About Mark Winter / Chicane

Cartoonist. Artist. Illustrator. Oh, and autograph hunter.

Drawing: Bonnie Langford as The Lady of the Lake in Monty Python’s Spamalot

Posted on January 6, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I kept meaning to catch up with musical theatre icon Bonnie Langford and finally I did so over the weekend after a matinée performance of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at London’s Savoy Theatre.

Bonnie plays the glamorous divorcée Muriel Enbanks and signed this sketch of her as the Lady of the Lake from Spamalot.

Ever since winning the talent show Opportunity Knocks as a six year old and taking to the stage a year later in Gone With The Wind, Bonnie has been a crowd favourite. She has played all the big shows – Cats, Me and My Girl and the role of Roxy Hart in Chicago on both the West End and Broadway stages.

She began playing The Lady of the Lake in the UK tour in early 2012 before a three month run at the Harold Pinter Theatre (formerly The Comedy Theatre) later in 2012, then two stints at the Playhouse Theatre in May-November 2013 and February-March 2014.

Drawing: Linda Gray in Cinderella at the New Wimbledon Theatre

Posted on January 5, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Isn’t that Sue Ellen from Dallas??? Oh, no it isn’t. Oh, yes it is! Well, it is Linda Gray who played JR Ewing’s long-suffering drunken wife in the cult TV series Dallas making her panto debut in Cinderella at London’s New Wimbledon Theatre. Although it’s not Linda’s first appearance on the London stage, it is her first in the British festive tradition. She was encouraged by Patrick Duffy, aka Bobby Ewing, Dallas‘s other surviving star, who played Baron Hardup (Cinderella’s father) in London and told her, “you’ve got to do it!” Linda mixes a touch of the Texan with the familiar fairy tale, playing the stetson-toting, hip flask swigging Fairy Godmother who helps Cinders get to the ball. Her stage credits included the role of Mrs Robinson in The Graduate on both the West End and Broadway stages in the early 2000’s. And here’s a piece of trivia: it’s Linda’s uncredited leg in the iconic 1967 poster for The Graduate film. Her anonymous stocking-clad stem stood in for the film’s star Anne Bancroft at $25 a leg. Cinderella continues at the New Wimbledon Theatre until 11 January 2015.

Drawing: Katie Brayben and Margot Leicester in Charles III at Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Mike Bartlett’s audacious new play, King Charles III about the ascension of Prince Charles to the throne after Elizabeth II passes on, resulting in a constitutional crisis, royal family meltdown and ultimately a British coup. It is also a bold play, written as a Shakespearean piece in iambic pentameter. It made its world premiere at the Almeida Theatre, London in April 2014 before transferring to Wyndham’s in the West End until March this year.

Amongst the faultless cast assembled by director Rupert Goold are Olivier nominated Margot Leicester and singer/songwriter Katie Brayben.

Writing in The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish stated, “the cast are uniformly excellent. There’s a 24 carat contribution from Margot Leicester as a funny, fawning but unmistakably feisty Camilla”. Katie plays the stalking, black veiled ghost of Princess Diana. She will soon be seen playing the legendary Carole King in the Broadway hit musical Beautiful at the Aldwych next month.

Both Katie and Margot signed their respective sketches at the stage door after a Saturday evening performance before Christmas.

Drawing: The Dragon at Southwark Theatre

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The Tangram Theatre Company’s brand new take on Yevgeny Schwartz’s brilliantly funny 1943 critique of Stalinist Russia, The Dragon, is currently running at the Southwark Playhouse in London.

Led by their award winning director Daniel Goldman, their productions are described as, “joyous, exciting, messy, chaotic, irreverent, intelligent, silly, fun and surprising”. The Dragon is all of these things and more. It’s an anti-panto and wicked allegory lampooning the soviet bloc. Daniel likens it to, “The Princess Bride meets Captain America and Animal Farm“.

Adapted by Daniel and his company, who form an impressive ensemble cast that includes Anthony Best, Hannah Boyde, Justin Butcher, Jo Hartland, James Marshall, James Rowland, Peter Stickney, Stella Tyalor, Rob Witconb and Charlotte Workman. They cover all the (un)usual suspects required for this fairy tail – Lancelot, the Knight-errant and cut price superhero; a narrating feline, a pretty and innocent in-and-out-of-distress damsel, her always distressed mother, a mad mayor-cum-diabolical-dictator, his sleazy intelligence-challenged son, visiting strangers bearing gifts, a cow…. oh, yes and a three headed dragon.

I was introduced to the term ‘samizdat satire’ by one reviewer. It’s the romanticisation of a soviet form of dissident activity and the practice of evading officially imposed censorship, which was certainly the environment in which the Russian-Jewish playwright wrote this piece.

The Dragon ends on 10 January 2015.

Drawing: John Hinton and Jo Eagle in Albert Einstein: Relativitively Speaking at the Southwark Theatre

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The independent Tangram Theatre Company has taken up residency at the Southwark Playhouse over the Festive Season with two must see productions, both directed by Daniel Goldman.

The first offering is the award-winning Albert Einstein Relativitively Speaking, the part history lesson, part musical comedy, written and performed by John Hinton and accompanied by Jo Eagle.

