Archive for the ‘Theatre’ Category
Jude Law’s impressive opening night in the West End play Anna Christie has seen demand for tickets surge by almost 300 per cent.
The Oscar-nominated actor received “glowing reviews” from critics for his first night’s performance in American playwright Eugene O’Neill’s acclaimed drama.
Tickets have since been selling for almost £400 as fans grab the chance to see the British star perform at London’s Donmar Warehouse.
Online ticket exchange Viagogo has seen a 295 per cent surge in demand for tickets.
Director of Viagogo UK Ed Parkinson said: ‘We’re found that plays starring big names like Jude Law create a real hype amongst fans, but it is the critics’ reviews that really accelerate ticket demand.”
He added: ‘The critics’ glowing reviews of Jude Law has arguably cemented the play as the hottest theatre ticket of the year.’
The 2010 Tony Awards will celebrate Broadway’s finest on June 13. This year is unique in the fact that Broadway’s best are also some of film and television’s most entertaining. With stars ranging from Denzel Washington to Kelsey Grammer and Christopher Walken, the evening promises to be intriguing for fans of entertainment.
TheImproper caught up with some of the event’s biggest nominees.
Jude Law, Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Play (Hamlet)
“It’s really, really thrilling to be nominated. I thought Hamlet was on the wrong side of January, to be honest. Basically, to survive the run it became a very personal and physical journey. We were thrilled to do well in London, and then thrilled to do well in Denmark, and really thrilled to succeed here, but we were done and dusted, and sort of put the thing to bed in December. So now all these months later to be recognized is really, really good.”
On one of many great actors who have played Hamlet: “I don’t know, I never really thought of it like that. I suppose there are an awful lot of awful actors as well probably who have played Hamlet, too, aren’t there?” (laughs)
On the personality that he gave to the role: “You have to be Hamlet. Hamlet isn’t a role, he becomes you. I think that’s why each version is ultimately very different, because he kind of demands of you that you open yourself up to him. I think what I liked about him was ultimately his complexity between loving life and hating it all at the same time.”
On the challenges of playing Hamlet: “For me personally it was always physical. Eating the right things, sleeping the right amount, and being able to just get through eight shows per week for six months.”
On leaving the character at the end of the day: “It’s like a purge, you go to work and kind of get everything out, and then at the end of the day you’ve actually got nothing else left to give. What you miss when you finish doing the run is that purge. You suddenly realize you’ve got all this stuff in your head that you’ve got to carry around with you, and you’ve got no outlet for it.”
On his family’s reaction to his nomination: “I called my dad, and he kept asking ‘Tony? Tony who?’”
Jude Law isn’t just a hit on the big screen; he’s a force to be reckoned with on Broadway as a 2010 Tony contender.
The “Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Cold Mountain” Academy-Award nominee will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in “Hamlet,” according to the Tony Awards Administration Committee.
The committee met today for the first time this season to decide the eligibility of 10 Broadway productions for the 2010 American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and The American Theatre Wing.
Other actors or productions considered eligible include:
•Michael McKean will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in “Superior Donuts.”
•Jan Maxwell will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play category for her performance in “The Royal Family.”
•Oleanna will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category.
•Bill Irwin will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical category for his performance in “Bye Bye Birdie.”
•Chad Kimball and Montego Glover will be considered eligible in the categories of Best Performance by a Leading Actor/Actress in a Musical respectively for their performances in “Memphis.”
•”After Miss Julie” will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category.
•Marin Ireland will be considered eligible in the Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play category for her performance in “After Miss Julie.”
The Tony Awards will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 13, 2010. For more information on the Tony Awards, please visit the
Tony Awards official Web site.
source: CBS News
Jude Law is mobbed by theatre-goers at the stage-door of the Donmar West End theatre after critical acclaim of the first week of his run of Hamlet.
To be or not to be on Broadway.
