All stories by Simon Callow on BroadwayStars

Sunday, April 23, 2023

‘My eyes filled with tears, my voice shook’: Simon Callow on coming face to face with Shakespeare’s First Folio by Simon Callow

As the Swan of Avon celebrates his birthday on Sunday, the actor pays tribute to a ‘miraculous’ book that rescued plays such as The Tempest and Macbeth from oblivion This Sunday, 23 Apri…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Saturday, October 22, 2016

From the scatological to the sublime: why Amadeus strikes a chord by Simon Callow

In 1979 Simon Callow was offered the dream role of Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus. As the play returns to the National, he recalls his early doubts and backstage battles The first I hea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36AM
Friday, August 12, 2016

How John Obsborne’s Entertainer still speaks to a broken Britain by Simon Callow

Premiered after the Suez crisis, Osborne’s portrait of a clapped-out music hall star mirrored a Britain in decline. Sixty years on, it continues to reflect a country questioning its place …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:34AM
Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Crime, social climbing, shotgun weddings: meet the Shakespeares by Simon Callow

A pregnant bride, a father who lived in fear of arrest, a son-in-law charged with ‘carnal copulation’: Shakespeare’s own family was just as wild and wicked as his creations. Illustrati…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:59PM
Friday, January 15, 2016

Wilde’s Women by Eleanor Fitzsimons review – Oscar's remarkable debt to his mother by Simon Callow

‘Fathers should be neither seen nor heard,’ runs one line in An Ideal Husband: ‘Mothers are different’. The influence of Lady Wilde and other women helps solve the puzzle of her play…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:08AM
Saturday, November 28, 2015

Why Orson Welles lived a life like no other by Simon Callow

When Simon Callow set out to write a biography of Welles, he thought it might take four years. A quarter of a century and three volumes later, he’s still not finishedI understood from the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:30AM
Saturday, December 13, 2014

Simon Callow: the golden age of pantomime by Simon Callow

Never underestimate the power of a heavyset hero in fishnet tights. Panto has long provided the heart, soul and high camp of the festive season. How did it all begin?As you get your kids and…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Friday, August 1, 2014

Simon Callow: A return to Juvenalia by Simon Callow

Phony politicians, flashy oligarchs, gay marriage. As Simon Callow takes his one-man show to Edinburgh, he explores the timeless bite of Juvenal's Satires Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Friday, February 21, 2014

Noël Coward's blitz spirit by Simon Callow

Noël Coward wanted to be a spy, but Churchill said he should stick to theatre. So his contribution to the war effort was to stage a 'light comedy about death' as London was bombedNoël Cowa…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:31PM
Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Simon Callow: We found an ill-fitting DJ and a glitterball, let rip – and got stonking drunk by Simon Callow

When he starred in a 1970s fringe production based on Juvenal's satires, Simon Callow found that he loved the call and response with the audienceYou always know, as an actor, when you have a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:01AM
Friday, November 15, 2013

Stage Blood by Michael Blakemore – review by Simon Callow

Civil war at the National Theatre: a tale of righteous revenge, told in cold rageThis is a most unusual book. It is a theatrical memoir that is remorselessly honest: this in itself is enough…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:01AM
Saturday, September 21, 2013

Olivier by Philip Ziegler – review by Simon Callow

Simon Callow on a brisk yet elegant chronicle of the Laurence Olivier phenomenonAnd still they come. Eight years after the authorised biography of Laurence Olivier by Terry Coleman, here is …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:00AM
Friday, July 5, 2013

Simon Callow remembers Snoo Wilson: his work was 'the stuff of dreams' by Simon Callow

Snoo Wilson's collected plays constitute a glorious Corybantic frieze covering vast tracts of human experience, filtered through an imagination that took in anthropology, history, physics, a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:51PM
Saturday, March 16, 2013

Simon Callow: Stanislavski was racked by self-doubt by Simon Callow

His acting 'method' has been adopted by stars from Brando to Day-Lewis, but Stanislavski's company rejected his theories – and the Russian felt his own acting was lackingThis year marks th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:00AM
Friday, August 3, 2012

Ivor Novello, master of the musical by Simon Callow

Simon Callow, Mark Elder and Gerard McBurney share a love for the music of Ivor Novello, which will be celebrated in a Prom, Glamorous NightOne day over lunch some 15 or more years ago, the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55PM
Sunday, December 18, 2011

Getting to Know Charles Dickens by Simon Callow

Four books introduce young readers to Charles Dickens, whose life was as fascinating as his work.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 11:11AM
Friday, December 31, 2010

London Stage in the Nineteenth Century by Robert Tanitch – review by Simon Callow

Simon Callow applauds an irresistible survey of theatrical lifeTheatre, Robert Tanitch remarks in his riotously enjoyable new book, has never been more popular than it was in the 19th centur…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PM
Sunday, May 10, 2009

Can you spot the difference? by Simon Callow

These men are both playing Richard III. How can acting styles have changed so much? Simon Callow on the fashions, theories and hypnotic faces that have shaped the stage Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:01PM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards