All stories by Michael Coveney on BroadwayStars

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Dame Maggie Smith obituary by Michael Coveney

A distinguished, double Oscar-winning actor whose roles ranged from Shakespeare to Harry Potter• Appreciations by Michael Billington, Peter Bradshaw and Mark Lawson• A life in pictures�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM
Thursday, September 26, 2024

Barbara Leigh-Hunt obituary by Michael Coveney

Highly expressive actor of impeccable technique that could encompass high comedy and full-blown tragedy There is a huge raft of exceptional British stage actors who merit commemoration even…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:36PM
Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Pat Heywood obituary by Michael Coveney

Stalwart of the British stage who was also known for her film roles in Romeo and Juliet and 10 Rillington Place The actor Pat Heywood, who has died aged 92, was a stalwart of repertory theat…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:54PM
Wednesday, July 24, 2024

Peter Charlesworth obituary by Michael Coveney

Streetwise entertainment agent and producer who worked with stars such as Shirley Bassey, Judy Garland and Joan Collins The leading entertainment agent and producer Peter Charlesworth, who h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:54AM
Wednesday, June 5, 2024

William Russell obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor who was part of the original cast of Doctor Who On 23 November 1963 – the day after the assassination of President John F Kennedy – the actor William Russell, who …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Saturday, May 25, 2024

James Laurenson obituary by Michael Coveney

Authoritative stage actor who excelled at playing baddies, and took roles in TV shows such as The Crown and Coronation Street Primarily a stage actor of good grace, authority and a fine bari…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM
Monday, May 20, 2024

Ian Gelder obituary by Michael Coveney

Compelling actor who played Kevan Lannister in Game of Thrones, following a notable stage career with the RSC and in the West End The actor Ian Gelder, who has died of cancer aged 74, was a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:32AM
Sunday, March 17, 2024

Pip Simmons obituary by Michael Coveney

Experimental British theatre director whose confrontational style often featured loud rock music, nudity, blasphemy and free dance There was a short period in the British theatre – 1968 to…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:06AM
Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Michael Culver obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor known for his political campaigning, both in his choice of roles and his personal life You might say of the actor Michael Culver that, in Harold Wilson’s great phras…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:02AM
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Edward Bond obituary by Michael Coveney

One of the most important British dramatists of the 20th century who was unafraid of taking on the establishment over censorship The battle to remove censorship from the British stage was fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:32PM
Sunday, February 25, 2024

Bernard Kops obituary by Michael Coveney

Playwright best known for his signature early works The Hamlet of Stepney Green and Enter Solly Gold Although once bracketed with Harold Pinter and Arnold Wesker, his fellow East End of Lond…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:54PM
Friday, February 2, 2024

Chita Rivera obituary by Michael Coveney

American actor, singer and dancer who found fame as Anita in the stage musical West Side Story Known for her dynamic personality and prodigious physical energy, Chita Rivera, who has died ag…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:32AM
Tuesday, January 30, 2024

Philip Hedley obituary by Michael Coveney

Artistic director of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, and tireless campaigner against cuts to arts funding From 1979 to 2004 Philip Hedley, who has died aged 85, was artistic director of t…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18PM
Monday, January 22, 2024

Martin McCallum obituary by Michael Coveney

West End producer who worked with Cameron Mackintosh on musicals such as Les Misérables and The Phantom of the OperaWhen Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats unexpectedly became a potential…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 01:12PM
Monday, November 6, 2023

Rupert Rhymes obituary by Michael Coveney

One of the leading postwar theatre managers and administrators who started out as a box-office clerk at the RSCRupert Rhymes, who has died aged 83 following a stroke, was one of the key Lond…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:18AM
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Bill Kenwright obituary by Michael Coveney

Producer of stage hits including Blood Brothers who took Medea to Broadway and served as the chairman of Everton FCBill Kenwright, who has died aged 78 after a lengthy illness, combined the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:19AM
Sunday, October 22, 2023

Keith Baxter obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor and director who played Prince Hal to Orson Welles’s Falstaff in Chimes at Midnight, and triumphed in Sleuth in the West End and on BroadwayAll good actors have stories to tell, but …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM
Saturday, October 21, 2023

