Great West End Theatres

Last updated
Great West End Theatres
Directed by Marc Sinden
Presented by Sir Donald Sinden
Narrated by Marc Sinden
Opening theme Things Ain't What They Used To Be performed by Ben Webster
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes40
Production
Producer Jo Gilbert
Camera setup Sony HD
Running time50–95 minutes per episode
Production companies Marc Sinden Productions
& Real Holywood Productions
for Great Productions
Release
Original network Sky Arts
Original release3 August 2013 (2013-08-03)

Great West End Theatres is a documentary series detailing the history, architecture and theatrical anecdotes of the 40 West End Theatres of London (as covered by the monthly Society of London Theatre list), released individually as All-Region DVDs and also as digital downloads [1] and the first 10 episodes were broadcast from 3 August 2013 in the UK by the BSkyB digital satellite channel Sky Arts 2 [2] and were chosen as "Pick of the Day" by the London edition of Time Out magazine.

Contents

Production

Presented by Sir Donald Sinden and described by The Stage newspaper as "Promises to be the most definitive guide to Theatreland", it features many of the West End's star actors, actresses and practitioners discussing the theatres that they are associated with, such as Anthony Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Charles Dance, Roy Hudd, Gillian Lynne, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Shaw and Samuel West.

Directed and narrated by Marc Sinden, written and researched by Shaun McKenna, it is produced by Jo Gilbert for Great Productions. [3]

Episodes

The first ten episodes released in the series are (and feature interviews with):

  1. Theatre Royal, Haymarket : (Sir Ian McKellen, Steven Berkoff & Martin Shaw).
  2. Prince of Wales : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Simon Callow, Roy Hudd & Griff Rhys Jones).
  3. Piccadilly : (Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Gillian Lynne, Martin Shaw & Samuel West).
  4. Wyndham's : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Anthony Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Charles Dance, Gillian Lynne, Martin Shaw & Samuel West).
  5. St Martins : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Ian McKellen, Stephen Waley-Cohen, Anthony Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Charles Dance & Martin Shaw).
  6. Ambassadors : (Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen, Anthony Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Charles Dance, Martin Shaw & Samuel West).
  7. Her Majesty's : (Anthony Andrews, Michael Ball, Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Griff Rhys Jones, Gillian Lynne, Martin Shaw & Samuel West).
  8. Palace : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Anthony Andrews, Michael Ball, Steven Berkoff & Simon Callow).
  9. Noël Coward : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Ian McKellen, Anthony Andrews, Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Griff Rhys Jones, Martin Shaw & Samuel West).
  10. Theatre Royal, Drury Lane : (Sir Cameron Mackintosh, Sir Ian McKellen, Anthony Andrews, Michael Ball, Steven Berkoff, Simon Callow, Roy Hudd, Griff Rhys Jones, Gillian Lynne & Martin Shaw). [4]

Full List of Theatres covered

Adelphi • Aldwych • Ambassadors • Apollo • Apollo Victoria • Cambridge • Coliseum • Criterion • Dominion • Duchess • Duke of York’s • Fortune • Garrick • Gielgud • Harold Pinter • Her Majesty’s • London Palladium • Lyceum • Lyric • Noël Coward • Novello • Old Vic • Palace • Piccadilly • Phoenix • Playhouse • Prince Edward • Prince of Wales • Queen’s • Royal Court • Royal Opera House • Savoy • Shaftesbury • St Martins • Theatre Royal, Drury Lane • Theatre Royal, Haymarket • Trafalgar Studios • Vaudeville • Victoria Palace • Wyndham’s [5]

Reception

In their review of the series, the British Theatre Guide said "This film is as close as one can get to standing on the stage taking an ovation. This series is beautifully filmed and gets the balance exactly right between classy camera work, history, reminiscence and gossip." [6]

The Daily Telegraph , in its review, stated the "lovely documentary series is made by the director Marc Sinden. Its star, and – it transpires – the best documentary frontman of all time, is his actor-father: Sir Donald Sinden, 90 years old next month. Sir Donald has been let loose, offering anecdotes and memories apparently as they occur to him and the effect is enchanting beyond belief. It is also, at times, incredibly funny. One has the sense of a lifetime spent in this world, being poured out for our delight like glasses of vintage champagne. Great West End Theatres is financed privately, in order that artistic control can be maintained and this shows in every loving, angle-free moment. More money is now in the process of being raised from investors. It seems to me rather important that the series should be completed: this is popular history at its best." [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McKellen</span> English actor (born 1939)

Sir Ian Murray McKellen is an English actor. With a career spanning more than six decades, he is noted for his roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cultural icon and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991. He has received numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, six Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards and five Emmy Awards.

