Star Daniel Radcliffe Escaped Mob!

An interesting article by the Time Online, accounts an interesting and entertaining story of how Daniel, Richard Griffiths and Jenny Agutter escaped from hundreds of fans waiting for Daniel Radcliffe outside The Gielgud Theatre.

"Even in Soho the sight of Richard Griffiths, one of Britain’s most illustrious and generously proportioned actors, escaping a mob through a theatre window is unusual. When the theatre involved is hosting the nude stage debut of a teenager better-known as the screen Harry Potter such pandemonium is probably inevitable.

"At each of last week’s preview performances, hundreds of fans gathered at the stage door after the show, hoping to persuade Radcliffe to sign Equusprogrammes and posters. Those brandishing Harry Potter memorabilia are moved on.

"The frenzy reached a peak on Saturday night when a crowd of 450 had to be dispersed by police. The Gielgud Theatre’s security staff managed to escort Radcliffe to his car but two of his co-stars, Jenny Agutter and Griffiths, were trapped inside.

"David Pugh, the play’s producer said: 'Richard and Jenny had to get out through the side window by the box office on Rupert Street.'

"For Griffiths, the award-winning star of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, this proved a particularly delicate task. 'You try to get Richard Griffiths out of a back window,' Mr Pugh said. 'It was a bit touch and go.'

"Shaffer, 80, had hitherto refused to sanction a major revival, partly because he did not previously believe that another young actor could match Firth’s performance.

"Mr Pugh estimates that half the audience in the previews was made up of 'people that don’t go to the theatre' - 'It was only after Peter Shaffer approved Daniel’s casting that we thought, 'Ooh, what about the Harry Potter fans?' - 'We were incredibly nervous about security and we consulted the Rolling Stones security team. They told us to chill out.' - 'My main concern was that the sort of audience we would be getting might be a touch rock’n’roll, a touch Take That — the sort of people who didn’t understand theatre etiquette' - 'But, touch wood, there has not been a single giggle or whoop or cheer.' During the nude scene, Mr Pugh said, 'you could hear a pin drop.'

" 'People can get rather overexcited when big-name stars strut their stuff on the West End stage,' Alistair Smith, the news editor of The Stage said, but there had been nothing like the hysteria over Radcliffe’s appearance in Equus 'since Nicole Kidman appeared nude in The Blue Room. Whatever the reviews say, his presence has made the production all but critic-proof as a commercial venture.'"