Ashley Zhangazha wins Ian Charleson Award 2012

Actor Ashley Zhangazha has won first prize in this year’s Ian Charleson Awards, for his performance as Ross in Macbeth at the Crucible, Sheffield.

Ashley Zhangazha, who trained at Guildhall, was said to be “thrilled” to have won the award. Ashley is currently appearing alongside Lenny Henry in Fences at the Duchess Theatre.

Directed by Daniel Evans, the Crucible production of Macbeth ran from September to October last year. Ashley Zhangazha was also nominated for the 2010 awards for his performance in King Lear at the Donmar Warehouse.

The Second Prize at this year’s awards went to Amy Morgan for her role as Margery Pinchwife in The Country Wife at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, the Third Prize to Lara Rossi as Dol Common in The Alchemist at the Liverpool Playhouse, and the Special Commendation went to Vanessa Kirby in the role of Masha in Three Sisters at the Young Vic.

The awards were announced at a lunch ceremony at the National Theatre on 24 May 2013. Run jointly by the National Theatre and the Sunday Times, the Ian Charleson Awards celebrate the best UK performances by actors under 30 in a classical role.

The annual awards were established in 1991  in memory of the actor Ian Charleson who died in 1990 from AIDS.

This year’s jury consisted of Michael Grandage, Geraldine James, John Peter and Wendy Spon.

LINKS

Ian Charleson Awards
Ashley Zhangazha’s agent

The Full Monty – The Play at the Noel Coward Theatre

Simon Beaufoy has adapted his Oscar-nominated screenplay of The Full Monty into an hilarious new play, running at the Noel Coward in the West End from 20 February 2014.

Based on the smash-hit film, the stage play features songs from the movie by Donna Summer, Hot Chocolate and Tom Jones.

Directed by Daniel Evans for Sheffiled Theatres, with design by Robert Jones and choreography by Steven Hoggett, the show will star Kenny Doughty as Gaz, Craig Gazey as Lumper, Simon Rouse as Gerald, Keiran O’Brien as Guy, Roger Morlidge as Dave and Sidney Cole as Horse. Other parts are played by Scott Anson, Tracy Brabin, Caroline Carver, Eamonn Fleming, Elaine Glover, Rachel Lumberg, Ian Mercer.

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Theatre:  Noel Coward Theatre

Me and My Girl to the Shaftesbury?

BBC Radio 2 – The Musical

Don’t miss this excellent new series on BBC Radio 2 all about the musical.

The eight part series started on Monday, 6 September 2010, at 10pm UK time (listen again here) and each week will cover a different aspect of the world of musical theatre and its 80 year history.

The Musical is presented by a different name in musical theatre each week – with this Monday’s show voiced by award-winning actress Sian Phillips.

This first programme, “Stories with Songs”, revealed the importance of a good book – or story – in a musical, and the contradiction between this and why so few musicals choose to adapt existing stories rather than originate their own. Shows used to demonstrate include The Boy Friend, A Chorus Line, Chess, Starlight Express and Sunday In The Park With George, with lots of showbiz contributions from the likes of Stephen Sondheim, Patti Lupone, John Barrowman, Elaine Stritch, Maria Friedman, Sandy Wilson, Ruthie Henshall, Tim Rice, Elaine Paige, Marvin Hamlisch and Michael Grandage.

Episode two, “Drawn From Life” will be presented by musicals star, Sondheim aficionado and current artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, Daniel Evans, and covers some of the life-stories of real people used in musicals, from Gypsy and Evita to The King and I.

The Musical is produced by Malcolm Prince, who also produces Elaine Paige’s Sunday show on Radio 2.

A number of other theatrical documentaries will come to Radio 2 this autumn including a look at the history of the London Palladium in its centenary year.

LINKS

Listen to The Musical – Episode 1

BBC Radio 2 – The Musical

Casting News: Me and My Girl

Anna Mackmin has announced her cast for the Christmas revival of Me and My Girl at the Sheffield Crucible, opening on 2 December.

