Drawing: Kinky Boots at the Adelphi Theat

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

kinky boots

“There’s no business like shoe business,” was the pun that a few reviewers couldn’t resist using after Jerry Mitchell’s runaway Broadway hit musical Kinky Boots danced into the Aldephi Theatre in London’s West End this month. Adapted by Harvey Fierstein with songs by veteran pop star and activist Cyndi Lauper, it received 13 Tony nominations, winning six, including Best Musical and Best Score. Based on the British film of 2005 starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and inspired by true events documented in the BBC’s Trouble at the Top:The Kinky Boot Factory, it tells the tale of Charlie Price, (Killian Donnelly) the reluctant heir to a struggling Northampton shoe factory. As he starts laying off some of the staff, one of them, the passionate and quirky Lauren (Amy Lennox) tells him that the only way to survive is to enter an ‘underserved niche market.’ A chance meeting with drag queen Lola (Matt Henry) confirms this and convinces Charlie that there is a future in flashy, thigh-length boots or as she salaciously describes “two-and-a-half-feet of irresistible tubular sex.”

On the first Saturday after a successful press night I strolled to the stage door in my affordable 4B-pencil grey canvas sneakers-I’m such a slave to fashion-and waited with a sizeable group in a variety of footwear for the cast to emerge after the matinee. I did this sketch of Killian, Matt and Amy and hoped to get it graphed. A number of Lola’s Angels came out still wearing the remnents of stage make-up, so it started to resemble a Pride Parade, as did Matt who was very gracious about the drawing. Killian followed. He had signed a sketch for me before from his Olivier-nominated role in Memphis.Two done,one to go. I don’t think Amy was intending to come down, but Matt told her about my drawing. The security person, in a shiny pair of black boots beckoned me to the door and Amy, who had also previously signed one of my renderings was waiting for me.

Drawing: Kristian Lavercombe in The Rocky Horror Show

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

kristian L

“It is incredibly daunting. For me he is the ultimate Riff Raff. When everyone thinks of Riff Raff they think of Richard O’Brien,” said Kristian Lavercombe who reprises the role in the limited run of The Rocky Horror Show at London’s Playhouse Theatre before it’s UK tour. Joining him in the cult classic is none other than the man himself. Richard not only created the phenomenon, but was the original stage and screen Riff Raff. He plays the Narrator during the London run. It’s Kristian’s West End ‘bucket list’ debut, but he’s no stranger to the show. Having appeared in the UK 40th Anniversary.the Australian,Korean, Singapore and New Zealand tours, the ‘professional Riff Raff’ has notched up over 900 performances and will soon become the person who has played in Rocky Horror the most times in it’s 42 year history after the UK Tour finishes in 2017. Playing Frank’n Furter’s sidekick isn’t the only role the versatile New Zealander has performed. Called a ‘vocal genius’ by British critic William I.Connolly, Kristian has covered the full gambit from the Son of God in Jesus Christ Superstar to the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, which I incorporated in my montage.

To quote a line from Riff Raff’s signature tune Time Warp, “Madness takes its toll,’ sometimes best describes the autograph collecting circus. Amongst a large group, mostly waiting for Richard at the stage door, I was able to meet the ‘unknown’ Kristian without having to partake in the ritual scrum. He has been involved in productions in my home town in New Zealand for the Invercargill Musical Theatre Company, including Rocky Horror (not as Riff Raff), so we had some common ground for a brief chat as he signed for me Then ‘with a jump to the left and a step to the right’ he went to prepare for the late matinee.

Drawing: Fern Brady

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Fern Brady

The Rugby World Cup has just started in the UK and my team, the New Zealand All Blacks are the defending champions. They wear the famous silver fern. So what better way to start the week than with a Fern. In this case it’s the enchanting Scottish comedian Fern Brady. A tenous connection I know, but writers have to look for interesting ‘hooks’ in our intros. In fact Fern is a writer. She is a columnist in The Guardian and used to be a comedy reviewer. It was in this capacity that she switched sides when asked by her magazine to ‘fake it’ and write an article from the stand-up point of view. She liked it on stage, and everyone liked her on stage,so she stayed. The second most famous person to come out of West Lothian since Susan Boyle, Fern has appeared on the telly in numerous shows, including 8 Out Of 10 Cats. She finished joint third in the finals of So You Think You’re Funny? at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe and was a finalist in the Piccadilly Comedy Club’s New Act Competition the following year. Fresh from a sell-out season at this year’s Edinburgh Festival, Fern returned to London with her show for two nights at the Museum of Comedy. This quaint, 100-seat performance space is situated in the vaults of St George’s Church in Bloomsbury Way, where I waited to have this drawing signed. With the title of her act, People Are Idiots, and described in ThreeWeeks as “Obnoxious, rude and utterly brilliant,’ who teaches you that the only way to true happiness is to lower your expectations, it was with some trepidation that I waited. When I greeted her underground with the request an expletive or two escaped from her lips….but this was, I think more a astonishment for the artwork and “I thought you were the guy organising the gig” she explained as she signed it and took a photo. Undoubtedly the experience confirmed the title of her show.

