#London Cabaret Awards

[thejohnfleming]

RIP comic Gareth Ellis 1990-2024 (Part 2)

Yesterday’s blog was the first in a two-parter in which Rich Rose remembered his comedy double-act partner Gareth Ellis (above) who died, aged 34, in May this year. Now read on… In 2014, we were nominated for best alternative act at the London Cabaret Awards. The ceremony took place at Café de Paris in Leicester Square. Deciding we needed to look the part, we ditched the shabby Waiting for Godot…

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

Eddie. Ready. Go.

Eddie Redmayne at Olivier Awards 2023

Source: officiallondontheatre on you tube

[broadwaydivastournament]

Broadway Divas Tournament: Round 2B

Bebe Neuwirth (1958) “BEBE NEUWIRTH (Velma Kelly), B’way: A Chorus Line-Sheila, Little Me-Monique, Dancin’-principal, Sweet Charity-Nickie(Tony Award), Damn Yankees-Lola. Regional: West Side Story-Anita, Sweet Charity-Charity, A Chorus Line-Cassie, Chicago-Velma Kelly (L.A. Drama Critics Award), Kiss of the Spider Woman-Spiderwoman/Aurora (London’s West End). Revue: Martin Charnin’s Upstairs at O’Neal’s, Cabaret Verboten. TV: “Cheers”-Dr. Lilith Sternin (two Emmy Awards), “Wild Palms”- Tabba Schwarzkopf, “The Adventures of Pete and Pete”-Mailwoman McGinty. Film: Say Anything, Green Card, Bugsy, The Paint Job, Malice, Jumanji, Pinocchio, The Associate. For this performance, Ms. Neuwirth has been honored with the Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Distinguished Performance and Fred Astaire Award.” – Playbill bio from Chicago, August 1998.

Charlotte d'Amboise (1964) “CHARLOTTE D’AMBOISE (Roxie Hart) returns to Chicago this winter after starring as Fastrada in the Tony Award-winning revival of Pippin. For her portrayal of Roxie in the show’s first national tour, she earned L.A. Drama Critics Circle, L.A. Ovation and Bay Area Theatre Circle Awards. Her other NY credits include A Chorus Line (Cassie, Tony nominee), Sweet Charity (Charity, Fred Astaire Award), Can-Can (Encores!), Contact, Damn Yankees (Lola, Fred Astaire Award), Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (Tony Nomination), Company, Carrie, Song and Dance and Cats. Film: the acclaimed documentary Every Little Step, Frances Ha, The Preacher’s Wife, The in Crowd. With her husband Terrence Mann, Ms. D’Amboise teaches a summer musical theatre intensive. Visit www.triplearts.com” – Playbill bio from Chicago, January 2015

NEW PROPAGANDA AND MEDIA UNDER CUT: ALL POLLS HERE

"We are once again in a world where Bebe Neuwirth is back on Broadway where she belongs, in a Kander & Ebb, no less. In exactly two-weeks' time, I will be facedown on the floor of the August Wilson Theatre because her "What Would You Do?" has killed me dead. Bebe is my ultimate Diva. I would follow her to the end of the earth and back again. (Not) Fun Fact: Bebe Neuwirth is the only living original Velma or Roxie left..."

"I watched Charlotte d'Amboise give Lillias White a lap dance less than two feet in front of me. I have not been the same since."

[justforbooks]

In the childhood memories of more than one generation, Glynis Johns, who has died aged 100, will be best remembered as the Edwardian materfamilias of the hugely popular Walt Disney musical Mary Poppins (1964). Winifred Banks, married to David Tomlinson’s George W Banks, is the mother of Jane and Michael, the children in the care of the magical nanny played by Julie Andrews. A protester for the right to vote, Winifred delivers a spirited rendition of the song Sister Suffragette – “Our daughters’ daughters will adore us. And they’ll sing in grateful chorus: ‘Well done, Sister Suffragette!’” – as the children’s previous nanny tries to quit.

But the husky-voiced actor had other claims to fame from her more than 60 films and 30 stage productions. In 1973, Stephen Sondheim composed the song Send in the Clowns for Johns when she was cast in the leading role of the premiere production of his musical A Little Night Music, on Broadway. And she had won initial stardom in the British cinema as a mermaid.

In the title role of the film comedy Miranda (1948), she travels from Cornwall to London and causes romantic complications among the Chelsea set. Although the film’s whimsy may now seem strained, it was a great commercial success in its day, making Johns a top-liner in British movies. Miranda returned in a rather belated sequel, Mad About Men (1954).

By that time, Johns had moved almost completely from stage to films, where she was associated chiefly with lightweight roles, alternately fluffy and feisty. One of her most appealing opportunities came in the thriller State Secret (1950, released as The Great Manhunt in the US), playing a cabaret artiste in a fictitious Balkan country, and gamely singing Paper Doll in a wholly invented language.

It says something for her properties of youthfulness that at the age of 30 she could play a teenage schoolgirl in the melodrama Personal Affair (1953). The same year she played in two fanciful Walt Disney British productions, as Mary Tudor in The Sword and the Rose, and as the heroine wife of Rob Roy, and she went on to make her first Hollywood picture, the Danny Kaye comedy The Court Jester, in 1955. The following year she played a cameo role in the star-studded Around the World in 80 Days.

At the time Johns alternated between American and British films, generally in subordinate roles, but a rewarding one came in The Sundowners (1960), set in Australia, as a jolly barmaid who takes a shine to a visiting Englishman played by Peter Ustinov. It brought her an Oscar nomination as best supporting actress. Top billing came in a stylish horror movie, The Cabinet of Caligari (1962). She was well enough known to American audiences by this time to star in 1963 in Glynis, a TV sitcom series that ran for just one season.

In 1966 Johns returned to the London stage in The King’s Mare, as Anne of Cleves to Keith Michell’s Henry VIII. Her Welsh heritage came into play when she took the role of Myfanwy Price in a screen version of Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood (1971) starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O’Toole, and two years later came her great Broadway success as Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music, which brought her a Tony award.

