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Dateline:
3rd November, 2002
Guildford Cuts Wipe
Out ACE Funding Increase
Guildford's Yvonne Arnaud Theatre has had its annual grant from Guildford
Borough Council cut in half, exactly cancelling out the extra £100,000
it received from the Arts Council of England as part of the general
funding increase for regional theatre last year, which came about because
of the report that most regional producing theatres in England were
trading insolvently. (See this week's feature.)
Chitty Chitty...
BANG! (Again)
The £750,000 star of the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
the car itself, crashed this week, bringing the show to a total standstill
and patrons had to leave before the interval. In the audience on Friday
night were Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles who, like the rest
of the audience, had to be content with the offer of replacements tickets
for a later date - an offer which, it is said, they hope to accept.
Because of a technical failure the car collided with a battleship -
on Hallowe'en! This is the second time that a performance of the hit
musical at the Palladium has been affected by problems with the car.
On the second night an electrical fault prevented the car starting and
so the entire performance was cancelled.
McGregor Leaves Natural
Nylon
Ewan McGregor has left Natural Nylon, the production company he founded
last year with Jude Law, Johnny Lee Miller, Sean Pertwee and Sadie Frost.
The reason given was his that filming commitments leave him no time
to devote to the company or appear in any of its productions.
Three productions were promised at the time of the company's launch,
but only one has so far made it to the stage, the Young Vic co-production
of Dr Faustus, starring Law, which played at the Young Vic in
the Spring.
BECTU Claims Victory
at Leicester
The dispute between backstage trade union BECTU and the Leicester Haymarket
has been resolved, with the theatre agreeing to an extra 32p per hour
for permanent staff who are paid on an hourly basis. Management had
originally offered 17p. The pay rise will be backdated to 1st April.
The award has been funded by a management pay freeze and the diversion
of money from the education budget.
Conti Plays Barrymore
Tom Conti opened on Wednesday in William Luce’s One Helluva
Life, a play about John Barrymore, which won Christopher Plummer
a Tony Award for Best Actor in 1997 when it had a run on Broadway, followed
by a US tour.
The play opened at the Greenwich Theatre and will then go to Guildford,
Bath, Dorset and Richmond. Other tour dates are expected to be announced
soon, and then it is hoped the production will transfer to the West
End.
Playhouse to Be Sold?
It is rumoured that London's Playhouse Theatre is likelt to be sold
at some stage this month and that the buyer will be an American theatre
owner.
Full Monty
to Close
The Full Monty, which last week announced an extension until
September 2003, has now posted early closing notices for 23rd November.
Soap Star in Neilson
Christmas Show
EastEnders star Patsy Palmer is to star in a Christmas play by
Scottish enfant terrible playwright Anthony Neilson at London's
Riverside Studios. About a kidnapped elf held in a North London warehouse,
The Night before Christmas is described as "an alternative
panto".
Old Vic to Create
Studio Space
The Old Vic is to follow the example of the National Theatre by creating
a studio space. Costing up to £300,000, the studio will be a temporary
affair, with the auditorium divided into two, producing a 600-seater
main house and a 200-seater studio.
Morley Memoirs Published
This Week
Writer and critic Sheridan Morley's memoirs, Asking for Trouble,
will be published by Hodder and Stoughton on Thursday.
The Vortex
Casting Confirmed
The casting for Michael Grandage's first Donmar production, Coward's
The Vortex, has been announced. The cast will feature Bette Bourne,
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Deborah Findlay, Toni Kanal, Indira Varma, Daniel
Weyman in addition to Francesca Annis.
No Manchester Licence
for Glastonbury
Manchester City Council refused permission for a performance of the
musical Glastonbury in the city's Whitworth Park last week because
the producers failed to meet some conditions the copuncil had laid down.
Producers Best Behaviour Productions hope that it will go ahead on 25th
NOvember in an as yet unnamed venue.
Davies' West End Debut
Details Announced
The details of the transfer of Alan Davies' Edinbugh Fringe hit, Aunty
and Me, to the West End have been announced. The play will open
at Wyndham's on 14th January (previews from 8th). Marcia Warren co-stars.
Our House
Cancels Matinees
Our House, the musical based on the songs of pop band Madness,
has cancelled all Friday matinees until 6th december and the Monday
2nd December performance. The show opened last week to mixed but generally
reasonable reviews, after delays caused by technical problems.
Index
A-F
Index G-K
Index L-Q
Index R-Z
News
Archive A-L
News Archive M-Z
Production News Archive
Please note that all three Archive
indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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