Jemima Rooper will star as Sally and Daniel Crossley as Bill in the new version of Noel Gay’s classic show, alongside Miriam Margolyes as the Duchess.

Anna Mackmin, who recently directed Tom Stoppard’s The Real Thing at the Old Vic, will be directing her first musical. She is working with scriptwriter Stephen Russell to give the book of the show, which was rewritten by Stephen Fry for the successful 1980s West End production, a bit more sparkle. Choreography will be by Stephen Mear and design by Peter McKintosh.

Jemima Rooper came to prominence in Channel Four drama As If and has had numerous screen and stage roles including her current performance in All My Sons at the Apollo Theatre alongside Zoe Wanamaker and David Suchet.

Daniel Crossley, who is the partner of Sheffield artistic director Daniel Evans, is an accomplished musicals actor having appeared in high-profile shows including Mary Poppins, Chicago, Fosse and last summer’s Hello Dolly! at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park.

The show is widely tipped to head to the West End after its Sheffield run given that it has been 17 years since the Leicester Haymarket Theatre’s production left the Adelphi Theatre in London after 8 years, 3,303 performances and lots of Lambeth walking by the likes of Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson. The production made a lot of money for all concerned so it’s a canny Daniel Evans, Sheffield’s artistic director, who’s resurrecting it.

LINKS

Me and My Girl – Sheffield Theatres

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Stephen Sondheim tribute at BBC Proms

A major tribute to musicals composer Stephen Sondheim was held on Saturday, 31 July, in London to celebrate his 80th year.

The tribute was led by actress Judi Dench as part of a special Sondheim at 80 BBC Proms event at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Judi Dench reprised Send In the Clowns from A Little Night Music, which she famously performed in Sean Mathias’s 1995 production at the National Theatre, winning an Olivier award for the role.

Dench said before the event: “Singing at the Proms is not something I ever imagined I would do and it’s a hugely exciting – if slightly daunting – prospect. I believe that Stephen Sondheim is a true genius. His impact on musical theatre can never be over-stated and I’m delighted to be part of his 80th birthday celebrations at the BBC Proms.”

The concert also saw a host of Sondheim aficionados perform, including Daniel Evans and Julian Ovenden, who will resurrect their original parts in the Donmar Warehouse’s 2000 production of Merrily We Roll Along in a special concert at the Queen’s Theatre on 31 October 2010;  Simon Russell Beale sang a fabulously camp Everybody Ought to Have a Maid from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, and who is about to appear in Deathtrap at the Noel Coward Theatre; and Bryan Terfel and Maria Friedman sang as Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett. Other performers included Caroline O’Connor, who will bring her one-woman show, The Showgirl Within, to the Garrick Theatre from 3 October, and Jenna Russell who will play the Baker’s wife in Sondheim’s Into The Woods at the Open Air Theatre in Regent’s Park from this Thursday, 5 August.

Sondheim shows featured in the concert included Follies, Sunday In The Park With George, Into The Woods, The Frogs and Company.

The performers were joined by a chorus of singers from the BBC Performing Arts Fund, the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor and architect of the Prom, David Charles Abell.

Stephen Sondheim was present at the concert and gave a pre-concert talk that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

LINKS

An audio recording of the Sondheim at 80 BBC Proms concert

BBC iplayer (UK only)

