All stories by Maggie Brown on BroadwayStars

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Maggie Brown: In the end, the public will decide whether a TV show is a hit or miss by Maggie Brown

By an odd coincidence, news that Channel 4 had pinched the Great British Bake Off was delivered to me in a series

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, September 1, 2016

Maggie Brown: TV channels pull out all the stops to lure back a younger audience by Maggie Brown

It was 7am on a sparkling morning and I was off to the BBC for a jolly interview about why young people

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, August 4, 2016

Maggie Brown: Foreign investment could prove key to TV drama in the UK by Maggie Brown

One of the most enjoyable television shows of my summer has to be Versailles, with its delicious mix of fabulous costumes, gardens

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, July 7, 2016

Maggie Brown: By sharing live events we can begin to mend our divided society by Maggie Brown

Feeling dazed by the ongoing crisis and the evidence that so many millions feel excluded from metropolitan London I picked up a

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, June 9, 2016

Maggie Brown: Like our great theatres, the BFI is an institution to be cherished by Maggie Brown

With Versailles romping away on BBC2, it seems timely to alert costume drama fans – and make-up and costume artists in particular

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, May 12, 2016

Maggie Brown: Expert solutions to mumbling are worth hearing out by Maggie Brown

While the BBC waits anxiously for the Whittingdale lash of the charter renewal white paper, and its senior levels seethe with dissent,

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, April 21, 2016

Maggie Brown: Shakespeare’s television legacy deserves to be celebrated, too by Maggie Brown

How many ways are there to celebrate Shakespeare’s 400th anniversary? My inbox brims with initiatives, from a device offering his best quotes

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, March 24, 2016

Maggie Brown: How can TV attract young audiences for new shows? by Maggie Brown

My best outing in recent weeks was to Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s highly original production of The Tempest at the Redgrave

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 03:00AM
Thursday, February 25, 2016

Maggie Brown: Actors must brace themselves for TV’s changing of the guard by Maggie Brown

Actors are well versed in the regular changes of regimes that take place across Theatreland, as directors move on and new artistic

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:30AM
Thursday, January 21, 2016

Maggie Brown: The fight between fantasy action and period dramas by Maggie Brown

While praise is heaped on great performances in War and Peace, spare a thought for actor Kieran Bew. He’s the burly warrior lead in Beowulf:

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Thursday, December 3, 2015

Maggie Brown: Make the most of it if you’re blessed with a voice for radio by Maggie Brown

While writing the obituary of Radio 4 announcer Peter Donaldson, whose voice had been part of so many people’s morning routines, it

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM
Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Maggie Brown: New technology is making everything interactive by Maggie Brown

The other day I watched Peter Bazalgette, sporting a virtual reality headset, learning the secret behind a TV magic trick, making a

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Maggie Brown: BBC could take inspiration from UK theatre on cutbacks by Maggie Brown

When George Osborne was forcing the BBC to take the £750 million hit from free licence fees for the over-75s two months

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Maggie Brown: Timing a TV farewell just right is a tricky business by Maggie Brown

In August 2002, I attended a perplexing event. It was the recording of what would turn out to be the final series

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Maggie Brown: We do the BBC no favours by pretending it’s perfect by Maggie Brown

What is the best way for creatives to respond to the BBC Charter renewal? Or to put it another way, was the

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Maggie Brown: BBC production heads out of house while ITV stays in by Maggie Brown

You could call it the Poldark moment. ITV has recently ramped up purchases of independent producers, to buttress its studios division and

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Maggie Brown: BBC needs to help itself to hang on to its funding by Maggie Brown

At this time of year, huge black stag beetles fly out of the greenery surrounding my garden. And this sight popped into

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Maggie Brown: Donmar’s TV experiment didn’t quite get my vote by Maggie Brown

I am not a member of that endangered species called critics. But on election night I was anchored to my sofa till

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Maggie Brown: Life after Ben Stephenson will be harder for the BBC by Maggie Brown

We’ve been seeing a lot of farewells across the arts, from Nicolas Hytner’s smooth handover and Kevin Spacey’s magnificent sing song at

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Maggie Brown: BBC needs a refresher on how to not squander talent by Maggie Brown

While the Jeremy Clarkson drama played out, I was obsessively reading the new official BBC history, Pinkoes and Traitors, dealing with the

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00PM
Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Maggie Brown: Until ITV gets an overhaul, it’s down to Downton by Maggie Brown

After the Brit Awards, the DJ and BAME commentator Edward Adoo, whose views I value, wrote that presenters Ant and Dec were

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:26PM
Tuesday, August 26, 2014

News: New NT chief executive: ‘It’s an opportunity to bring in young people’ by Maggie Brown

Tessa Ross, the incoming chief executive of the National Theatre, has said that she sees her new role as an opportunity to “bring in young people” to the venue. Speaking at this year’s…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:23PM
Friday, July 25, 2014

News: Cinema broadcasts of live theatre generated £7.2 million in 2013 by Maggie Brown

Live screenings of theatre productions in cinemas across the UK pioneered by the National Theatre generated £7.2 million at the box office last year, from just 14 shows, a new report has fo…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:48AM
Thursday, July 17, 2014

News: BBC’s drama praised but comedy too middle class, review finds by Maggie Brown

The success of BBC1’s Happy Valley and Peaky Blinders on BBC2 in the past year has demonstrated that the channels “offer some of the best of British drama”, the BBC Trust said today. T…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:15AM
Monday, June 16, 2014

News: BBC unveils major new music strategy by Maggie Brown

The BBC has announced plans to open up access to the world of musical entertainment within the UK, with two new partnerships designed to train new entrants and increase the technical skills…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:43AM
Thursday, May 8, 2014

Business News: Channel 4 reports a £15m loss and a decline in audience share by Maggie Brown

Channel 4’s audience share dropped to 6.1 per cent in 2013 – the lowest in its recent history – as it was hit by stiff competition, including the decision by BBC1 to scrap chil…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:48AM
Thursday, March 6, 2014

News: Tony Hall confirms plans to axe BBC3 and might cut more by Maggie Brown

The BBC’s director general Tony Hall has confirmed that BBC3 will close in the autumn of 2015, though the controversial decision, stoking a storm of protest, will have to be ratified by th…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 10:01AM
Wednesday, October 30, 2013

News: David Suchet rules out West End Poirot run by Maggie Brown

David Suchet has ruled out appearing in a West End stage production featuring Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot, a role he has played on television since 1989. Suchet revealed in  2010 th…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:10AM
Friday, October 11, 2013

Peter Kosminsky and Mark Rylance team up for BBC's Wolf Hall adaptation by Maggie Brown

Hilary Mantel's Booker prize-winning novels will see Rylance, as Cromwell, reunited with director of The Government InspectorThe actor Mark Rylance is to be reunited with the director of the…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:03PM
Saturday, September 14, 2013

Analysis & Opinion: Is Sam Neill riding a winner? by Maggie Brown

BBC2 is aiming to serve up intelligent drama that doesn’t rely on a backdrop of war exotic locations or upper class life. ‘Different’ can be risky, writes Maggie Brown, but the ability…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 01:00AM
Friday, August 23, 2013

News: Kevin Spacey – theatre is more “liberating” than TV by Maggie Brown

Kevin Spacey has said that despite his Oscar winning career in film, and his current commitment to making and starring in the second 13-part series of House of Cards for Netflix, he still fi…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 09:05AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 17, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic