Drawing: Ophelia Lovibond in The Libertine

Posted on September 28, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

ophelia-lovibond

Ophelia Lovibond sounds a really posh name, but her background, growing up on a Shepherd’s Bush council estate in a single-parent family was anything but. In an interview with the Express this month she said, “It’s a mad name, but I think it was almost inevitable that I would end up in this profession and not become a librarian in Tunbridge Wells.”

She attended Saturday morning drama at 50p a session. Ophelia made her film debut as Bet in Roman Polanski’s OLIVER TWIST in 2005 and more recently played Carina in THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. TV viewers will know her as Sherlock’s new apprentice Kathryn ‘Kitty’ Winters in ELEMENTARY. This week she made her West End debut as the intrepid heroine and 17th Century actress Elizabeth Barry in THE LIBERTINE at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. This is a montage sketch of her in rehearsal and in the role, which she signed at the stage door before last Saturday’s matinee.

Drawing: Sir Kenneth Branagh – Plays At The Garrick

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

ken-branagh

For the past year Sir Kenneth Branagh and his theatre company’s creative home has been the Garrick Theatre on London’s Charing Cross Road. The ‘Plays At The Garrick’ debut season has now entered its final chapter with John Osborne’s THE ENTERTAINER, featuring Sir Ken in the lead role as the failing music-hall performer Archie Rice. He appeared in four of the six productions and co-directing three with Rob Ashford.
My montage sketch depicts him as Archie, hit-man Ralph in THE PAINKILLERS and Leontes, the King of Sicily in Shakespeare’s THE WINTER’S TALE. I caught up the the theatrical knight himself as he arrived at the stage door on Saturday morning, as usual, hours before the matinee and signed it for me. I asked if there would be another residency next year and he replied. “As Mr Schwarzenegger would say, we’ll be back.”

Drawing: Annapurna Sriram in The Spoils

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

annapurna-sriram

In May this year, Jesse Eisenberg’s dark comedy THE SPOILS transferred from its New York premiere run to London’s Trafalgar Studios for a three month season. Not all the original cast ventured to the West End, but joining Jesse and THE BIG BANG THEORY’s Kunal Nayyar was Annapurna Sriram who played Reshma, Kunal’s pushy medical student girlfriend. Annapurna, or Anna or AP as she is often called, explained the reason for reprising her role. “Reshma is something I am really proud of – that’s my role, my baby. I didn’t like the idea of someone else doing it.” It’s her second visit to London, having spent time at The Globe studying Shakespeare after competing her Arts Degree from Rutgers University.

She came to prominence in the 2015 supernatural horror series SOUTH OF HELL and more recently as Tara Mohr, the hard-partying employee of US Attorney Chuck Rhodes played by Paul Giamatti in the Showtime hit TV series BILLIONS.

Brooklyn-based Annapurna is Indian-American, which she said has helped her acting career. “We’re in a day and age where being ethnically ambiguous – which is what I am – is a commodity”. I meet the very amiable Anna at the Trafalgar Studio’s stage door a couple of weeks before the play finished in mid-August, where she took a photo of my drawing then signed it for me.

Drawing: Jamie Parker as Harry Potter

Posted on September 1, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Jamie Parker

British actor and singer Jamie Parker plays the title role in J K Rowling’s eighth instalment of the boy wizard’s adventures, HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD PARTS 1 AND 2. It’s set nineteen years after the events of HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. Harry is no longer a boy. He’s middle-aged with a family and working for the Ministry of Magic as the stressed-out Head of Magical Law Enforcement. His son Albus follows in his footsteps at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The two-part play written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany based on an original story by them and J K Rowling, took the West End by storm this year, opening at the Palace Theatre on 30 July and smashing all box-office records.

Thirty-six year old Jamie, who performed in Alan Bennett’s THE HISTORY BOYS on Broadway and London said that POTTER was ‘a gig of a lifetime’. I caught up with him at the stage door a couple of weeks back as he was arriving for a Saturday matinee and he signed this sketch.

Drawing: Alex Price as Draco Malfoy

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Alex Price

British actor Alex Price plays Harry Potter’s former rival and pure-blood wizard Draco Malfoy in the West End premiere of J.K.Rowing’s HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD PARTS ONE AND TWO at the Palace Theatre. The two-part play written by Jack Thorne and directed by John Tiffany is set nineteen years after the events in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, which sees Harry, now an employee of the Ministry of Magic, sending his son to Hogwarts School of Wizards and Wizardry, where he befriends Draco’s son Scorpius.

Alex has appeared in popular television programmes such BEING HUMAN, MERLIN and DOCTOR WHO. Since 2013 he played Sid Carter, one of the the main characters in FATHER BROWN, the crime drama series inspired by the original stories by G.K Chesterton. He was also Proteus in PENNY DREADFUL. His stage credits include 3 WINTERS at the National and BIRDLAND at the Royal Court.

Alex’s transformation into the prototypical spoiled brat and bully is complete with the signature sleek blonde hair and ‘steely grey gaze’… a guise not worn at the stage door, but nevertheless I managed to recognise him anyway and he signed my Draco drawing.

