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Dateline:
2nd February, 2003
O'Toole Turns Down
Oscar
Peter O'Toole has turned down the honorary Oscar offered to him because
he still hope to win a "real" one."Since I'm still in
the game and might win the lovely bugger outright, would the Academy
please defer the honour until I am 80?" he wrote to the Academy.
A spokeman for the Academy said that the award is a one-off. If he
does not pick it up at the ceremony on 23rd March, it will go into the
vault until such time as he does wish to colect it. The academy points
out that both Henry Fonda and Paul Newman had won competitive Oscars
after accepting honorary awards.
Not Enough in the Kitty
The various National Lottery funding distributing bodies do not have
enough cash available to meet their commitments, culture minister Richard
Caborn has admitted in the House of Commons. Up to 30th September, 2002,
they had committed £3.99bn but the amount of cash available to
them is just £3.52bn, a shortfall of £470m. Some of the
commitments, Mr Caborn said, were less firm than others.
Mixed Fortunes for
Scottish Companies
Standstill funding to the Scottish Arts Council from the Scottish Executive
and the National Lottery has meant mixed fortunes for theatres in Scotland.
Some theatres will get large rises whilst eight theatres and companies
will only get rises in line with inflation. Glasgow's Arches Theatre
will receive a 54% increase whilst the Citizens and the Tron will only
get inflation level rises. In Edinburgh the Traverse gets 18%, and in
Dundee the Rep Theatre will also get a large increase. Perth Theatre,
however, and two major companies, 7:84 and TAG, will receive 2.5%.
Jobs Go at the Pleasance
Five jobs have been lost at London's Pleasance and the company will
produce no more shows for some time, acting as a receiving house only,
in a bid to keep the north London theatre open. According to a report
in The Stage, the theatre's director, Christopher Richardson, has admitted
that the venue is losing £30,000 a month and that swift action
was necessary to prevent its closure.
According to Richardson, the Edinburgh Pleasance is still in a viable
financial situation.
SAG Nominations for
UK Actors
Catherine Zeta Jones and Daniel Day-Lewis have been nominated for awards
by the US Screen Actors Guild, Zeta Jones as Best Supporting Actress
for Chicago and Day-Lewis as Best Actor for The Gangs of New
York. British-born Alfred Molina has been nominated as Best Supporting
Actor for Frida, whilst the cast of British film The Hours
are nominated for Best Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture.
Scott Thomas Returns
to the Stage
Kristin Scott Thomas is to return to the London stage in March. She
will play Masha in a new production of Chekhov's Three Sisters
at the Playhouse Theatre. Kate Burton will play Olga and Madeleine Worrall
Irina.
Spring at Derby
The Derby Playhouse's pring season will consist of a new production
of Willie Russell's Educating Rita, starring Maxine Fone and
Christopher Ravenscroft, Ray Grewal's My Dad's Corner Shop and
a new production of Oh What a Lovely War.
Irish Season at Northampton
Having opened its spring season with John Breen's Alone It Stands,
which finished on1st February, Northampton's Theatre Royal will present
another three Irish plays: Conor McPherson's The Weir will run
in repertory with Beckett's Waiting for Godot from 7th February
to 1st March, with an extra production, Krapp's Last Tape, running
after Godot on 24th and 25th February.
Hare Revival at Birmingham
Birmingham Rep is to revive David Hare's triology, Racing Demon,
The Absence of War and Murmuring Judges, from 7th March
to 19th April. All three plays will be performed on the one day on 12th
and 19th March. The repertory company will be led by Malcom Storry and
Jack Shepherd.
The plays premiered at the National Theatre in 1993 and this will be
their regional premiere.
BITE:03
The Barbican's BITE festival 2003 opened last week with the RSC production
of Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children, directed by Tim Supple,
which runs until 23rd February. The long-rumoured Ingmar Bergman production
of Ibsens's Ghosts, first produced last year at the Royal Dramatic
Theatre of Sweden, will run from 1st to 4th May.
Also in the programme is Guiseppe Manfridi's The Cuckoos, translated
by Colin Teevan, directed by Sir Peter Hall. (Barbican Pit: 19th June
to 12th July).
Youth
to Close
Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth at the Garrick will close
at the end of its current booking period, 15th March.
Tommy Cooper Play to
Open in April
Cooper! Not Like That, Like This will open at the Garrick on
8th April (previews from 3rd), following the closure of This Is Out
Youth. Its West End opening will be preceded by a short tour to
Malvern, Oxford and Plymouth, which opens on 5th March. Starring Jerome
Flynn, the play will be directed by Simon Callow.
Ragtime
Comes to the Piccadilly
The Broadway hit Ragtime will receive its London premiere at
the Piccadilly on 25th March. In the cast will be Dave Willetts, Maria
Friedman and Graham Bickley. The show had its UK premiere in a concert
version at the International Festival of Music Theatre in Cardiff in
October.
Real Life Drama for
TV
Four real life dramas are to be made into TV shows:
- Danielle Cable: Eyewitness tells the story of the witness
to the M25 murder case;
- Island at War is based on the German occupation of the Channel
Islands in WWII;
- POW deals with the lives of British prisoners of war in Germany;
- Wall Of Silence tells the story of the efforts of Stuart
Robe to bring the killers of his 17-year old son Jamie to justice.
Extending
- We Will Rock You is adding a Wednesday afternoon matinee
- and putting up prices. The top price for Saturday evenmings will
be £50 (plus £4.25 booking fee) from 26th February.
- The Mousetrap has extended until 25th November.
- Contact extends is booking period by four months to 30th
September.
- Fame has a new six-month booking period: it is now booking
until 25th October.
Index
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Archive A-L
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