February | 2024 | ChicanePictures

Autographed drawing of Gabriel Vick in Mrs Doubtfire: The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre on London's West End

The musical adaption of the hilarious and heartfelt 1993 film MRS DOUBTFIRE, starring Robin Williams as the titular nanny, opened its West End run last spring at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Directed by four-time Tony winner Jerry Zaks, with original music by the Kirkpatrick brothers, Wayne and Karey, written by satirist John O’Farrell, and featuring Gabriel Vick as both Daniel Hillard and Euphegenia Doubtfire.

Gabriel’s comedic and chameleonic performance has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, his London stage appearances include the original cast of AVENUE Q at the Noel Coward Theatre, SCROOGE at the London Palladium and CHARIOTS OF FIRE at the Gielgud Theatre.

He plays the out-of-work voice actor Daniel who will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he creates the alter ego, a Scottish nanny in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives.

“Multi-talented, hyperactive Gabriel Vick in the lead goes the extra mile, and then some,” wrote the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish, in this “sure-fire hit, my dears”. As one audience member posted online, “Shout out to Gabriel Vick, he really would’ve made Robin proud. Smashed it!”

This “cross-dressing comedy soars from screen to stage,” wrote Rachel Halliburton in her four-star Times review.

And, listen up poppets… the run has been extended until February 2025, so no reason to miss it.

Gabriel kindly signed my quick sketch last Saturday between shows at the Shaftesbury stage door.

Autographed drawing of Johnny Flynn, Mark Gatiss, Tuppence Middleton in The Motive and the Cue at the Noel Coward Theatre on London's West End

After a sell-out season at the National Theatre last spring, THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE, Jack Thorne’s latest, critically acclaimed fierce and funny play directed by Sam Mendes, described by many critics as ‘a love letter to theatre’, transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End in December, running until 23 March.

Winner of the Best New Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, it centres on the 1964 experimental, modern-dress Broadway production of Shakespeare’s HAMLET starring Richard Burton, the most famous actor in the world at the time, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, directed by theatre royalty, Sir John Gielgud. Burton,”still smoking hot from his big-screen romance with Taylor in CLEOPATRA, was looking to solidify his street cred as a serious actor after a few Hollywood duds. Gielgud’s motivation was a little less obvious, as gradually became clear to the rest of the cast and crew”.

As rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide, as the collaboration soon threatens to unravel. It was a difficult production with Burton behaving badly because he didn’t get the direction from Gielgud he felt he required… or perhaps he got more direction than expected. The two, who were prior friends, couldn’t work out how their HAMLET might work. For Gielgud, the play mattered a great deal, having played the role more than 300 times, over forty-plus years of playing Shakespearean roles.

Jack Thorne was inspired by two first-hand accounts of the politics of the rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. William Redfern, a cast member, who played Guildenstern, wrote a series of letters to his friend Bob Mills, which were eventually published as ‘Letters From An Actor’ and Richard L. Sterne’s ‘John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton In Hamlet’. The title comes from HAMLET’s “O, what a rogue and peasant slave” speech. As Gielgud explained, the motive is Hamlet’s reason for a given act, the cue is the passion behind that act.

The three leads, Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatsis as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor reprised their roles for the West End run and kindly signed my quick sketch at the stage door a couple of weeks ago.