Danny Beard to channel Lily Savage in riotous new stage show – and it’s getting a world premier at Leicester’s Curve

SAVAGE digs into the life of Paul O’Grady – from Birkenhead beginnings to the smoky club stages of London

SAVAGE – a glitter-drenched, laugh-out-loud new play about the one and only Lily Savage – premieres at Curve Leicester in February 2027, and it’s already serving high-camp, high-drama promise.

Dreamed up by Gimme Gimme Gimme creator Jonathan Harvey and starring RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard as the peroxide icon herself, this is no standard jukebox biopic. Directed by Curve supremo Nikolai Foster, SAVAGE digs into the life of Paul O’Grady – from Birkenhead beginnings to the smoky club stages of London – tracing how a sharp-tongued outsider became a national treasure in six-inch heels.

Expect biting one-liners, big laughs and a surprising emotional punch. Drawing on O’Grady’s own autobiographies (and created with his blessing), the show promises both the outrageousness of Lily and the heart of the person behind the wig.

Harvey, who first saw Lily in a rough-and-ready West London bar in the ’80s, calls it “a cracking night out full of humour and heart” – and if anyone can bottle that lightning, it’s him.

image 21
(L to R) Andre Portasio, Jonathan Harvey & Danny Beard (Photo credit: Danny Kaan)

Curve’s team, meanwhile, are betting on a crowd-pleaser that’ll leave audiences roaring with laughter one minute and reaching for tissues the next.

Opening February 13, 2027 before an expected West End transfer, SAVAGE looks set to be part tribute, part tell-all, and all-out entertainment.

Start practising your cackle now.

Find out more about the shows and ticket sales HERE

Love the East Midlands? So do we.
Get the best events, hidden gems, food spots, days out, culture and quirky stories from across the region delivered straight to your inbox every week. No spam, just the good stuff.

ADVERTISEMENT

Most popular...

ADVERTISEMENT

More from Stuck in the Middle

⚠️ AUDACITY ALERT: Customer ‘forgot’ Long Eaton restaurant booking then gave it one star for charging a no-show fee

They said they'd been busy celebrating a birthday and had simply forgotten about the booking.

The East Midlands’ ultimate travel bucket list? Start with these award-nominated spots

More than 80 hotels, attractions, restaurants, pubs and tourism experiences from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire have been shortlisted for the 2027 Visit East Midlands Tourism Awards

Groovebox is bringing its biggest-ever day rave to Wollaton Hall next summer

At the top of the bill is house and techno giant Jamie Jones

New signs of life for Derby’s historic Bennetts store after three-year wait

Bennetts was in Derby city centre for almost 300 years before its closure in 2019.