Drawing: Cyndi Lauper

Posted on August 26, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Cyndi Lauper

Pop culture icon Cyndi Lauper was in London last year to attend the West End premiere of her musical KINKY BOOTS, which opened in August at the Aldephi Theatre. The Broadway hit won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It also won Best Musical Score for Cyndi, who became the first woman to win alone in that category. She also collected the Grammy for the show’s album. At the British Oliviers KINKY BOOTS collected three awards, including Best Musical.

Her thirty-something career nearly wasn’t. In 1977, while singing in the covers band ‘Flyer’ she damaged her vocal cords and was told she would never sing again. But regained her voice with the help of vocal coach Katie Agnesta. Since then the ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ songstress has sold over 50 million albums and 20 million singles, collecting multiple awards and being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also won an Emmy for her guest appearance on MAD ABOUT YOU in 1995. Cyndi is an active advocate for gay and transgender rights. Her song ‘True Colours’ has been recognized as an LGBT anthem.

I left this drawing at the Aldephi, hoping to get it signed, but nothing came back…. until this week. Cyndi was recently back in the UK on her DETOUR Tour which included London’s Hammersmith Apollo.

Drawing: Joss Stone

Posted on July 6, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Joss Stone

The 29-year-old soul-infused British songstress Joscelyn Eve Stoker, better known by her stage name Joss Stone was Burt Bacahrach’s special guest at last night’s one-off concert in London’s Royal Festival Hall. In his five-star review for the Evening Standard, Andre Paine wrote, “There may be an age difference of six decades, but the pairing of 88 year-old songwriter Burt Bacharach and a supremely soulful Joss Stone was an outstanding success. Stone’s knockout voice was tough and tender and Bacharach seemed beguiled as he played the grand piano.”

Described as a mix of R&B, reggae and blue-eyed soul, Joss has won two Brit Awards and a Grammy. She rose to fame with her 2003 debut, multi-platinum album ‘The Soul Sessions’ followed by the equally successful ‘Mind,Body & Soul’ which topped the UK charts. The album’s lead single ‘You Had Me’ was Grammy-nominated and reached the Top 10 Singles chart in 2004.

I met Joss when she arrived at the Royal Festival Hall and she a bit of fun with the sharpie signing my sketch.

Drawing: Burt Bacharach

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Burt Bacharach

I finally got to meet one of my musical heroes yesterday, the beyond legendary Burt Bacharach. Still going strong at 88, the man described as the greatest songwriter of the 20th century was performing at London’s Royal Festival Hall. After his Liverpool concert last week, one reviewer wrote, “Good performers receive a standing ovation at the end of their performance… Burt Bacharach walked ON to one.” Another said “while the master of easy listening is knocking on a bit, his music is timeless.” In collaboration with lyricist Hal David they produced some of the most memorable tunes of all time.

Burt’s distinctive music is characterised by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his jazz background, with syncopated rhythmic patterns, irregular phasing, frequent modulation and odd, changing meters – “non-symmetrical phasing,” as Burt calls it. Most pop songs follow a predictable pattern in either a 4/4 or 3/4 time, but Burt uses more complex time signatures. Frank Sinatra once joked that Burt Bacharach writes in hat sizes – seven and three-fourths.

Many moons ago, in New Zealand I sent a portrait drawing to Burt and he signed and returned it for me. This time I was determined to get my sketch signed in person. After a four hour wait at the Royal Festival Hall artists’ entrance (that’s the RFH’s fancy name for stage door), Burt finally arrived for the sound check and was happy to graph it for me.

Drawing: Nigel Kennedy

Posted on June 17, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Nigel Kennedy

I was extra pleased and super surprised to get this back in the mail today. I have lingered outside venues in rain and hail for hours to catch one of the world’s violin greats, Nigel Kennedy, to sign my sketch. This creative ‘defacing’ of my profile drawing of him is a welcome and long overdue addition to my collection of famous fiddlers that include Sir Yehudi Menuhin and Stephane Grappelli, who incidently asked the 16 year old Nigel to appear with him at New York’s Carnege Hall. Nigel’s unique appearance, virtuosity and relaxed attitude has made him a popular figure with audiences worldwide.

Nigel has just finished his ‘The New Four Seasons’ UK tour revisiting his version of Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ from the original 1989 recording that sold over 3 million copies and is considered one of the best classical albums of all time.

Music critic Rian Evan’s wrote in his Guardian review of the current gig, “The violinist is still a mass of contradictions, but his skill is still in tact and the sound compelling”

His final tour venue was G Live in Guildford. I thought that sounded like a place that would pass on my drawing to Nigel to sign and return. I was right.

Drawing: Ryan Gosling in ‘Dead Man’s Bones’

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ryan Gosling

Canadian-born actor, producer, director and musician Ryan Gosling began his career as a child star on the Disney Channel’s MICKEY MOUSE CLUB in the early 1990s. In 2005 he and his friend and fellow musician Zach Shields discovered they had a mutual obsession with the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. They wanted to write a monster-themed musical, but settled for forming a band instead, called ‘DEAD MAN’S BONES’ in 2008, releasing their self-titled album the following year. The duo are described as indie, folk and gothic rock, with some dark wave in the mix. Ryan performs under the alias ‘Baby Goose’.

