Danny Beard to star as Paul O’Grady in new play Savage
Danny Beard will play Paul O’Grady in new play ‘Savage’ (Danny Kaan | Getty Images)
Danny Beard, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK series four, has been announced to star as Paul O’Grady in the upcoming play Savage.
Inspired by the life of O’Grady and his beloved drag persona Lily Savage, the play follows his journey from working-class roots to becoming a drag icon.
Savage will premiere on 13 February, 2027 at Curve Leicester, before going on tour and transferring to London’s West End.
Written by the multi-award-winning Jonathan Harvey, the project draws on O’Grady’s autobiographies for inspiration.
Harvey said he was “thrilled” to have the chance to turn O’Grady’s life story into a stage show.
“I first saw Lily in a scuzzy gay bar in West London in the late ’80s and laughed ’til I hurt, so it’s an honour indeed to bring his story and the colourful escapades of the blonde bombsite herself to life,” he said.
“This is one of those few shows that I’m involved in where I can go ‘You need to come. It’s really good’… because the zinging one-liners are all his. It’s so sad he’s not here to see it, but hopefully this will be a fitting testament to everything he achieved, and a cracking night out full of humour and heart.”
The play is produced by ROYO, Curve, Hope Mill Theatre and Eilene Davidson, and will be directed by Nikolai Foster.
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