In 1997, he starred as the anti-hero of Karoline Leach's "The Mysterious Mr. Love" at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End. He continued to appear as the lead in numerous straight roles thereafter: Simon Gray's "Stagestruck", a national tour of Michael Cooney's "The Dark Side", "Catch Me if You Can", and two plays by Eric Chappell: "Mixed Feelings", in which he played a transsexual, and "Snakes and Ladders". He starred as John Smith in the original production of "Caught in the Net". He co-produced, with Bill Kenwright, a new musical based on Charles Dickens' novel "A Tale of Two Cities", starring as Sidney Carton. The musical played Windsor with a Christmas season in Birmingham.