Drawing: Daniel Radcliffe as Cripple Billy in The Cripple of Inishmaan

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Daniel Radcliffe picked up Best Actor from the fan voted What’sOnStage Awards over the weekend for his role as Cripple Billy Claven in Martyn McDonagh’s dark comedy The Cripple of Inishmaan, in Michael Grandage’s sold out run last Summer at the Noël Coward Theatre.

Described by The Mail on Sunday as, “the most politically incorrect play in the West End… and probably the funniest”. On discussing perfecting his Irish accent, Daniel said his father’s from Northern Ireland and he was “pretty pleased”.

He will reprise the role along with all the other cast members at the Cort Theatre on Broadway this Spring for a strictly limited engagement.

Daniel was excellent, both on and off stage. Every night after his performance he met the hordes of fans at the stage door. When he signed this sketch he apologised, “I’m sorry my signature’s not very good tonight.” Given he writes his full name out with the tangled ‘liffe’ at the end, I think he does exceptionally well, and as a collector it’s good to get all variation.

Drawing: Gillian Hanna and Ingrid Craigie in The Cripple of Inishmaan

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Gillian Hanna and Ingrid Craigie played the sisters and aunties to ‘Cripple Billy’ in Michael Grandage’s The Cripple of Inishman at the Noel Coward Theatre from June til August last year.

It was part of the Michael Grandage season of 5 plays and featured Daniel Radcliffe in the title role. Gillian and Ingrid have picked up a number of award nominations for their brilliant performances, including last weekend’s WhatsOnStage Awards in London. The play will transfer to Broadway in April.

Drawing: Jude Law and Jessie Buckley in Henry V at The Noël Coward Theatre

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The inaugural season of work for the Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre comprising of five productions ended with the final performance of Henry V, starring Jude Law as the national hero, come war criminal monarch.

After a pioneering 15 month season, the star-studded team played to 390,000 people, with a quarter of the tickets sold for £10. At the heart of the Company’s philosophy was to offer affordable seats to attract a new generation of fans. A third were bought by first time theatre goers.

Jude was the last big draw, in a season that included Simon Russell Beale, Dame Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, Sheridan Smith and David Walliams. On the final night he and Jessie Buckley (Princess Katharine) signed my sketch.

Drawing: Danielle Hope in The Wizard of Oz at London Palladium

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Danielle Hope won the BBC talent quest Over the Rainbow and with it the part of Dorothy in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of The Wizard of Oz, which began at the London Palladium in February 2011.

She was still at school and beat 9000 other hopefuls to star alongside theatre legend Michael Crawford in the title role. She continued as Dorothy until 5 February 2012, before joining the cast of Les Misérables as Eponine till June 2013

Drawing: What the Butler Saw, with Omid Djalili, Tim McInnerny, Samantha Bond, Georgina Moffett, Jason Thorpe and Mick Hendry

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Joe Orton’s farce What the Butler Saw premiered at the Queen’s Theatre in London on 5 March 1969 – his last play before he was bludgeoned to death by his partner Kenneth Halliwell in August 1967 at the age of 34. In a short, but prolific, career he became known for scandalous black comedies often referred to as “Ortonesque” characterised by dark yet farcical cynicism.

In 2012 a revival was staged at the Vaudeville Theatre, featuring Omid Djalili, Tim McInnerny, Samantha Bond, Georgina Moffett, Jason Thorpe and Mick Hendry who all signed my sketch in July.

Drawing: Samantha Bond

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Aptly named, Samantha Bond featured in four 007 films as Miss Moneypenny during the Pierce Brosnan era between 1995 and 2002. The popular British actress has been a regular on the West End boards over the past five years. In an interview for WhatsOnStage, Samantha said, “I try and do a play a year. It’s my favourite place, nothing compares to live theatre… where I feel most at home, but it does scare the shit out of me.”

Following the revival of Tom Stoppard’s classic comedy of ideas Arcadia at the Duke of York’s in 2009, she did two shifts at the Vaudeville Theatre, with Oscar Wilde’s The Ideal Husband (with her husband Alexander Hanson) and What the Butler Saw before returning to the Duke of York’s for Passion Play in May 2013.

Her next appearance will be the comedy musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy next month. So, plenty of opportunities to get Samantha to sign a sketch…. In this case she ‘graphed it at the Vaudeville during What The Butler Saw in July 2012.

Drawing: Ken Stott in A View From The Bridge at Duke of York’s Theatre

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ken Stott, the Scot, better known to cinema goers as the dwarf Balin in the current Hobbit trilogy, is an accomplished theatre thespian. His most recent West End appearance was the lead in Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Theatre critic Tim Walker, writing in The Telegraph said, “Good for Lindsay Posner, the director of this pitch perfect production for not choosing a big star name to play the title role but a proper, solid stage actor in Ken Stott”.

I sketched Ken as the tragic protagonist Eddie when he starred in the revival of Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge at the Duke of York’s in early 2009. He played an Italian-American longshoreman on the New York docks. The production drew media attention when Ken halted a performance to demand a group of rowdy school children be removed from the audience, who supported him by shouting, “out, out, out.” After a 15 minute stand-off the offending juveniles were removed…

Drawing: Estelle Parsons

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Oscar winner Estelle Parsons made her West End debut at the age of 82, playing the comical Dutch psychic Helga ten Dorp in the revival of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap at the Noël Coward Theatre in August 2010, following two years in Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County on Broadway and a US tour.

Estelle had worked on the London stage almost thirty years before when she bought her acclaimed off-Broadway Miss Margarida’s Way to the Hampstead Theatre in North London. She has received four Tony nominations, including one for her one woman show Margaridas.

Estelle signed both my biro line sketches – one as Miss Margarida – at the Music Box Theatre in New York in August 2008 during Osage County’s run.

Drawing: Keeley Hawes

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Both Keeley Hawes and her husband Matthew Macfadyen appeared in the West End at the same time… but two blocks apart. Matthew is still currently playing the dutiful valet, Jeeves in PG Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster: Perfect Nonsense, at the Duke of York’s while Keeley finished her run at Wyndham’s as Chrissie Packer in Clive Exton’s comedy Barking in Essex.

Keeley’s memorable TV roles include Zoe Reynolds in Spooks, Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Kathy Butler in Tipping the Velvet. She is also the voice of the iconic Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider video games.

Both Keeley and Matthew are Patrons of CHASE, hospice care for children.

Drawing: Ben Miller and Diana Vickers in The Duck House at The Vaudeville Theatre

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ben Miller leads an all-star cast, including Diana Vickers, in the West End premiere of The Duck House directed by Terry Johnson at the Vaudeville Theatre. Written by Dan Patterson and Colin Swash, this outrageous laugh out loud comedy is set in a world of dodgy receipts and deceit and Parliamentary panic during the expenses scandal.

On a night better for ducks, the constant rain and an uncovered stage door was a challenge for autograph collecting – Sharpies and showers! So there’s more water than ink on the sketch as both Ben and Diana kindly dodged the drops to sign – sorry about the dodgy scan, it’s not the flattest of drawings any longer!