Glynis came from a show business background: her mother, Alice Steele (nee Wareham), was a concert pianist who performed under the name Alys Steele-Payne, and her father was the prolific character actor Mervyn Johns. He was a stalwart in particular of Ealing Studios films: father and daughter appeared together in an Ealing drama, The Halfway House (1944).

Though her vocal intonations pointed to her Welshness, Glynis was born in Pretoria, South Africa, where her parents were on tour. She was reportedly carried on to the stage at the age of three weeks, and it was not too much longer before she was appearing there in a professional capacity, making her performing debut at the Garrick theatre, London, as a dancer in a revue called Buckie’s Bears (1935).

Educated at Clifton high school, Bristol, and South Hampstead high school and the Cone School of Dancing in London, she rapidly graduated to juvenile acting roles in both theatre and cinema. Her first screen appearance came at the age of 14, as politician Ralph Richardson’s troublesome daughter in South Riding (1938), and on stage she was the young sister, another Miranda, in Esther McCracken’s comedies Quiet Wedding (1938) and Quiet Weekend (1941).

That year brought the opportunity to appear in the film 49th Parallel, starring Leslie Howard and Laurence Olivier in a spy thriller intended to bolster second world war support in the US. When the prospect of playing a mermaid came after the war, she was able to draw on her theatrical versatility: “I was quite an athlete, my muscles were strong from dancing, so the tail was just fine. I swam like a porpoise.”

Johns returned to the London stage in 1977, as Terence Rattigan’s choice to play the murderer Alma Rattenbury in his well-received dramatisation of the Rattenbury case, Cause Célèbre. Her acting appearances became sporadic, though in 1989 she starred with Rex Harrison and Stewart Granger on Broadway in Somerset Maugham’s The Circle.

She was occasionally a guest star in US television series such as Murder She Wrote and The Love Boat, and played Diane’s rich mother, Helen Chambers, in the first series of Cheers (1983) and Trudie Pepper in the sitcom Coming of Age (1988-89). By the time of her final films, While You Were Sleeping (1995) and Superstar (1999), she was a characterful grandmother.

Johns was married and divorced four times. Her first husband, from 1942 to 1948, was the actor Anthony Forwood. Their son, Gareth, also an actor, died in 2007. Marriages to two businessmen followed: David Foster, from 1952 to 1956, and Cecil Henderson, from 1960 to 1962. She was married to Elliott Arnold, a novelist, from 1964 to 1973, and is survived by a grandson and three great-grandchildren.

🔔 Glynis Margaret Payne Johns, actor, born 5 October 1923; died 4 January 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss and Cat Cohen Will Lend Voices to GWYNETH GOES SKIING in Edinburgh and Utah

Gwyneth Goes Skiing is headed to Edinburgh Fringe this August, and will also make its international premiere in Utah.

Darren Criss will provide the singing voice of Terry Sanderson alongisde Edinburgh Comedy Award Winning comedian, actress and singer Cat Cohen, who will lend her voice  as Gwyneth Paltrow on the vocal track with hits including I Wish You Well and See You In Court. 

Darren Criss is best known for playing the role of Blaine Anderson in Glee (alongside the real  Gwyneth Paltrow!). In 2018, he was awarded Emmy and Golden Globe acting awards for his  leading role in The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Criss has also starred  on Broadway in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Hedwig and the Angry  Inch. 

Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner Cat Cohen’s live comedy performances combine stand-up  comedy with cabaret-style songs. The comedian, actress, and singer’s first Netflix comedy  special, The Twist...? She's Gorgeous, was released in 2022. As an actress, she has appeared on  comedy series such as High Maintenance, Broad City, Search Party, and What We Do in the  Shadows.

Criss and Cohen digitally join Trixie Mattel who makes a special on-screen appearance as  Gwyneth Paltrow’s mother, Blythe Danner. They are seen alongside the original Gwyneth Goes  Skiing cast - Linus Karp as the Goop-founding, Door-Sliding, Shakespeare-In-Loving, consciously uncoupling Hollywood superstar Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Martin as her nemesis, Terry  Sanderson, a retired Optometrist from Utah.  

The world debut of Darren and Cat’s voices will be back where it all began, Park City, Utah. The  now-infamous location of Terry Sanderson and Gwyneth Paltrow’s collision in 2016 will play  host to the US transfer of Awkward Productions and Pleasance Theatre’s runaway hit. Gwyneth  Goes Skiing’s transfer to The Egyptian Theatre marks the first international transfer for Awkward  Productions’ work. 

Gwyneth Goes Skiing, which is a co-production between Awkward Productions  and the Pleasance Theatre, returns to the slopes after two sold-out and critically-acclaimed runs  in London. This silly play-with-music marks Awkward Productions’ return to the Fringe  after Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story had a sold-out run in 2023. 

Gwyneth Goes Skiing recounts the collision in 2016 on the slopes of Deer Valley and the court  case seven years later that enthralled the world. This very silly story of justice, betrayal and  optometry makes the audience the jury, asking them to decide who's guilty and who's gooped.  Gwyneth Goes Skiing features a whole lot of fiction, a sprinkling of verbatim lines from court  transcripts and delightfully catchy original music by Leland (RuPaul’s Drag Race; Cher’s  Christmas; Troye Sivan’s Something To Give Each Other). 

Performance Information The Egyptian Theatre, Utah  Thursday 16th – Sunday 26th May 2024  328 Main Street, Park City, Utah 84060 https://parkcityshows.com

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

Now on YouTube: "Eddie Redmayne Plays His Dream Role in Broadway's 'Cabaret' | On Stage".

The reimagined Kander and Ebb classic, "Cabaret" makes its way to The Great White Way by way of London. The show stars Oscar and Tony Award-winner Eddie Redmayne as the charismatic and flamboyant EMCEE.

