Drawing: Henry Goodman in The Resistible Rise of Arturu Ui at the Duchess Theatre

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

It was one of the undoubted hits of the 2012 Chichester Festival, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui with Henry Goodman in the title role transferred to London’s Duchess Theatre in September. It is a sharp and thrilling parable of the rise of Hitler, set in Chicago during the Great Depression of the 1930s – a perfect time for a small-fry crime boss and his mob of gangsters to make it big. “You simply can’t take your eyes off Goodman… He is horribly, hypnotically watchable,” said Charles Spencer for The Daily Telegraph.

“Henry Goodman is astonishing.. a virtuoso, vocally and physically.” – The Daily Telegraph
“Goodman dazzles,” from The Evening Standard. Time Out simply claims it’s “the best stage performance… this year.”

Henry has won two Olivier Awards, the first in 1993 for Best Actor in a musical in Assassins and for his role as Shylock in the National Theatre’s production of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Trevor Nunn in 2000.

Drawing: Paula Wilcox in Great Expectations at the Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Graham McLaren’s production of Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations was part of the bicentenary events celebrating the birth of the great author. After a National Tour it transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London’s West End in early 2013. Adapted by Jo Clifford, Dickens 13th novel is considered by many to be his most popular.

Paula Wilcox – best known as Chrissy in the 70s British TV comedy Man About The House took on the role of Miss Havisham, one of literature’s most tragic heroines. Dickens created some of the world’s most memorable characters and Miss Havisham is one of them.

She has her heart broken on her wedding day when she was jilted at the alter by her cruel lover. She adopts a daughter called Estrella and trains her to wreak revenge on men.

Estrella was played by Grace Rowe, who previously featured in the Olivier Award Winning production of The Railway Children at Waterloo Station.

Drawing: Toby Jones in The Painter at the Arcola Theatre

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Toby Jones has appeared in twenty films since his first role in Orlando in 1992. He voiced ‘Dobby’ the house elf in the Harry Potter films.

He received BAFTA, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominations for his role as Alfred Hitchcock in the TV film The Girl (2012). In 2001 he starred in the West End comedy The Play What I Wrote directed by Kenneth Branagh. Toby’s comic role as Arthur won him the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and a Tony Award nomination when it moved to Broadway in 2003.

In 2011 Toby played the British Romantic landscape artist JMW Turner in The Painter at the Arcola Theatre.

Drawing: Billy Boyd as Banquo in Macbeth at Shakespeare’s Globe

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Known globally as the hobbit Pippin in all three Lord of the Rings films, Scottish actor Billy Boyd is also an accomplished musician, singing, playing guitar, bass and drums. He fronts the band Beecake named after his LOTR co-star, Dominic Monaghan, sent him a picture of a cake covered in bees. Billy wrote the song The Edge of NIght for Peter jackson’s last instalment of LOTR The Return of the King.

Billy just finished a season of ‘the Scottish play’ at Shakespeare’s Globe in London this week. He signed my sketch on the last day.

Drawing: David Hyde Pierce in Curtains on Broadway

Posted on October 16, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

David Hyde Pierce is known for playing the psychiatrist Dr Niles Crane on the hit NBC sitcom Frasier, winning four Emmys for the role.

In August and September 2006, he starred as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in Curtains, staged at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA. It transferred to Broadway in March 2007 with David winning a Tony for his performance as a leading actor in a musical.

In 2010 he appeared on the West End stage in a revival of David Hirson’s play La Bête directed by Matthew Warchus, before it also moved to New York. David signed my sketch at the Harold Pinter Theatre’s stage door in London.

Drawings: Tom Conti and Natalie Walter in Smash; and Nina Conti in Talk To The Hand

Posted on October 15, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I have had the great pleasure of seeing both Tom and his daughter Nina on stage at various times and venues in London. More known for his contemporary rather than classical theatre, Tom is one of the West End’s most enduring and popular actors over the past four decades.

He received the Tony and Olivier Awards for this role as a paralysed sculptor in the right-to-die play Whose Life Is It Anyway? in 1979.

In films tom won the National Board of Review Award Twice for Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Reuben, Reuben. In the latter he also received an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination.

Nina is a wonderful comedian, actress and ventriloquist who regularly headlines at London comedy venues, including the comedy store. In 2002 she won the BBC New Comedy Award. Her first full length solo show Complete and Utter Conti debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2007 and went on to win the Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival the following year. Her primary on stage sidekick is a depressed monkey called Monk and she has recently added ‘Granny’, a puppet she inherited from her mentor Ken Campbell on his death.

Both Tom and Nina signed their drawings at the Menier Chocolate Factory after their respective shows in 2011.

Drawing: Angela Denoke in Salomé at the Royal Opera House

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

David McVicar’s revival production of Richard Strauss’ hyper-sensuous and erotic opera shocker Salome, about Herod’s stepdaughter and biblical femme fatale. It opened at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in July 2010.

It is based on a German translation of the French play Salomé by Oscar Wilde. Famed for its ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ and the final scene when she declares her love to – and kisses the severed head of – John the Baptist. It shocked opera audiences from its first performance in 1905, and was actually banned in London by the Lord Chamberlain’s office until 1907.

German soprano Angela Denoke played the title role. She is a regular at all the world’s major opera companies – Berlin, London, Paris, Chicago, New York, Vienna and San Francisco, being named Singer of the Year in 1999 by the magazine ‘Openweldt’.

Drawing: Lenny Henry, Conrad Nelson and Jessica Harris in Othello at Trafalgar Studios

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Comedian Lenny Henry made his Shakespearean debut as Othello – one of the most challenging roles in dramatic literature. After opening at the West Yorkshire Playhouse it transferred to the Trafalgar Studios in London in November 2009. Lenny received widespread critical acclaim in the title role with The Daily Telegraph saying ‘This is one of the most astonishing debuts in Shakespeare…” Conrad Nelson was equally impressive, as the vile and reptilian antagonist, Iago and Jessica Harris played the Moor’s wife Desdemona.

All three signed my sketch after I saw a matinee performance in December 2009.

My other Lenny Henry sketch is here.

Drawing: Dame Judi Dench as Elizabeth I

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Dame Judi Dench is considered to be one of the greatest actresses of the post-war period, primarily through her work in theatre, including several of Shakespeare’s plays.

However, it was a Shakespearean role in a film about the Bard that won her film’s most coveted award – the Oscar (she also won the BAFTA). Playing Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love (1999) for only a few minutes earned her the Best Supporting Actress statue. In her acceptance speech she said “I feel for eight minutes on the screen, I should only get a little bit of him.” Her understated take on the monarch does set much of the film’s plot in motion.

Dame Judi signed my sketch through the post and sent me a nice complimentary letter.

Drawing: Sandra Bullock

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Sandra Bullock is considered to be the biggest star of modern Hollywood, replacing Julia Roberts and Angelina Jolie as the highest paid actress with $56million.

Her films have grossed over 3.1billion dollars worldwide. She has the distinction of being name ‘best’ and ‘worst’ actress in the same year. Two days before winning the Academy Award for The Blind Side, Sandra collected two Razzies for All About Steve. She attended both ceremonies – a real trooper.

Sandra signed my sketch at the Gala Screening of Gravity on the second night of the BFI London Film Festival at the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square.

For her role as an emotionally charged astronaut lost in space she is being tipped to win her second Oscar, or at the very least receive a Best Actress nomination.