BBC Radio 3 – Composer of the week: Stephen Sondheim

REVIEW: Andrew Clements in the Guardian, Sondheim at 80 BBC Prom

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actor Winners

Best Actor

2012 Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller for Frankenstein
2011 Roger Allam for Henry IV Parts 1 & 2
2010 Mark Rylance for Jerusalem
2009 Derek Jacobi for Twelfth Night
2008 Chiwetel Ejiofor in Othello
2007 Rufus Sewell for Rock ‘N’ Roll
2006 Brian Dennehy for Death Of A Salesman
2005 Richard Griffiths for The History Boys
2004 Matthew Kelly for Of Mice And Men
2003 Simon Russell Beale for Uncle Vanya
2002 Roger Allam for Privates On Parade
2001 Conleth Hill for Stones In His Pockets
2000 Henry Goodman for The Merchant Of Venice
1999 Kevin Spacey for The Iceman Cometh
1998 Ian Holm for King Lear
1997 Antony Sher for Stanley
1996 Alex Jennings for Peer Gynt
1995 David Bamber for My Night With Reg
1994 Mark Rylance for Much Ado About Nothing
1993 Robert Stephens for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2)
1992 Nigel Hawthorne for The Madness Of George III
1991 Ian McKellen for Richard III
1989/90 Oliver Ford Davies for Racing Demon
1987 Michael Gambon for A View From The Bridge
1986 Albert Finney for Orphans
1985 Antony Sher for Richard III and Torch Song Trilogy

Actor of the Year in a New Play

1988 David Haig for Our Country’s Good
1984 Brian Cox for Rat In The Skull
1983 Jack Shepherd for Glengarry Glen Ross
1982 Ian McDiarmid for lnsignificance
1981 Trevor Eve for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Roger Rees for Nicholas Nickleby
1979 Ian McKellen for Bent
1978 Tom Conti for Whose Life Is It Anyway?
1977 Michael Bryant for State Of Revolution
1976 Paul Copley for King And Country

Actor of the Year in a Revival

1988 Brian Cox for Titus Andronicus
1984 Ian McKellen for Wild Honey
1983 Derek Jacobi for Cyrano De Bergerac
1982 Stephen Moore for A Doll’s House
1981 Daniel Massey for Man And Superman
1980 Jonathan Pryce for Hamlet
1979 Warren Mitchell for Death Of A Salesman
1978 Alan Howard for Coriolanus
1977 Ian McKellen for Pillars Of The Community
1976 Alan Howard for Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2) and Henry V

Best Actor in a Musical

2012 Bertie Carvel for Matilda The Musical
2011 David Thaxton for Passion
2010 Aneurin Barnard for Spring Awakening
2009 Douglas Hodge for La Cage aux Folles
2008 Michael Ball for Hairspray
2007 Daniel Evans for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 James Lomas, George Maguire and Liam Mower for Billy Elliot – The Musical
2005 Nathan Lane for The Producers
2004 David Bedella for Jerry Springer – The Opera
2003 Alex Jennings for My Fair Lady
2002 Philip Quast for South Pacific
2001 Daniel Evans for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Simon Russell Beale for Candide
1999 The cast of Kat and The Kings
1998 Philip Quast for The Fix
1997 Robert Lindsay for Oliver!
1996 Adrian Lester for Company
1995 John Gordon Sinclair for She Loves Me
1994 Alun Armstrong for Sweeney Todd
1993 Henry Goodman for Assassins
1992 Alan Bennett for Talking Heads
1991 Philip Quast for Sunday In The Park With George
1989/90 Jonathan Pryce for Miss Saigon
1988 Con O’Neill for Blood Brothers
1987 John Bardon and Emil Wolk for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Michael Crawford for The Phantom Of The Opera
1985 Robert Lindsay for Me And My Girl
1984 Paul Clarkson for The Hired Man
1983 Denis Lawson for Mr. Cinders
1982 Roy Hudd for Underneath The Arches
1981 Michael Crawford for Barnum
1980 Denis Quilley for Sweeney Todd
1979 Anton Rodgers for Songbook

OUT OF TOWN: Chichester, Sheffield

New productions at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, and the Derby Theatre

CHICHESTER:

Much excitement at westendtheatre.com at the casting of Chichester’s new production of 42nd Street (21 June – 28 August, Festival Theatre). Directed by the Leicester Curve’s Paul Kerryson, the show will feature the fabulous Kathryn Evans (Sunset Boulevard), dishy leading man Steven Houghton and the uber-talented Tim Flavin (Crazy for You).

