Photos of the unveiling of the Alan Jay Lerner memorial plaque at St Paul’s Church Covent Garden by Liz Robertson

Alan Jay Lerner memorial plaque unveiled at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.

My Fair Lady composer Alan Jay Lerner was honoured this Wednesday, 14 June 2011, with the unveiling of a plaque in St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden.

Twenty-five years after his death, the plaque was unveiled by his widow, Love Never Dies actress Liz Robertson, during a service which celebrated the successful composer’s life and work.

Friends and family attended the ceremony, including a number of theatre names including lyricists Don Black and Tim Rice, and actors Anthony Andrews, Russ Abbott, Jasper Britton and Tony Britton.

The venue, which is informally known as the Actor’s Church, was especially appropriate given than Alan Jay Lerner’s most famous musical, My Fair Lady, opens with Eliza Doolittle selling flowers from the portico of St Paul’s Church. My Fair Lady was based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion, which is currently running at the Garrick Theatre in London.

In a touching moment during the ceremony, six actress who have all played Eliza in the past, including Alan Jay Lerner’s wife Liz Robertson and Katie Knight-Adams, Jill Martin, Jean Scott, Amy Nuttall and Sally Ann Howes, all came together to sing ‘Wouldn’t it be Loverly’.

Alan Jay Lerner’s work includes Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, Camelot, Gigi and On A Clear Day You Can See Forever. Liz Robertson is currently starring as Madame Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies.

Photos by Roy Tan.

LINKS

Book tickets to see Liz Robertson in Love Never Dies at the Adelphi Theatre in London

The King’s Speech’s Colin Firth to star in My Fair Lady movie?

Shows get the movie treatment

A buoyant West End is leading to some big-screen remakes of West End hits.

Twenty-three years after Susan Hill’s terrifying novel The Woman in Black first opened on the London stage, a new movie version is to be distributed in cinemas later this year starring Daniel Radcliffe.

It marks a growing interest in developing big screen projects based on successful stage shows, with movie producers realising the potential of some theatre brands that have built up large and loyal international audiences over long periods of time.

In the last few years successful movie versions of stage hits have proved popular at the box-office including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, Broadway musicals Chicago and Hairspray, and Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd.

The forthcoming The Woman in Black movie version is produced by Hammer Films, the cult British film studio that made stars out of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing with its horror movies such as Dracula and The Curse of Frankenstein. Now in post-production, the film has been adapted by Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass), directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake) and also stars a heavy-weight British cast including Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer and Roger Allam.

Inspired by the creative and box-office success of War Horse, Steven Spielberg has also started work on a big screen adaptation of First World War story. Already an enormous hit for the National Theatre – first at their South Bank home and currently at the New London Theatre – the movie goes back to Michael Morpurgo’s novel and features a screenplay by Billy Elliot writer Lee Hall and Love Actually’s Richard Curtis. Dreamworks, which now sits within Disney, has moved forward the planned release date of the film to 28 December 2011 such is the excitement surrounding the project.

The War Horse movie cast features rising young star Jeremy Irvine as Albert, Benedict Cumberbatch, who is currently starring in Frankenstein at the National Theatre, as Major Stewart, David Thewlis as Lyons and Emily Watson as Albert’s mother. Plus man of the moment Tom Hiddleston – who is also starring in the movie of Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea.

A number of new stage-to-screen projects are also in development, including Will Smith’s new movie version of Annie with his daughter Willow, and two Cameron Mackintosh film adaptations: Les Miserables – the world’s longest-running musical, in association with Working Title and Universal, and My Fair Lady. The later is being worked on with Sony and current stars tipped for leads of Eliza and Professor Higgins are Cary Mulligan and Colin Firth.

Also Glee creator Ryan Murphy is rumoured to be working on a remake of the 1975 film The Rocky Horror Picture Show – based on the cult stage musical  - following his Rocky Horror homage in the latest series of Glee.

Finally, and perhaps most exciting of all for theatre fans, smash-hit musical Wicked is set for a movie version, with Universal currently scouting for directors to take it on. The musical movie version is not to be confused with the mini-series planned for ABC in the US produced by Salma Hayek and based on the original Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

It is safe to say that stage to screen adaptations will never over shadow the reverse trend of screen-to-stage shows, with a enormous number of current West End and Broadway hits based on movies, including Legally Blonde, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing – and forthcoming shows The Wizard of Oz, Ghost and Shrek.

But new movie adaptations of hit shows, alongside initiatives such as the National Theatre’s live cinema programme and recent cinema screening of the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary concert at the O2, continue to widen the audience and appeal of West End theatre around the world.