<i>Oliver!</i> English musical by Lionel Bart

Oliver! is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Callow</span> British actor (born 1949)

Simon Phillip Hugh Callow is a British actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cameron Mackintosh</span> British theatre and musical producer

Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "the most successful, influential and powerful theatrical producer in the world" by the New York Times. He is the producer of shows including Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Miss Saigon, Mary Poppins, Oliver!, and Hamilton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Berkoff</span> English actor

Steven Berkoff is an English actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and theatre director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noël Coward Theatre</span> West End theatre in St. Martins Lane in London, formerly the Albery Theatre

The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's Theatre which was completed in 1899. The building was designed by the architect W. G. R. Sprague with an exterior in the classical style and an interior in the Rococo style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theatre Royal Haymarket</span> West-End theatre in London, England

The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote acquired the lease in 1747, and in 1766 he gained a royal patent to play legitimate drama in the summer months. The original building was a little further north in the same street. It has been at its current location since 1821, when it was redesigned by John Nash. It is a Grade I listed building, with a seating capacity of 888. The freehold of the theatre is owned by the Crown Estate.

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the Evening Standard newspaper. They are the West End's equivalent to Broadway's Drama Desk Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Lynne Theatre</span> West End theatre in London, England

The Gillian Lynne Theatre is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965. On 1 May 2018, the theatre was officially renamed the Gillian Lynne Theatre in honour of Gillian Lynne. It is the first theatre in the West End of London to be named after a non-royal woman.

<i>Half a Sixpence</i> Musical

Half a Sixpence is a 1963 musical comedy based on the 1905 novel Kipps by H. G. Wells, with music and lyrics by David Heneker and a book by Beverley Cross. It was written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Andrews</span> British actor (born 1948)

Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries Brideshead Revisited (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an Emmy. His other lead roles include Operation Daybreak (1975), Danger UXB (1979), Ivanhoe (1982) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), and he played UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in The King's Speech (2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Garland</span> British director, writer, and actor (1935–2013)

Patrick Ewart Garland was a British director, writer and actor.

Paul Rhys is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Sinden</span> English filmmaker and actor

Marcus Andrew Sinden is an English actor and film & theatre director and producer.

Janie Dee is an English actress and singer. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, for her performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential.

The Marlowe Society is a Cambridge University theatre club for Cambridge students. It is dedicated to achieving a high standard of student drama at Cambridge. The society celebrated its centenary over three years (2007–2009) and in 2008 there was a production by the society of a version of Comus written by Australian poet and playwright John Kinsella.

Sarah Lark is a Welsh singer and actress who rose to fame when she competed as one of the finalists in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008.

Michael Rudman was an American theatre director.

Nobby Clark is an English photographer of theatre, opera, dance and live classical and contemporary music performance.

References

  1. ↑ "Donald Sinden – Great night out with a reluctant hero: Charles Spencer column". Daily Telegraph. London. 2010-03-08. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. ↑ "Sky Arts presents Great West End Theatres". Sky Arts. 2013-07-22. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
  3. ↑ "West End boys – Open access: Documenting London's theatres". The Stage. London. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2011-05-06.
  4. ↑ "Great West End Theatres DVDs to be released". London: British Theatre Guide. 2012-01-10. Retrieved 2012-01-11.
  5. ↑ Dress Circle
  6. ↑ "British Theatre Guide reviews – Great West End Theatres". British Theatre Guide. 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  7. ↑ "Tracing London's theatrical history". Daily Telegraph. 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2013-09-23.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.