So Hot I Don't Even Know What To Title This

Daniel Radcliffe, a.k.a. Harry Potter, made headlines (like the one below) on both sides of the pond when it was announced that he would be starring in the play Equus.

Here are some stories and pics I've gathered from Pink is the New Blog and the Daily Mail (UK).

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Pink is the New Blog

The West End stage play Equus which began its preview run on Friday night has yet to let a clear photo of the nekkid Daniel Radcliffe make its way outside of the theater but Pink reader Kate was fortunate enough to see the show on Saturday afternoon and sends in this photo from outside the theater:



She explained that security is EXTREMELY tight at the venue and ABSOLUTELY no photography is allowed (but she did mention that Daniel is amazing in this role and that "he looks great naked. Especially through ... opera glasses" Tho a good, clear shot of the good stuff is bound to get out eventually. So far, this is only the second picture to leak from the show and altho blurry it gives you an idea of how Daniel looks nekkid from the backside on stage:



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the Daily Mail (UK)

The bare facts are: Radcliffe's a revelation
by BAZ BAMIGBOYE

It wasn't a question of horsing around when Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe took to the London stage in all his glory. The 17-year-old truly impressed with a bravura full-frontal display that earned him a standing ovation.

For his first leading role in the West End, Radcliffe chose Peter Shaffer's 34-year-old play Equus, where he plays a stable boy being treated by a psychiatrist for blinding six horses with a hoof pick.

All 980 seats at the theatre were taken for the preview performance, and many in the audience had their fantasies fulfilled when three-quarters of the way through the second act, Radcliffe bared all for a sex scene with his young leading lady, Joanna Christie.

All of a sudden there was no coughing, no muttering, just people holding their breath at the sight of a pale teenager engaging in a full embrace with a beautiful young girl.

For Radcliffe, it was a big mental leap from portraying JK Rowling's boy wizard to taking on a character in the psychoreligious exploration of equine worship. Radcliffe could have stood on the stage and read the London telephone book and the play still would have sold out. That he took on such an intellectual theatrical challenge was brave - and he succeeded.

To be sure, there is much work to be done and the next ten preview performances before opening night on February 27 will further refine the drama.

The show at the Gielgud Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue overran by some 25 minutes, but producer David Pugh promised that the production would become much tighter as everyone gained confidence.

However, Radcliffe was in full control of his acting abilities. He had been preparing for his debut for 14 months and was word perfect and knew every entrance and exit by heart. The audience had come from far and wide. Suzanne Fournier, 16, and her friend Bethany Williams, 15, travelled from New Brunswick, Canada, with Bethany's parents, just to see their young idol on the stage.

Suzanne said: "We came just to see the play and I loved it. I was quite surprised at how good Daniel was because I had been wondering if he could pull it off and he did. I must say he was very, very fit."

Bethany's mother, Cathy Williams explained: "Both the girls talked us into bringing them to see Daniel so we have made a week's holiday of it and I must say he was brilliant."

Julianna Shtroblya, from the Ukraine, a 20-year-old economics student, saw the play with her mother Tamara.

"It was really hard to get a visa to come to your country to see the play but it was worth it. I am going to see it again on Monday. I heard about Equus six months ago and that was when we booked our tickets."

Roger Berlind, a veteran New York theatre producer, said that if the production with Radcliffe and his fellow leading man, Richard Griffiths, wanted to move to Broadway, he would help raise the finance to present it.

He said that he thought Radcliffe was a "natural stage performer".

The play, which is clearly for grown-ups, has already sold £1.7million in tickets and the box office is taking a healthy amount every day.

Radcliffe's first entrance on stage startled some who hadn't studied the play. He bounded into view, clad only in jeans, to begin his sessions with the psychiatrist, played by Griffiths.


The first words out of Radcliffe's mouth were in fact sung. His character Alan Strang sang several bars of the Milky Bar advertising ditty: "The Milky Bar kid is strong and tough..." and then launched into the song from the Martini commercial.

Essentially, the play is a psychological mystery as Griffiths investigates the reasons why Radcliffe's stable boy maims the horses.

Pugh commented: "It's the first preview, we've got until the first night to continue working and we know what we have to do, but the boy's a revelation."

For once a producer wasn't uttering the usual West End producer hyperbole.

Radcliffe can certainly act and it was clear from last night's audience reception that he won't always be remembered for playing a boy wizard.

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Here are the initial photos that caused a stir at Hogwarts.