Westend Box Office | Tickets and Attractions » West End awards

Jeff Goldblum to be West End prisoner

Alan — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:05:24 +0000

Jeff Goldblum is scheduled to be the star of his second West End Play at the Old Vic; it will be The Prisoner of Second Avenue by Neil Simon.

The play is scheduled to open on July 13^th at the Vaudeville Theatre with the Old Vic to be put to use in the Sam Mendes’ Bridge Project.

This is Goldblum’s first step onto the London stage since 2008 when he appeared beside Kevin Spacey in an Old Vic production of the play Speed the Plow, which he described at the time as a ‘delicious experience.’

Terry Johnson is slated to direct the play who already has several awards under his belt both as a director and a playwright.

Goldblum will portray the character of Mel on the stage that loses his job and then has a nervous breakdown.

Mendes will return to the Old Vic for his second year in The Bridge Project, which will start on June 12^th and run through August 21st. During this time period his theatre group of American and British actors will be directed through two plays by Shakespeare, The Tempest and As You Like It.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Brits receive many Tony nominations

Alan — Sat, 08 May 2010 03:25:30 +0000

Two small theatres in London, the Donmar Warehouse and the Menier Chocolate Factory, received a big boost when they led the nominations for the Tony theatre awards, which were announced this week.

La Cage aux Folles from Terry Johnson leads the list of top nominations along with Fela!, with 11 nominations crowning a life that began at the Southwark Chocolate Factory before hitting the West End. Included in La Cage aux Folles nods are nominations for Zaza/Albin and Kelsey Grammar in the role Georges.

Following close behind, winning acclaim for the Southwark theatre where it started out, was A Little Night Music from Stephen Sondheim, which received four nods including one each for Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury.

Producer of La Cage aux Folles, Sonia Friedman, said that the success of the play at the Chocolate Factory prompting it to continue on to Broadway and the West End is due to the vision of the play’s artistic director David Babani because of the way he used the set to tell the story.

Friedman continued to say that it was a gamble, but she is thrilled that the play received such high accolades, and is thrilled for everyone involved.

Also worth mentioning is the Donmar Warehouse Red production, which received seven nominations.

The most interesting category to watch however may be the best acting category, which this year will include Jude Law, Denzel Washington, Alfred Molina, Liv Schreiber, and Christopher Walken. For the best actress category, the Americans stole the nominee list, which includes Laura Linney, Valerie Harper, Viola Davis, Jan Maxwell, and Linda Lavin.

The Tony award ceremony will take place on June 13^th, with another Brit, Alan Ayckbourn receiving the lifetime achievement award and David Hyde Pierce taking home an award to honour his work with charities for Alzheimer’s.

Hollywood stars lead West End award nominations Yesterday the West End’s power to get A list talent...
All surprises at Olivier Awards Although the world of theatre should be used to fate...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

All surprises at Olivier Awards

Alan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:36:19 +0000

Although the world of theatre should be used to fate reversals and plot twists, most of the British stage stars were still surprised by the outcome of the Olivier Awards as many unexpected winners made it up to the podium, while some previously predicted shoe-ins such as Keira Knightly and Jude Law stayed in their seats.

Even the Royal Court which was thought to be a sure thing for the Best New Play category lost the award to a Battersea pub theatre.

The winning play by Katori Hall was titled the Mountaintop and was a reconstruction of the night that Martin Luther King Jr. spent in his hotel before his assassination. It stole the award from the crowd favorites, Jerusalem and Lucy by Jez Butterworth and Enron by Lucy Prebble. This was Hall’s second play and the first play by her to make it onto the West End stage.

The win by Hall was also monumental given the fact that she is the first black woman to ever receive the award for Best New Play since the inception of the awards in 1976, and only the fourth female. The first black male writer to take an award was August Wilson in 2002.

Hall’s win should make her an international playwright from here on out with The Mountaintop already scheduled to debut on Broadway.

The newly acclaimed writer was overcome and surprised by her win stating that she did not even think that at age 28 she would ever have a shot at an Olivier.

Although the play debuted in London, Hall is originally from Memphis, TN in the US prompting her to say that it’s ironic that she made it big in London with a play about a historic American figure.

Hollywood stars lead West End award nominations Yesterday the West End’s power to get A list talent...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Hollywood stars lead West End award nominations

Alan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:26:33 +0000

Yesterday the West End’s power to get A list talent was once again proven by the fact that many of the Laurence Olivier Awards nominees could just as easily been nominated for an Oscar.

Among those on the list for Best Actress and Best Actor are Jude Law, James Earl Jones, Rachel Weisz, and Imelda Staunton. Each of these has either been nominated or won an Oscar in the past. Another Oscar nominee, Keira Knightley, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress this year as well for her role in The Misanthrope.

Additionally, three more Olivier Award nominees- Juliet Stevenson, James McAvoy, and Sam West- have also been nominated in the past for a Bafta film award, which is also prestigious. Although there are usually a few Hollywood A listers on the Olivier nod list, very rarely are there so many within one year.

Favoured winners for Best Actor this year are Sam West for his role in Enron and Mark Rylance for his role in Jerusalem. Both of these plays were produced at the Royal Court Theatre, which leads the Olivier’s in terms of most nods by a production team with a total of 15. Following close behind are the Donmar Warehouse, which secured ten, and the National Theatre which secured nine.

Of particular note is the fact that her appearance in The Misanthrope was Keira Knightley’s first appearance on the West End stage, which has many wondering if she was nominated for her work in Hollywood or her actual performance.

Brits receive many Tony nominations Two small theatres in London, the Donmar Warehouse and the...
All surprises at Olivier Awards Although the world of theatre should be used to fate...
Debbie Reynolds back on the road Debbie Reynolds has announced that she will embark on a...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.