All stories by Michael Coveney on BroadwayStars

Monday, February 25, 2013

Macbeth, Trafalgar Studios, London by Michael Coveney

Trafalgar Studios, London: What is the world of Macbeth? Medieval, Gothic, mythical? Jamie Lloyd's production in the opening volley of his Trafalgar Transformed season goes completely p…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:06AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 18, 2013

Richard Briers by Michael Coveney

Genial star of the sitcom The Good Life who impressed in a range of roles on stageWhen he played Hamlet as a young man, Richard Briers, who has died aged 79 after suffering from a lung condi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:31AM[SHARE]
Monday, February 4, 2013

The Taming of the Shrew/Twelfth Night, Theatre Royal, Norwich by Michael Coveney

Theatre Royal, Norwich: The opening in the Theatre Royal, Norwich, of this year's Propeller tour signals the unusual step of reviving two successes of 2006/7. Running out of plays must …

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:05AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 31, 2013

The Winter's Tale, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon by Michael Coveney

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: There's a striking take on the separate worlds of The Winter's Tale in Lucy Bailey's new RSC production, designed by William Du…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:08AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 27, 2013

Lizbeth Webb obituary by Michael Coveney

Musical theatre star known as 'the champagne soprano'Lizbeth Webb, one of the great forgotten stars of British musical theatre in the 1940s and 1950s, has died aged 86. Known as "the champag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:49AM[SHARE]
Sunday, January 20, 2013

Interviews: Miss Adelaide, miss out by Michael Coveney

Michael Coveney catches up with the Adelaide Festival's new artistic director David Sefton and finds there is a special UK connection to his first programme

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 02:00AM[SHARE]
Friday, January 18, 2013

Sophiya Haque by Michael Coveney

Vibrant actor who achieved success in Bollywood films, West End musicals and on Coronation StreetSophiya Haque's performance in Peter Nichols's Privates on Parade, which opened last month at…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM[SHARE]

Sophiya Haque obituary by Michael Coveney

Vibrant actor who achieved success in Bollywood films, West End musicals and on Coronation Street Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:33AM[SHARE]
Thursday, January 17, 2013

Lucienne Hill obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor who found her true calling as translator of the French dramatist Jean AnouilhLucienne Hill, who has died aged 89, was best known for her translations of the French dramatist Jean Anoui…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:30PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 11, 2013

Fair Em, Union Theatre, London by Michael Coveney

Union Theatre, London: The Shakespeare Apocrypha - which are all about attribution, not authorship - include relatively well known titles like Sir John Oldcastle, or the Yorkshire Tragedy; b…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 05:37AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Julius Caesar, Donmar Warehouse by Michael Coveney

Donmar Warehouse: Rome under Caesar is Holloway Prison, and the inmates are putting on a protest show. It's a case of 22 jail birds, one guvnor, and the cages are rattling with the soun…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:08AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 30, 2012

Joy Parker obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor who shared the stage with her husband, Paul ScofieldSlim, dark, quick-moving and pretty, the actor Joy Parker appeared at the Birmingham Rep in her early 20s and, in 1942, pl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:26AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 16, 2012

Fred Ridgeway obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor in One Man, Two Guvnors who switched from Wall Street to BroadwayVery few actors start out in middle age, having thrown off a previous life as a high-flying money broker, and live…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:53AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Roger Hammond obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor known for his roles as clergymen, favourite uncles and tragic-comic charactersThere is a great tradition in the rotundity of actors, and Roger Hammond, who has died aged 76 of cancer, …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:34AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Joe Melia obituary by Michael Coveney

Outstanding actor of stage and screen who made his name as Bri in A Day in the Death of Joe EggThe British theatre changed for ever when Joe Melia, as the sardonic teacher Bri, pushed a seve…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:09AM[SHARE]
Friday, November 2, 2012

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon by Michael Coveney

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: You never feel the Royal Shakespeare Company is comfortable with the bard's sitcom that brought Falstaff back from the history plays by r…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 11:11AM[SHARE]
Friday, October 26, 2012

