In 2010 Emily Joyce appeared as the Prime Minister’s special policy advisor, Claire Sutton in Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn’s stage version of Yes, Prime Minister. The production premiered at the Chichester Festival in May before transferring to the Gielgud Theatre in the West End in the autumn. Emily signed my biro sketch in January 2011 at the theatre’s stage door.
Another quick sketch of British actress Tara Fitzgerald – this time in fine black biro. Since her first stage role opposite the late, great Peter O’Toole in Our Song in 1992 at the Apollo, she has divided her career between screen and stage.
Tara signed this drawing during The Misanthrope season at the Comedy Theatre on Christmas Eve in 2009
One of Britain’s finest actors, Simon Callow brought his acclaimed one-man show Being Shakespeare back to London for a strictly limited season at the Harold Pinter theatre. Written by Jonathan Bate and directed by Tom Cairns, the show ran for 23 performances, finishing last night (15 March 2014).
The production returned following two successful runs in the West End. The Guardian’s Michael Billington described it as “a memorably multidimensional picture of Shakespeare steeped in scholarship and love”. Simon brings to life the Bard’s unforgettable characters and the real man behind the legend.
2014 marks the 450th anniversary of the birth of the world’s greatest playwright.
New Zealand icon Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is one of the world’s most beloved sopranos and the leading operatic performer of the 70s and 80s. She has announced her retirement with the cameo role of the Duchess of Crackentorp in Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment at London’s Royal Opera House. The ‘Duchess’ is written as a speaking part, but Dame Kiri has been given an aria to sing in her final appearance at Covent Garden.
Dame Kiri kindly signed this sketch on her 70th birthday, which was celebrated on stage after the performance with a cake delivered by fellow Downton Abbey cast member Jim Carter
Natalie Casey was three when she recorded the single ‘Chick, Chick, Chick’, which reached number 72 on the UK charts, making her the youngest person to do so. She appeared on the BBC and asked Boy George to take her to the toilet!
But, Natalie is probably better known for her long-running roles in the TV series Hollyoaks (from 1995-2000) and playing Donna Henshaw in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001-2011).
I met Natalie at Wyndham’s Theatre in 2012 after a performance in the revival of Mike Leigh’s Abigail’s Party. She was really friendly and great to talk to. She signed this sketch at The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton during the UK Tour of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 in May last year.
Clare Higgins is one of Britain’s great stage actresses, winning three Olivier Awards.
This sketch is from her role in Wallace Shawn’s The Fever at the Royal Court Theatre in the Spring of 2009. She signed it for me at the National Theatre stage door in early 2011 where she was playing Gertrude, “a dipsomaniac in four inch heels” opposite Rory Kinnear‘s Hamlet.
Clare returns to the London stage as a recovering alcoholic in Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities with Sinead Cusack which is currently in previews at the Old Vic
Jennifer Tilly divides her time between acting and playing professional poker. Winning a number of awards in both careers. She received an Academy Award nomination in 1994 for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Bullets Over Broadway.
Jennifer signed this sketch at the Royal Court Theatre in London in June 2009 during her run in Grasses of a Thousand Colours.
Here’s another quick sketch of one of my fave actresses, Miranda Raison. Most may know her as Jo Portman in the British TV series Spooks, she is also in the third series of the BBC legal drama Silk. Miranda has just finished the theatrical version of Strangers on a Train at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s Shaftesbury Ave.
When not gracing the screens or treading the boards, Miranda walks the fairways and greens as a keen and very able golfer. She happily signed my drawing at the Donmar Warehouse during the season of The Physicists: A Comedy in Two Acts directed by Josie Rourke in July 2012
If your father’s an actor, playwright and director; your mother an actress and drama teacher, the chances of their daughter following suit are high. Predictably Marion Cotillard stuck to the script, reaching the dizzy heights of a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose (2007). She also collected a BAFTA, a French César and a Golden Globe for good measure. Director Olivier Dahan cast Marion because “her eyes were the same as Piaf.” The fact that she could sing also helped.
She also plays guitar, keyboard, tambourine and cello… and sings under the pseudonym Simone in Maxim Nucci’s band Vodelice. Apart from the glittering prizes for her Piaf performance, Marion said her hat collection increased dramatically. The number of handbags may have also multiplied, becoming the face of Lady Dior after her increase notoriety.
Marion is taking a break from her Greenpeace activism to film Macbeth with Michael Fassbender, playing the scheming Lady Macbeth with a distinctive French accent. The production moves into the impressive Ely Cathedral in Cambridge next week.
The above sketch, which Marion kindly signed, is not a good example of accurate observation. I never noticed the trademark mole in the middle of her forehead! …but I did manage to render her distinctive eyes.
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