"On Stage" host Frank DiLella chats with Redmayne to talk about his dream role and much more.

[joysmercer]

any future!rina hc?

not many tbh, i actually enjoy "definite" endings/flash-forwards in most cases but with them im glad it was left open-ended! that said – 

ok so like. the r&j movie's going to flop. you can't just have the same story but simply make them NOT die in the end and expect it to work. but gina's performance is the one thing that gets praised in it, which does help her a lot

ricky's not romeo though kdlfj

they do lsoh for their spring musical. the two of them get cast as audrey ii – they handle the puppets and alternate who says the lines by scene. it's not the part either of them imagined getting but they have a lot of fun

gina goes back to camp the next summer and promptly twists her ankle, so she just choreographs the show but doesn't participate :( which is fine with her tbh, she's very exhausted having just finished the movie and the musical and this is the only break she'll get before starting movie press and stuff (and senior year)

ricky unfortunately has orientation during week 2 of camp so he doesn't go but he sends her care packages every single day and comes to opening night to hand out cards <3

EJ's there to direct again and he and gina become proper friends

the fall musical is &J and gina is obviously juliet and she just rolls her eyes when that's announced. jet's romeo. when the media catches wind of this they have a field day ("porter's performance only emphasizes the missteps in the film…") which is also Not Great

she's also stressed the fuck out because college apps are also happening and ricky ends up driving down every chance he gets to keep her company and help take her mind off of things. turns out he's very good at editing essays (and distracting her…)

he gives her a very sweet pep talk during intermission of the show because she's on the verge of a breakdown at this point

her mom didn't make it to opening night again but both his parents bring her flowers and cheer the loudest during her bows

gina's mom plans a vacation to london over winter break and she begs and begs until her mom lets ricky come too

her mom has business meetings half the time so they wander around holding hands and looking at the christmas lights and doing ALL the touristy things

ricky had no idea what a panto is initially but he enjoys it so much he wonders multiple times why they're not a thing in america

gina just loves that he loved it

the spring musical is cabaret, she's sally, her performance gets her nominated for the jimmy awards (which she goes on to win)

but she decides to focus on school for a bit after high school even though roles are being offered to her left-and-right

she gets a full-ride scholarship to usc and ricky is SO PROUD.

he snuck in through the window the night she told him and he squealed so loudly her mom got scared and ran up there and caught them lol but even she can't hide her smile esp when she finds out the reason

ricky tells her he applied to transfer to csula and got in

obviously she kisses him senseless after that. he tries to shrug it off as not a big deal and shes just like "no, it's amazing, i'm so proud of you" an he starts crying, basically

he explores a ton of majors but eventually decides on education with minors in music production and theatre – he knows whatever he does, he wants to help people feel the way he did when he found the drama club

goes w/o saying but they get married at some point and have a house full of golden-retrievers

[insanityclause]

Tom Hiddleston, Jenna Coleman, Sheila Atim and David Tennant are among the stars celebrating London’s stage talent at the 67th Evening Standard Theatre Awards on Sunday.

They will be at the event at Claridge’s joining Tuppence Middleton, Omari Douglas, Layton Williams, Hayley Atwell, Jake Shears and his Cabaret co-star Rebecca Lucy Taylor, AKA Self Esteem, among others, to hand out awards.

The event, hosted by the newspaper’s proprietor Lord Lebedev with the help of Ian McKellen, is presented by Susan Wokoma. The writer and actor, who played Edith in the Enola Holmes films and whose stage work includes appearances at the Bush, the National and the Royal Court, is about to start work on Three Weeks which she will direct and star in.

She said: “Theatre is always a labour of love and London stages have faced their fair share of difficulties in the last few years. So I think it’s paramount we celebrate excellence while we can.”

Among the awards presented on the night are best play, best actor and the Milton Shulman Award for best director which is named after the Standard’s late theatre critic. Other awards include the Natasha Richardson Award for best actress in association with Mithridate and the Charles Wintour Award for most promising playwright — named in honour of the paper’s editor for many years.

Also awarded on the night is the Lebedev Award, which is given to an individual or institution for lifetime achievement or a specific critically-acclaimed piece of work or series as well as two special Editor’s Awards.

Among those in the running are Paul Mescal, shortlisted for best actor for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire, with his co-stars Anjana Vasan and Patsy Ferran up for best actress. Mescal is up against Andrew Scott, who won in 2019 and is shortlisted for Vanya, as well as Paapa Essiedu for The Effect, and Mark Gatiss for The Motive and the Cue. The shortlist for best actress is completed by Rachael Stirling for Private Lives and Sophie Okonedo for Medea.

Also in the running is Nicole Scherzinger for Sunset Boulevard. She is nominated for best musical performance along with Charlie Stemp in Crazy For You, Kyle Ramar Freeman in A Strange Loop and Marisha Wallace in Guys & Dolls.

James Graham’s Dear England is shortlisted for best play alongside Jack Thorne’s The Motive and the Cue, Sam Holcroft’s A Mirror and Ryan Calais Cameron’s Retrogade.

Previous winners at the awards, which were first presented in 1955, include Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Laurence Olivier, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gillian Anderson and Glenn Close.

[bespokeredmayne]

The Lambert look

Luckily for fans, Eddie Redmayne’s partnership with stylist Harry Lambert is going strong, with Eddie covering the new edition of Replica Man magazine in a leggy look, wearing Dior. The impeccably cool grooming is by Eddie’s go-to London artist Petra Sellge.

Lambert was responsible for Eddie’s slew of “best dressed” honors last year during his promotion of The Good Nurse and awards season (below). He’s also credited with eye-popping styling of other celebs including Harry Styles, Emma Corrin and Josh O'Connor, and has spun his fame into designing a popular line for Zara.

With Lambert continuing to style him, Eddie in New York for Cabaret (+likely the Met Gala in May), then promoting his TV series, Day of the Jackal, 2024 should be full of stylistic surprises.