Elizabeth Bell by Michael Coveney

Versatile actor who for many years was closely associated with Alan AyckbournElizabeth Bell, who has died aged 71 of cancer of the oesophagus, was an accomplished and versatile act…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:10PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Daphne Slater obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor who made her name during the early years of drama on televisionAs a captivating young ingenue in Shakespeare on stage, and Jane Austen on television, Daphne Slater, who has died aged 8…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:09AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 19, 2012

What You Will, Apollo, London by Michael Coveney

Apollo, London: Lovely to see Roger Rees again, of course, but his solo turn of speeches by, and anecdotes about, Shakespeare is thin gruel for a West End stage, an after-dinner entertainmen…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:07AM[SHARE]
Sunday, September 16, 2012

John Moffatt obituary by Michael Coveney

Classical actor who graced the stage with decorum and stillnessAlthough perhaps best known as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie's moustache-twirling detective, on BBC radio, John Moffatt, who …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, September 12, 2012

King Lear, Almeida, London by Michael Coveney

Almeida, London: Although Michael Attenborough's fast-paced and lucid revival edges dangerously from pagan neutrality into medieval monotone, Jonathan Pryce's Lear is a compelling …

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:20AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Phyllis Diller obituary by Michael Coveney

Zany US comedian with a wise-cracking line in self-mockeryPhyllis Diller, who has died aged 95, was a raucous, zany comedian, with a special line in self-deprecation bordering on flat-out se…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:39PM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 26, 2012

Richard III, Shakespeare's Globe, London by Michael Coveney

Shakespeare's Globe, London: After ruling as the Rooster in Jerusalem, Mark Rylance returns to scenes of earlier triumphs as a comical Crookback, a childish villain of Gloucester who cloaks …

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:41AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Complete World of Sports, Arts Theatre, London, by Michael Coveney

Arts Theatre, London,: The RSC is back in town, but not, this time, the Royal Shakespeare Company - it's the all too familiar Reduced Shakespeare Company, the American RSC, with an all-…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:42AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Timon of Athens, National Theatre, Olivier by Michael Coveney

National Theatre, Olivier: The first thing you see is a row of tents, the encampment outside St Paul's, a world apart from the next scene, where a suited fat cat is moving like an oil s…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 08:49AM[SHARE]
Sunday, July 8, 2012

Toby Robertson obituary by Michael Coveney

Toby Robertson, who has died aged 83, was the artistic director of the Prospect Theatre Company from 1964 to 1978, and re-established the good name and reputation of touring theatre in the U…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:28PM[SHARE]
Friday, July 6, 2012

A Soldier in Every Son, Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon by Michael Coveney

Swan, Stratford-upon-Avon: As part of the ongoing World Shakespeare Festival 2012, the RSC has joined forces with the National Theatre of Mexico to tell the story of the rise of the Aztecs i…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:44AM[SHARE]
Thursday, July 5, 2012

The Taming of the Shrew, Shakespeare' Globe, London by Michael Coveney

Shakespeare' Globe, London: The comedy is either a fantasy of the tinker, Christopher Sly, or a command performance, or a charade in the inn. But director Toby Frow does away with the framew…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:29AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Victor Spinetti obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor who made his name at Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and appeared in three of the five Beatles films, making firm friends with the Fab FourVictor Spinetti, who has died of cancer ag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:31PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 12, 2012

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park by Michael Coveney

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park: The rain-soaked opening night of the Open Air Theatre's iconic Shakespearean comedy was cancelled after the first two acts. But we had already seen enou…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 06:00AM[SHARE]
Thursday, June 7, 2012

Julius Caesar, Royal Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon by Michael Coveney

Royal Shakespeare, Stratford-upon-Avon: There's a carnival atmosphere as the crowds gather for the Feast of Lupercal and the acclamation of the conquering hero - Gregory Doran's br…

SOURCE: The Stage Registration at 07:28AM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off