Lily Allen To Retire From Music for REASONS TO BE PRETTY?

The gossip blogs are abuzz this morning with news that Lily Allen has decided to retire from singing. The singer has "confirmed" that she will be taking time off from music indefinitely and will thus not be recording a follow-up album to her wildly successful "It's Not Me, It's You" or tour any further with this current record.

According to Allen's blog, the "former" singer remains "a fan of new music, so this is not some selfish crusade...The days of me making money from recording music has been and gone as far as I'm concerned, so I don't (at this point) stand to profit from legislation."

Seems...noble?  Although it sure is hard to believe that the girl who brought us "Smile" is gone forever. After all, the industry has seen what "retired" means to some, many times before (Cher, anyone?).

For now, however, the music industry's loss is the theater community's gain.  As previously reported, Allen is set to star in the 2010 West End production in Neil LaBute's REASON'S TO BE PRETTY in the role of the foul mouthed Steph who gives "crazy" a new meanings after a less-than complimentary comment from her boyfriend.  It is a meaty role in a very high profile production...who knows, perhaps our Ms. Allen really is serious about pursing a home on stage.

REASONS TO BE PRETTY focuses on society's harsh judgement of women on their physical appearance and has reportedly undergone substantial rewrites since its off-Broadway premiere in 2008. It is the final piece in a trilogy about the deceptiveness of appearances that began with critically acclaimed THE SHAPE OF THINGS, followed by FAT PIG.

Marin Ireland, Steven Pasquale, Piper Perabo and Thomas Sadoski starred in REASONS TO BE PRETTY directed by Terry Kinney on Broadway. This year, the production was nominated for 3 Tony Awards, including Best Play, 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards, including Outstanding New Broadway Play, 3 Drama League Awards, including Distinguished Production of a Play and 4 Drama Desk Awards, including Outstanding Play.