Funny Girl

I'm sorry but all of those people who are messaging her for replacement tickets because she won't be on are scum. I don't care how upset they are that they won't see her. Yes, it's incredibly disappointing when the person you have bought tickets for isn't on but really people? She's not off because she's got a bit of a cold or fancies a duvet day. Cut your losses people, enjoy the understudy (who is by all accounts terrific) and book to see her at the Savoy instead. I'm sure Sheridan Smith has better things to do at the moment than reply to all of their money grabbing tweets and sorting out alternative tickets for them. They aren't fans, they're the sh*t on the bottom of my shoe. And Sheridan is best shot of the lot of them.

Rant over.

I think offering to replace Menier tickets with Savoy tickets is already above and beyond anything anyone has any right to expect, purchase of a ticket doesn't guarantee a performer.

I will echo the sentiments: If it's true that Smith is being pressured to 'make amends' for her absence, or being made to feel like she has to explain herself, then the people running this show are scumbags and should feel utterly ashamed of themselves. If it's self-applied pressure then it's natural for her to feel that but the production team should be standing behind her and discouraging people from contacting Smith.

Her tweet referring to the Menier - "F*** 'em" may suggest she doesn't have a good relationship with them. What an awful thing for her to be going through.

I don't think anyone would have blamed her if she'd just withdraw from Twitter and had her managers tell people to leave her alone. She doesn't owe anyone anything.

Clearly having a very hard emotional time with the news of her Dad and the pressure she is under from the producers of Funny Girl.

A few thoughts on Sheridan Smith.

I am a huge fan having seen her in Little Shop of Horrors, Legally Blonde, Hedda Gabler, Flare Path and of course Funny Girl. She is clearly an emotional person who wears her heart on her sleeve and this clearly is part of the reason she is such a brilliant actress in that she has an emotional depth and range she can bring to a role. Anyone who has seen her on stage cannot be astonished at her connection with the audience. In my view one of the great stage actresses of our generation. She can make me laugh and cry in the theatre in equal measure.

She also performs 8 shows a week (barring illness) as she is aware of her responsibilities to the show and to her audience. Imelda Staunton did the same thing with Gypsy - this takes enormous discipline and the mark of a true professional unlike many leading musical theatre performers in lead roles in the WE who seem to work on a rota doing only 6 shows a week and then loads of holidays and days off here or there. Leading roles in tours too seem to be on a job share basis! So due respect to her.

However, having said all that she should certainly step away from social media or restrict her posts to purely professional comments and try and keep her private life private! Especially if she is emotional and takes things personally which she clearly does.

She is a very well paid performer in her profession and her employers (like any other employer) expect her to be there at 8.00pm and do the job they are paying her for. Other people in less well paid jobs with heart breaking news have to go to work and just cannot afford the time off. She is ambitious and focused on her career. She will want to continue with Funny Girl, and her Father will want her to continue as well but she could afford to walk away if she wished to spend more time with him - a position most people simply could not afford to do.

I am a fan but recently I did speak to someone who has worked with her in a previous production in a stage management capacity and having listened to me gushing about her, very tactfully pointed out that she "could be hard work".

Agreed-it probably would be sensible to step away from twitter but I fully understand the instinct to use it as an outlet.

And she might well be in a privaledged position in many ways, including having a job that is in her own words 'escapism' but many people use work at times of crisis not because they can't get time off etc (most employers will grant compassionate leave) but because it helps to have routine/something else to think about.

And frankly whether she is or is't 'hard work' has nothing to do with this situation either. What I see here is a young woman trying to deal with a difficult situation in the best way she knows how right now. Again I'm more inclined to judge the tabloids and so called fans than her.

Saw Funny Girl again on Sunday afternoon - my birthday - with my sister who is a HUGE fan of the film. My 3rd time seeing it and it's a lovely performance all around in this intimate space. My sister was a big sobby thing, Sheridan looks the audience in the eye and you feel such a connection to Fanny. Great comic timing and Sheridan sang all the songs really well! Extremely emotional throughout the show, very moving performance.

The news about her father. Sheridan has said over and over how close she is to her family (her "Who Do You Think You Are", and "Christmas Cracker"). I feel very sad that she's having to handle this whole matter with such publicity (although, for pete's sake, she shouldn't be on social media/any public forum when her life is falling apart); I believe the majority of people at the shows I've seen are there for Sheridan's performance so disappointment is natural, however Twitter is full of numpties who probably haven't got tickets but want to voice an opinion. I see the story is now getting major press attention. Her press agent should be sticking boxing gloves on Sheridan to stop her typing responses.

I'm there for the last night at Menier on Saturday - was hoping to see some huge love for the whole cast ... they've all been amazing (I love Darius, big gorgeous giant), the girls, the boys, Fanny's Ma and cronies. They'll all get my love, whatever.

She has now said she doesn't want to do the show!

Oh dear. She needs to be quiet now and deal with what's going on at home. There may not be a "secrecy policy" but you can be damn sure that it's highly unprofessional and really doesn't show her in a good light.