Drawing: Cherrelle Skeete as Rose Granger-Weasley

Posted on August 11, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Cherelle Skeete

Birmingham-born actress Cherrelle Skeete plays Rose Granger-Weasley in HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO at London’s Palace Theatre. In the eighth instalment of J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter adventures, the two-part play is set nineteen years later. Rose is the daughter of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. She is about to embark on her first year at Hogwarts along with Harry’s son Albus. J.K.Rowling in ‘Pottermore’ said, “Rose is like her mother, but more secure, more grounded. She was born to wizards and knows her place in the world. Cherrelle plays her perfectly: bossy but deeply lovable.”

After graduating with an Honours Degree from the Central School of Speech & Drama in 2011, Cherrelle made her West End debut in THE LION KING the following year as Shenzi cover and swing. She played Sister Sally in the Olivier-nominated THE AMEN CORNER at the National in 2013, returning last year to play Katya in Patrick Marber’s THREE DAYS IN THE COUNTRY, an adaption of Ivan Turgenev’s moving comedy A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY. Cherrelle’s small screen debut was in the fourth series of the BBC period drama CALL THE MIDWIFE, then starred in the BBC1’s ORDINARY LIES.

It was a little quieter before last Saturday’s matinee, compared with the hustle and bustle of the previous week’s World Premiere gala performance when I missed Cherrelle at the stage door. This time only a handful of ‘graphers were hovering and a lot easier to have my drawing signed.

Drawing: Sam Clemmett as Albus Severus Potter

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Sam Clemmett

Twenty-two year-old English actor Sam Clemmett plays Harry Potter’s troubled middle son Albus Severus in the eighth and latest instalment of the Potter juggernaut, HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO at London’s Palace Theatre. Albus is a shy, introverted, often misunderstood character, having to deal with his famous father’s past, who is propelled into a massive journey as he follows in Harry’s footsteps at Hogwarts and the wizarding world.

Sam, from a non-theatrical family, didn’t go to drama school. He joined the National Youth Theatre sometime between the ages of 16 and 17, which led to his first professional stage role in THE LORD OF THE FLIES at the Regent Open Air Theatre. His TV roles include THE MUSKETEERS, FOYLE’S WAR, DOCTORS and HOLBY CITY. Actually he doesn’t look 22. In a recent Evening Standard interview he said he looks, “Around 12. I’ll be ID’d forever,” an obvious advantage when it comes to playing the child wizard.

My recent frequent visits to the Palace Theatre stage door in Soho included the World Premiere gala performance on a whirlwind Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, where I managed to catch Sam, who graphed my sketch.

Drawing: Poppy Miller as Ginny Potter

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Poppy Miller

HARRY POTTER’S Geneva Weasley, known as ‘Ginny’ to her family and friends is the youngest of seven Weasley children and the first girl for several generations. In the films, her ‘crush’ on Harry develops further and in the eight instalment of the Potter phenomenon, the play HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO, which is currently taking the West End by storm, she is married to Harry, who is now a Ministry of Magic employee.

English actress Poppy Miller plays the adult Ginny Potter. Her extensive stage and screen roles include DC Carol Browning in the British detective series THE COMMANDER, several parts in the Almeida Theatre’s production of THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, including Mary Magdalene and both Viola and her twin brother Sebastian in TWELTH NIGHT at the Tricycle in 2008.

I met Poppy at the stage door of London’s Palace Theatre after the World Premiere gala matinee performance of PART ONE last Saturday. My rendering reputation or as some might say, sketch stalking had obviously gone before me. She greeted me with “Ah, the drawing man” with a smile and signed this Ginny montage.

Drawing: Anthony Boyle as Scorpius Malfoy

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Anthony Boyle

Little-known Belfast-born actor Anthony Boyle has become the talk of the town after the early wave of reviews flowed in for HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD, PARTS ONE AND TWO. Critics agree that J.K.Rowling’s blockbusting Potter play at the Palace Theatre is a spectacular and stunning production. They are equally unanimous that while the 42 cast members are excellent, one particular character steals the show – Scorpius Malfoy, played by Anthony in his first major role. Henry Hutchings in the Evening Standard described his portrayal as “the most layered and absorbing of all the performances”.

Potter pundits would expect that the son of Draco Malfoy must spell trouble, but the gawky, book-reading, fish out of water with brilliant comic timing, quickly befriends Albus Potter, Harry’s son at Hogwarts as they make their way in the wizarding world. The 22 year-old Anthony, not long out of the the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama has gained a small amount of stage time in his home town and a minor role in the GAME OF THRONES before his breakout star turn debut on the West End.

I managed to catch up with the amiable young actor at the extremely busy stage door as he quickly slipped out for some nourishment between the matinee PART ONE matinee and the evening’s PART TWO at the World Premiere gala performances on Saturday and he was more than happy to sign this sketch.

Drawing: Lily James as Juliet

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Lily James

I couldn’t resist doing another sketch of Lily James as Juliet, currently starring in the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s ROMEO AND JULIET as part of the Plays At The Garrick season in the iconic London venue. Matt Trueman wrote in his Variety review, the fawnlike James is “beautifully expressive, stretching the verse like silly putty…”

Lily signed this second drawing for me last week after an evening performance. The production on 13 August.