I don't think I've ever been respected in the way I wanted as a songwriter

Boy George

Boy George said afterwards: "I was very quiet before the performance which is unlike me, but now it's over I'm thrilled that everyone seems to have enjoyed it so much."

In the musical, actor Euan Morton plays the cross-dressing pop star, who topped charts around the world and sold 20 million albums when he fronted 1980s group Culture Club.

'Magnificent'

Charlotte Church, who was not born when the group had their first hits, said after the show: "I didn't really have the context for many of the references but the production is fantastic.

"The songs, the acting, the singing and the dancing were all magnificent and I really loved it," she said.

Matt Lucas plays the late Leigh Bowery

H described the show as "brilliant".

But Boy George was prepared for a less favourable reaction from critics, who panned the Pet Shop Boys' musical Closer To Heaven when it opened last year.

"People are going to slag it off - that's par for the course. I have been slagged off for 20 years.

"What can they say that they haven't said already?"

Boy George, whose pop stardom was followed by failure and heroin addiction, said he believed his musical contribution to pop had been undervalued.

'Dismissed'

"The music is the most important thing.

"Because of the way I have looked over the years, people have dismissed what I'd done as a writer.

"I don't think I've ever been respected in the way I wanted to be as a songwriter," he said.

Taboo charts the story of Boy George's rise to fame, and includes portraits of 80s characters such as Leigh Bowery, Steve Strange and Marilyn.

The Venue Theatre, where Taboo is playing, is said to be the first new stage to open in London's theatreland in 70 years.