Pop superstar Madonna made her London stage debut on Thursday to wild acclaim from a first night audience who applauded before she had even spoken a single line of dialogue.
As the curtain rose, the pop icon was given a rousing reception in her role as an ambitious art dealer in Australian playwright David Williamson's hit play "Up For Grabs."
Madonna, who last appeared on stage in New York back in 1988, was critic proof before her London run even began -- all tickets have long been sold out for the Material Girl's appearance. Paltrow made do with wiggling her naked toes on stage in "Proof." Madonna, no stranger to controversy in her outrageous pop persona, went one better -- the 43-year-old star indulged in a scene of lesbian passion in "Up for Grabs."

The sex scenes then got even weirder as the voracious dealer sought by every means she could to up the bids for a Jackson Pollock painting she was trying to sell privately. The play has been making headlines long before the first night.
But a security guard was posted in the auditorium to ensure no one rushed onto the stage. But playwright Williamson had no illusions about the celebrity madness gripping London, admitting: "I'll probably go down in history as the writer whose name they cannot remember who wrote the play Madonna was in."
Bureau Report