All stories by Media Correspondent on BroadwayStars

Sunday, September 10, 2023

We owe it all to Mike Yarwood, say pioneer impressionist’s heirs by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The 1970s star blazed the way for mass-audience satire in Britain. But is there an appetite for it now? As the entertainment world mourns the death at 82 of Britain’s most popular televis…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AM
Sunday, August 13, 2023

Exit, pursued by stress: bosses of smaller UK theatres quit in droves by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

String of vacancies at regional arts venues grows as funding and staffing crisis worsens Running a theatre has become a seriously unappealing job, according to many of those working at Brita…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM
Monday, April 10, 2023

‘They are the crucial buyers’: theatres tap into the power of female readers by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The Time Traveler’s Wife and Hamnet are among novels written, and largely read, by women coming to the British stage Female readers are the acknowledged force behind the market in publishe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AM
Sunday, January 8, 2023

‘It’s my Mousetrap’: Michael Frayn on Noises Off, a farce to be reckoned with by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The 1982 play stills pulls in crowds from Broadway to Helsinki, and is now returning to the West End for a fifth time. ‘I just can’t understand it,’ says its creator The arrival of a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00AM
Saturday, November 12, 2022

British-born ballet star unites Russian exiles in a dance of defiance by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Xander Parish, who fled St Petersburg in March, talks about his performance this weekend with Russian and Ukrainian artistes When the dancer Xander Parish made his return to the London stage…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM
Sunday, January 9, 2022

The last dance? Why prima ballerinas are turning away from the tutu by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Leading dancers and directors say they find the classic costume both physically and artistically restrictive The ballerina’s tutu remains a traditional object of desire for many young girl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Sunday, February 21, 2021

Carlos Acosta: ‘There’s a danger we’ll lose a whole generation of young dancers’ by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The Cuban star talks about his battle to lift spirits at the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the film he has made to rally performers as their stages stay dark When Carlos Acosta, considered one…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM
Monday, January 4, 2021

Cash for Cate? Struggling arts groups offer donors online access to stars by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

As Zoom fatigue sets in, organisations are seeking creative ways to bring art to patrons to keep them – and their wallets – engaged A concert from your favourite opera singer, delivered …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48AM
Saturday, March 28, 2020

Guardian to stream Hampstead theatre shows during shutdown by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Acclaimed productions will be available to watch on Guardian site as coronavirus outbreak continues Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The Guardian website is…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54PM
Saturday, December 7, 2019

Real-time polling station play The Vote returns for election night by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Catherine Tate, Mark Gatiss and Nina Sosanya star in James Graham and Josie Rourke’s theatrical experiment The play The Vote, a theatrical experiment broadcast live on television on electi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:48PM
Saturday, July 6, 2019

West End rediscovers the pure joy of farce (and missing trousers) by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Broad stage theatre comedy full of plot twists, puns and frantic action is finding a new audienceThe stage is set like a hotel bedroom where a scantily clad woman is hiding inside a wardrobe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54PM

National Theatre defends asking lesbians to leave bar by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Women claim staff did not ‘like the T-shirts we are wearing’ but NT says the action was ‘a result of a series of disturbances’ The National Theatre has become embroiled in a bitter w…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54PM
Sunday, March 24, 2019

Hamilton’s young star says Britain must confront its colonial past by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Jamael Westman explains how his role in the West End show has affected his politics as well as his careerThe swift rise to fame of Jamael Westman, leading man in the London cast of the hit m…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:00AM
Saturday, October 13, 2018

‘Not a terrorist again!’: Typecast actors applaud manual to boost role diversity by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

A new book helps BAME actors shrug off stereotypes and show their real talentsNeed a convincing member of a street gang for a TV show? Or a suspected terrorist for a police interrogation sce…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06PM
Sunday, September 9, 2018

New life for historic theatre as it faces up to ‘slave trade’ past by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Bristol’s Old Vic confronts its controversial 250-year-old past on its relaunch after a £25m faceliftOne of the oldest theatres in Europe, Bristol Old Vic, is finally to have a proper fro…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:48AM
Saturday, August 25, 2018

Rose Matafeo wins Edinburgh best comedy show award by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

New Zealander’s show about sex and modern social mores scoops top comedy gongThe New Zealander Rose Matafeo has won the coveted best comedy show award at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.Her …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM

British choreographer and mime Lindsay Kemp dies by Vanessa Thorpe Observer Arts and Media Correspondent

Influential avant garde creative force who worked with David Bowie dies in Italy, aged 80Lindsay Kemp, the experimental British choreographer and mime, who made his name in the 1960s and col…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:04AM
Sunday, July 8, 2018

Why does British theatre leave working-class actors waiting in the wings? by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Poorer drama students face an uphill struggle, with funding cuts and rising fees. But British theatre may be the loser unless more actors from a range of backgrounds take centre stageWhen Ir…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Saturday, June 30, 2018

What’s trickier than Brexit? Writing a TV drama about it by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Dramatists behind a C4 film and two plays about the referendum must contend with the way facts and key players in this divisive issue are still shiftingIt is the divisive issue that will com…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:54AM
Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Banned sex play Spring Awakening now a teenage hit by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Written in the 1890s, censored in the 1960s, tale of young desire Spring Awakening is back on stage as a musicalA story once banned from the British stage due to its celebration of adolescen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42PM
Saturday, April 21, 2018

Stage hit celebrates the weatherman who prevented D-Day disaster by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Story of Scottish meteorologist James Stagg’s crucial intervention in Operation Overlord comes to the West End in tense drama PressureA tense historical drama celebrating the D-day interve…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:42PM
Saturday, March 31, 2018

Dover turns clock back a century to welcome home Unknown Soldier … again by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Sir Michael Morpurgo is supporting a large-scale public performance to honour the warrior at the spot where his body returned to British soilIn 1916, the Rev David Railton, a former curate i…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PM
Saturday, March 24, 2018

​Anne-Marie Duff talks divorce, love and loss on Desert Island Discs by Vanessa Thorpe Observer Arts and Media Correspondent

The actor spoke about the end of her marriage to James McAvoy on the BBC Radio 4 showAnne-Marie Duff has spoken of the emotional impact of the end of her decade-long marriage to the Scottish…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:01PM
Saturday, November 25, 2017

Shirley Porter’s London housing scandal to be relived on stage near Grenfell Tower by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Director of theatre near fire that killed 71 people picks play about gerrymandering in 1980s as debut productionA play about a notorious social housing scandal is to be staged in a new theat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM
Saturday, November 18, 2017

London diners get immersed in the jazz age, Bombay style by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Actors reproduce lost world of ‘Indian noir’ in former art deco department store, which will afterwards become part of the Dishoom restaurant chainAmid clouds of cigarette smoke and the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AM
Saturday, November 11, 2017

Theatre to serve Nigel Slater’s Toast with a side order of ham by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Audience to be given food during stage version of Nigel Slater’s memoirToast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger, the bestselling food memoir by Observer writer Nigel Slater, is to be brought t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM
Saturday, August 26, 2017

Edinburgh festival fringe comedy award shared for first time by Vanessa Thorpe Observer Arts and Media Correspondent

Judges could not choose between shows by Hannah Gadsby and John Robins – so have given both the £10,000 first prizeFor the first time in the history of Edinburgh’s festival fringe, the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:04AM
Saturday, August 5, 2017

Edinburgh fringe fights for right to party amid corporate ‘oasis’ of calm by Vanessa Thorpe Observer Arts and Media Correspondent

Spectacular light show in New Town square has shut down smaller events and venues, say criticsIt was meant to celebrate all that the summer festival season has come to mean to Edinburgh and …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:24PM
Saturday, July 29, 2017

Globe director Emma Rice embroiled in new funding controversy by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Rival arts organisations cry foul at award of £2m in Arts Council funding to her next theatrical venture, Wise ChildrenThe beleaguered stage director Emma Rice, who is to step down from run…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:04PM
Saturday, July 22, 2017

Stars from comedy’s punk past return to the Edinburgh fringe by Vanessa Thorpe Observer Arts and Media Correspondent

They were at the vanguard of political comedy. Now Alexei Sayle, Craig Ferguson and Sue Perkins are heading back to the festival, as it celebrates its 70th birthdayUnknown talents and studen…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:54PM
Saturday, June 24, 2017

Curtain rises on Gielgud's gay scandal by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Critic's play shows how the famous actor's arrest was part of the 1950s homosexual witch-huntsThe scandal that almost ended the career of Sir John Gielgud is to be brought to the London stag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:24PM