[addictedtoeddie]

New video - the 2023 Tony Awards: A "Cabaret" tribute to Joel Grey and John Kander.

On Sunday, June 11, 2023, actor Joel Grey (who originated the role of the Emcee in "Cabaret") and John Kander (composer of the classic musical) will be honored with lifetime achievement Tony Awards. "Sunday Morning" presents the special video featuring actors who have played the Emcee in the London production of "Cabaret" (Olivier Award-winner Eddie Redmayne, Callum Scott Howells, Matthew Gent, Fra Fee, Mason Alexander Park, and John McCrea), who pay tribute to Grey and Kander for their astonishing musical theater creations.

[eddie-redmayne-italian-blog]

Eddie Redmayne with his 2nd Olivier Award win in 2022 for Best Actor in a Musical as Emcee in Cabaret ( London Production). He won the first in 2010 as best actor in a supporting role as Ken in Red.

@olivierawards-blog

Source getty images

[dweemeister]

The complete list of films featured on this blog’s 2024 “31 Days of Oscar” marathon

Hello everyone,

Thank you once more for allowing me to present this annual marathon of Oscar-nominated films to your dashboards. This year, the films were grouped by category (for the most part, one day featured only films nominated in a particular category). This is the most exclusive period on this blog, as the selection of films that I can post and queue about is at its most limited. But at the same time, the blog is at its most accessible as this yearly marathon’s selection skews to more popular fare than what I usually queue. I hope you enjoyed this year’s presentation of 31 Days of Oscar once more!

What follows is the exhaustive list of all 381 short- and feature-length films featured on this blog over the last thirty-one days for the 31 Days of Oscar marathon. This is down from 2022’s record of 420. But that count remains only a fraction of the 5,145 films that have been nominated for Academy Awards since 1927 (excluding Honorary Oscar winners that weren't nominated in a competitive category).

Of those 382, 28 were short films (53 short films is the record, which was set in 2022). 354 were feature films.

BREAKDOWN BY DECADE 1927-1929: 10 1930s: 51 1940s: 54 1950s: 44 1960s: 42 1970s: 26 1980s: 26 1990s: 23 2000s: 26 2010s: 26 2020s: 54

TOTAL: 382 (380 last year)

Year with most representation (2023 excluded): 1938 and 1942 (9 films each) Median year: 1966

Time for the list. 59 Best Picture winners and the one (and only) winner for Unique and Artistic Production that I featured this year are in bold. Asterisked (*) films are films I haven’t seen in their entirety as of the publishing of this post. Films primarily not in the English language are accompanied with their nation(s) of origin.

The ten Best Picture nominees for the 96th Academy Awards, including the winner, Oppenheimer (2023)

The fifteen nominees in the short film categories for the 96th Academy Awards

À nous la liberté (1931, France)

The Adventures of Don Juan (1938)*

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Albert Schweitzer (1957)*

Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938)

Alice Adams (1935)*

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)*

Aliens (1986)

All About Eve (1950)

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

All That Jazz (1979)*

Amadeus (1984)

Amarcord (1973, Italy)

An American in Paris (1951)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)*

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Anne of the Thousand Days (1969)*

The Apartment (1960)

Aquamania (1961 short)

Autumn Sonata (1978, Sweden)

Avatar (2009)

Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)

The Awful Truth (1937)

The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)

The Band Wagon (1953)

The Barefoot Contessa (1954)

Batman (1989)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Becket (1964)*

Before the Rain (1993, Macedonia)*

Ben-Hur (1959)

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

Bicycle Thieves (1948, Italy)

The Big Country (1958)

The Big House (1930)

Black Narcissus (1947)

The Black Swan (1942)

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Blazing Saddles (1974)

Blue Valentine (2010)*

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Born Yesterday (1950)*

The Boy and the Heron (2023, Japan)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)*

Braveheart (1995)

Brief Encounter (1945)

Brigadoon (1954)

Bullitt (1968)

Butterflies Are Free (1972)*

Cabaret (1972)

Caged (1950)

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Captain Blood (1935)

Casablanca (1942)

Cavalcade (1933)

Chico and Rita (2010, Spain)

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

The Children of Theatre Street (1977)*

Cimarron (1931)

The Circus (1928)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Cleopatra (1963)

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

CODA (2021)

The Color Purple (1985)

Come and Get It (1936)*

Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989)*

El Conde (2023, Chile)*

Cool Hand Luke (1967)

The Country Girl (1954)*

Cries and Whispers (1972, Sweden)*

Crossfire (1947)

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan)

The Crowd (1928)

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Dangerous (1935)*

Days of Waiting (1991 short)*

The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Departed (2006)

Desert Victory (1942)*

Disraeli (1929)*

The Divine Lady (1929)*

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Dodsworth (1936)

Double Indemnity (1944)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse (1947 short)

Drive My Car (2021, Japan)

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

Dune (2021)

8½ (1963, Italy)

Elemental (2023)

The Elephant Whisperers (2022 short, India)

Elmer Gantry (1960)

Emma (1932)*

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Encanto (2021)

The English Patient (1996)

Ernest & Celestine (2012, Belgium/France/Luxembourg)

The Eternal Memory (2023, Chile)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)*

Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

Far From Heaven (2002)*

A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

The Firemen’s Ball (1967, Czechoslovakia)*

Five Star Final (1931)*

Flee (2021, Denmark)

Flower Drum Song (1961)

For All Mankind (1989)

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Foreign Correspondent (1940)

Forrest Gump (1994)

42nd Street (1933)

Four Daughters (1938)*

Four Daughters (2023, France/Germany/Tunisia/Saudi Arabia)*

Freedom on My Mind (1994)

Frida (2002)*

The Front Page (1931)*

Funny Girl (1968)

Gandhi (1982)

Gaslight (1944)

Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

Giant (1956)

Gladiator (2000)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)

Goldfinger (1964)

Gone with the Wind (1939)

The Goodbye Girl (1977)

Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

Gosford Park (2001)

Grand Prix (1966)