The Times simply called it, “something close to brilliance”.

Albert Einstein, the eccentric theoretical physicist with “the übercoolest moustache in science” delivers a lecture that includes a couple of wives, his mum, two theories of relativity, two world wars, quantum leaps and two very big bombs.

One of the highlights is a hip hop number by guest rapper MC Squared – wunderbar! It runs until 3 January 2015.

2014: A Graphic Review

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

A selection of editorial cartoons depicting events from the last 12 months; graphic expressions, both textual and pictorial of an eventful year. They were predominately produced for the New Zealand print media.

The editorial cartoon is intended to make you think, not necessarily laugh. It is not a comic strip. They are usually placed on the publication’s editorial page where ‘opinion’ dominates. The editorial cartoonist has a number of devices at his disposal – caricature, irony, ridicule, satire, stereotypes, symbols, analogies, among a raft of conventional and unconventional codes.

Humour is only one of the tools available. As pictorial chroniclers of history, we encompass the full spectrum of current issues, both controversial and comical, serious and otherwise. An effective editorial cartoon combines a number of layers of meaning – both intended and those open to the reader’s interpretation.

If you’d like to use any of the cartoons below, please purchase via Cartoon Stock.

_1_Scientific Research 7 Jan _2_Wailing 7 Jan Continue reading →

Drawing: Brigitte Bardot

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Brigitte Bardot, widely referred to simply by her initials, was an icon of the 1950s and 1960s – the ‘chic unique’ was the original sex kitten. What set her apart was a combination of her eyes, pout and attitude which I tried to capture in this quick sketch.

Brigitte has such a distinctive graph… as you would expect and is always very obliging when requested for an autograph. I sent her this sketch recently, wishing her a happy 80th birthday. It came back, signed, in next to no time.

Globally adored, Brigitte was the first continental actress to achieve Hollywood fame. During the 1960s she and Marilyn Monroe were the most celebrated pin ups of their day. Time magazine called her, ‘the princess of pout, the countess of come-hither… Brigitte Bardot exuded a carefree naive sexuality.”

After retiring from films, Brigitte has devoted her life to animal activism, establishing her Foundation in the mid 1980s and remains outspoken and controversial for her cause.

Drawing: Liam Mower in Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Liam Mower was one of the three original ‘Billys’ rotating the role in the West End production of Billy Elliot The Musical at the Victoria Palace Theatre. It’s the story of motherless Billy in the north of England during the coal miners’ strike who trades boxing gloves for ballet shoes.

Along with cast mates James Lomas and George Maguire he won the 2006 Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical, the youngest recipient of Britain’s most prestigious theatre award.

Originally signed for six months, he became indispensable and Sir Elton John (who wrote the music) and Stephen Daldry, the director, renewed his contract three times. After being picked to play Billy on the show’s opening night in 2005 he remained 18 months in the role.

He made his final scheduled appearance as Billy on 30 September 2006 . It made local and international news, spelling the end of the original boys cast in the title role. On an emotional final night he was presented with a dog called ‘Billy’. Director Stephen Daldry said, “Rarely does one ever come across a performer with so many skills and talents, particularly when matched by Liam’s determination and good humour… one of the most celebrated child performers ever in the West End.”

He is now part of Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures dance company and is currently sharing the lead role in Edward Scissorhands with Dominic North at Sadler’s Wells where he signed this drawing.

Drawing: Ashley Shaw, Dominic North, Katy Lowenhoff and Liam Mower in Edward Scissorhands

Posted on December 27, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

This year’s Christmas offering at Sadler’s Wells in London is Matthew Bournes’ revival of Edward Scissorhands based on the classic Tim Burton movie and Danny Elfman’s emotive score. It’s a gothic fairytale set in the middle American town of Hope Springs, a latter-day tragic tale of forbidden love, a bionic boy with scissors for hands, longing for love and acceptance.

The Times described it as, “the perfect synthesis of dance and drama, comedy and pathos, exuberant theatrically and heart warming entertainment”.

Dominic North returns to the title role he originated in 2005. He alternates performing Edward with Liam Mower (the original Billy Elliot). Ashley Shaw and Katy Lowenhoff do the same as Kim Boggs, who is torn between Edward and the brutish Jim Upton.

I left these sketches at the theatre last week and Dominic, Liam, Katy and Ashley all signed them for me – a nice Chrissy pressie.

The show runs until 11 January 2015.

Sketch: Sir Ben Kingsley

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I had just sent this sketch of Sir Ben Kingsley to him for signing literally on the same day I wen to the third instalment of the Night At The Museum franchise European premiere at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square. Guess who turned up? He plays Ahkmenrah’s father in the film, so I missed getting him to sign the drawing in person, where he was his usual obliging self signing for everyone.

In a career spanning over 40 years, Sir Ben has won an Oscar Grammey, BAFTA, two Golden Globes and Screen Actor’s Guild Awards to become one of Britain’s most celebrated actors. He was knighted in 2002, telling the Queen at the ceremony at Buckingham Palace that, “winning an Oscar pales into insignificance – this is insurmountable.”

I didn’t have to wait long. The sketch arrived back, signed and dedicated the following week.