Drawing: Berenice Bejo

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Berenice Bejo

It was a little known black and white French film, shot on an old fashioned 1.33:1 ratio, mostly silent with a running time of only 100 minutes and featuring the director’s wife in a lead role, but THE ARTIST was the big winner in 2011, collecting every major Best Picture award including the 5 Oscars and 7 BAFTAs.

Michel Hazanavicius’ celebrated tribute to the early era of motion pictures starred Jean Dujardin as the silent movie star who meets a young dancer, French Argentine actress Berenice Bejo as the advent of talking pictures sends their careers in opposite directions. The film had a small screening at the BFI London Film Festival and given the title I just had to pop along where a relatively small crowd had gathered so I able to meet everyone without the usual collecting carnage. Then it became a huge hit.

When it later returned to London for the actual Premiere, the normal battle zone resumed. l drew this sketch of Berenice to get signed on the day, but mailed it to her Paris agency instead, which she signed and dedicated for me.

Drawing: Sian Thomas in Macbeth and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Sian Thomas

Sian Thomas has done it all. Her screen credits include HARRY POTTER and MERLIN and on stage she has covered the full gambit of parts including Martha in Edward Albee’s WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? and Lady Macbeth in ‘the Scottish Play’. In 2002 she appeared with Madonna who was making her West End debut in UP FOR GRABS at Wyndham’s Theatre. Michael Billington wrote in his Guardian review, “Sian Thomas, who can get a laugh simply through the flick of an eyelid is superb as a Courtauld-trained consultant longing to get her revenge on the corporate world.”

In the Royal Shakespeare’s 2004, production of MACBETH at Stratford-upon-Avon, Billington wrote, ” Sian Thomas was born to play Lady Macbeth, the right mixture of attack, sexiness and emotional drive.”

I drew this sketch of Sian as Lady Macbeth and Martha and meet her at the Donmar Warehouse on Saturday after the matinee performance of WELCOME HOME, CAPTAIN FOX where she signed it for me.

Drawing: Claire Cartwright and Jocasta King in The Mousetrap

Posted on March 22, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Claire Cartwright The Mousetrap

Agatha Christie’s famed West End murder mystery and the world’s longest running play, THE MOUSETRAP has eight characters including Mollie Ralston and Miss Casewell. As one of the 2015 cast, Claire Cartwright played Molly, who along with her husband Giles runs the guesthouse, Monkswell Manor. Jocasta King joined this year’s cast as the strange, aloof Miss Casewell with the horrific childhood experiences. Jocasta also played Mollie and Miss Casewell during the 2015 UK tour before settling into St Martin’s Theatre, the productions permanent home.

Jocasta signed her sketch last week at the stagedoor and Claire returned her drawing after I left it with her London agent.

Jocasta King The Mousetrap

Drawing: Maria Agresta in La traviata

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Maria Agrosta

Italian soprano Maria Agresta has just finished playing Vioetta, the main character in Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic 1853 opera LA TRAVIATA at the Royal Opera House. After winning several international competitions Maria began her professional operatic career in 2007 and made her Covent Garden debut in 2014 as Lucrezia Contarini in Verdi’s I DUE FOSCARI. She returns to the role of Violetta in Munich and at the Opera Bastille in Paris during June after making her debut at New York’s Met as Mimi in LA BOHEME.

Maria signed my drawing for me at the ROH after her final performance on 12 March.

Drawing: Joseph Morpurgo, Andrew Hunter Murray and Graham Dickson in Austentatious

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Austentatious - Boys

In January the girls component of AUSTENTATIOUS signed a drawing for me and last month I left this sketch of the boys – Joseph Morpurgo, Andy Hunter Murray and Graham Dickson at the Leicester Square Theatre where this highly impressive troupe perform an improvised show based on a Jane Austen novel each month.

TimeOut among other mainstream publications gave it five stars calling it “one of the smartest and funniest improv shows out there… performing a completely improvised Jane Austen novel complete with period dress and cello accompaniment with marvellous results”.

This sketch came back in the mail yesterday wth a little note from Rachel, one of the girls, indicating that they looked after the fan mail, “We have to organise the boys with things like this.” So thanks to the girls the set is complete.

Drawing: Michele Dotrice in The Ladykillers

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Michele Dotrice

It’s always a delight to see the wonderful Michele Dotrice, both on and off the stage. She is currently starring in the Globe’s transfer of Jessica Swale’s NELL GWYNN at the Apollo. It’s the saucy tale of a 17th Century orange-seller who becomes King Charles ll’s mistress. Michele plays Nell’s faithful dresser or as one critic called her,” befuddled wardrobe mistress.” Holly Williams in her Independent review said, “Special mention must go to Michele Dotrice… Her comic timing slays the audience.”

