No, it was the Best Actress in Theatre award, which makes it even more of a mockery in my eyes.

 

And I'll bet she gets massive coverage for it in all the usual tabloids and celeb mags.

 

 

 

I am stunned to read that kelly osborne got best actress award. Its not about talent anymore in the westend. I realised that after seeing the top 3 in britains got talent and being told b y two friends how wonderful they were but one must look at the public as a whole see that a majority just like dross which SC and ALW have latched on to.GWTW did in my mind cut out the younger audience in that they didnt know the book or the film and they want something cheerful etc etc which brings repeats repeats like oliver,joseph etc etc.

This was Glamour magazine. I don't know if the Awards were reader voted or just decided by the people behind the magazine. I wonder if those who voted or chose actually saw Kelly in the show.

 

You made the point long ago that you thought the publicity sweep for GWTW was far too narrow and aimed at only afficionados of the theatre, those who prefer classical music and tourists.

I think you were right.

Edited June 6, 200817 yr by Baytree

Dont know if this has been posted before -

 

Mark shenton - the stage -

 

But if Billy Elliot should prove to be one of the sensations of the next season here, one show that won’t be heading here anytime soon is Gone with the Wind. As part of the closing notice that was issued late last Friday evening for the West End production, producer Aldo Scrofani stated what must surely be the obvious - that “plans for a New York production are currently on hold” - but, he added, “in the meantime we are pursuing various options that have been presented to us from interested parties worldwide.”

 

When The Observer rang me on Saturday for a reaction to the closing notice for a story that ran on Sunday, its reporter David Smith said to me, “So you’ve got blood on your hands”. I reminded him of something that Frank Rich once said when asked about the power of the New York Times to summarily close shows: “critics don’t close shows, producers do”.

 

But though this is a sad outcome, it has also been an inevitable one. The fixes, which included shaving another 15 minutes off the running time after it opened, were too little, too late. We need, of course, to remember that no one - with the exception of Bialystock and Bloom in The Producers — deliberately sets out to create a flop, but no one who works in the theatre is immune to failure, either, and even Trevor Nunn - who had previously directed two of the most successful musicals of all time in Cats and Les Miserables in the 80s — ended that decade by directing two consecutive flops on either side of the Atlantic. After entirely reconceiving the successful West End staging he had done of Chess for Broadway, it ran there (at Billy Elliot’s future Broadway home, the Imperial, as it happens) for just 68 performances in 1988, and the next year he brought a flop American musical called The Baker’s Wife (that had closed out-of-town on its way to Broadway when it was first premiered in a different production in 1976) and turned it into a West End flop all of its own, running at the Phoenix for barely six weeks.

 

Now Gone with the Wind joins their notorious ranks as shows that Nunn, for all his dazzling abilities as showman and classicist, couldn’t rescue. And, in a curious footnote, amongst the producers who are now looking certain to lose their entire investment is Patty Hearst, the one-time kidnappee turned guerrilla terrorist, subsequently granted a full presidential pardon by Bill Clinton on the last day of his Presidency. But who will pardon her ill-judged theatrical investment this time.

 

I don't have a civil word to say about the prolific Mr Shenton who seems to have a whole armoury of axes to grind on the subject of Sir Trevor Nunn.

 

There's no mention of Darius. Can this be moved to bits and pieces or something?

Edited June 7, 200817 yr by Baytree

He comes over as a self satisfied, self important man. I'd love someone to do the same to him. See how he would like being unemployed because someone had the power to do it.

Well, I don't associate 'Glamour magazine' with theatre going. Maybe it was the pic of her that was airbrushed that won her the award. Darius wouldn't look good in a basque.

too true, now I know what these polls entail - I dont really take any notice. I think we all know what a small number of determined fans it can take to vote an artist top in whatever they want. I would think if she had any shame shewould be embarrased to have taken thaat award over so many other actresses, after such a short small role for which she didnt get much praise for at the time from what I read

Gutted for D as I thought finally his world stage beckoned :( Maybe it still will, but as has been said, things never seem to go smoothly for him do they :no:

I think it has made a positive difference for him in the world of stage and film. Very positive.

Gutted for D as I thought finally his world stage beckoned :( Maybe it still will, but as has been said, things never seem to go smoothly for him do they :no:

 

 

But Darius always bounces back with something better so heres to Darius's new future I am sure we will be hearing from him soon.

I hope he doesn't hold on too long before he lets us know.

I still see this as a positive, imagine he hadnt got this role - it is not down to him that the show has not lasted longer, but now so many have seen what he can do, he had nothing to lose and all to gain and he has made the most of the role, proving that he has what it takes.

Darius has a lot of pluses as an actor

 

- he's tall

 

- he's got classic features and his darker complexion means he can play different nationalities

 

- he can grow his own facial fuzz very quickly

 

- he can adopt other accents fairly readily and more importantly sustain them.

 

- he's able to learn substantial dialogue quickly

 

- he knows how to time comic lines

 

- his acting is not all jazz hands and teeth and smiles like some MT performers - and without theatrical projection he could do TV or film work without much difficulty.

 

- he can portray the development of a character both physically and emotionally - Sky and Rhett

 

- he can take direction

 

and for musicals, he can also sing in character, from bass to lower tenor with a falsetto on top.

 

His own speaking voice would also be great for narration in documentaries, audio books

etc.

 

 

 

I think his comin timing was very impressive.

I think it has made a positive difference for him in the world of stage and film. Very positive.

 

I so hope you're right, megham.

 

Deep down I'm afraid it'll be deja-vu, another time when success for Darius will be allowed to trickle into the sand with no attempt to capitalise on it.

I think his life is more stable now and that'll make a difference

If the album is next, won't it be hard for him to adjust from being in a large company to doing solo gigs again. He may even need to choose a new band too.

He'd love to do it with a band. I think he likes belonging to a tight little group.

GWTW closing - closed