Lockdown treats: ‘When I Grow Up’ times two
fosterIAN awards 2011
| Winner | Runner-up | Other nominees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Actress in a Play | Eve Best, Much Ado About Nothing (Globe) | Ruth Wilson, Anna Christie | Rosie Wyatt, Bunny Siân Brooke, Ecstasy Lisa Palfrey, The Kitchen Sink Geraldine James, Seagull |
| Best Actor in a Play | Benedict Cumberbatch, Frankenstein | Andrew Scott, Emperor and Galilean | Trevor Fox, The Pitmen Painters Dominic West, Othello Jude Law, Anna Christie Charles Edwards, Much Ado About Nothing (Globe) |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Play | Alexandra Gilbreath, Othello | Sheridan Smith, Flare Path | Sinéad Matthews, Ecstasy Billie Piper, Reasons to be Pretty Kirsty Bushell, Double Feature 1 Esther Hall, Many Moons |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Play | Ryan Sampson, The Kitchen Sink | Harry Hadden-Paton, Flare Path | Robert Hands, The Comedy of Errors (Propeller) Edward Franklin, Many Moons Craig Parkinson, Ecstasy Adam James, Much Ado About Nothing (Wyndhams) |
| Best Actress in a Musical | Imelda Staunton, Sweeney Todd | Adrianna Bertola, Josie Griffiths, Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington Cox & Sophia Kiely, Matilda | Laura Pitt-Pulford, Parade Beverley Klein, Bernarda Alba Jemima Rooper, Me and My Girl Scarlett Strallen, Singin’ in the Rain |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Bertie Carvel, Matilda | Michael Ball, Sweeney Todd | Daniel Evans, Company Daniel Crossley, Me and My Girl Alastair Brookshaw, Parade Vincent Franklin, The Day We Sang |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Musical | Samantha Spiro, Company | Kate Fleetwood, London Road | Josefina Gabrielle, Me and My Girl Josie Walker, Matilda Rosalind James, Ragtime Ann Emery, Betty Blue Eyes |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Musical | Daniel Crossley, Singin’ in the Rain | Nigel Harman, Shrek the Musical | Connor Dowling, Guys and Dolls Jack Edwards, Betty Blue Eyes David Burt, Crazy For You Nick Holder London Road |
The 2011 fosterIAN award nominations
So here it is, as best a summation of what I liked most about the year’s theatregoing as I can manage. I racked up 332 plays in the end this year (a further analysis will come in a later post) so it has taken quite some considerable time to narrow these down (especially the supporting actress categories which should surprise no-one who knows me) and considering which were the performances that stood out for me this year led to some surprises. Thus here we go, the 2011 fosterIAN (fos-tîr’ē-ən) award nominations for acting this year.
(NB Eligibility is quite simple: if I saw this play/production for the first time this year, it went in the hat. I saw Propeller’s Richard III last November so that fell into last’s year cohort.)
Best Actor in a Play
Benedict Cumberbatch, Frankenstein
Charles Edwards, Much Ado About Nothing (Globe)
Trevor Fox, The Pitmen Painters
Jude Law, Anna Christie
Andrew Scott, Emperor and Galilean
Dominic West, Othello
Best Actress in a Play
Eve Best, Much Ado About Nothing (Globe)
Siân Brooke, Ecstasy
Geraldine James, Seagull
Lisa Palfrey, The Kitchen Sink
Ruth Wilson, Anna Christie
Rosie Wyatt, Bunny Continue reading “The 2011 fosterIAN award nominations”
Album Review: Matilda the Musical Cast Recording
“When I grow up, I will be brave enough to fight the creatures that you have to fight beneath the bed each night to be a grown-up”
Darn it darn it darn it. I had pretty much decided that I wasn’t going to go and see Matilda the Musical once it had made its long-awaited West End transfer from the now-defunct Courtyard in Stratford to the Cambridge Theatre. Not because I didn’t like it, I really did (though not quite as much as others) – you can read my thoughts here – but because of the eye-watering ticket prices: the vast majority of the stalls and dress circle are £60 or more, rear stalls coming in at a mere £50. That pretty much made up my mind for me but on purchasing which has now been released on CD, I have fallen well and truly back under the spell of this show and so it looks like I will have to do some careful budgeting next month!
When it was first announced, the marriage of individual Australian comic Tim Minchin with Roald Dahl’s source material seemed the ideal match but I don’t think anyone could have imagined just how well it would work. The score is simply joyous, the lyrics perfectly crafted – witty enough to make adults laugh and carefree enough to perfectly evoke childhood thinking and the combined package fits together in a way that one imagines that Roald Dahl would be proud of. Chris Nightingale’s full-bodied orchestrations give depth to the music, especially in the swirling sections of incidental music that are included (that’s probably my one criticism is that not enough of that is kept in here) and an enthusiastic cast give marvellous voice to these quirky but perfectly suited songs that will undoubtedly leave a smile on your face. Continue reading “Album Review: Matilda the Musical Cast Recording”
Review: Matilda – A Musical, Courtyard Theatre Stratford
“My mother says I’m a miracle”
For their festive family show over the 2010/11 winter, the RSC went for an adaptation of the Roald Dahl story to create Matilda, A Musical which has been, by all accounts, a runaway success for them. Dennis Kelly was responsible for the book but the production’s masterstroke has been to employ Tim Minchin, whose impish charm is wholly suited to the show, to do the music and lyrics. Directed by Matthew Warchus, the slightly tweaked story follows the prodigiously talented young girl Matilda, as she battles against the cruel indifference of her parents and the fearsome child-hating headmistress of her new school.
The employment of Minchin is a perfect fit, his anarchic wit feels like something Dahl himself would have approved of but pleasingly Minchin has not dumbed down at all in his songwriting, he has simply removed the profanity. His lyrics are absolutely sensational at times: incredibly witty on multiple levels (the kids to the left of me looked over a few times as I dissolved in hysterics at humour that thankfully flew over their heads) and stuffed full of intricate but engaging wordplay which fit the occasion perfectly: the alphabetic progression of ‘School Song’ being perhaps the best example of a seemingly simple conceit which is just bursting with invention. Continue reading “Review: Matilda – A Musical, Courtyard Theatre Stratford”
Shows I am looking forward to in 2011
My intention is, honestly, to see less theatre this year and try and regain some semblance of a normal life again on the odd evening. But the curse of advance booking and grabbing cheap(er) tickets whilst you can has meant that there’s already an awful lot of theatre booked for 2011. Some have been booked without a huge deal of enthusiasm, but others have a dangerous amount of anticipation attached to them…and so I present to you, the shows I am most excited about seeing this year (so far).
Antonioni Project – Toneelgroep Amsterdam at the Barbican
The Roman Tragedies was hands down one of the most exhilarating and refreshing theatrical experiences of 2009 and possibly my life, I’m even headed to Amsterdam in May to see a surtitled production of their Angels in America. So when I heard that the same Dutch theatre company were returning to the Barbican in February, tickets were booked instantly and I am feverishly over-excited for this now! Continue reading “Shows I am looking forward to in 2011”