All stories by Michael Coveney on BroadwayStars

Sunday, December 29, 2019

Jerry Herman obituary by Michael Coveney

American composer and lyricist best known for Mame, Hello, Dolly! and La Cage aux Folles The composite image of a Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, who has died aged 88…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:24PM
Thursday, December 26, 2019

Tony Britton obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor who was a West End stalwart, became a film star in the 1950s and then a TV sitcom favourite in the 70s and 80s Tony Britton dies aged 95 In a career spanning six decad…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Wednesday, December 11, 2019

Barrie Keeffe obituary by Michael Coveney

Playwright and screenwriter best known for the 1980 film classic The Long Good FridayAlthough Barrie Keeffe, who has died aged 74, wrote a long list of stage plays that fed into, and off, ea…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:36PM
Friday, November 8, 2019

Michael Coveney: Today, when everyone’s a critic, voices like Michael Billington’s are irreplaceable by Michael Coveney

The unthinkable has happened. Michael Billington has called it a day on the night job as he passes his 80th birthday and

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 03:00AM
Thursday, July 11, 2019

Martin Charnin obituary by Michael Coveney

Creator of the stage musical Annie, he wrote the lyrics and directed the show when it opened on Broadway in the 1970s While being far more than a one-hit wonder, Martin Charnin, who has died…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:06PM
Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Freddie Jones obituary by Michael Coveney

Veteran actor admired for his roles as ‘Sir’ on stage in The Dresser, the freak-show owner in the 1980 film The Elephant Man and Sandy Thomas in TV’s EmmerdaleFreddie Jones, who has di…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM
Monday, April 22, 2019

John McEnery obituary by Michael Coveney

Intuitive actor with a magnetic stage presence and a voice that could rasp like sandpaperJohn McEnery, who has died aged 75, was an intuitive actor in the abrasive style of Nicol Williamson,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:20AM
Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Notre Dame and the culture it inspired – from Matisse to the Muppets by Oliver Wainwright, Stuart Jeffries, Peter Bradshaw, Jonathan Jones, Fiona Maddocks, Michael Coveney and Keza Macdonald

It mesmerised Proust, terrified Homer Simpson and gave us the Hunchback – Guardian critics celebrate Paris’s gothic masterpiece at the heart of the modern imagination As Notre Dame Cathe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:13AM
Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Duncan Weldon obituary by Michael Coveney

‘Old school’ theatre producer behind successes such as Stones in His Pockets, Waiting for Godot and No, No NanetteThe image of the West End theatre producer has changed radically in the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:48AM
Monday, December 3, 2018

David Conville obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor and director who rescued the Open Air theatre in Regent’s Park, London, in the early 1960sDavid Conville, who has died aged 89, gave the air of being a patrician stage director and m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:18PM
Sunday, November 18, 2018

Jennie Stoller obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor with a remarkable stage presence admired for leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal CourtJennie Stoller, who has died of cancer aged 72, was an outstanding acto…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36PM
Friday, August 24, 2018

John Harrison obituary by Michael Coveney

Director who developed regional theatre in the Midlands and north of EnglandJohn Harrison, who has died aged 94, was a key figure in the British regional theatre of the 20th century and the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12PM
Monday, July 30, 2018

Bernard Hepton obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor best known for his roles in the TV series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Colditz and I, ClaudiusNever on the front cover, but always somehow familiar, Bernard Hepton, who has died aged …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM
Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Hugh Whitemore obituary by Michael Coveney

Dramatist and screenwriter who enjoyed success with Stevie, Breaking the Code and The Gathering StormThe dramatist and screenwriter Hugh Whitemore, who has died aged 82, was an accomplished …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Monday, April 30, 2018

John Stride obituary by Michael Coveney

Founder member of the Old Vic company who lit up the London stage in the 1960s and 70s and starred in the TV series The Main ChanceJohn Stride, who has died aged 81, was a golden boy of the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54PM
Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Celebrating Andrew Lloyd Webber at 70: ‘He has a body of work that will not be surpassed by anyone’ by Michael Coveney

