Category Archives: Theatre

Robert Lansing, intense and unhappy with television

Posted on June 5, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Television is just awful,’ Robert Lansing told me. ‘I’ve done a lot of it but not from choice. I’ve done an awful lot of garbage; an awful lot of lousy things. I’m not saying I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Television, Theatre | Tagged 'Finishing Touches', 'The Grissom Gang', 'Twelve O'Clock High', 87th Precinct, Fisher Theater, Robert Lansing | Leave a comment

Why British comic Eric Sykes didn’t become a movie star

Posted on May 4, 2023 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Eric Sykes, who was born on May 4 one hundred years ago, was one of Britain’s most treasured comedians on radio and television but he might have become a leading actor in movies too as … Continue reading →

Posted in Film, Interviews, Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Theatre | Tagged 'Big Bad Wolf', 'The Liquidator', Eric Sykes, Fisher Theater, Hattie Jacques, Jimmy Edwards, John Gardner, John Lennon, Rod Taylor, Tony Hancock, Trevor Howard, Ye Old Steak House | Comments Off

When Gillian Anderson hit a home run onstage

Posted on June 14, 2022 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – At the Royal Court Theatre in April 2004, a tiny, waif-like creature strolls silently onto a wide, spare stage with the audience still settling and chattering and then suddenly becoming quiet. There is a window … Continue reading →

Posted in Memory Lane, Recalling ..., Reviews, Theatre | Tagged 'The Sweetest Swing in Baseball', Daryl Strawberry, Demetri Goritsas, Gillian Anderson, Ian Rickson, John Sharian, Kate Harper, Nancy Crane, Rebecca Gilman, Royal Court Theatre | Comments Off

Stephen Sondheim was grateful for ‘a fresh eye’

Posted on November 29, 2021 by admin

By Ray Bennett It wasn’t only Broadway that Stephen Sondheim loved. In London in 2011 to mark his 80th birthday, the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist who has died aged 91, accepted a Special Laurence Olivier Award for his outstanding … Continue reading →

Posted in Memory Lane, Music, Recalling ..., Theatre | Tagged 'Sunday in the Park with George', Angela Lansbury, Cameron Macintosh, Olivier Awards, Sondheim Theatre, Stephen Sondheim | Comments Off

Martin Shaw hasn’t always been a TV copper

Posted on January 21, 2020 by admin

By Ray Bennett Martin Shaw, who turns 75 today, is known best for playing TV coppers in “The Professionals” and “Inspector George Gently” but he also has had a long stage career in roles from Stanley Kowalski to Lord Goring … Continue reading →

Posted in Interviews, Television, Theatre | Tagged 'Inspector George Gently', 'The Professionals', Martin Shaw | 1 Comment

Cheers to our Will, not sorry old George

Posted on April 23, 2019 by admin

By Ray Bennett Today is St. George’s Day named for the patron saint of several places such as Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia. Oh, and England. We English, of course, don’t mark April 23 in … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Theatre | Tagged Ben Whishaw, Chichester Festival, Donmar Warehouse, Imogen Stubbs, Kate Fleetwood, Kelly Reilly, Matthew McFadyen, Michael Gambon, Michael Grandage, National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, Patrick Stewart, Peter Hall, Rebecca Hall, Rupert Goold, Simon Russell Beale, St. George, Tom Hiddleston, Trevor Nunn, William Shakespeare, Zoe Wanamaker | Comments Off

THEATRE REVIEW: Ugly Lies the Bone

Posted on March 3, 2017 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Mind over matter is refined in Lindsey Ferrentino’s absorbing new play “Ugly Lies the Bone” at the National Theatre to the application of virtual reality to deal with physical and emotional pain.

Posted in Reviews, Theatre | Tagged 'Ugly Lies the Bone', Es Devlin, Indhu Rubasingham, Kate Fleetwood, Kris Marshall, Lindsey Ferrentino, National Theatre, Olivia Darnley, Ralf Little | Comments Off

FILM REVIEW: ‘The Railway Children’ on stage

Posted on March 27, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – There’s a perfect family treat available at 400 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on Easter Monday with the first screenings of a film of York Theatre Royal’s acclaimed stage presentation of “The Railway Children”.

Posted in Film, Reviews, Theatre | Tagged 'The Railway Children', Anne Beresford, Damian Cruden, Debbie Gray, E.Nesbit, Geneius Pictures, Mike Kenny, Munro Films, National Railway Museum, Ross MacGibbon, Screen Yorkshire, Theatre Royal York | Comments Off

THEATRE REVIEW: Gemma Arterton in ‘Nell Gwynn’

Posted on February 17, 2016 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Jessica Swale’s thoroughly entertaining play “Nell Gwynn”, about the strumpet turned actress who beguiled a king of England and became a queen of the London stage, is filled with laughter and music and a few … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Reviews, Theatre | Tagged 'Nell Gwynn', Anneika Rose, Christopher Luscombe, David Rintoul, David Sturzaker, Gemma Arterton, Greg Haiste, Hugh Durrant, Jay Taylor, Jessica Swale, Michael Garner, Michelle Dotrice, Nica Burns, Nicholas Shaw, Nigel Hess, Peter McGovern, Sarah Woodward, Sasha Waddell, Shakespeare's Globe | Comments Off

THEATRE REVIEW: Frank Loesser’s ‘Guys and Dolls’

Posted on December 20, 2015 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – If you like musical theatre, beg, borrow or steal a ticket to see the Chichester Festival Theatre’s dazzling production of Broadway classic “Guys and Dolls”, which opens at the Savoy Theatre on Jan. 6 and … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Reviews, Theatre | Tagged 'Guys and Dolls', Abe Burrows, Damon Runyan, David Haig, Frank Loesser, Gavin Spokes, Gordon Greenberg, Jamie Parker, Jo Swerling, Peter McKintosh, Savoy Theatre, Siubhan Harrison, Sophie Thompson | Comments Off