Menier Are Called, Few Chosen
The new aviation musical Take Flight may have got stuck on the runway at the Menier last night, but there was no shortage of optimism in the departure lounge.
Big shot agents mingled with Broadway royalty while New York Times critic Ben Brantley — the Greta Garbo of reviewers — maintained his untouchable independence by burying his head enigmatically in his book.
Brantley did surface briefly in the interval to exchange pleasantries with Variety critic David Benedict, who tells me that Dublin stringer Karen Fricker is moving across to London to help lighten his load. What load is that, exactly? “I wrote 134,000 words last year,” says David, grandly. “That’s a novel and a half.”
National boss Nicholas Hytner reveals that Michael Billington’s new book about post-War theatre, due out in November, is really rather good. Which is why he, Hytner, is discussing it with the author at an NT platform.
Hytner’s guest is Sam Barnett from The History Boys. “The great thing about that show,” says Hytner, “is that it’s given me a whole new extended family of friends. But I never want to see it again!” (He will do, though, when it goes out on tour yet again.)
I check out casting agent Emma Style’s footwear. Well up to standard. She and I have a thing about her shoes. We are just having a hearty disagreement about the merits of The Boy Friend (Emma, for some strange reason, much preferred The Drowsy Chaperone) when the departure lounge bells are sounded for the resumption of the flight.
And off we go. Or rather, off we don’t go. Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon this is not. It’s a bumpy ride. But not a goose-bumpy one, alas.