The Grandmaster (2013, Hong Kong/China)*

The Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The Great Dictator (1940)

Great Expectations (1946)*

The Great Race (1965)

Green Dolphin Street (1947)*

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)

Gypsy (1962)*

Hamlet (1948)

The Heiress (1949)

Henry V (1944)

Henry V (1989)

Hercules (1997)

Here Come the Waves (1945)*

High Noon (1952)

How Green Was My Valley (1941)

How the West Was Won (1962)

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the WIndow and Disappeared (2013, Sweden/France Germany)

The Hurt Locker (2008)

If Anything Happens I Love You (2020 short)

In America (2003)*

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

The Informer (1935)

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970, Italy)*

Io Capitano (2023, Italy)*

It Happened One Night (1934)

JFK (1991)*

Juno (2007)

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Lady for a Day (1933)

The Last Command (1927)

The Last Emperor (1987)

The Last Picture Show (1971)

Laura (1944)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

A Letter to Three Wives (1949)

Life Is Beautiful (1997, Italy)

Lilies of the Field (1963)

Lincoln (2012)

The Little Foxes (1941)*

Lolita (1962)

The Longest Day (1962)

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

The Lost Weekend (1945)

Love Affair (1939)*

The Love Parade (1929)

Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955)

Loving Vincent (2017)

Lust for Life (1956)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Malcolm X (1992)

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)

The Man Who Skied Down Everest (1975)

March of the Penguins (2005, France)

Marie Antoinette (1938)*

Marty (1955)

Mary Poppins (1964)

Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)

Merrily We Live (1938)*

The Merry Widow (1934)

Mickey’s Orphans (1931 short)

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Milk (2008)*

Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Minari (2020)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

The Miracle Worker (1962)*

Mogambo (1953)*

Moneyball (2011)*

Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953, France)

Monsieur Lazhar (2011, Canada)

Moonstruck (1987)*

The More the Merrier (1943)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Mrs. Miniver (1942)

Munich (2005)*

The Music Man (1962)

My Fair Lady (1964)

My Man Godfrey (1936)*

Napoleon (2023)*

National Velvet (1944)

Naughty Marietta (1935)*

Network (1976)

Never on Sunday (1960, Greece)*

Nimona (2023)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

None But the Lonely Heart (1944)*

North by Northwest (1959)

Now, Voyager (1942)

The Nun’s Story (1959)

Odd Man Out (1947)*

On Golden Pond (1981)

On the Waterfront (1954)

Out of Africa (1985)

Papillon (1973)

Parasite (2019, South Korea)

A Passage to India (1984)*

Patton (1970)

Penny Serenade (1941)

Perfect Days (2023, Japan)*

Persepolis (2007, France)

Phantom Thread (2017)

The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Pillow Talk (1959)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Platoon (1986)

Pollock (2000)*

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936 short)

The Pride of the Yankees (1942)

The Prince of Egypt (1998)

The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)

The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)*

The Public Enemy (1931)

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pygmalion (1938)

Quo Vadis (1951)

The Quiet Man (1952)

Raging Bull (1980)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Rain Man (1988)

Raintree County (1957)*

Random Harvest (1942)

Rashômon (1950, Japan)

The Razor's Edge (1946)

Rebecca (1940)

Rejected (2000 short)

Return of the Jedi (1983)

Rhapsody in Rivets (1941 short)*

The Robe (1953)*

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)*

Robot Dreams (2023, Spain)

Rocky (1976)

Roma (2018, Mexico)

Roman Holiday (1953)

Room (2015)

Rustin (2023)*

Sadie Thompson (1928)*

Schindler's List (1993)

Searching for Sugar Man (2012)

Seconds (1966)*

Sergeant York (1941)

7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)

7th Heaven (1927)*

Shall We Dance (1937)

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)

The Shop on Main Street (1965, Czechoslovakia)

Silence (2016)*

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Silent Child (2017 short)

The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931)

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

The Sixth Sense (1999)*

Society of the Snow (2023, Spain)*

The Sound of Music (1965)

Spellbound (1945)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Spotlight (2015)

Stagecoach (1939)

A Star Is Born (1937)

A Star Is Born (1954)

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1994)

Star Wars (1977)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)

The Sting (1973)

La Strada (1954, Italy)

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Strike Up the Band (1940)

Sun Valley Serenade (1941)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Superman (1978)

Superman Returns (2006)

Suspicion (1941)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2013, Japan)

A Tale of Two Cities (1935)*

The Teachers’ Lounge (2023, Germany)

Terms of Endearment (1983)

Test Pilot (1938)*

The Thief of Bagdad (1940)

The Thin Man (1934)

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Tom Jones (1963)*

The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021)

The Triplets of Belleville (2003, France)

12 Angry Men (1957)

20 Days in Mariupol (2023, Ukraine)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Two Mouseketeers (1952 short)

Up (2009)

The Valley of Decision (1945)*

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)*

War Horse (2011)

West Side Story (1961)

Whiplash (2014)

The White Helmets (2016 short)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

The Window (1949)*

Wings (1927)

Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too (1974 short)

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Woman in Red (1984)*

Woman in the Dunes (1964, Japan)*

Written on the Wind (1956)*

Wuthering Heights (1939)

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)

You Can’t Take It with You (1938)

[justforbooks]

The musician Maurice el Médioni, who has died aged 95, provided a reminder that there was a time – in the period between the second world war and Algerian independence in 1962 – when Muslim and Jewish musicians worked together in Algeria to transform the country’s popular music.

He was a pianist who could play, and blend together, almost any musical style. His left hand might pump out stomping boogie rhythms while his right hand played Arabic or Andalusian styles. He could switch from French chanson and cabaret to Latin themes, and he played a key role in the development of the Algerian styles chaabi and raï.

El Médioni described his early life in the Algerian port city of Oran as “playing in bars and at Arabic marriages or Jewish weddings or playing in a big chaabi orchestra for the Algiers radio station. I started out playing boogie-woogie that I learned from the Americans, then Latin music, flamenco and Andalusian music. I was one of the first to do that and brought it into Arabic music, and now they love it.”

