Beautiful Thing – Attitude

Photography: Josh Van Gelder

He’s game, he’s certainly beautiful…meet West End’s favourite center forward David Shannon

There are few things a dedicated actor won’t do for his art, but David Shannon – star of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s latest theatrical blockbuster The Beautiful Game – draws the line at dodgy underwear.

With lyrics by Ben Elton, the show is set during the late 60s and early 70s and charts the rise and fall of a football team against Northern Ireland’s troubled political backdrop. Trust us, it’s not as naff as it sounds – which is more than you can say about David’s mullet wig and the costume designer’s original choice of undergarments. “There are some really dodgy outfits and my wig is horrible,” admits the 28-year-old veteran of musical theatre (Grease and Miss Saigon get a tick on the CV). “A lot of the early 70s stuff like flares are still quite fashionable, but they tried to put me in a horrible pair of paisley underpants. There’s a bedroom scene where I’m just in my underwear and I thought it best to wear plain white underpants and a vest. It’s a serious scene, but no one would take me seriously if I was wearing paisley Y-fronts.”

North London-born David had no problem adopting an Irish accent for the show. He was raised in Southern Ireland until he was 21 and, appropriately enough for someone who’s played the lead role in Jesus Christ Superstar, was making furniture when he auditioned for a part in Les Miserables.

“I got the part and have been working ever since,” he says. “Not bad for someone who’s never had any training.”

When David’s Beautiful Game contract is up in September he plans to quit musical theatre, at least for a while, to concentrate on television. Before that, though, he’s set his sights on another goal – beating the Les Mis cast at footie. The Beautiful Game boys took on the Miserable Ones recently and lost 3-0. “We were hopeless,” David confesses. “They’d been playing together for a long time but none of us had been on a pitch for years. We were still tring to figure out who played where while they were busy scoring goals. We’ll win next time, though.”

When David’s not kicking an imaginary ball around the stage of the Cambridge Theatre, he’s cheering his favourite team: Tottenham Hotspur.

“It’s a family tradition – my dad is a Spurs man and so was my grandfather. It’s inbred to support that team.”

Any favourite players? “Well, I used to be a David Ginola fan until he defected to Aston Villa. And I think David Beckham’s a fantastic footballer, even though he doesn’t play for my team.”

And any thoughts about Beckham’s Posh missus?

“We won’t talk about her,” he says with a laugh.

Simon Button

The Beautiful Game is on at London’s Cambridge Theatre

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