That is the question being mulled since Michael Grandage’s Donmar West End production of “Hamlet,” starring Jude Law, opened June 3 at Wyndham’s Theater to mostly strong reviews. Rialto producers and theater owners reportedly will be traveling to London to check out the revival for a possible New York run.
Previous Donmar Warehouse productions that yielded Gotham transfers include “Cabaret,” “Frost/Nixon” and the current “Mary Stuart.” If Law does bring his Hamlet to town, it will be the first visit of Shakespeare’s brooding Danish prince to Broadway since Ralph Fiennes won a Tony for the role in 1995.
Here’s what the London critics said:
* While noting that past “Hamlet” productions have been more personal and political, Variety’s David Benedict called Law’s portrayal “riveting, thrillingly vital.” He wrote: “The outstanding quality of this assured incarnation of Shakespeare’s richest work is its unerring sense of completeness.”
* BBC News’ Caroline Briggs rated Law’s performance “fine and solid” and “one that will surely answer those who sniffed at the casting.” However, she had less praise for Kevin McNally’s Claudius and David Burke’s gravedigger.
* While he lamented Grandage’s incorporation of ambient background music and found McNally’s Claudius “pathetically bland,” the Telegraph’s Charles Spencer was a major proponent of the show: “Anyone who loves the play will enjoy this ‘Hamlet,’ but the people I envy most are those who see it for the first time in this thrilling and deeply felt production.”
* The Observer’s Susannah Clapp joined the support team for Law’s Hamlet, but gave special plaudits to one of his co-stars: “Gertrude is one of the most unrewarding of parts. … But Penelope Wilton makes observation into an activity.”
* The London Evening Standard’s Henry Hitchings declared the strength of Law’s performance “impossible to deny,” but acknowledged “other roles have been less effectively cast.”
* Michael Billington in the Guardian found the production lacking in social and political context but nonetheless judged it “a swift, clear, well-staged version of Shakespeare’s most exciting play.”
n The Times’ Christopher Hart gave the show a mixedreview, calling Law’s work “a perfectly solid and respectable performance” but “not a Hamlet that will still be talked about in 10 years’ time.”
* The Independent’s Michael Coveney wrote perhaps the most damaging review, blasting Law’s performance as a disappointment: “For a start he’s not funny, which is sad given he’s playing the wittiest tragic hero ever written. His speed of speech is a terrible affliction. And he looks like someone en route to the gym, in his grey sweatshirt and baggy pantaloons.”
Law previously appeared on Broadway in 1995 in the National Theater production of Jean Cocteau’s “Indiscretions,” scoring a Tony nom for featured actor. If he does transfer with “Hamlet,” he will join a distinguished list of actors to tackle the role on the Rialto including Sam Waterston, Richard Burton, Leslie Howard, John Gielgud, John Barrymore and Edwin Booth.
Jude Law channels his inner Hamlet and grabs hold of costar Gugu Mbatha-Raw (as Ophelia) in this new still from the stage production of Hamlet at Wyndham’s Theater in London.
Other pictures below include Jude leaving Wyndham’s on Thursday (June 11). Hamlet is playing through Aug. 22 at Wyndham’s Theater.
The NY Times reviews Jude in the show, saying, “Fierce-eyed, charismatic, gestural to a degree one wouldn’t expect from a character who makes a point of advising the Players not to ’saw the air.’ One can imagine his particular empathy for this play given that London must at times seem for Mr. Law one large Elsinore, the tabloid press shadowing this fine actor’s every move to a degree unknown even at Denmark’s intrigue-laden Kronborg Castle.”
To see the pictures, visit the Just Jared site.
Jude Law was born December 29, 1972 in Lewisham, South London, England as second child to teachers Maggie and Peter Law. He grew up in Blackheath, a village in the Borough of Lewisham and he was educated at John Ball Primary School in Blackheath and Kidbrooke School in Kidbrooke, before attending the Alleyn's School in Dulwich.
