All stories by Vanessa Thorpe on BroadwayStars

Sunday, March 10, 2024

‘I could have written three plays about her’: Jennie Lee, MP and wife of Nye Bevan, is celebrated on stage by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The coal miner’s daughter who set up the Open University and the Arts Council and was Britain’s youngest MP is the subject of two new shows ‘Behind every great man stands a great woman…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:24AM
Sunday, February 11, 2024

Budget crisis imperils Royal Court’s support for new writers by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

The literary department at the London theatre is renowned for taking risks with untried playwrights, but is now under threat The Royal Court is known for putting the names of emerging playwr…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:32PM
Monday, January 15, 2024

Dracula writer Bram Stoker revealed as a humble minute taker for actor charity by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Before publishing his vampire classic in 1897, the author was employed as a personal secretary at the Actors’ Benevolent Fund The imagination of Bram Stoker gave life to one of literature�…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM

Peter Capaldi says posh actors are smooth, confident and tedious by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The Doctor Who and Thick of It actor laments the lack of support for emerging talent from working-class backgrounds • Read the full interview with Peter Capaldi Britain’s cast of leading…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:48AM
Sunday, January 14, 2024

Move over Abba: new ‘riskier’ wave of British musicals to challenge West End’s established order by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Theatreland is taking a gamble on a wave of quirky little shows to challenge the big but tired box office beasts A fresh kind of musical theatre show, set apart by having started life on th…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:32PM
Sunday, January 7, 2024

‘A national emergency’: UK theatres fear closure after more local funding cuts by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Windsor and Maidenhead scraps cultural budget in wake of similar moves in Suffolk, Bristol, Nottingham and Birmingham The chill blast of damaging cuts to provincial arts venues has returned …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PM
Sunday, October 29, 2023

Raac and the Beanstalk: town pantos forced to move as theatres shut by crumbling concrete by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Venues across the UK closed over building safety fears sprinkle a little magic to keep their shows on the road Every good pantomime needs a menacing villain to threaten all the fun, and this…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:13AM
Sunday, September 10, 2023

We owe it all to Mike Yarwood, say pioneer impressionist’s heirs by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The 1970s star blazed the way for mass-audience satire in Britain. But is there an appetite for it now? As the entertainment world mourns the death at 82 of Britain’s most popular televis…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 09:43AM
Sunday, August 13, 2023

Exit, pursued by stress: bosses of smaller UK theatres quit in droves by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

String of vacancies at regional arts venues grows as funding and staffing crisis worsens Running a theatre has become a seriously unappealing job, according to many of those working at Brita…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:55AM
Sunday, August 6, 2023

Edinburgh festival fringe acts outraged by censorship of ‘provocative’ posters by Vanessa Thorpe

Performers and producers say arts are being ‘sanitised’ amid more sensitive attitudes towards swearing and sexual politics An annual “poster war” has raged between rival promoters fo…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:55AM
Monday, July 31, 2023

‘His story just continues to grip people’: Philippa Gregory revisits the history of Richard III for stage by Vanessa Thorpe

The historical novelist’s first play looks again at the ‘panto villain’ image of the king reviled by Shakespeare There is one king who simply will not lie down quietly and stay in the …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:13AM
Sunday, April 23, 2023

Wagatha Christie play faces plot twist after Rebekah Vardy trademark move by Vanessa Thorpe

Producers of West End show Vardy v Rooney say surprise legal move to trademark a pun will be referred to in script A big publicity boost for a West End show can come from the most unexpected…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:32AM
Sunday, April 16, 2023

‘Our identity is being stolen’: survivors plead for halt to dramas about Grenfell by Mark Townsend and Vanessa Thorpe

Residents and members of bereaved families call on BBC and National Theatre to scrap productions The BBC and the National Theatre are facing rising hostility over two high-profile production…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:06AM
Monday, April 10, 2023

‘They are the crucial buyers’: theatres tap into the power of female readers by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The Time Traveler’s Wife and Hamnet are among novels written, and largely read, by women coming to the British stage Female readers are the acknowledged force behind the market in publishe…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:36AM
Sunday, January 8, 2023

‘It’s my Mousetrap’: Michael Frayn on Noises Off, a farce to be reckoned with by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

The 1982 play stills pulls in crowds from Broadway to Helsinki, and is now returning to the West End for a fifth time. ‘I just can’t understand it,’ says its creator The arrival of a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:00AM
Sunday, November 13, 2022

‘It has added political resonance this year’: why Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol still strikes a chord by Vanessa Thorpe

Audiences can choose from a glut of Ebenezers this festive season, with the infamous miser a more pointed character than ever in these hard times This Christmas, whatever the weather, it wil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:18AM
Saturday, November 12, 2022

British-born ballet star unites Russian exiles in a dance of defiance by Vanessa Thorpe, Arts and Media Correspondent

Xander Parish, who fled St Petersburg in March, talks about his performance this weekend with Russian and Ukrainian artistes When the dancer Xander Parish made his return to the London stage…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 12:24PM
Saturday, August 27, 2022

