James Corden scoops Tony Award win

James Corden has won a Best Actor award at the 66th annual Tony Awards, held yesterday in New York City.

The actor beat Philip Seymour Hoffman to win best actor in a play for his acclaimed performance in One Man, Two Guvnors, the National Theatre production directed by Nicholas Hytner.

The biggest winner of the night was musical Once, which scooped Best Musical and seven other awards including Best Director for John Tiffany. The bittersweet romantic comedy about two Dublin musicians falling in love started life in 2006 as a small independent film and has gone on to become a huge Broadway success.

Peter and the Starcatcher, a prequel to the classic Peter Pan story, won five Tonys, the most for any play, but was pipped to the Best Play post by Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which added to its 2011 Pulitzer Prize and Olivier awards success.

Other winners of the night included Nina Arianda, who won best actress in a play for her sexy performance in Venus In Fur, beating British star Tracie Bennett for her turn as Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow. Judith Light won best actress in a featured role in a play for Other Desert Cities.

The Best Director gong went to Mike Nichols for his direction of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The veteran director and producer has won a total of 8 Tonys over his successful career.

Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess won best revival of a musical and Audra McDonald won best actress in a musical for her stirring performance as Bess. Judy Kaye and Michael McGrath took home awards for their featured roles in the comedy musical Nice Work If You Can Get It.

Hosted again by Neil Patrick Harris, presenters included Paul Rudd, Christopher Plummer and Angela Lansbury.

TONY AWARD 2012 WINNERS – See full list of winners 

LINKS

Book tickets to Broadway Shows

VIDEO

Watch James Corden’s acceptance speech at the 2012 Tony Awards

 

Tony Award Winners 2012

Nominations announced: 1 May 2012. Awards announced: 11 June 2012

WINNERS

BEST PLAY
Clybourne Park
Author: Bruce Norris

BEST MUSICAL
Once

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Once
Enda Walsh

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
Newsies
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Jack Feldman

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
James Corden, One Man, Two Guvnors

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Nina Arianda, Venus in Fur

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Steve Kazee, Once

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Audra McDonald, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Christian Borle, Peter and the Starcatcher

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Judith Light, Other Desert Cities

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Michael McGrath, Nice Work If You Can Get It

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Judy Kaye, Nice Work If You Can Get It

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Mike Nichols, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
John Tiffany, Once

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Christopher Gattelli, Newsies

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Martin Lowe, Once

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
Donyale Werle, Peter and the Starcatcher

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Bob Crowley, Once

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Paloma Young, Peter and the Starcatcher

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Gregg Barnes, Follies

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Jeff Croiter, Peter and the Starcatcher

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Natasha Katz, Once

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Darron L West, Peter and the Starcatcher

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Clive Goodwin, Once

SPECIAL TONY AWARD® FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATRE
Emanuel Azenberg

REGIONAL THEATRE AWARD
The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.

ISABELLE STEVENSON AWARD
Bernadette Peters

SPECIAL TONY AWARD
Actors’ Equity Association
Hugh Jackman

TONY HONORS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THE THEATRE
Freddie Gershon
Artie Siccardi
TDF Open Doors

Bruce Norris play Clybourne Park wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which was staged at the Royal Court theatre last year and is currently playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London, has won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The prestigious award for drama was announced alongside the other prizes at a press conference today, 18 April 2011. The prizes will be awarded at a luncheon in late May in the Low Library on the Columbia University campus.

The Prize comes after the play has won every major Best Play award in the UK, including an Olivier Award, Evening Standard Theatre Award and South Bank Sky Arts Award.

The Pulitzer awards committee said that Clybourne Park was “a powerful work whose memorable characters speak in witty and perceptive ways to America’s sometimes toxic struggle with race and class consciousness.”

It beat nominated plays A Free Man of Color by John Guare and Detroit by Lisa D’Amour. Last year’s prize went to Broadway rock musical Next to Normal, with music by Tom Kitt, book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey.

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is awarded to a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life. The prize is $10,000.

Clybourne Park is running in London for a strictly limited season at the Wyndham’s Theatre, staring Sophie Thompson and Stephen Campbell Moore, and is directed by Dominic Cooke. Bruce Norris’s bitingly funny satire is about property and racial tensions in America. The first act is set in 1959, when a black family buys a house in a white Chicago suburb. Act two sees the actors take on different roles and the story reverse to the same house but in 2009. The modern-day neighbourhood is now predominantly black, and a white couple are trying to buy the same house.