LINKS

Book tickets to The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre and SAVE £20

Book tickets to War Horse at the New London Theatre

Hammer Films website

The Woman in Black movie Facebook page

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Actress Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – BEST ACTRESS WINNERS

Best Actress

2012 Ruth Wilson for Anna Christie
2011 Nancy Carroll for After the Dance
2010 Rachel Weisz for A Streetcar Named Desire
2009 Margaret Tyzack for The Chalk Garden
2008 Kristin Scott Thomas for Chekhov’s The Seagull
2007 Tamsin Greig for Much Ado About Nothing
2006 Eve Best for Hedda Gabler
2005 Clare Higgins for Hecuba
2004 Eileen Atkins for Honour
2003 Clare Higgins for Vincent In Brixton
2002 Lindsay Duncan for Private Lives
2001 Julie Walters for All My Sons
2000 Janie Dee for Comic Potential
1999 Eileen Atkins for The Unexpected Man
1998 Zoë Wanamaker for Electra
1997 Janet McTeer for A Doll’s House
1996 Judi Dench for Absolute Hell
1995 Clare Higgins for Sweet Bird Of Youth
1994 Fiona Shaw for Machinal
1993 Alison Steadman for The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice
1992 Juliet Stevenson for Death And The Maiden
1991 Kathryn Hunter for The Visit
1989/90 Fiona Shaw for Electra, As You Like It and The Good Person Of Sichuan
1987 Judi Dench for Antony and Cleopatra
1986 Lindsay Duncan for Les Liaisons Dangereuses
1985 Yvonne Bryceland for The Road To Mecca

Actress of the Year in a New Play

1988 Pauline Collins for Shirley Valentine
1984 Thuli Dumakude for Poppie Nongena
1983 Judi Dench for Pack Of Lies
1982 Rosemary Leach for 84 Charing Cross Road
1981 Elizabeth Quinn for Children Of A Lesser God
1980 Frances de la Tour for Duet For One
1979 Jane Lapotaire for Piaf
1978 Joan Plowright for Filumena
1977 Alison Fiske for Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi
1976 Peggy Ashcroft for Old World

Actress of the Year in a Revival

1988 Harriet Walter for Twelfth Night and The Three Sisters
1984 Vanessa Redgrave for The Aspern Papers
1983 Frances de la Tour for A Moon For The Misbegotten
1982 Cheryl Campbell for A Doll’s House
1981 Margaret Tyzack for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
1980 Judi Dench for Juno And The Paycock
1979 Zoë Wanamaker for Once In A Lifetime
1978 Dorothy Tutin for The Double Dealer
1977 Judi Dench for Macbeth
1976 Dorothy Tutin for A Month In The Country

Best Actress in a Musical

2012 The Matildas for Matilda The Musical (Sophia Kiely, Kerry Ingram, Cleo Demetriou and Eleanor Worthington Cox)
2011 Sheridan Smith for Legally Blonde – The Musical
2010 Samantha Spiro for Hello Dolly!
2009 Elena Roger for Piaf
2008 Leanne Jones for Hairspray
2007 Jenna Russell for Sunday In The Park With George
2006 Jane Krakowski for Guys And Dolls
2005 Laura Michelle Kelly for Mary Poppins
2004 Maria Friedman for Ragtime at the Piccadilly
2003 Joanna Riding for My Fair Lady
2002 Martine McCutcheon for My Fair Lady
2001 Samantha Spiro for Merrily We Roll Along
2000 Barbara Dickson for Spend Spend Spend
1999 Sophie Thompson for Into The Woods
1998 Ute Lemper for Chicago
1997 Maria Friedman for Passion
1996 Judi Dench for A Little Night Music
1995 Ruthie Henshall for She Loves Me
1994 Julia McKenzie for Sweeney Todd
1993 Joanna Riding for Carousel
1992 Wilhelmenia Fernandez for Carmen Jones
1991 Imelda Staunton for Into The Woods
1989/90 Lea Salonga for Miss Saigon
1988 Patricia Routledge for Candide
1987 Nichola McAuliffe for Kiss Me Kate
1986 Lesley Mackie for Judy
1985 Patti LuPone for Les Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock
1984 Natalia Makarova for On Your Toes
1983 Barbara Dickson for Blood Brothers
1982 Julia McKenzie for Guys And Dolls
1981 Carlin Glynn for The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
1980 Gemma Craven for They’re Playing Our Song
1979 Virginia McKenna for The King And I

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

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Musicals Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Musicals Winners

Best New Musical

2012 Matilda The Musical by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin
2011 Legally Blonde – The Musical book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin at the Savoy
2010 Spring Awakening, music by Duncan Sheik, book and lyrics by Steven Sater, based on the play by Frank Wedekind, at the Novello theatre
2009 Jersey Boys, book by Marshall Brickman & Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe at the Prince Edward theatre
2008 Hairspray, book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, based on the John Waters film,
2007 Caroline, Or Change, book and lyrics by Tony Kushner, music by Jeanine Tesori
2006 Billy Elliot – The Musical, book and lyrics by Lee Hall, music by Elton John
2005 The Producers book by Mel Brooks & Thomas Meehan; music and lyrics by Mel Brooks and by special arrangement with StudioCanal
2004 Jerry Springer – The Opera music by Richard Thomas, book and lyrics by Stewart Lee & Richard Thomas
2003 Our House by Tim Firth, music and lyrics by Madness
2001 Merrily We Roll Along — music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by George Furth, suggested by a play by George S Kaufman and Moss Hart
2000 Honk! The Ugly Duckling – music by George Stiles, book and lyrics by Anthony Drewe, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen
1999 Kat And The Kings by David Kramer and Taliep Petersen
1998 Beauty And The Beast – music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton
1997 Martin Guerre – book by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Edward Hardy and Stephen Clark, original French text by Alain Boublil, additional lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
1996 Jolson The Musical – written by Francis Essex and Rob Bettinson
1995 Once On This Island – book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, music by Stephen Flaherty, based upon the novel My Love My Love by Rosa Guy
1994 City Of Angels – book by Larry Gelbart, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by David Zippel
1993 Crazy For You – music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, book by Ken Ludwig
1992 Carmen Jones by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on Meilhac and Halévy’s adaptation of Prosper Merimée’s Carmen with original music by Bizet
1991 Sunday In The Park with George – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine
1989/90 Return To The Forbidden Planet by Bob Carlton
1988 Candide – book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Richard Wilbur
1987 Follies – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Goldman
1986 The Phantom Of The Opera – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Charles Hart, additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe
1985 Me And My Girl – book and lyrics by L. Arthur Rose and Douglas Furber, music by Noel Gay
1984 42nd Street – music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Al Dubin, book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, based on a novel by Bradford Ropes
1983 Blood Brothers by Willy Russell
1982 Poppy – book and lyrics by Peter Nichols, music by Monty Norman
1981 Cats – music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot
1980 Sweeney Todd – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, based on the play by Christopher Bond
1979 Songbook – music by Monty Norman, lyrics by Julian More, book by Monty Norman and Julian More
1978 Evita – lyrics by Tim Rice, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
1977 The Comedy Of Errors by William Shakespeare, music by Guy Woolfenden
1976 A Chorus Line – book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban

Outstanding Musical Production

2007 Sunday In The Park With George, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine
2006 Guys And Dolls, based on a story and characters of Damon Runyon, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows
2005 Grand Hotel book by Luther Davis; music & lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest; additional music and lyrics by Maury Yeston; based on Vicki Baum’s Grand Hotel
2004 Pacific Overtures music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, additional material by Hugh Wheeler
2003 Anything Goes music and lyrics by Cole Porter, original book by PG Wodehouse and Guy Bolton and Howard Lindsay & Russel Crouse, new book by Timothy Crouse & John Weidman
2002 My Fair Lady book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, adapted from Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion and Gabriel Pascal’s motion picture
2001 Singin’ In The Rain — based on the MGM film, original choreography by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, screenplay and adaptation by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed
2000 Candide – music by Leonard Bernstein, book adapted from Voltaire by Hugh Wheeler, in a new version by John Caird, lyrics by Richard Wilbur, additional lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, John Latouche, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Leonard Bernstein
1999 Oklahoma! music by Richard Rodgers, book & lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
1998 Chicago – lyrics by Fred Ebb, music by John Kander, book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
1997 Tommy – music and lyrics by Pete Townshend, book by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff

Best Musical Revival

2012 Crazy For You at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
2011 Into the Woods at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre
2010 Hello Dolly!, book by Michael Stewart, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, based on the play The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder, at the Open Air theatre
2009 La Cage aux Folles, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, book by Harvey Fierstein, based on the play “La Cage Aux Folles” by Jean Poiret, at the Playhouse theatre
2008 The Magic Flute – Impempe Yomlingo
1995 She Loves Me – book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and based on a play by Miklos Laszlo
1994 Sweeney Todd – music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler, from an adaptation by Christopher Bond
1993 Carousel – music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on the play Liliom by Ferenc Molnár as adapted by Benjamin F Glazer
1992 The Boys From Syracuse – music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, book by George Abbott
1991 Show Boat – book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Jerome Kern

Performance of the Year in a Musical

1978 Elaine Paige for Evita
1977 Ann Sharkey for Maggie

Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Musicals

1984 Ned Sherrin for the conception of The Ratepayers’ Iolanthe
1982 Guys And Dolls
1981 Gillian Lynne, choreographer of Cats

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Choreographer Winners

OLIVIER AWARDS – Best Choreographer Winners

Best Theatre Choreographer

2012 Peter Darling for Matilda The Musical
2011 Leon Baugh for Sucker Punch
2010 Stephen Mear for Hello Dolly!
2009 Steven Hoggett for Black Watch
2008 Toby Sedgewick for War Horse
2007 Javier De Frutos for Cabaret
2006 Peter Darling for Billy Elliot – The Musical
2005 Matthew Bourne and Stephen Mear for Mary Poppins
2004 Karen Bruce for Pacific Overtures
2003 Matthew Bourne and Company for Play Without Words
2002 Matthew Bourne for My Fair Lady
2001 Bob Fosse and Ann Reinking for Fosse
2000 Garth Fagan for The Lion King
1999 Susan Stroman for Oklahoma!
1998 Simon McBurney for The Caucasian Chalk Circle
1997 Bob Avian for Martin Guerre
1996 Dein Perry for Tap Dogs
1995 David Atkins and Dein Perry for Hot Shoe Shuffle
1994 Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas for Stomp
1993 Susan Stroman for Crazy For You
1992 Rafael Aguilar for Matador
1991 Charles Augins for Five Guys Named Moe