All stories by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 10, 2024

‘I could have written three plays about her’: Jennie Lee, MP and wife of Nye Bevan, is celebrated on stage by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The coal miner’s daughter who set up the Open University and the Arts Council and was Britain’s youngest MP is the subject of two new shows ‘Behind every great man stands a great woman…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Sunday, February 11, 2024

Budget crisis imperils Royal Court’s support for new writers by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The literary department at the London theatre is renowned for taking risks with untried playwrights, but is now under threat The Royal Court is known for putting the names of emerging playwr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32PM
Sunday, January 7, 2024

‘A national emergency’: UK theatres fear closure after more local funding cuts by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Windsor and Maidenhead scraps cultural budget in wake of similar moves in Suffolk, Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham The chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PM
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, 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
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, 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, 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, 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
Saturday, June 10, 2017

Give us a break! Theatre bosses dismiss calls to ditch intervals by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

TV writer Steven Moffat’s demand for fewer intermissions ‘does not make financial sense’Theatre and concert hall managers are mounting a fightback this weekend in defence of an endange…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:48PM
Sunday, May 7, 2017

At home in Jerusalem: Micky Lay, the real-life rebel behind the role that wowed Broadway by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Mark Rylance's star turn as Rooster in Jez Butterworth's play owes much to the time he spent with the hard-drinking Wiltshire wild man who inspired the playwrightWhen Mark Rylance was toast…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Stage play reveals pressure athletes face to use drugs by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Competitors and coaches gave writer of Deny, Deny, Deny insights into blurred boundaries around cheating in sportOne of Britain’s leading experts on doping in sport, and an adviser to a ne…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:25PM
Thursday, July 21, 2016

Mr Angry of TV comedy severs links with Putin network on way to Edinburgh fringe by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Tom Walker, creator of Jonathan Pie, says it’s now time to move on from the channel that made his name Jonathan Pie, the fictional television reporter who is regularly pushed to the edge o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:01PM
Thursday, June 23, 2016

West Side story composer almost gave up on show, letters reveal by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Leonard Bernstein's hostility towards writer of musical's book almost halted project, newly released correspondence revealsIt is regularly judged one of the best musicals of all time, yet We…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32PM
Monday, January 11, 2016

Musical puts spotlight on forgotten star Anthony Newley by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

London show aims to revive the faded reputation of the versatile Cockney performer Anthony NewleyA musical about the life of singer Anthony Newley is to be made in an attempt to revive his r…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:12PM
Sunday, November 8, 2015

Standup Michael McIntyre says rivals' nastiness spoiled his big night by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Stadium-filling comedian Michael McIntyre tells Desert Island Discs of 'amazing hostility' from other comicsThe comedian Michael McIntyre has admitted to being shocked by the "hostility…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:40AM
Saturday, August 8, 2015

From Hollywood action to a turn on the fringe: John Hannah returns to Scottish stage by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Star is latest in a line of film actors to be lured by live shows When John Hannah was a young boy in East Kilbride, the son of a toolmaker and a supermarket cleaner, a future as the star of…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:52AM
Saturday, August 1, 2015

Edinburgh Fringe offers comics help to cope with stress of performance by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The Sick of the Fringe initiative highlights the mental health toll of Edinburgh’s endurance testIn Edinburgh from Friday, audiences of festival fringe-goers will sit in the dark in venues…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:28PM
Saturday, June 6, 2015

Ipswich murders film shows how street of terror has regained its pride by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

This week sees the film premiere of London Road, a musical based on one of Britain’s most infamous serial killings. Local people say the area has finally moved on from a tragic timeWhen re…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:08PM
Saturday, February 7, 2015

Disappointment as Women on the Verge stars miss string of performances by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Tamsin Greig, Haydn Gwynne and Seline Hizli all pull out of performances of the new West End musical adaption of Pedro Almodóvar’s film Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:18AM
Saturday, August 2, 2014

The Killing star Sofie Gråbøl plays queen at Edinburgh festival by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Famous for playing Danish detective Sarah Lund, Gråbøl tackles roles of two powerful women a queen and a governor in TV thriller Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PM
Saturday, January 12, 2013

Spotlight on Walter Tull, hero who fought prejudice on the pitch and in the trenches by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

New play explores the life of Walter Tull, one of the first black footballers in England who also became an officer in the first world war Continue reading...

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:05PM

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