Marilyn Forever Blonde by Greg Thompson

Marilyn Monroe played by Sunny Thompson

I had booked tickets to see this show during our L.A. visit in 2007, however at that time it was cancelled, I wasn’t sure then if I’d ever get to see it but I do remember pestering Sunny asking her when she would be coming to the UK with Marilyn: Forever Blonde!  

When I discovered that – not only were they bringing the show to London but they were touring and the first port of call would be Brighton – I was elated! The first thing I did was book the best front seats for the show at the Corn Exchange!  

I had in recent years been terribly disappointed at the standard of ‘Marilyn’ plays at the theatre. However, although I had a good feeling about this production, due to the excellent reviews from fellow Marilyn fans who had been fortunate enough to see it, I still had a feeling that it couldn’t possibly live up to the ‘hype’ that somehow it just wouldn’t deliver, despite the fact that I had been completely mesmerised by the beautiful ‘Marilynesq’ photos I had seen of Sunny Thompson. The photographs were outstanding, like nothing I’d seen before, but still, they were photos – real life was something else!  

Taking my seat with excitement and anticipation, from the very moment Sunny appeared on stage I was stunned – the curtains went back and in the centre of the stage on a bed of white satin ‘Marilyn’ posed as the sound of camera shutters clicked and ‘Marilyn’ was caught in an explosion of light for a matter of seconds, as this happened, momentary shock hit me and I felt tears tipping over the rim of my eyes. Sunny really had captured something, physically and spiritually – I watched ‘Marilyn’ perform for two hours, she couldn’t have been any better, there is nothing she could have done that would have made her more Marilyn – for that little window of time she was Marilyn!  

The script was credible and worthy, Greg Thompson managed to keep Marilyn’s voice strong throughout the two hours, using her own words and seamlessly threading her quotes through the fabric of the play. The costumes were lovely and apart from the short interval Sunny did not leave the stage – all costume changes took place behind a screen whilst she was still talking to the audience. 

As an actress, Sunny held the audience in the palm of her hand; we were literally hanging on ‘Marilyn’s’ every word. I had been waiting to experience a play that did Marilyn justice, and to see an actress that takes on Marilyn’s persona without making her a caricature and for the first time ever, I was watching both those things come together on the stage in front of me. 

After the show, thanks to Kristin the Production Manager, I was fortunate to be able to meet Greg Thompson and when ‘Marilyn’ had changed back to ‘Sunny’ I realised just what an accomplished ‘actress’ she actually was – this isn’t an impersonation, this is real acting, Sunny is beautiful in her own right and during this performance she truly does become the person she’s playing, she has Marilyn’s mannerisms and nuances of speech down to virtual perfection and it was all I could do to stop myself from singing along when she gave us Marilyn’s greatest hits such as ‘My Heart Belongs to Daddy’ and ‘Diamond’s are a Girls Best Friend’  

Lastly, if you’re a Marilyn fan I would urge you to see it and if you’re not a Marilyn fan – I urge you even more because you will be once you’ve seen Sunny’s performance!  

I can’t wait to see this play again, I didn’t want it to end – it was magical!

For more details of where you can see Marilyn Forever Blonde in the UK please

click here or www.marilynforeverblonde.com