Gless to appear on London stage

27 June 2011 Last updated at 14:41 GMT Sharon Gless will star as retired teacher Jane Juska in the play Cagney and Lacey star Sharon Gless is to appear on the London stage in an adaptation of A Round-Heeled Woman.

The 68-year-old will star as a divorcee in the play about a woman's sexual liberation in later life, based on Jane Juska's work.

Gless starred in the world premiere of the play in San Francisco last year, and later had a run in Miami from December 2010 to February 2011.

The show will run at the Riverside Studios in west London from 19 October.

The run is scheduled to run until 20 November.

A Round-Heeled Woman tells the story of retired Californian English teacher Juska, who realises after 30 years of being "severely deprived" of touch that she still liked men.

After placing a personals ad in The New York Review of Books and receiving 63 replies from men aged between 32 and 84, the play follows her experiences.

Gless has trodden the boards twice before in London - in the stage version of Stephen King's Misery and in Neil Simon's Chapter Two.

But she is best remembered as detective Christine Cagney from the long-running 1980s US police drama opposite Tyne Daly.

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George Michael to stage HIV gig

23 June 2011 Last updated at 08:50 GMT The show will be part of George Michael's Symphonica orchestral tour George Michael is to stage a special concert for Sir Elton John's Aids foundation.

The gig at London's Royal Opera House will benefit the charity's newly created Elizabeth Taylor Memorial Fund.

Michael said he "really wanted to honour the inspiring efforts" made by the actress in raising awareness of the disease.

The charity show on 6 November is part of the singer's European Symphonica orchestral tour.

Dame Elizabeth, who died in March, was a prominent Aids campaigner and founded the American Foundation for Aids Research following the death of her close friend Rock Hudson in 1985.

"I have seen how HIV can affect people's lives, how it can destroy families and communities," Michael said.

"The way that the Elton John Aids Foundation gets help to the people around the world who need it most - often the most marginalised communities - really spurred me on to do something."

Sir Elton, who duetted with Michael on the 1991 hit Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, said: "This is an incredible and generous gesture. His is an amazing talent, and this is a fantastic gift he is making to people affected by HIV."

The Sir Elton John Aids Foundation has raised more than ?80m since it was set up by the singer in 1992.

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Susan Boyle's life set for stage

17 June 2011 Last updated at 01:15 GMT The show will tour the country next year The life of Susan Boyle, who found fame on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, is to be made into a stage musical, it has been announced.

The singer surprised judges with her rendition of the Les Miserables song I Dreamed A Dream. Her performance went on to become a YouTube hit.

"I never thought my life story would end up on the stage," Boyle said.

Elaine C Smith will play the 50-year-old from Scotland, who has sold over 14 million albums worldwide.

"A lot has happened in two years and it is a very exciting prospect. I hope everyone enjoys the show and I promise there will be a few surprises along the way," Boyle said.

The show, which will tour the country next year, will be produced by Michael Harrison.

"She is an inspiring woman and her story is an excellent one to tell - someone with a raw talent, who surprises the world and overturns all the odds to make a new life for herself," he said.

"It's got all the qualities of a fairytale, but with the added bonus of being absolutely true."

Boyle ended up as runner-up in the Britain's Got Talent final in 2009, losing out in the public vote on the ITV1 show to dance group Diversity.

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