As Andrew Lloyd Webber celebrates his 70th birthday, Michael Coveney looks back at the work and legacy of a composer whose work

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:01PM
Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Michael Coveney: Ken Dodd was the greatest live performer I ever saw on stage by Michael Coveney

When I took my mother to see Ken Dodd at the London Palladium in the 1970s, she was banging her head against

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:58AM
Monday, March 12, 2018

Sir Ken Dodd obituary by Michael Coveney

Comedian with an endless desire to make people laugh known for his tickling sticks, Diddymen and marathon stage performancesThe last great “front-cloth” comic of our times, and the last …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:40AM
Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Kenneth Haigh obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor who took the role of Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger, the groundbreaking 1956 play by John OsborneThe actor Kenneth Haigh, who has died aged 86, was the original Jimmy Porter in Joh…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:21AM
Monday, January 22, 2018

Michael Coveney: John Barton punctured the myth that Shakespeare is difficult by Michael Coveney

John Barton, who died last week aged 89, was the godfather of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The director’s sonnet classes formed the

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:16AM
Saturday, December 9, 2017

Patrick Garland obituary by Michael Coveney

Director and writer celebrated for his work at Chichester Festival theatre and the BBCThe career of Patrick Garland, who has died aged 78, was as varied as it was productive. An actor, produ…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:36AM
Sunday, October 22, 2017

Rosemary Leach obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor who was admired for her roles as Helene Hanff in 84 Charing Cross Road and Mrs Honeychurch in the 1985 film Room With a ViewThe versatile and accomplished actor Rosema…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:54AM
Monday, October 16, 2017

Roy Dotrice obituary by Michael Coveney

Veteran actor best known for playing John Aubrey in Brief Lives, Fagin in the stage version of Oliver! and a late role in Game of ThronesAs leading character actors go, Roy Dotrice, who has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:36AM
Friday, September 29, 2017

Benjamin Whitrow obituary by Michael Coveney

Expert supporting actor equally at home on stage and screen‘Benjamin Whitrow has never given a bad performance,” said Laurence Olivier, who employed the actor in his National Theatre com…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:33PM
Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Mount Olympus: the 24-hour theatrical orgy that outdoes Dionysus by Michael Coveney

Actors who nap on stage, ecstatic dances, ravishing arias, lovers swamped in sand … Jan Fabre’s epic in a Belgrade conference centre is an endurance testThe centrepiece of this year’s …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:18AM
Monday, September 25, 2017

Sybil Christopher obituary by Michael Coveney

Welsh-born actor and Richard Burton's first wife, she moved to the US after their split and co-founded a famous New York discoSybil Christopher, who has died aged 83, was the injured party i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54AM
Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Michael Coveney: West End theatres aren’t run down, they’re in great shape by Michael Coveney

Forty years ago, establishing the Theatres Trust provided the impetus to revitalising the crumbling West End Theatres and ensure their futures. Michael

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Peter Brook: ‘Theatre exists in the present. You can’t ignore the news’ by Michael Coveney

After rising through the ranks of UK theatre early in his career, director Peter Brook worked around the world before moving to

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:01PM
Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Obituary: Peter Hall by Michael Coveney

Peter Hall, who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960 and moved the National Theatre into its new South Bank premises in

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:38AM
Friday, September 1, 2017

Ann Jellicoe obituary by Michael Coveney and David Edgar

Playwright and director who scored an international hit with The Knack and pushed the boundaries of community theatreThere were two distinct, equally significant, phases to the career of the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:36PM
Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Barbara Cook obituary by Michael Coveney

Singer, actor and Broadway star who reinvented herself on the cabaret circuitThere are few musical theatre careers that divide as sharply into two parts as did that of Barbara Cook, who has …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM

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