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News: Constellations returns to the West End and how!

Constellations returns to the West End and how! One of my favourite plays, with four different casts?!  Amazing stuff.

“One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again.”

This summer Nick Payne’s beautiful and heartbreaking romance Constellations is revived in the West End with a twist: four different casts take turns to journey through the multiverse exploring the infinite possibilities of a relationship; each refracting the play afresh. Starring Sheila Atim and Ivanno Jeremiah (18th June – 1st August), Peter Capaldi and Zoë Wanamaker (23rd June – 24th July), Omari Douglas and Russell Tovey (30th July – 11th September), and Anna Maxwell Martin and Chris O’Dowd (6th August – 12th September).

It’s a play I’ve followed as much as I can since it premiered upstairs at the Royal Court. From its West End transfer to its bow on Broadway, from the UK tour which also popped into the West End to the Southwark Playhouse production which never happened (very in keeping with the play!), plus there’s the new radio production which I’ve got lined up to listen to very soon. Safe to say I am handling my expectations very well and am in no way over-excited and chomping at the bit to book in to see the same show at least 4 times in less than 3 months…! See you there?

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Film Review: Molly’s Game 

“This is a true story, but except for my own, I’ve changed all the names and I’ve done my best to obscure identities for reasons that’ll become clear.”

Directed by Aaron Sorkin, Molly’s Game centers on the real-life memoirs of Molly Bloom, the “poker princess” who rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s elite while hosting underground games in the basement of clubs and at the homes of her wealthy clients. It’s a poker movie that appeals to the masses, and while the action often takes place at the tables, it’s Molly’s life that is the focal point of the film.

Released in December 2017, Molly’s Game is a story of feminine power and ruthless intelligence, and any viewer who didn’t know better would think they were watching complete fiction. But director Sorkin, who won an Academy Award for directing The Social Network, as well as being well-known for screenwriting plays such as A Few Good Men, sticks closely to Bloom’s memoirs, in addition to drawing on his interviews. What we get is as close to an accurate account of Molly Bloom’s life, and even the seemingly sensationalized moments involving death threats from Russian mobsters draw right from Bloom’s own accounts. Continue reading “Film Review: Molly’s Game “

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Film Review: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

54 years is quite the wait for a sequel but Mary Poppins Returns is full of nostalgic sweetness and charm  

“Are you sure this is quite safe?
‘Not in the slightest. Ready!'”

54 years is quite the wait for a sequel but the sweetness and charm with which Mary Poppins Returns lands on our screens makes it pretty much worth it. It’s a film that does more than wrap you up in a warm blanket of nostalgia, it tucks you in, throws another log on the fire and makes you a steaming hot chocolate (no marshmallows though!).

Set 30 years after the much cherished original, the story (by David Magee, Rob Marshall and John DeLuca based off of PL Travers’s original tales) sees us rejoin Cherry Tree Lane where the adult Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) lives with his young family (Pixie Davies, Nathaniel Saleh and Joel Dawson). But much like the other long-held sequel of the year, a sadness fills the house for a mother has died. And Michael’s artistic inclinations and part-time job at the bank aren’t bringing in enough to keep them from repossession. Who could possibly save the day…? Continue reading “Film Review: Mary Poppins Returns (2018)”

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TV Review: The Crimson Petal and the White

A strong cast can’t persuade me about literary adaptation The Crimson Petal and the White

“Here, people go to sleep as soon as the gin takes effect”

This TV adaptation of Michael Faber’s 2002 novel dates back to 2011 but despite having the kind of cast that normally attracts me like a moth to a flame, I never quite got round to watching The Crimson Petal and the White. And in all honesty, I should have stuck with my initial sixth sense…

Set in the seedy underbelly of Victorian London, the story follows Romola Garai’s courtesan Sugar and the relationship she develops with feckless perfume heir William Rackham, a persuasive Chris O’Dowd. From a flop of a first night, he soon becomes entirely infatuated with her, not letting the fact that he has a mentally ill wife get in the way. Continue reading “TV Review: The Crimson Petal and the White”

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Theatre World Awards 2013-2014

Paul Chahidi – Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Nick Cordero – Bullets Over Broadway
Bryan Cranston – All the Way
Mary Bridget Davies – A Night with Janis Joplin
Sarah Greene – The Cripple of Inishmaan
Rebecca Hall – Machinal
Ramin Karimloo – Les Misérables
Zachary Levi – First Date
Chris O’Dowd – Of Mice and Men
Sophie Okonedo – A Raisin in the Sun
Emerson Steele – Violet
Lauren Worsham – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder

Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater: Celia Keenan-Bolger – The Glass Menagerie

John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre Winner: Christopher Plummer

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68th Tony Award nominations

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play 
Samuel Barnett – Twelfth Night as Viola
Bryan Cranston – All the Way as President Lyndon B. Johnson
Chris O’Dowd – Of Mice and Men as Lennie Small
Mark Rylance – Richard III as Richard III
Tony Shalhoub – Act One as Older Moss Hart / Barnett Hart / George S. Kaufman

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Tyne Daly – Mothers and Sons as Katherine Gerard
Audra McDonald – Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill as Billie Holiday
LaTanya Richardson Jackson – A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger
Cherry Jones – The Glass Menagerie as Amanda Wingfield
Estelle Parsons – The Velocity of Autumn as Alexandra

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical 
Neil Patrick Harris – Hedwig and the Angry Inch as Hedwig
Ramin Karimloo – Les Misérables as Jean Valjean
Andy Karl – Rocky the Musical as Rocky Balboa
Jefferson Mays – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder as the D’Ysquith family
Bryce Pinkham – A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder as Monty Navarro Continue reading “68th Tony Award nominations”

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Nominations for the 2014 Drama Desk Awards

Outstanding Play
Nell Benjamin, The Explorers Club 
Steven Levenson, Core Values
Conor McPherson, The Night Alive 
Richard Nelson, Regular Singing
Bruce Norris, Domesticated
Robert Schenkkan, All The Way
John Patrick Shanley, Outside Mullingar 

Outstanding Musical
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder 
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Fun Home
Love’s Labour’s Lost
Rocky
The Bridges of Madison County Continue reading “Nominations for the 2014 Drama Desk Awards”

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2014 British Academy Television Awards nominations

Best Actor
Jamie Dornan – The Fall as Paul Spector (BBC Two)
Sean Harris – Southcliffe as Stephen Morton (Channel 4)
Luke Newberry – In the Flesh as Kieren Walker (BBC Three)
Dominic West – Burton & Taylor as Richard Burton (BBC Four)

Best Actress
Helena Bonham Carter – Burton & Taylor as Elizabeth Taylor (BBC Four)
Olivia Colman – Broadchurch as DS Ellie Miller (ITV)
Kerrie Hayes – The Mill as Esther Price (Channel 4)
Maxine Peake – The Village as Grace Middleton (BBC One) Continue reading “2014 British Academy Television Awards nominations”

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65th British Academy Film Awards nominations

BAFTA Fellowship
Martin Scorsese

Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema
Sir John Hurt

Best Film
The Artist – Thomas Langmann
The Descendants – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Drive – Marc Platt and Adam Siegel
The Help – Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus and Brunson Green
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Robyn Slovo Continue reading “65th British Academy Film Awards nominations”

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18th Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees

Film
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King
Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar as J. Edgar Hoover
Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin as Eva Khatchadourian
Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe Continue reading “18th Screen Actors Guild Awards nominees”