Category Archives: Theatre

‘Billy Elliot: The Musical’ still running after two years

Posted on April 21, 2007 by admin

I called Elton John and Lee Hall’s “Billy Elliot: The Musical” irresistible when it opened in March 2005 and so it has proved as the tuneful adaptation of the well-regarded 2000 movie celebrates its second anniversary at London’s Victoria Palace … Continue reading →

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Helen Mirren wins Critics’ Circle’s top award

Posted on April 13, 2007 by admin

Helen Mirren was awarded with Critics’ Circle’s 2006 Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts at a lunch at the National Theatre on April 11. The star of the film “The Queen” and TV’s “Elizabeth I”has already won the Oscar, BAFTA, … Continue reading →

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Spacey’s ‘Moon for the Misbegotten’ glows on Broadway

Posted on April 11, 2007 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The Old Vic’s triumphant production of Eugene O’Neill’s “Moon for the Misbegotten” has landed intact on Broadway with Kevin Spacey and Eve Best (pictured) and Colm Meaney starring under the direction of Howard Davies. Spacey’s … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘The Rose Tattoo’ at the National

Posted on April 3, 2007 by admin

By Ray Bennett The incomparable Maureen Stapleton, who died in 2006, played Serafina delle Rosa, the red hot Sicilian mama in Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo” when it opened on Broadway in 1951. Stapleton and co-star Eli Wallach won Tony … Continue reading →

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Theatre review: Maggie Smith in ‘The Lady from Dubuque’

Posted on March 26, 2007 by admin

  By Ray Bennett LONDON — The appearance of the Grim Reaper at a dinner party is social death, as Monty Python once demonstrated. It’s true even when, as in Edward Albee’s darkly comic and highly entertaining “The Lady From … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Robert Lindsay in ‘The Entertainer’

Posted on March 20, 2007 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The shadow of Laurence Olivier’s performance as Archie Rice looms so large over John Osborne’s 1956 play “The Entertainer” that it’s almost surprising to rediscover what a sturdy piece of work it is. Robert Lindsay, … Continue reading →

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David Hare honours playwright John Osborne

Posted on March 7, 2007 by admin

With the 50th anniversary production of John Osborne’s “The Entertainer” opening at London’s The Old Vic tonight, I am reminded of the passionate and illuminating address that fellow playwright David Hare made in Osborne’s defence at the Hay Literary Festival … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: Daniel Radcliffe in ‘Equus’

Posted on February 28, 2007 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse, so they say, and since there are six sightless steeds in the West End revival of Peter Shaffer’s overwrought 1973 drama “Equus”, you … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘A Moon for the Misbegotten’

Posted on September 28, 2006 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – The Old Vic’s revival of Eugene O’Neill’s 1947 drama “A Moon for the Misbegotten” is a powerful demonstration of how superlative acting – in this case by Kevin Spacey, Eve Best and Colm Meaney  – can elevate … Continue reading →

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THEATRE REVIEW: ‘Frost/Nixon’ at the Donmar

Posted on August 22, 2006 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – President Richard Nixon had a great many enemies, real and imagined, but the one that finally did him in was television, as playwright Peter Morgan shows in his insightful and entertaining new play “Frost/Nixon” at … Continue reading →

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