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Dateline:
12th May, 2002
No Change in Policy,
Says RSC Boss
According to a report in "The Stage", the Royal Shakespeare
Company chairman, Lord Alexander, has said in a private memo that the
so-called "Fleet Strategy", the redevelopment of the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre, will not be abandoned, even though its originator,
Adrian Noble, is to leave the company. The proposal, which will cost
£100m and has been agreed in outline by the Culture select committee
of the House of Commons, has caused great controversy. Candidates for
the post of director will be required to agree to carry through the
proposals.
No mention was made of the other two contentious planks of Noble's
policy, the introduction of short term contracts and the decision to
leave the Barbican.
More details have emerged of some of the incidents which led to Noble's
decision to leave: a backstage poster campaign and the fact that his
wife was sworn at in the streets of Stratford.
British Tony Nominations
A large number of British shows and actors are nominated for Tony Awards:
- Oklahoma! - Best Revival of a Musical
- Mamma Mia! - Best Musical
- Noises Off - Best revival of a Play
- Trevor Nunn - Best Director of a Musical (for Oklahoma!)
- Howard Davies (Private Lives) and Sir Richard Eyre (The
Crucible) - Best Director of a Play
- Alan Rickman (Private Lives), Liam Neeson (The Crucible)
and Alan Bates (Fortune's Fool) - Best Actor
- Lindsay Duncan (Private Lives) and Helen Mirren (Dance
of Death) - Best Actress
Globe 2002 Season
Shakespeare's Globe's 2002 season is to be what the theatre calls a
"Cupid and Psyche" season. It features Twelfth Night,
A Midsummer Night's Dream and a modern comedy, The Golden
Ass, by Peter Oswald.
Twelfth Night is played, director Mark Rylance says, in the
style of Shakespeare's own time, based on research into the period of
the first recorded performance.
Be a Barclays
Judge
Applications are currently being invited for joining the 140-strong
2002 judging panel for the Barclays Theatre Awards, the only awards
for regional theatre. The Awards’ year runs from 1st September
2002 to 31st August 2003.
To apply to become a judge, you can:
- Send a stamped addressed envelope to Awards Panel Applications,
Awards Office, TMA, 32 Rose Street, London WC2E 9ET
- Phone the Barclays Theatre Awards Hotline on 020 7557 6777
- Email your name and address to barclaystheatreawards@solttma.co.uk
Closing date for applications is July 5 2002. Panellists will be selected
during July and August.
Cats
Closes - on its 21st Birthday
The longest-running West End musical, Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats,
closed yesterday on its 21st birthday.
Damon out for Two
Weeks
Matt Damon will not be performing in Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our
Youth at the Garrick from 20th May to 12th June. He will be replaced
by Adam Rayner. He will return on 13th June fopr the final five performances.
The Monologues Return
The Vagina Monologues will not, after all, close when the run
finishes at the New Ambassadors on 22nd June, when Lobby Hero
transfers there from the Donmar. The show will reopen at the Arts Theatre
on 25th June and will book through until October. Details of casting
will be announced later.
Last Mendes Casting
Announced
The casting for outgoing Donmar director Sam Mendes' last productions
has been announced. Simon Russell Beale and Emily Watson will be joined
by Helen McCrory, Mark Strong, Paul Jesson, David Bradley and Cherry
Morris in Uncle Vanya (7th September to 20th November) and Twelfth
Night (11th October to 30th November).
Exchange Cancels Premiere
Manchester's Royal Exchange has cancelled the show which was to have
been the culmination of its 25th anniversary celebrations. The world
premiere of Sex, Chips and Rock 'n' Roll was to have run from
26th June to 3rd August (when the Commonwealth Games are due to be held
in the city) but it has now been replaced by a revival of Noel Coward's
Design for Living.
"Search for a
Star" for New West End Show
Theatre producers are to tour the country this summer, looking for performers
to star for a week each in a new West End musical, due to open at the
Shaftesbury on 30th August.
The show is called 125th Street and is about the famous Apollo
Theatre on 125th Street in Harlem. Each week during the 50s and 60s
the theatre held a "Search for a Star" spot, and the producers
hope to recreate this for the West End show. The actual professional
casting has not yet been done.
New Scottish Film
Studio
Scotland is to get its first film studio, which will be situated on
the outskirts of Inverness. The studio, which will cost £20m,
is planned by Artists Network, a group headed by Scottish actor James
Cosmo, Eurythmics member Dave Stewart and an Aberdeen businessman Rick
Wood. The studio's first production will be Garden of Angels
and Meryl Streep is rumoured to be lined up to play the lead.
Try-Out for New Play
New theatre company, Mindrocket Productions, which has been set up to
mount work appealing to a younger audience, is putting on a rehearsed
reading of a new play, Bed by Brendan Cowell (award-winning Australian
writer), on 21st May at the Tristan Bates Theatre inthe Actors Centre
at 7.45. This is with a view to a full commercial production. They are
currently raising money and talking to a small West End theatre. Industry
professionals who are interested should contact Andrew
Bain.
An Enchanted Evening
Tonight (12th May) Judi Dench, Lesley Garrett, Bob Hoskins, Graham Bickley,
Kim Criswell, Ruthie Henshall, Jimmy Johnston, Lesley Joseph, Josie
Lawrence, Denis Lawson, Maureen Lipman, Millicent Martin, Sheridan Morley,
Clive Rowe, Joanna Riding, Clare Sweeney, Finty Williams, Dave Willetts
and Richard Wilson are taking part in a charity gala evening at the
Theatre Royal Drury Lane in aid of the Neurofibromatosis Association.
Directed by Simon Callow and introduced by Gillian Anderson, the gala,
An Enchanted Evening, celebrates the centenary of Richard Rodgers
and features his music.
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