One of the stars of the hit musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan says the singer has secretly watched rehearsals — but the cast don’t know if he has seen a performance.
Sheila Atim plays Marianne in Girl From The North Country, which made its West End transfer last night following an acclaimed run at The Old Vic.
Atim, 26, said: “We honestly don’t know if he’s been over to see it. A lot of his team have been involved in producing the piece. He obviously knows it’s happening but has let the team here have full artistic control. He is a bit of an elusive character as everyone knows.
“If he has been already, I really wouldn’t be shocked in any way.”
The play, written by Conor McPherson, follows a group of people living in a Minnesota boarding house during the Great Depression. A cast recording of the soundtrack was released in October, only for Dylan to release his own compilation of the songs in the same running order in December.
Atim said: “It is a compliment. It’s really nice that there’s a link now between him and the production. During rehearsals I was told he had seen bits of our rehearsals and had given it the thumbs up. So there has definitely been a presence, even if we haven’t seen or heard from him. I really like the elusiveness — he is kind of mythical.”
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Atim, from Essex, completed a degree in biomedical science at King’s College London before her acting career took off. She plays the piano, violin, bass guitar and drums and is a singer/songwriter.
Girl From The North Country, The Noël Coward Theatre until March 24