There is, following the deaths of first Paul Scofield and then Tony Church, a real sense of the end of an era. Peter Hall rang me to eulogise Church and commented sadly on losing so many friends and key colleagues, not forgetting the delightful backstage boffin Michael Hallifax, one of Hall’s core admin team when he moved the National onto the South Bank in 1976.

Hallifax will be remembered at the NT on Tuesday in the Olivier stalls window they call “the cathedral” which seems appropriate for so elegantly episcopal a character and might be doubly so, later on, for Church.

I hope the Northcott, Exeter, as well as the RSC, arrange something celebratory for Church. After writing Church’s obituary for the Guardian I was kicking myself for not making the Howard Brenton link the day after Brenton’s Never So Good opened to the most positive reviews I think that erstwhile so-called firebrand has ever received.  

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The girls opened the results the show with a corny version of I’d Do Anything which resembled an episode of Seaside Special, it was that dated!

We then see a montage of yesterday’s performances and still, Rachel stands out as a clear winner for me. They are then sent on a Nancy mission!

Not quite the mission you might expect, nor that impossible, really.

They had to prove how working class they could be as the show is about an old cockney sparra, don’t cha know! So, the girls have to mix with locals and work on an East End market stall. Quite cruel really as you might imagine some of their V.T’s highlighting that this is where they might end up if we don’t vote for them!

Cut to Andrew eating jellied eels and John Barrowman laughing uncontrollably. (more…)

So, the live shows have begun and Nancy is in the studio, somewhere. But who is best for the role? And who should be buying a train ticket home? Well, they sang their hearts out; some of them looked desperate, grinning inanely at the camera like demented hyenas, whilst others delivered spot- on performances. There were a few dark horses too which is always good telly for week one.

As for the Olivers; is it me or is this aspect of the show just not interesting? The public have no part in the decision making process and whatever you think about that choice; the bottom line is – their ‘journey’ is a boring one, as a result.

Anyway, onto the Nancys (Insert Graham Norton snigger here!) and how they fared:

First up was Irish Philly Jessie singing Tina Turner’s classic belter River Deep, Mountain High and although the vocals were okay, her performance was quite affected and she seemed really nervous. She will get better if she stays; although now the show is live, she looks ill at ease.

Jodie chose Adele’s Chasing Pavements to showcase her voice. The problem is you cannot take ‘Blackpool out of the girl ‘and the result was a Cabaret version of a contemporary song; complete with lots of over emoting and over-done hand movements. Her eyes were chasing unruly punters in a pub, rather than pavements. (more…)

[Show as slideshow]

On Thursday (27 Mar 2008) night Whatsontage.com hosted a sold out Outing to see Howard Brenton’s powerful new political drama Never So Good, starring Jeremy Irons as former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. 150 Theatregoers joined us for a free drink and top price seats to see this world premiere at the National Theatre. With so many of us in attendance we were encouraged to pre-order our drinks for the interval and it was a good thing we did as the sell out performance’s audience filled the bar while Whatsonstage Theatregoers simply picked up their drinks and took the opportunity to mingle and discuss the show.

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News has just been broken that Rowan Atkinson has been cast as Fagin in Oliver! which I’m sure will make the show an even bigger draw than it already is. But what of the Nancys? Any news on them? Here are some snippets I have picked up the last couple of days, trawling through the mags and tabloids:

Ashley (Ginger Nancy) is frightened of mayonaise!

Jessie (Irish Nancy) plays four instruments!

Cleo (Scary Nancy) only eats raw food!

Tara (pierced Nancy) is the daughter of Giant Haystacks (the wrestler) (more…)

The smugly self-justifying Arts Council chairman Christopher Frayling was well and truly kebabed by Quentin Letts on a Radio 4 programme today asking “what is the point of the Arts Council”?