LINKS

TICKETS: Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre
NEWS: More News on Clybourne Park
AWARDS: Pulitzer Prize for Drama – past winners
AWARDS: The Pulitzer Prize website

Best Play winner Clybourne Park: Save £11 on tickets

Save £11 on tickets to CLYBOURNE PARK at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Friday performances

Winner of just about every Best Play award going – including the Olivier Awards and Evening Standard Theatre Awards –  the Royal Court’s sell out, smash hit comedy is now on at the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End – but only for a strictly limited season.

The critics hailed it as ‘Shockingly Entertaining’ and ‘Appallingly funny’ as this devastating satire explores the ever contentious themes of race and property ownership from two time periods – 1959 and 2009.

A terrific cast, including Sophie Thompson, Stephen Campbell Moore and Lorna Brown, star in Bruce Norris’s award-winning play directed by Dominic Cooke.

The Independent

The Telegraph

The Times

The Guardian

Save £11 on tickets to CLYBOURNE PARK at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Valid Monday to Friday performances

LINKS

Book tickets to Clybourne Park
Reviews on Clybourne Park
More news on Clybourne Park

Olivier Awards: National, Legally Blonde

In a star-studded awards ceremony last night, Sunday 13 March, at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, the Society of London Theatre held their 35th annual theatre awards ceremony.

Hosted by musicals star Michael Ball and actress Imelda Staunton, the awards celebrate the best of the year’s London theatre.

Big winners last night included the National Theatre, which swept up seven awards for two of its productions: Thea Sharrock’s revival of Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance, which won awards including best revival, best actress for Nancy Carroll and best actor in a supporting role for Adrian Scarborough; and its production of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The White Guard, including best director for Howard Davies and best set design for Bunny Christie.

In other subsidised venues the Royal Court picked up three awards, including best new play for Bruce Norris’s comedy Clybourne Park, which is now playing at the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End, and two awards for the Donmar Warehouse, including David Thaxton picking up best actor in a musical for Passion.

Roger Allam won best actor for his performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Globe’s production of Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, beating stiff competition from Rory Kinnear, Derek Jacobi, David Suchet and Mark Rylance.

The most successful musical of the night was Legally Blonde at the Savoy Theatre, which picked up three major awards: best new musical, best actress in a musical for Sheridan Smith and best performance in a supporting role in a Musical for Jill Halfpenny.

Other musicals rewarded at the event included We Will Rock You, which won the Olivier Audience Award voted for by members of the theatregoing public, and the Open Air Theatre’s summer production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.

Stephen Sondheim was presented with an Olivier Special Award for his enormous contribution to theatre, with the award presented by Sir Cameron Mackintosh and legendary actress Angela Lansbury.

Big shows to miss out on awards this year included Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies, which failed to pick up any awards despite seven nominations, and End of the Rainbow at the Trafalgar Studios, which was nominated for four awards including best actress for Tracie Bennett in her performance as Judy Garland.

Notable performances during the ceremony included a star turn by legendary American singer Barry Manilow, who also sang a duet with Wicked and Oliver! star Kerry Ellis; current and former stars of The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies – Ramin Karimloo, John Owen-Jones and Sierra Boggess; Emma Williams and Michael Xavier singing Everything We Know from Love Story; Alfie Boe, who is soon to star in Les Miserables at the Queen’s Theatre, singing Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific; Susan McFadden and the current cast of Legally Blonde; and Adrian Lester paying tribute to Stephen Sondheim by singing Being Alive from Company, along with Angela Lansbury singing a moving rendition of Liaisons from A Little Night Music and 400 students from national drama schools singing Our Time from Merrily We Roll Along.

LISTEN & WATCH AGAIN

BBC iPlayer – Radio 2 coverage

BBC iPlayer – BBC News

LINKS

Olivier Awards – list of winners

Olivier Awards microsite

Olivier Awards – news

Olivier Awards – Binkie Blog’s Picks and Pans

Clybourne Park – Reviews Round-up

Round-up of reviews for Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

A terrific cast, including Sophie Thompson, star in Clybourne Park, Bruce Norris’s award-winning play directed by Dominic Cooke, that gets a well-deserved transfer from the Royal Court into the West End.