This is a drawing of Michele as Mrs Wilberforce, the ‘lady’ in THE LADYKILLERS which toured the UK in 2012/13. Michele kindly signed it for me at the Apollo stage door a couple of weeks ago. She was recently nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance in NELL, so I’ll have everything crossed for and hope she wins.

Drawing: Rebecca Charles in The Father

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rebecca Charles

Rebecca Charles is one of those ‘faces’ that are very familiar but you can’t quite put a name to her. She’s been in every major TV and Film production from BRIDGET JONES DIARY, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE to THE OFFICE, CASUALTY, HEATBEAT, THE BILL… in fact everything.

Rebecca is currently on stage in the Florian Zeller’s moving and award-winning THE FATHER which has returned to the West End. Originating at the Theatre Royal Bath, based on a translation by Christopher Hampton, which was commissioned by the Theatre’s Ustinov Studio, it transferred to London’s Tricycle Theatre before moving to Wyndham’s in the West End last year. Along with recently Olivier- nominated lead Kenneth Cranham, Rebecca has been part of the production from the beginning, which now includes a short season at the Duke of York’s, where she signed my sketch last Saturday afternoon.

Drawing: Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael in The Maids

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The Maids

“Hi-Ho, Hi- Ho, it’s off to kill we go,” sing the two maidservants and sisters Claire and Solange as they plot to kill their employer ‘ Madame’ in Jamie Lloyd’s opening production for 2016, THE MAIDS at London’s Trafalgar Studios.

Loosely based on a notorious real-life murder case in 1933 involving the Papuan sisters, Jean Genet’s violent 1947 classic thriller, translated by Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton is a real sadomasochistic shocker.

Time Out’s Alice Saville highlighted the “phenomenal acting” by Emmy Award-winning Uzo Aduba, known as ‘Crazy Eyes’ in the prison set drama ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK, Zawe Ashton, the unconventional Vod from Chanel 4’s FRESH MEAT as the murderous siblings and DOWNTOWN ABBEY’S finally-lucky-in love Lady Edith, Laura Carmichael, as their victim.

Uzo, Zawe and Laura signed my sketch at the Trafalgar stage door on Saturday.

Drawing: Roy Dotrice in Brief Lives

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Roy Dotrice

One of the most memorable pieces of theatre I was privileged to see was Roy Dotrice in his solo show BRIEF LIVES many many moons ago at the Regent Theatre in Dunedin, New Zealand. For two and a half hours, including him sleeping on stage during the interval on an amazing set that resembled a dream antiques collection, complete with cobwebs, Roy was mesmerising as the gossip columnist of the 1600’s John Aubrey. The play was written and directed by Patrick Garland based on The Memoirs, Miscellanies, Letters and Jottings of John Aubrey, the bitchy 17th century writer and antiquarian who collected biographical material on luminaries such as Francis Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, Oliver Cromwell, William Shakespeare and even the Virgin Queen herself, Elizabeth 1.

BRIEF LIVES premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in 1967 followed by West End runs at both the Criterion and Mayfair Theatres and worldwide tours. Roy still warrants a mention in the Guinness Book of Records as the greatest number of solo performances totalling 1782. He won the Tony Award for his performance as Phil Hogan in Eugene O’Neill’s A MOON FOR THE MISBEGOTTEN in 2000 and has been nominated for five Grammy Awards, the latest for his narration of Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID. Roy’s screen appearances include playing Mozart’s father Leopold in AMADEUS, and Hallyne in the HBO hit TV series GAME OF THRONES.

I was talking to Roy’s daughter Michelle, who is currently in NELL GWYNNE, at the Apollo stage door a few weeks ago and told her how memorable BRIEF LIVES was and I wanted to get a sketch signed I drew of her dad as John Aubrey. She told me the best way to contact him and Roy, who is now 92, sent the drawing back with a nice dedication.

Drawing: Ben Forster in The Phantom of the Opera

Posted on March 14, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ben Forster The Phantom of the Opera

Ben Forster’s association with Andrew Lloyd Webber began when he won ITV’s SUPERSTAR in 2012 and played the title role in the UK arena tour of the rock opera JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. It continued last month when he became the Lead Phantom in the world’s highest grossing musical of all time, Lord Webber’s mesmerising THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA at Her Majesty’s in London.

Unfortunately Ben damaged his ribs early in his run and was unable to perform for the past month. When he told me that he was playing ‘the masked one’ while signing my ELF sketch at The Dominion earlier in the year, I said I must draw him as the Phantom. And I did and popped past the theatre each weekend check to see if he has recovered. Luckily he returned to the lair this week where I caught up with him after Saturday’s evening performance.