Music theatre actress and singer Stephanie Lawrence has died suddenly in her home in Fulham, aged 50. Paramedics who had been called to the house then called the police, but they have since said that there are no suspicious cirumstances.
Stephanie Lawrence has been particularly associated with the musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber, having appeared in Cats, Evita (in which she played Eva Peron, taking over from Elaine Paige), and Starlight Express.
NT Ensemble contracts not to be renewed
According to a report in The Stage, the current ensemble company at the National Theatre will not have their contracts renewed when they run out at the end of January, although a new company will be formed next year.
The director of the RNT's Ensemble production of Peer Gynt, scheduled to open on 13th November, has had to withdraw from the production due to illness. Rumours of friction between director Connall Morrison and the company and his sacking have been denied by the company, which said that he had returned to Ireland on medical advice.
The play was originally to have opened on 24th October but had been put back because of problems with the Ensemble production of Romeo and Juliet, in which it is said that Trevor Nunn was very unhappy with the work of director Tim Supple and took over the direction himself. The production, which was also delayed and opened on 3rd October, was not well received. It was also annnounced this week that both plays will close at the end of their current booking periods.
The Ensemble was due to produce two more productions, Remembrance of Things Psst (which is due to open on 23rd November) and Playboy of the Western World which was to have been directed by Morrison, to open in February. The position of the latter production is now unclear.
The Ambassador's Theatre Group (ATG) is to join with Natural Nylon Ltd, the film company owned by Ewan McGregor, Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Sean Pertwee and Johnny Lee Miller, to set up a new production company.