Category Archives: Theatre

Robert Lansing, intense and unhappy with television

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 , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why British comic Eric Sykes didn’t become a movie star

When Gillian Anderson hit a home run onstage

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 , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on When Gillian Anderson hit a home run onstage

Stephen Sondheim was grateful for ‘a fresh eye’

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 , , , , , | Comments Off on Stephen Sondheim was grateful for ‘a fresh eye’

Martin Shaw hasn’t always been a TV copper

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 , , | 1 Comment

Cheers to our Will, not sorry old George

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cheers to our Will, not sorry old George

THEATRE REVIEW: Ugly Lies the Bone

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 , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on THEATRE REVIEW: Ugly Lies the Bone

FILM REVIEW: ‘The Railway Children’ on stage

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on FILM REVIEW: ‘The Railway Children’ on stage

THEATRE REVIEW: Gemma Arterton in ‘Nell Gwynn’

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on THEATRE REVIEW: Gemma Arterton in ‘Nell Gwynn’

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

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on THEATRE REVIEW: Frank Loesser’s ‘Guys and Dolls’