Ryan was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Dan Dunne, a troubled history teacher in the 2006 film HALF NELSON and has received numerous Golden Globe nominations for his varied body of film work. He made his directorial debut with LOST RIVER in 2013. Ryan also co-owns ‘Tagine’, a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills and supports various charitable causes including PETA and Invisible Children Inc. In 2005 he joined the volunteer group in Biloxi, Mississippi as part of the clean up effort after Hurricane Katrina.

Ryan was in London this week to promote his latest film the dark detective comedy THE NICE GUYS alongside Russell Crowe. He attended the premiere at the Odeon in Leicester Square where he signed and dedicated this quick sketch I did of him as ‘Baby Goose’ in DEAD MAN’S BONES with his even quicker, simple but stylised ‘Ryan’ signature.

Drawing: Natalie Weiss

Posted on May 9, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Natalie Weiss

After her five star sell-out shows at London’s St James Theatre two years ago, acclaimed American musical performer Natalie Weiss returned to the England capital’s Leicester Square Theatre with an “utterly winning” performance a couple of Sundays ago. The former American Idol semi-finalist has appeared in a variety of musical productions, including WICKED and has just completed a run as Candy in the US premiere of the new version of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER at the Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival. She is, however best known for her hit YouTube series BREAKING DOWN THE RIFFS which have attracted over 3 million viewers. Natalie’s London show was the final one on her recent European tour and the one where she signed this sketch.

Drawing: Stacey Kent

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Stacey Kent

“She has charm to burn, a smile that could give you hope in February and sings like nobody’s business,” wrote the Wall Street Journal about Grammy-nominated American jazz singer Stacey Kent.

After graduating from New York’s Sarah Lawrence College Stacy moved to the UK to study at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She began her professional career singing regularly at Cafe Boheme in Soho for a few years before moving across the road to Ronnie Scott’s nightclub and opening for established jazz acts.

Stacey’s first studio album CLOSE YOUR EYES was released in 1997. Ten more have followed plus numerous singles and compilations, including three with her husband, British saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. Their album THE LYRIC (2006) won Album of the Year at the BBC Jazz Awards. Stacey herself has collected two Individual Awards for Best Vocalist and her BREAKFAST ON THE MORNING TRAM album was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Stacey’s popularity is global, especially in Germany and France with sales of her albums consistently attaining Platinum and Gold status. In 2009 she was decorated with the ‘Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by the French Government in recognition of her contribution to the arts.

Stacy has also added the movie medium to her repertoire, appearing in Ian McKellen’s 1995 film version of RICHARD III, singing a jazz version of Christopher Marlowe’s poem, ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love.’

She returned to London’s Leicester Square Theatre for one evening last month, featuring music from her new album TENDERLY, where she signed this drawing for me.

Drawing: Heidi Range in The War of the Worlds

Posted on March 1, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Heidi Range

Singer-songwriter Heidi Range is currently making her West End debut in Jeff Wayne’s musical version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS at the Dominion Theatre. The former Sugababes pop star is playing Parson Nathaniel’s wife Beth in the reimagined stage version of the hit 1978 concept album based on the H.G.Wells novel.

Before she faced the might of the Martians, Heidi had to wade through the usual alien creatures at the stage door before last Saturday’s matinee, including myself and this composite drawing of her as Beth and as a Sugababe.

Drawing: Lisa Batiashvili

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Lisa Batiashvili

The popular Georgian-born violinist Lisa Batiashvili is in demand with all the world’s leading Orchestras. Named ‘Musical America’s’ 2015 Instrumentalist of the Year, she has been artist-in-residence with the New York Philharmonic and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich among others.

Last Summer she ‘stole the show’ when the Philadelphia Orchestra played two concerts on the last leg of its European Tour at the Royal Festival Hall. When Lisa joined the distinguished orchestra for Shostakovich’s First Violin Concerto, Telegraph critic John Allison described it as “a performance better than any I have ever heard of this work – indeed a performance that must have left many wondering whether they had ever heard the violin quite so mesmerisingly played”.

She returned to the Royal Festival Hall last week with the London Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the SHAKESPEARE 400 series, celebrating the Bard’s influence on four centuries of music and also finding a few moments to sign my sketch.

Drawing: Angela Gheorghiu

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Angela Gheorghiu

Romanian superstar soprano Angela Gheorghiu has a huge reputation, for many things. Considered by many as one of the greats of this generation. Her performances on and off the stage have given her legendary status. A penchant for referring to herself in the third person, pre-performance sex ‘to relax the voice’ and well documented flare-ups with her ex-husband, the famed French/ Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna have all provided substantial media fodder. The New York Sun simply calls her “the world’s most glamorous opera star.”
She returned to Covent Garden last month in the title role of the Royal Opera’s revival of Puccini’s TOSCA. It’s a part she knows well, creating the role of Floria Tosca in Jonathan Kent’s 2006 staging and later reprising in 2009 and 2011.

“It’s an exceptionally intelligent evening, and much of what Gheorghiu does takes you by surprise. With a grand diva playing a grand diva, I half expected self-dramatisation or melodrama, but in fact she’s remarkably subtle and restrained…her high C’s still have a heft that pins you to your seat,” wrote Tim Ashley in the Guardian.

It was with some trepidation that I left this sketch at the Royal Opera House stage door. To my delight it came back dedicated and signed with a spectacular signature, as one would expect.