Drawing: Liv Ullmann on Broadway

Posted on September 19, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Liv Ullmann

“Liv Ullmann is seventy five and flourishing” wrote David Thomson in his interview intro for The New Republic with the Norwegian actress, now celebrated director, discussing her latest project, a film adaption of August Strindberg’s Miss Julie with Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell, which premiered at last year’s Toronto Film Festival.

“She’s not the oldest director with a film screening in the Festival, but she is the best preserved, the most dignified, an icon with clout” said Catherine Shoard in The Guardian.

Liv began her career as a stage actress in Norway during the mid 1950s before becoming the ‘leading lady of Scandi cinema, former muse and partner of Swedish screen supremo Ingmar Bergman, appearing in ten of his most admired films, including The Emigrants and Face to Face, for which she was Oscar nominated.

Bergman’s films with inspirational cinematographer Sven Nykvist are amongst my favourite, especially Cries and Whispers, featuring Liv. She made her Broadway debut in 1975’s production of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, followed by Anna Christie, Ghosts and I Remember Mama during the rest of the decade.

Renowned for her expressive face, ideal for drawing, especially in the theatre, I did this montage of Liv from I Remember Mama and Anna Christie with John Lithgow.

Liv was in London this month to do a Q&A after a screening of Miss Julie at the Mayfair Curzon and I really wanted to meet her in person to sign the sketch, but was unable to. I dropped it off to her London agent in a hope she might still be in town. It arrived back in the mail yesterday, from the US, a welcomed and well travelled work of art.

Drawing: Charlotte Edwards

Posted on September 18, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

charlotte edwards

Described as the first lady of English-and world-cricket, Charlotte Edwards is considered the best in the business. England have played 481 matches since women’s internationals started in Brisbane in 1935, Lotte has played in 298 of them, 209 as captain spanning all three formats of the game.Making her debut as a sixteen year-old in 1995, she has scored more runs in limited-over internationals than anyone else and only one player, Janette Brittin has made more test runs. Last year she was named one of Wisden’s Cricketers of the Year, only the second woman to claim that honour and won the ICC Woman’s Player of the Year in 2008.

Having already claimed five Ashes series, Charlotte and her team found the Australians a lot tougher in 2015 and lost the series for the first time in twelve years. Despite having her hands full she was able to fit in a pen and time to sign my sketch during the four-day test at Kent’s Spitfire Ground last month.

Drawing: Felicity Ward

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

felicity ward

And now for a bit of toilet humour. It’s September. All the comedians who took the Edinburgh Fringe hiatus last month are back on the London comedy circuit, including Australian comic Felicity Ward. Leading up to the Festival, everyone was performing work- in-progress gigs in preparation for it, including Australian comic Felicity Ward. I did a quick, ‘young’ sketch of her, based on an old pic but missed getting it signed at the Leicester Square Theatre in the frantic funny foreplay that sums up July. It stayed in my folder for some reason…which became apparent on Saturday evening. Heading home from a successful stalking session, one is apt to have to ‘spend a penny’ or in Central London it’s usually 30p(ee) at the Charing Cross Station lavatory. To avoid such extravagent expenditure, one can detour via certain accessible, user-friendly establishments and go for free. One such haven is The Comedy Pub. Lo and behold, who should have just finished headlining a show on such esteemed premises but the Australian comic, Felicity Ward. By way of a back-story, her Edinburgh run was called What If There’s No Toilet? because she used to perform her sharp, upbeat, self-mocking routine while simultaneously suffering from panic attacks and needed to go to the ‘dunny’ -to use a colloquial Aussie term and it rhymes with funny-four times an hour.”Anxiety can be cruel, but very,very funny.” she said.’IBS is the sexiest of all syndromes” and her show is about irritable bowel syndrome and the search for the nearest toilet. So there you have it. Anyway back to the story. My ablutions sorted I approached a security person and asked if the Australian comic Felicity Ward was still in the house. She was and he asked me if I was a friend. I pulled out the ‘young from an old photo’ drawing, ‘cos that’s what friends do. He recognised the likeness and took me to her ‘Wow…thanks I look so young…thank you for using an old photo.’ I didn’t see much difference, but I said it was the least I could do for a fellow antipodean. Relief all-round really.

