whipped her kit off at the age of 60, more than three decades after her legs were famously used for the publicity poster for the movie of The Graduate.

Other shows to close in recent months have included the long-running Starlight Express, Notre Dame De Paris and The Witches Of Eastwick.

This week it was announced that Cats, the longest running musical in London or on Broadway, was to close to close on its 21st birthday.