He was a star in Algeria in the 1950s, but then came the Algerian war, independence and the large-scale exodus of the Jewish population. El Médioni left for Israel in 1961, but when he realised that many of his exiled musician friends had moved to Paris he decided to join them. There he worked as a tailor by day and a musician by night – a lifestyle he continued when he moved to Marseille in 1967.

After decades in the musical wilderness, El Médioni eventually built an international reputation when in his 60s. The French producer Francis Falceto (creator of the Éthiopiques series) heard a cassette of El Médioni’s music and played it to the British musician and producer Ben Mandelson. Mandelson produced a recording session in Berlin, with El Médioni playing alongside some of his own musician friends and some British musicians, and the resulting album, Café Oran (1996), introduced his unique piano style to a new audience.

He followed with the album PianOriental (2000) and in the same year played at the Soul of Algeria concert at the Barbican in London, accompanying his old friend the Jewish Algerian singer Lili Boniche, in a line-up that included the Algerian “grandmother of raï”, Cheikha Rimitti.

In 2003 he opened for the British band Oi Va Voi and then joined them for the encores at shows at the ICA in London, and in Moscow and Los Angeles, and in 2006 released Descarga Oriental with the Cuban percussionist Roberto Rodriguez. Recorded in New York, the album was a reminder that Latin styles were among those he had loved and learned back in Oran. The album won a BBC Radio 3 World Music award.

The following year El Médioni played a major role in the El Gusto project, which involved an album, a film and a series of concerts that reunited Muslim and Jewish musicians from Algeria. He had declined to appear at a concert in Algeria, saying it was “not the right time” to return, but starred in an emotional show in Marseille that ended with a rousing version of the Algerian favourite Ya Rayah. In 2008 there was a further reunion with Algerian musicians as he opened for Khaled, raï’s biggest international star, at the Barbican; he had earlier played on Khaled’s 2004 album Ya-Rayi.

In 2011, and by now in his 80s, El Médioni and his wife, Juliette (nee Amsallem), whom he married in 1953, moved to Israel to live close to their children. He continued to record and perform, working with the Orchestra Ashkelon and the singer Neta Elkayam, and was a major influence on young Israeli pianists. He returned to London in 2012 to play with the Iraqi oud player Khyam Allami.

Born in Oran, in French Algeria, Maurice was one of four siblings brought up by their mother, Fany, following the death of their father, Jacob. Jacob had run the Café Saoud in the city’s Jewish quarter along with his brother, Messaoud El Médioni, the renowned musician better known as Saoud l’Oranais. Maurice attended the Ecole St André, and started to learn the piano when he was nine, playing by ear and listening to the musicians who gathered at the cafe.

He incorporated anything that he heard into his playing, learning Latin, jazz and boogie-woogie from the black American GIs who arrived in the city after the liberation of Oran in 1942. He played in clubs popular with the soldiers, and made sure his audience heard the music they wanted. He also composed and played for the big names of the Jewish Algerian cabaret scene, including Boniche and Line Monty. He had been persuaded by his mother to follow a career as a tailor, but music was his passion.

In 2017 he published his memoir From Oran to Marseilles (1936-1990) with help from his British followers. The preface was by Mandelson, the foreword, translation and interviews were by Jonathan Walton (a former member of Oi Va Voi, who uses the name Lemez Lovas as a musician), and the editor was the broadcaster and musician Max Reinhardt, who described him as “charming, open-hearted, wise and witty … a compulsive musician who couldn’t wait to get near a keyboard”.

Juliette died in 2022. El Médioni is survived by his children, Yacov, Marilyne and Michael, and five grandchildren, Jeremie, Barbara, Benjamin, Nourit and Emmanuel.

🔔 Maurice el Médioni, musician and songwriter, born 18 October 1928; died 25 March 2024

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[starchildrenofdustand-ashes]

Saw Cabaret in London the other night and what can I say except holy shit, holy crap, what the fuck. It blew my mind with just how everything it was. It was creepy, funny, heartfelt, heart breaking, I want to be wooed with a pineapple dammit! It's insane how clever it was with the choices it made, there is no way any of the choices were done by coincidence. I noticed with the emcee's outfit in 'Money' that his helmet resembled an SS one, like there is no way it wasn't intentional

AHHHHHHH!!! The experience is genuinely so hard to put into words- I’m so happy you love it!!

It’s genuinely such a well thought out production, and the actors are so talented 😭

I was so shocked when the Broadway production received so many negative reviews: “it’s not as clever as it thinks it is”,, “the production thinks it has to spell everything out for it viewers” I did the biggest face palm when reading these because so many of them resembled the bad reviews the Mendez/Cumming production got when it first opened!

But it’s refreshing to see a positive take after the Broadway production was steamrolled during the the Tony awards 😭

I’ve seen both the London and Broadway productions and my consensus is that I liked Jake Shears as the Emcee in London more than Redmayne on Broadway, and that Frau and Shultz were so much cuter on Broadway.

Also! Yes the iconic money costume!! I was so confused my it at first (I still am lol) but recognizing the SS helmet defiantly made it more clear to me! I read somewhere that he was supposed to be a dead solider- which then begs the question of why this costume during that song in particular ? 🤔

Ty for the ask 💗

[eddieredmayneargentinablog]

New! SPECIAL FEATURES Eddie Redmayne First Played the Cabaret's Emcee in School, Now He's Doing It on Broadway.

The actor is newly Tony nominated for his nihilistic take on the iconic character.

By TALAURA HARMS , Playbill, May 10th, 2024

📷 Heather Gershonowitz.

Eddie Redmayne is gathering tips. As the Tony and Oscar-winning actor was opening a Broadway musical this season, he was also trying to figure out the best ways to navigate New York City for the six months that he’ll be in the show. His wife and two young children have joined him from London. They’re currently looking for ways to spend summer in the city. And speaking of summer, Redmayne is concerned about keeping his voice in good working order in a city with more air conditioning than he’s accustomed to having.