This bitingly funny play about property and racial tensions in America sees the first act set in 1959, when a black family buys a house in a white Chicago suburb. Act two sees the actors take on different roles and the story reverse to the same house but in 2009. The modern-day neighbourhood is now predominantly black, and a white couple are trying to buy the same house.

The cast is singled out for special praise, particularly Sophie Thompson, Stuart McQuarrie, Sarah Goldberg, Stephen Campbell Moore, Lucian Msamati and Lorna Brown.

The play is shockingly funny and the critics loved it as much the second time round as the first. The play has been winning every Best Play gong going, including the Evening Standard awards, and is tipped to do well at next month’s Olivier Awards.

See reviews below from the Telegraph, Guardian, Times, Evening Standard and Independent.

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

In the West End This Week: Wicked, Oliviers

What’s coming up in the West End this week, including The Wizard of Oz, Wicked, Shoes, the Olivier Awards and The Children’s Hour.

Monday 7 February 2011

A new cast joins Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre. Lee Mead said farewell to the company on Saturday night, and a number of new cast members join the show tonight including Mark Evans as Fiyero, Zoë Rainey as Nessarose and Ben Stott as Boq, alongside current stars Rachel Tucker as Elphaba and Louise Dearman as Glinda.

The Olivier Award nominations will be announced today at 11am at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This year’s awards – which will be presented on 13 March at Drury Lane – promise to have upped the star and glamour quotient and will be televised by the BBC.

The Wizard of Oz starts previews tonight. This mega new production at the London Palladium, rebooted by Jeremy Sams and produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Bill Kenwright, sees Over The Rainbow star Danielle Hope join Michael Crawford and Hannah Waddingham.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

A big theatre day! Shoes – the hugely successful Sadler’s Wells show – opens tonight at the Peacock Theatre to give the show a much deserved West End airing.

Million Dollar Quartet, the musical that recreates the historic day when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis all made music together, starts previews at the Noel Coward Theatre on Tuesday.

Also much deserving is Clybourne Park, which gets its official opening at the Wyndhams Theatre starring Sophie Thompson and Stephen Campbell Moore. Bruce Norris’ satirical comedy, directed by Dominic Cooke for the Royal Court, has been sweeping the boards at various awards including the recent South Bank Sky Arts Awards and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards.

Also on Tuesday, Showstopper the Improvised Musical begins at the Ambassadors Theatre in London with the the all-singing, all-dancing cast creating a brand new musical from scratch every night in this award-winning production. Plus, the Southwark Playhouse opens its new production of Sondheim’s Company directed by Joe Fredericks.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

The Children’s Hour gets its official opening night at the Comedy Theatre tonight, starring Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Keira Knightley and Ellen Burstyn in Lillian Hellman’s controversial play.

Friday 11 February 2011

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee starts previews as the Donmar Warehouse.

And coming up

Next week sees The Woman in Black celebrate its 23rd birthday, having opened in the West End on 15 February 1989. 2011 promises to be a big year for the show, with a brand new movie version of Susan Hill’s classic horror story opening in cinemas starring Daniel Radcliffe.

Clybourne Park scoops awards

Bruce Norris’s new play Clybourne Park, produced by the Royal Court last year and transferring to the Wyndham’s Theatre from 28 January, has scooped two major best new play awards.

In ceremonies held today in central London, the South Bank Sky Arts Awards and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards both presented Clybourne Park with Best New Play gongs.

The Royal Court also picked up two more awards from the Critics’ Circle, both mirroring their wins at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards last year: the Most Promising Playwright Award for Anya Reiss’s Spur of the Moment and Daniel Kaluuya for most promising newcomer for Sucker Punch.

The National, RSC and Donmar Warehouse also did well from the Critics’ Circle awards with Michael Grandage and Thea Sharrock  jointly awarded best director for King Lear at the Donmar and After the Dance at the National respectively.

Other winners included theatre veterans David Suchet receiving a best actor award for All My Sons at the Apollo and Derek Jacobi a best Shakespearean performance award for King Lear at the Donmar. Best musical went to the RSC’s Matilda The Musical based on Roald Dahl’s popular children’s book and best actress was awarded to Jenny Jules for her performance in Ruined at the Almeida.

