Drawing: Oliver Stone

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Three time Academy Award winner Oliver Stone has always focused on contemporary and controversial political and cultural issues. His feature length documentary ‘South of the Border‘ – the story of firebrand Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his leftie Latin American allies was no exception.

Oliver attended screening of the film at Mayfair’s Curzon Cinema in London in July 2010, followed by a Q+A session. I quickly drew this sketch and as you can imagine, he was a popular target for ‘graphers’.

As he walked down the cobble stoned street outside the theatre, a marauding band attacked him for his sig as he headed to a local constabulary for some hospitality.

He signed on the run, but I managed to stop him with the sketch. For some reason my kiwi accent made ‘Mark’ sound like ‘Max’, or maybe he only hears American accents. Either way, I was very happy he signed, as he zeroed in on a waiting entrée, which was probably only another hundred autographs away.

Drawing: Scarlett Strallen, Victoria Hamilton-Barritt and Leigh Zimmerman in A Chorus Line

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Marvin Hamlisch’s A Chorus Line is one of the most successful musicals of all time. The story of seventeen dancers auditioning for a spot on a chorus line, the action takes place on the bare stage of a theatre.

It opened in July 1975 and became a box office and critical hit, winning 9 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It ran for 6,137 performances and a West End production started in 1976, winning the Olivier for Best Musical. A number of revivals have followed, the most recent at the London Palladium, which opened earlier this year to rave reviews. It was booked to continue into 2014, but posted early closing notices for the end of August.

The female leads – Scarlett Strallen (Cassie), Leigh Zimmerman (Sheila) and Victoria Hamilton-Barritt (Diana) all signed my sketches at the stage door and requested copies. I gave them redrawn originals. Leigh won this year’s Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

Drawing: Dustin Hoffman in The Merchant of Venice

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Known for his versatile portrayal of antiheroes and vulnerable characters, two-time Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman took on the challenging role of ‘Shylock’ in Peter Hall’s production of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice in London’s West End. After a 13 week run at the Phoenix Theatre, mixed reviews and packed houses, the production transferred to The 46th Street Theatre on Broadway in December 1989, where it played till March the following year after 19 previews and 84 performances.

Dustin continued his role as the Jewish money lender with his thirst for revenge and ‘a pound of flesh’

Dustin was nominated for both a Tony and the Drama Desk Award. He signed my sketch at the theatre in New York in February 1990.

Drawing: Jack Nicklaus

Posted on July 8, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Jack Nicklaus is widely regarded as the most accomplished professional golfer of all time ‘The Golden Bear’ won 73 titles, including 18 majors – in a career that spanned 25 years. He won the Masters six times, the PGA Championship five times, the US Open four and the British Open Championships three times.

I sent this sketch to Jack at his Palm Beach office in 1994 and he signed it for me. He is a frequent visitor to the UK and I saw him at this year’s Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

Drawing: Dame Shirley Bassey

Posted on July 7, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dame Shirley Bassey was the featured performer at the 1996 Mission Estate Winery Concert, in Napier New Zealand. She signed my sketch after the show.

Drawing: Olivia Newton John

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Olivia Newton John signed my sketch at the annual Napier’s Mission Estate Winery Concert in New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay in February 2006. She and Chris de Burgh headlined the show.

Drawing: Indira Varma, John Simms and Simon Russell Beale in The Hothouse

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Harold Pinter’s macabre tragicomedy The Hothouse returned to London’s West End in a production directed by Jamie Lloyd at the Trafalgar Studios. An excellent cast, headlined by Simon Russell Beale and John Simm opened to rave reviews.

“It’s Christmas Day in a nameless state-run institution where the inmates are subjected to a tirade of mindless cruelty. A maniacal and self-obsessed leader breeds a contagion of hierarchical savagery amongst his staff, who thrive on a noxious diet of delusion and deceit.”

Written in the 1950’s, Pinter’s biting political commentary on the perils of unchecked power proves as pertinent and subversive today.

Simon, John and Indira Varma (Miss Cutts) signed my sketch at the stage door on a variety of nights, depending on their exits during June this year.

Cartoon: Talented!

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

A timeless gag cartoon about politicians that I used on the the back cover of my ‘Twink and Ink‘ collection of cartoons in 2001.

Drawing: Sir Peter Jackson

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I drew this sketch of Peter Jackson to illustrate my feature article on the chances of the first instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy – The Fellowship of the Ring – at the 2002 Academy Awards.

A friend of mine was a production assistant at WingNut films. I sent the sketch to her and she got Sir Peter to sign it for me.

Drawing: Woody Allen and Vilmos Zsigmond

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Allan Stewart Konigsberg is the infamous jazz clarinetist playing small venues in Manhattan, in particular a regular Monday night slot at the Caryle Hotel. He is also known as Woody Allen, often cited as one of cinema’s ‘treasures’. He describes himself as a “militant Freudian atheist” after 37 years of psychoanalysis. In August 2009, Woody was shooting his fourth London based film.

At that stage untitled, but released in 2010 as You Will Meet a Tall, Dark Stranger at the Cannes Film festival. Even though is his a serial Oscar nominee (23 nominations and 4 wins) he has constantly refused to attend the ceremonies or acknowledge his Academy success. His one and only appearance was unannounced, when in 2002 he turned up and made a plea to producers to continue to make their films in New York after the 9-11 attacks. It was followed by a short montage of New York clips and a standing ovation.

One of my favourite DPs of all time is Vilmos Zsigmond – the Hungarian-American cinematographer.

The International Cinematographer’s Guild placed him as one of the ten most influential cinematographers in history. An exponent of the technique of ‘flashing’ or ‘pre-fogging’ which exposes the negative using small amounts of controlled light to create a muted colour palette. Nominated on four occasions, he won the Academy Award in 1977 for Steven Spielberg‘s Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I found out that they were using a number of exterior locations around the Paddington area. On the fourth of August, 2009 I followed a Panovision truck heading into a quiet residential area called Cumberland Square. Bingo.

I did a very quick sketch of Woody and Vilmos and spoke to one of the techs about the Panovision Panaflex Millennium XC cameras with the primo lenses (not that I have an obsession)…

Oh yes, and would it be possible to meet Vilmos? He said he would see what he could do. A break for lunch and a lucky break for me. I got to meet one of my idols, he signed my sketch and I asked him if he could get Woody to do the same. I left it with him, and about an hour later a production assistant brought it back, signed.