SHEFFIELD:

On a retro-musicals note, Me and My Girl will resurface in Sheffield this Christmas (from 9 December, Sheffield Crucible). It’s been a whopping 17 years since the Leicester Haymarket Theatre’s all new, Stephen Fry-revised production left the Adelphi Theatre in London after 8 years, 3,303 performances and lots of Lambeth walking by the likes of Robert Lindsay and Emma Thompson. The production made a lot of money for all concerned so it’s a canny Daniel Evans, Sheffield’s artistic director, who’s resurrecting it. The show will be directed by Anna Mackmin, who’s enjoying big success at the Old Vic at the moment with her production of The Real Thing starring Toby Stephens. Choreography will be by Stephen Mear and design by Peter McKintosh.

If we begged him, do you think Daniel Evans would take the lead?

DERBY:

Having mentioned Robert Lindsay, he will resurrect his performance as Aristotle Onassis in Martin Sherman’s play Onassis (Derby Theatre,  from 10 September). Based on the last years of the controversial Greek tycoon, the play was originally produced as Aristo at Chichester to mixed reviews but with glowing praise for Lindsay’s performance. Sherman and director Nancy Meckler have subsequently rewritten the piece.

The production will then transfer to the Novello Theatre in London in late September.

Sondheim 80th Birthday Concert – Review

Cadogan Hall, London – 3 April 2010

Royal & Derngate, Northampton – 4 April 2010

This weekend at the Cadogan Hall in London and the Royal & Derngate in Northampton, two performances of a special concert were held to celebrate the 80^th birthday of musicals composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim is America’s, and arguably the world’s, most important living creator of musical theatre. His hallowed list of musical greats include the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy and music and lyrics to a catalogue of shows from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum and Anyone Can Whistle in the 1960s, big-hitting shows of the 1970s such as Company, Follies and Sweeney Todd and his later work including Sunday In The Park With George, Into The Woods, Assassins and Passion.

I caught the concert at the Royal & Derngate, and the evening was beautifully held together by musicals star Maria Friedman. Alongside musical director David Firman, she ensured that the show struck a perfect balance between providing that sense of spontaneity and “event” you want from a one-off concert, without being under-rehearsed or under-acted, which is often the curse of musicals concerts of this kind.

Friedman was greatly assisted by two heavy-weights of musical theatre: Daniel Evans, award-winning actor of both drama and musicals and long-time Sondheim aficionado, who made a welcome return to the stage during his current off-stage work as Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres. And experienced musicals star Graham Bickley, who’s been in practically every large-scale musical you could name.

Cleverly, most of the first half of the show was taken up with a 45 minute ‘Sondheim lite’ version of Merrily We Roll Along, providing a great opportunity for the performers to act, something that’s necessary in any Stephen Sondheim work. It did highlight that Friedman and Evans looked more comfortable with the material, and perhaps the required acting, with Bickley slightly hesitant.

However, this was effortlessly remedied in the rest of the evening, when a medley of unashamedly crowd-pleasing Sondheim hits were showcased, each carefully chosen to fit the performer perfectly.

Highlights included Maria Friedman’s subtle and emotive performance of Losing my Mind from Follies and a joyous The Worst Pies in London from Sweeney Todd (complete with assistance from a member of the audience); Daniel Evans singing Giants in the Sky from Into the Woods and the high-speed Getting Married from Company; and Graham Bickley’s stirring and passionate rendition of Being Alive from Company. The Royal Philharmonic did a fine job, particularly their playing of the Sweeney Todd Suite.

Finally, as with all great concerts of musicals, you are left wanting more, and in this case it’s for all three performers to get back to the stage proper and give us a Sondheim show.

Paul Raven.