Edinburgh festival’s funniest performers for 2022 are revealed by Vanessa Thorpe and Veronica Lee

Young Latina whose act tackles disability is among the winners at prestigious awards ceremony Both of the top prizes for being funny at the 2022 Edinburgh fringe festival have gone to foreig…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:18PM

Sam Campbell wins comedy award at Edinburgh festival fringe 2022 by Vanessa Thorpe

Australian comedian scoops £10,000 prize as Mexican-born American Lara Ricote is named best newcomer The top comedy prizes at this year’s Edinburgh festival fringe have gone to foreign ta…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 10:42AM
Monday, August 8, 2022

New musical tells the story of wartime hero Alan Turing by Vanessa Thorpe

Edinburgh Fringe show sets out to tell the tale of the code-breaker whose crucial work on German cyphers helped win the second world war From a social outcast to an object of national pity a…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 11:37AM
Sunday, July 31, 2022

‘It comes down to taste’: how the Edinburgh comedy awards find tomorrow’s funniest stars by Vanessa Thorpe

Nica Burns, driving force of the festival’s comedy prize, talks about the winners and losers in 40 years of the hugely influential event Comedians have a reputation for being tough: the st…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:48AM
Saturday, July 2, 2022

Go on, gizza play: Boys from the Blackstuff lives again – on stage by Vanessa Thorpe

Alan Bleasdale works with Sherwood creator James Graham to revisit TV masterpiece When Boys from the Blackstuff went out on television four decades ago, it was hailed as a show that would s…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 02:54PM
Sunday, March 27, 2022

Alexei Ratmansky: Russian cultural figures must oppose war in Ukraine by Vanessa Thorpe

Distinguished ballet choreographer takes issue with views of his friend, dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov • Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates Russian artists and performers must not stay sil…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 07:18AM
Sunday, January 9, 2022

The last dance? Why prima ballerinas are turning away from the tutu by Vanessa Thorpe Arts and Media Correspondent

Leading dancers and directors say they find the classic costume both physically and artistically restrictive The ballerina’s tutu remains a traditional object of desire for many young girl…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 03:06AM
Sunday, December 12, 2021

It’s a family show: actors with new babies job-share leading roles by Vanessa Thorpe

Demand is growing to allow flexible working for cast as well as crew in the theatre industry If disaster strikes in the theatre, an understudy replaces a leading actor, sometimes even during…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:18AM
Saturday, December 11, 2021

Dame blame game: now the joke’s on Boris Johnson as panto stars mock No 10 ‘party’ by Vanessa Thorpe

The woes of Britain’s government offer a rich seam of comedy and it’s being mined in theatres and on TVs across the country “Aren’t we all having fun? What about you in the back row?…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:12PM
Sunday, November 7, 2021

Antisemitism row forces Royal Court theatre to change name of character by Vanessa Thorpe

Criticism from David Baddiel and others prompts about-turn on play due to open this week Al Smith may not be the first British playwright to ask “What’s in a name?”, but this weekend h…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:06AM
Sunday, October 31, 2021

He played Martin Luther King. Next up: a fiery white rightwinger by Vanessa Thorpe

David Harewood cast as William Buckley in James Graham’s new play of fiery 1968 debates with Gore Vidal It was a battle royale fought between American political titans, and it played out o…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 05:18AM
Monday, September 20, 2021

Tantrum of the opera: how Michael Palin’s angry dad inspired new show by Vanessa Thorpe

Monty Python star has reinvented his play The Weekend as musical theatre Theatres are about to embark on a new “golden age” thanks to the combination of freshly enthused audiences and a …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 04:24AM
Sunday, July 18, 2021

The show can’t go on: Covid tracking app crippling theatres and venues by Vanessa Thorpe

While capacity crowds are now allowed, productions are being shut down by isolation rules as cast members are ‘pinged’ Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Wes…

SOURCE: The Guardian at 06:03AM
Sunday, June 13, 2021

Historic London theatre to reopen after multimillion-pound restoration by Vanessa Thorpe

Hit musical Jersey Boys will be first show at the 630-seater Trafalgar theatre in the West End The curtain goes up on Monday on at least one piece of certain good news for the troubled West …

SOURCE: The Guardian at 08:18AM

All that Chat

2023-2024 BROADWAY SEASON
May 30, 2023: Grey House - Lyceum Theatre
Jun 26, 2023: Just For Us - Hudson Theatre
Jul 24, 2023: The Cottage - Hayes Theater
Nov 16, 2023: Spamalot - St. James Theatre
Dec 18, 2023: Appropriate - Hayes Theater
Mar 07, 2024: Doubt - Todd Haimes Theatre
Apr 14, 2024: Lempicka - Longacre Theatre
Apr 17, 2024: The Wiz - Marquis Theatre
Apr 18, 2024: Suffs - Music Box Theatre
Apr 25, 2024: Mother Play - Hayes Theater
Jun 10, 2024: The Drama Desk Awards