Haydn Gwynne obituary by Michael Coveney

Stage and screen actor known for her TV roles in Drop the Dead Donkey and The Windsors, and as a star of musical theatreAlthough her first renown on television was in tough-talking professio…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:13AM
Sunday, August 27, 2023

Matyelok Gibbs obituary by Michael Coveney

Director and actor who played Auntie Muriel Weasley in Harry Potter and served as artistic director of the Unicorn theatreFor Matyelok Gibbs, who has died aged 91, 70 years in theatre and fi…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:13PM
Monday, August 21, 2023

Tom Kempinski obituary by Michael Coveney

Actor and playwright best known for his 1980 stage hit Duet for One, which was later turned into a filmIt is widely accepted that most writers, most playwrights, write about bits of themselv…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:25AM
Tuesday, July 25, 2023

Leonard Tucker obituary by Michael Coveney

Pioneering lighting designer with Laurence Olivier and Peter Hall at the National Theare, and later in the West EndLeonard Tucker, who has died aged 94, was one of the British theatre’s le…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:37AM
Thursday, June 29, 2023

Sheldon Harnick obituary by Michael Coveney

American lyricist known for his work with the composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as She Loves Me and Fiddler on the RoofFor 15 years on Broadway, between 1956 and 1970, the lyricist Sheldo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:55PM
Thursday, June 15, 2023

Glenda Jackson obituary by Michael Coveney and Julia Langdon

Actor who was a fearless, ferocious presence in theatre, cinema and television, then turned to politics as a Labour MPMany leading British actors have mixed art and politics, but no great ac…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:49PM
Thursday, May 25, 2023

Dougie Squires obituary by Michael Coveney

Choreographer whose dance troupes were a mainstay of light entertainment television programmes in the 1960s and 70sThe influence of choreography is rarely evident in what used to be called l…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:06PM
Saturday, May 6, 2023

Adam Brace obituary by Michael Coveney

Writer, director and script-fixer who nurtured powerful new work at the Soho theatre in LondonOn the night of the 2023 Olivier awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, Adam Brace, nominated…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:32AM
Thursday, March 30, 2023

Michael Rudman obituary by Michael Coveney

Theatre director best known for his three major productions of Death of a Salesman, written by his hero Arthur MillerAs the elder son of a Texan oil millionaire, a graduate of Oberlin Colleg…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM
Thursday, March 9, 2023

Chaim Topol obituary by Michael Coveney

Israeli actor of stage and screen who made Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof his own The sight of Tevye the milkman shaking his upper torso and stomping out his yearning, melodic, future subjun…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:21AM
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Irving Wardle obituary by Michael Coveney

Distinguished critic who chronicled the development of British theatre through a postwar golden age It seems extraordinary that arguably the leading actor of the past 50 years, Ian McKellen,…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:35PM
Thursday, February 23, 2023

Patti Love obituary by Michael Coveney and David Edgar

Actor best known for her stage work and acclaimed for her portrayal of Mary Barnes in the title role of David Edgar’s 1978 play Patti Love, who has died aged 75, was an actor of supreme ta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:56AM
Friday, February 3, 2023

Kit Hesketh-Harvey obituary by Michael Coveney

Writer, broadcaster, and half of the renowned cabaret act Kit and the Widow You could easily assume that Kit Hesketh-Harvey, who has died unexpectedly aged 65, was an old-fashioned throwbac…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:47AM
Friday, December 30, 2022

David Pownall obituary by Michael Coveney

British playwright best known for Master Class, as well as for comic novels inspired by his time in Zambia David Pownall, who has died aged 84, was a playwright and novelist who, while never…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:36AM

All that Chat

2024-2025 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 05, 2024: Home - Todd Haimes Theatre
Jul 11, 2024: Oh, Mary! - Lyceum Theatre
Jul 30, 2024: Job - Hayes Theater
Sep 12, 2024: The Roommate - Booth Theatre
Nov 14, 2024: Tammy Faye - Palace Theatre
Dec 12, 2024: Cult of Love - Hayes Theater
Dec 19, 2024: Gypsy - Majestic Theatre
Mar 15, 2025: Purpose - Hayes Theater
Apr 01, 2025: Glengarry Glen Ross
Apr 10, 2025: Smash - Imperial Theatre
TBA: Titanic