“I’m accumulating a little handbook of ‘The Survivor’s Guide to Broadway,” Redmayne laughs. “I’m a passionate lover of New York, so any excuse to come here…I’m thrilled.”

The excuse—and it’s a pretty good one—is Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, which opened April 21 at the August Wilson Theatre. Redmayne reprises his role as The Emcee in the revival of the classic John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff musical. Rebecca Fracknell directs the production, a West End transfer that won seven 2022 Olivier Awards, including one for Redmayne’s performance. The production has been a hit in the London, where it is currently still running.

Redmayne is the only member of the West End cast, though, to transfer to Broadway with the production. He’s joined at the August Wilson by Gayle Rankin as Sally Bowles, Ato Blankson-Wood as Clifford Bradshaw, Bebe Neuwirth as Fraulein Schneider, and Steven Skybell as Herr Schultz. And both Rankin and Redmayne have been Tony nominated for their performances; the show picked up nine nominations total, including Best Revival of a Musical.

“It’s been such a unique experience because it’s been starting anew and fresh whilst at the same time, having this character sitting in my stomach and ruminating for three years now. And my journey, of the relationship with the character, has been one that stems from, oh gosh, almost 30 years now from when I first played it when I was a schoolboy,” says Redmayne. “There is great joy that comes from that—from each time getting to re-mine the character and re-look at it in a different context and with a different inspiration.”

When Playbill spoke with Redmayne, the company was still in rehearsals for the Broadway mounting. As part of his continuing exploration of the Emcee, the actor had just revisited one of his favorite New York museums, the Neue Galerie of German and Austrian art on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. 

“I was looking at some of the Schiele paintings there and reminding myself of how, when I first started looking into the idea of The Emcee, just having portfolios of Schiele prints everywhere. That was one of the ways in. It was a lovely moment to reconnect and reinspire in the museum.” It is easy to spot the influence of the Austrian Expressionist painter Egon Schiele in the angles of Redmayne’s body as he looks over a shoulder, crooks an arm, or snarls a bit, daring an audience to come a little closer.

The original source material for Cabaret is the 1939 Christopher Isherwood novel Goodbye to Berlin. It was inspired by his own life during the Weimar Republic when the freedom of the Jazz Age was clashing with the rise of Nazism and fascism. The Emcee, though, is not a character in the novel, nor in the play adaption I Am a Camera. He was created solely for Cabaret and does not exist in any of the scenes outside of the Kit Kat Club. The lack of story for The Emcee has allowed Redmayne to create a character almost entirely from scratch.

“He exists almost in abstraction for me. The character is almost like a Greek chorus. He’s sort of the Shakespearean fool. The court jester who then becomes the king,” says Redmayne. “He can assimilate and accumulate people from every walk of life and community, and can seemingly either celebrate or exploit that. As the world is becoming more homogenized and fascism is kicking in, he can shape-shift his way out of it, and he’s going to be just fine. He has the privilege of that. There’s a nihilism, ultimately, to my take on The Emcee that felt important. He’s not the victim. He's the perpetrator".

Cabaret first premiered on Broadway in 1966 and this production is the musical’s fourth revival. Except for the 1970s (when it was adapted for film starring Liza Minnelli), it has been on Broadway at some point in every decade since that first run. “There’s always been this relevance culturally, and that’s terrifying, because it basically sings as a warning to our incapacity to learn from our mistakes,” says Redmayne. “It’s about what happens when humanity is consumed by hate. And the idea of the creation of the other and the exploitation of the other to instill fear.”

Arguably, the musical’s draw has always also been as much about how it presents that message as the relevance of the message itself. The Kit Kat Club is seedy and seductive. It feels naughty…like you’re getting away with something you shouldn’t. And this new production pushes that element far beyond the footlights of a stage. Club, scenic, and costume designer Tom Scutt has reformed the August Wilson Theatre, creating spaces in the house and in the bar for a Prologue company to perform. Audiences are encouraged to arrive early to take in the music and dance cabaret acts prior to Cabaret.

Redmayne is reminded again of his museum visit: “When I was at the Neue Galerie, there was an exhibition on [Gustav] Klimt. This idea that this group of artists in Austria at the time, and then in Germany, were trying to create this world which was all-consuming. It wasn’t just the painting, it was also the specific space in the gallery…you were not just looking at the painting but the entire experience around it. I feel like that is, perhaps, the dream of what we’re trying to do. Once you leave the sidewalk and cross the threshold [into the theatre], you’re being taken on a journey that’s all encompassing.”

Boris Aronson’s original set design for the 1966 production of Cabaret featured a large mirror above the stage, tilted toward the audience so that they could see themselves reflected at both the beginning and end of the musical. Scutt has created a fully in-the-round stage at the Wilson. 

So while the audience is watching the action on stage, they will also be seeing other audience members’ reaction to the story. “There’s complicity in that,” says Redmayne. “We’re all there laughing and engaging in an evening of entertainment, but also seeing ourselves in some of the elements—the joyful qualities of humanity and the scarier qualities, too.”

[scotianostra]

Happy 58th Birthday to the multi-talented Scottish actor Alan Cumming born on January 27, 1965 in Aberfeldy.

Alan Cumming has an amazing volume of work under his belt, last year alone he was involved in 8 different projects and TV and Cinema, add to that he appears on stage, writes, produces, directs things, as you'd imagine there is a lot to go through in his bio.........

Born to Mary (Darling), an insurance company secretary, and Alex Cumming. a forester for Atholl Estate, Alanspent his infant years in Dunkeld before the family moved to Fassfern near Fort William, before moving to the east coast of Scotland in 1969, where Alan's father took up the position of Head Forester of Panmure Estate; it was there that Alan grew up. He went to Monikie Primary School and Carnoustie High School, where he began appearing in plays, and soon after that began working with with the Carnoustie Theatre Club and Carnoustie Musical Society, and never looked back.

