2012 sprang into life with garlands galore for arts grandees in the New Year honours list. Big names from behind the scenes receiving recognition from the Queen included the Royal Opera House’s music director Antonio Pappano, who was knighted, and Camden Roundhouse chief executive Marcus Davey, who bagged an OBE. The founder of Islington’s Little Angel puppet theatre Lyndie Wright was made MBE and comedian Ronnie Corbett picked up a CBE, as did actress Helena Bonham Carter. Meanwhile, there was also an MBE for actor David Harewood, who was recently on stage as Martin Luther King in The Mountaintop.
Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian
More back-patting for theatre folk, thanks to the Stage and its annual Stage 100 power list and Stage 100 awards. Ambassador Theatre Group’s founders, joint chief executives and off-stage married couple, Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, were listed number one for the third year in a row (no knight or damehoods for them, yet) while Chichester and London’s Bush and Jermyn Street were recognised as the top theatres of 2011.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian
Meanwhile, if you want to catch up on some of the great and the good from the stage’s recent past, the V&A is to run a season of free screenings from its theatre archive over the summer. For the last 20 years, the museum has been recording some of theatre's greatest performances for posterity and it is to host a series of screenings of classic productions ranging from Ben Wishaw’s Hamlet and Derek Jacobi in the Donmar Warehouse’s Don Carlos to Clive Rowe in panto at the Hackney Empire.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian
Sad news for dance fans, though, with Akram Khan this week forced to call off all forthcoming performances after injuring his Achilles tendon in rehearsals. His latest show DESH, which premiered in 2011, had been due to return to Sadler’s Wells next month, while a number of international performances have also been scrapped. Khan is expected to make a full recovery, though, and DESH’s London performances have been rescheduled for October.
Photograph: Richard Haughton
The Broadway stage version of Spider-Man has been no stranger to injuries, with early performances of the musical regularly interrupted when its flying cast members suffered accidents. However, good news for its producers this week, with the announcement that the production’s Christmas performance at the box office has smashed all previous Broadway records, taking a whopping $2.9m in a single, nine-show week. Photograph: PR
Hugh Jackman was one of Broadway’s other big bankers during 2011, with his solo show, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway, shifting tickets at up to $350 a seat. Now we’re told that he’ll be back again in 2013/14 to work his box office magic, this time in the role of the world’s most famous escapologist, Harry Houdini. Jackman will star in a new musical about the magician with a book by the West Wing’s Aaron Sorkin and music from Wicked composer Stephen Schwartz.
Photograph: Carolyn Contino/BEI/Rex Features
Who says politicians are uncomfortable with the arts? David Cameron showed his cultured side this week with a visit to his local panto at The Theatre Chipping Norton, Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves. Apparently DC joined in with all the audience participation and one of his security guards even had a cast member sitting on their knee at one point during the show (probably best not to ask). Afterwards, he posed with the cast for a photo. Any ideas for captions? Post them in the comment thread…
Photograph: Lucy Ford
