Alyson Hannigan

Breakfast Club actress Molly Ringwald is to appear in the West End stage show When Harry Met Sally.

Ringwald will take over from Buffy star Alyson Hannigan on June 2.

The flame-haired 36-year-old is best known for appearing in 80s Brat Pack movies such as Sixteen Candles and Pretty In Pink.

She won rave reviews when she played Sally Bowles in a Broadway production of Cabaret.

A new Harry will also take over from Luke Perry on the same date but his identity has not yet been announced.

When Harry Met Sally, an adaptation of the hit film starring Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan, opened at London’s Theatre Royal Haymarket in February.

Jazz star Jamie Cullum and his brother Ben have written the score.

From Playbill.com :

Molly Ringwald To Follow Alyson Hannigan In London When Harry Met Sally

By James Inverne

07 May 2004

Despite less than flattering reviews on its opening, the West End production of When Harry Met Sally is a relationship that’s clearly working at the box office.

It was generally assumed that the show and the Theatre Royal, Haymarket would part when current leads Alyson Hannigan and Luke Perry go their separate ways at the end of their contracts. However, it has now been announced that a new Sally will bring her fake orgasms to bear when Molly Ringwald takes over the part from June 2.

Ringwald made her name through seminal 1980s films "The Breakfast Club" and "Pretty In Pink." However, theatre credits include Broadway bows - in the 2003 production of Enchanted April and the Sam Mendes-directed Cabaret - and How I Learned To Drive in Los Angeles.

Perry will also leave the show. A new Harry will be announced shortly. However, the casting of 36-year-old Ringwald (as opposed to the 29 year-old Hannigan) means that the female lead will be somewhat older than both Hannigan and Meg Ryan who was around 28 when she created the role in the 1989 movie.

The show is directed by Loveday Ingram and produced by James Tod, with music by British jazz star of the moment Jamie Cullum and his brother Ben. Loveday Ingram directs, with designs by Ultz. Lighting is by Nigel Edwards, sound by John Owens. James Tod produces.