In 1981, he left high school with some great exam results in several subjects, but because he was too young to enter any university or drama school he worked for just over a year as a sub-editor at D.C. Thomson Publishers in Dundee. There he worked on the launch of a new magazine, “Tops”, and was also the “Young Alan” who answered readers’ letters. 

In September 1982 he began a three-year course at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. He graduated in 1985 with a B.A. (Dramatic Studies) and awards for verse speaking and direction. He also had formed a cabaret double act with fellow student Forbes Masson called Victor and Barry, which went on to become hugely successful with tours (including two Perrier Pick of the Fringe seasons in London and a month-long engagement at the Sydney Opera House as part of an Australian tour), records and many TV appearances throughout the British Isles. Before graduating Alan made his professional theatre and film debuts in Macbeth at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and in Gillies MacKinnon’s Passing Glory. 

After graduating, Alan worked extensively in Scottish theatre and television, including a stint on the soap opera High Road before moving to London when Conquest of the South Pole, a play by German playwright Manfred Karge, transferred from the Traverse Theatre in, Edinburgh to the the Royal Court in London, earning him his first Olivier award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer of 1988. 

Alan performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then the Royal National Theatre, where he starred in Accidental Death of an Anarchist, which he also adapted with director Tim Supple. The production was nominated for Best revival at the 1991 Olivier awards and Alan won for Comedy Performance of the Year. His film career began with Ian Sellar’s Prague , in which he starred with Sandrine Bonnaire and Bruno Ganz. The film premiered at the 1992 Cannes film festival and went on to win him Best Actor award at the Atlantic Film Festival and a Scottish BAFTA Best Actor nomination. In the same year he made two films for the BBC. 

In the 1992 Olivier awards got his second nomination for Comedy Performance of the Year for La Bete. The next year he played Hamlet for the English Touring Theatre to great critical acclaim  going on to play the Emcee in Sam Mendes’ revival of Cabaret. He received a 1994 Olivier award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical for “Cabaret”, and for Hamlet he received the 1994 TMA Best Actor award and a Shakespeare Globe award nomination.

In 1994, he made his first Hollywood film, Circle of Friends then two films released in quick succession Emma and GoldenEye as a talented hacker, Boris Grishenko, these films brought him to be noticed by further American producers, and he appeared in several Hollywood films, such as Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and Buddy.

Returning home briefly in 1997 to work with Stanley Kubrick and the Spice Girls before reprising his role in Cabaret on Broadway. The show and his portrayal were a sensation, and he received the many plaudits and awards  for his performance including a Tony  for Best Actor in a Musical

Since then he has alternated between theatre and films, and also between smaller independent films and more mainstream fare.His films include Julie Taymor’s Titus, the Spy Kids trilogy, X-Men 2, Son of the Mask and the Showtime movie musical Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical, and Battle of the Sexes. 

Cumming’s TV work includes Taggart, of course!  The short lived Scottish sitcom The High Life,  Travelling Man, Third Rock from the Sun, Sex and the City, Foyles War and Dr Who. He is probably best known for starring in the US  legal and political drama The Good Wife 

Alan lives in Manhattan  with his husband, illustrator Grant Shaffer, he has been nominated and won too many awards to mention here, and has champion causes for the  LGBT community worldwide. He published a novel,, Tommy’s Tale in 2002,  centring on the life of a bisexual guy living in London, and his biography  Not My Father’s Son, Cumming describes the emotional and physical violence his father inflicted on him in his childhood, he became estranged from his father in his early 20′s and it wasn’t until filming   Who Do You Think You Are in 2010 he spoke to him, his father telling him he suspected he wasn’t his biological father, Alan, along with his brother later had DNA tests which  proved they were indeed his biological children.

Alan today went up in my estimations when he announce he was sending back the OBE he was awarded in 2009 due to "the toxicity of empire".

He explained it in full on his Instagram account, posting;

Today is my 58th birthday and I want to tell you about something I recently did for myself. I returned my OBE. Fourteen years ago, I was incredibly grateful to receive it in the 2009 Queen’s birthday honours list, for it was awarded not just for my job as an actor but ‘for activism for equal rights for the gay and lesbian community, USA’. Back then the Defence of Marriage Act ensured that same sex couples couldn’t get married or enjoy the same basic legal rights as straight people, and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell ensured that openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people were barred from serving in the military. (Incidentally both these policies were instituted by the Clinton administration). This is the statement I made at the time: ‘I am really shocked and delighted to receive this honour. I am especially happy to be honoured for my activism as much as for my work.�� The fight for equality for the LGBT community in the US is something I am very passionate about, and I see this honour as encouragement to go on fighting for what I believe is right and for what I take for granted as a UK citizen. Thank you to the Queen and those who make up her Birthday honours list for bringing attention to the inaction of the US government on this issue. It makes me very proud to be British, and galvanised as an American’. The Queen’s death and the ensuing conversations about the role of monarchy and especially the way the British Empire profited at the expense (and death) of indigenous peoples across the world really opened my eyes. Also, thankfully, times and laws in the US have changed, and the great good the award brought to the LGBTQ+ cause back in 2009 is now less potent than the misgivings I have being associated with the toxicity of empire (OBE stands for Officer of the British Empire). So I returned my award, explained my reasons and reiterated my great gratitude for being given it in the first place. I’m now back to being plain old Alan Cumming again. Happy birthday to me!

If you want to see Alan let loose in oor ain land check out Channel 4’s Miriam & Alan: Lost In Scotland where we see the esteemed actor venturing around his native Scotland in a mobile home, with a new friend in tow – fellow thespian, the 80-year-old super Miriam Margolyes. The second series saw then explore the US.

I have to say I hope I look in as good shape as Alan when I reach my 58th birthday........but with just over 4 months left it's not going to happen is it!