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards led by Melvyn Bragg, the first to be presented by the Sky Arts channel following ITV’s axing of Bragg’s South Bank Show last year, saw Dame Judi Dench awarded the Outstanding Achievement award. Alongside Clybourne Park’s win, best opera production was awarded to Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg from Welsh National Opera and best dance was Akram Khan’s Gnosis at Sadler’s Wells.

LINKS

Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards 2010 – full list of winners

South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2011 – full list of winners

BOOK

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London

Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards – Winners 2010

Awards announced: 25 January 2011, Prince of Wales Theatre London

Best New Play:
Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris
Presented by Kate Bassett

The Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical (new or revival):
Matilda, A Musical
Presented by Matt Wolf

Best Actor:
David Suchet in All My Sons
Presented by Charles Spencer

Best Actress:
Jenny Jules in Ruined
Presented by Jane Edwardes

The John and Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance:
Derek Jacobi in King Lear
Presented by Michael Billington

Best Director:
Awarded jointly to: Michael Grandage for King Lear
Presented by Georgina Brown
&
Thea Sharrock for After the Dance
Presented by Claire Allfree

Best Designer: Bunny Christie for The White Guard
Presented by Paul Taylor

Most Promising Playwright:
Anya Reiss for Spur of the Moment
Presented by Ian Shuttleworth

The Jack Tinker Award for Most Promising Newcomer (other than a playwright):
Daniel Kaluuya for Sucker Punch
Presented by Henry Hitchings

New this week: The Children’s Hour

New shows coming to London this week include The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre starring Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss; the Royal Court’s award-winning Clybourne Park to the Wyndham’s Theatre; and Will & Grace star Leslie Jordan in his Trip Down the Pink Carpet.

The Children’s Hour

Lillian Hellman’s classic, controversial play started previews at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday (22 January 2011), with an official opening night on 9 February.

The play is generating much interest but more because of the casting than the subject matter: when the play premiered in 1934 it was swiftly banned in London and Boston for its story of two school mistresses accused of being lesbian lovers by a school girl. Rather, this new production directed by Ian Rickson at the Comedy Theatre is in the papers for its starry casting. Hollywood actress Keira Knightley is back in the venue after her 2009  run in The Misanthrope, and is joined by Elisabeth Moss, aka Peggy from Mad Men, as well as Oscar winning actress Ellen Burstyn.

Ex-Royal Court artistic director Ian Rickson will direct The Children’s Hour, following his huge hit with Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem in 2009.

Book tickets to The Children’s Hour at the Comedy Theatre

Leslie Jordan – My Trip Down The Pink Carpet

Hilarious American actor Leslie Jordan brings his outrageous show to London. Best known for his role in Will & Grace, Jordan tells an entertaining collection of true life stories from small-town USA to the pink carpet of Hollywood.

Self-styled as “the gayest man I know”, Leslie Jordan reveals his childhood agonies, dangerous temptations, and revealing celebrity encounters — from Boy George to George Clooney — in his laugh-out-loud show about Hollywood, fame, addiction, gay culture, and learning to love oneself.

Special offer: Save £18.50 on tickets to Leslie Jordan – My Trip Down The Pink Carpet at the Apollo Theatre

Clybourne Park

The Royal Court brings its Evening Standard award-winning play Clybourne Park into the West End for a limited run.

Bruce Norris’ satirical comedy transfers to the Wyndham’s Theatre from 28 January staring Sophie Thompson and Stephen Campbell Moore, and is directed by Dominic Cooke.

Bruce Norris’s hilarious satire explores the fault line between the worlds of race and property, contrasting late 50′s Chicago to the present day.

Book tickets to Clybourne Park at the Wyndham’s Theatre

COMING SOON

IN ONE WEEK…

Frankenstein starts previews at the National starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller (from 5 February). Lee Mead waves goodbye to Wicked at the Apollo Victoria (5 February).

IN TWO WEEKS…

Shoes the Musical – the hugely successful Sadler’s Wells show – is West End bound at the Peacock Theatre from 8 February. The Children’s Hour gets its official opening night at the Comedy Theatre on 9 February. And The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee starts previews as the Donmar Warehouse from 11 February.

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