Drawing: Matthew Bourne

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Widely regarded as the UK’s most popular and successful choreographer and director, TIME magazine extends the boundaries on that accolade, “Matthew Bourne is the world’s most popular living dance maker.”

For the past 30 years, Matthew has been choreographing and directing dance for musicals, opera,theatre and film. The five-time Olivier Award winner is the only British director to have won the Tony for both Best Choreographer and Best Director of a Musical with Swan Lake in 1999.

I did this sketch of Matthew directing rehearsals for The Car Man sometime ago and since I have had great success getting sketches signed from Sadler’s Wells through the mail, I decided to continue with that process. oddly enough I had just slipped it into the postbox when the man himself walked past me.

Drawing: Sarah Miles

Posted on September 15, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

sarah miles

I had always been meaning to draw British actress Sarah Miles. Probably for the past twenty years, maybe longer, but kept putting it off. Then, two weeks ago when I was reading an article on one of my favourite directors, David Lean, I decided to do it! Known for towering cinematic achievements such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago, it is his much-maligned and critically savaged Ryan’s Daughter that remains my favourite. I first saw it at my hometown cinema, having just crossed into purity and instantly fell in love with Sarah, who played Rosy Ryan, the film’s titular character. Because of the critical reception, Lean stopped making films for years afterwards, even though it was nominated for four Academy Awards, including one for Sarah. This part of the article was accompanied by a pic of her as Rosy, which prompted me to take the 4B and start sketching as my mind meandered down memory lane. I had always wanted to see Sarah on stage. She played Ann Kron in Well at London’s Trafalgar Studios in late 2008, transferring to the Apollo and ending four days before I arrived in the UK. Bummer. I added a quick rendering of her from the play to complete the screen and stage composition before placing it in the capable hands of the Royal Mail. Less than a week later, it arrived back, signed and dedicated with a note saying I had captured her perfectly and requesting one for her scrapbook.

Drawing: Richard O’Brien in The Rocky Horror Show

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

richard o brien

The cult classic The Rocky Horror Show returned to the West End this week for a limited, and already extended season at the Playhouse Theatre before embarking on a UK tour.

Also returning is the shows creator. Richard O’Brien, this time as the Narrator. When it premiered in the 63-seat upstairs ‘working space’ at the Royal Court Theatre in London’s Sloane Square in June 1973, Richard played Riff Raff, handyman to Tom Curry’s mad transvestite scientist, Frank N Furter. Both reprised their roles for the 1975 film adaption, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Riff Raff is a parody of Frankenstein’s servant Igor.

Considered ahead of its time in terms of attitudes towards gender, Richard is proud that it “made the climate for people who feel marginalised and lost in their journey as far as gender is concerned.” in a recent interview, discussing his ‘gender spectrum’ theory, he said, ‘It’s my belief that we are on a continuum between male and female. There are people who are hardline male and there are people who are hardlined female, but most of us are on the continuum. I think of myself 70% male and 30% female.”

I was pleased to meet him (and 30% her) at the Playhouse stage door before Saturday’s first of two evening performances. Extremely genial and accommodating with the die-hard fans and usual riff raff graphers alike. Like me has duel British-New Zealand nationality, so our converstion was more the citizenship spectrum than gender as he signed my drawing.

Drawing: Aga Radwanska

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

aga radwanska

Twenty six year old Polish tennis ace and former World Number 2 Agnieszka ‘Aga’ Radwanska has won fourteen career singles titles and reached the 2012 Wimbledon final. Prior to joining the WTA tour in 2006, she won both the Wimbledon and French junior titles. Her prowess on the court is matched off it, being voted WTA’s most popular player for four consecutive years (2011-2014), She was also listed as the ninth highest earning female athlete in the world according to American magazine Forbes in 2012.

As a practising Roman Catholic, Aga was part of the Polish Catholic campaign, “I’m not ashamed of Jesus!” and arranged her tennis balls so that they read out “Jezus”. After posing nude for the 2013 ESPN magazine’s The Body Issue she was disqualified from the campaign.

I missed getting Aga at Wimbledon this year, so sent this quick sketch of her to a fellow Californian-based autograph collector who specialises in sports sigs.

He caught up with Aga at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, in early August. She told him she really liked the sketch and was happy to sign and dedicate it.