He wriggled around when asked about applicants having to declare their sexuality for a grant, then changed the subject, or tried to. Mind you, Letts — who sounds just like Billy Bunter — fatally weakened his own antipathy towards state funding for the arts by seeming to hold up the Menier Chocolate Factory as an example of how to do perfectly well without taxpayers’ contributions.

The Menier has bought into, and sold out to, a Broadway ethos of theatre, and plows that furrow very well indeed without any concept of civic responsibility beyond giving an audience a good time. David Babani’s policy has little to do with radically new work or future audiences or anything, really, beyond a New York idea of musical theatre showbiz, and Stephen Sondheim.

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I don’t know about you, but once the live shows start next week, I get more into the whole concept. Sure, some of the V.T continues to manipulate, as do some of the song choices, deliberately designed to send someone into the bottom two. But, on the whole, it makes for a much more interesting show when you see the contestants perform on a Saturday night, in front of millions.

I have to admit, the line-up of would-be Nancys is far better than I expected. Francesca, who I mentioned in the last blog entry is clearly a favourite. But, I like the sheer variety this year, in terms of look and vocal ability and style. It’s too early to pin-point a clear favourite at this stage but I do like the following for many different reasons:

Jessie- as she has a real earthy quality and knows how to emote through song.

Niamh- she looks like she wants it, without the cockiness that many of these shows unleash.

Cleopatra- she could be the ‘Seamus’ as she looks like she wants it so bad, she would provide V.F.M as the stock villain. (more…)

I think even Anthony Minghella himself would have been embarrassed by the amount of coverage his death has attracted compared to that accorded Paul Scofield, who died last Wednesday aged 86.

This happened because Minghella was in the middle of his career and was a public figure, whereas Scofield last appeared on a stage over ten years ago and was a deeply private man. Minghella was a fine artist and an important and much-loved enabler.

But, excuse me, Scofield was a truly great artist, a Stradivarius among violins, a titan of the twentieth century stage and a man of mystery, hidden depths, undefinable glamour. Only Olivier and Gielgud were greater than him.

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Many users of the I’d Do Anything thread, here on the board have commented on some of the ‘unknowns’ who have been featured, auditioning for the the part of Nancy. But finally, a newspaper has gotten hold of the fact that contestant and hot favourite; Francesca Johnson co-starred with Judge, Denise Van Outen in the ill- fated revival of Rent.

The tabloids have leapt on the fact that the two played lovers in the show, going for the ‘phwoar’ factor. But, it leads me to ask a bigger question: why do the producers audition folk if they already have others in mind? This idea that the star is plucked from the streets was disproven when Lee Mead won Joseph. The Lord tried playing it down, saying that he hadn’t really noticed him. The fact that he was an understudy in his productions, aparrently meant nothing.

I have nothing against the pros getting the parts. But axe the reality aspect then and stop pretending that it’s going to be ‘from window cleaner to West End’, as it clearly isn’t. If this show was X Factor, more people would comment on this. There is this feeling that because the show is about finding theatre stars, that it is much less about ratings and shock tactics. But how different is this show from anything Simon Cowell is fronting?

But, what’s next? Sally Ann Triplett pretending she does not know John Barrowman, as she auditions. That really would be a case of Anything Goes!

Murray Melvin is not the only actor to have told me that Harry H Corbett’s Richard II for Joan Littlewood at Stratford East was the finest performance he has ever seen by anyone on a stage. That view was corroborated in last night’s television play The Curse of Steptoe in which Harry wrestled with his conscience for “selling out” to sitcom.

Clare Higgins popped up as Littlewood to tell Harry that he was a Richard “for the masses” and that he knocked Gielgud and his cronies into a cocked hat.

Harry’s dad in Steptoe, Wilfrid Brambell, elicited a more tragic comparison with Gielgud when he was shown being nicked for cottaging in a men’s lavatory. Corbett died aged 57 in 1982, Brambell in 1985. The play — a sort of  “Terry Johnson by numbers” number – barely scraped the surface.

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