Best Entertainment And Family Olivier Award For The Play Of Goodnight Mister Tom

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Yesterday it was announced that the play of Goodnight Mister Tom has won the Olivier Award for Best Entertainment And Family!

“I’m absolutely delighted for the cast. They are an incredibly talented and lovely group of people and Oliver Ford Davies is stunning as Mister Tom, making people laugh one minute and well up with tears the next. After the West End run, when they were touring they were often doing two shows and sometimes three shows a day on top of having to find places to live.

By an extraordinary coincidence, the choreographer of the musical version of Goodnight Mister Tom, Bill Deamer, who saved the day on its opening night in Manchester in 1995 also won an award tonight for Best Choreographer (Top Hat).

The boy playing William had fallen ill and lost his voice. There was a packed house and it looked as though the performance would have to be cancelled.

Read more >>>>

Goodnight Mister Tom To Open In The West End

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Goodnight Mister Tom The PlayFiery Angel, The Ambassador Theatre Group, Fiery Dragons & The Children’s Touring Partnership present The Chichester Festival Theatre Production of Goodnight Mister Tom

A play by David Wood from the novel by Michelle Magorian

Live on stage in London for a limited 9 week season!

After playing to packed houses across the UK, this critically acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre production comes to London for a limited 9 week season. Now a modern classic, Michelle Magorian’s wonderfully uplifting tale is brought gloriously to life in a brand new stage adaptation by David Wood, with Olivier Award-winning actor Oliver Ford Davies starring as Mister Tom.

Set during the dark and dangerous build up to the Second World War, Read more >>>>

What Age Is Just Henry Aimed At?

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One evening while waiting at a small railway station accompanied by my younger son, the kind of station where if you screamed no one would hear your cries, I noticed we had company, a tall young man in a hoodie who kept himself to himself. He was sitting on a bench under the shelter. When the train pulled in we stepped into different carriages.

Imagine my surprise, when just as I was about to get off, I heard someone call out and I turned to find the young man heading in my direction.

‘Are you the person who wrote Just Henry?’ he asked.

He didn’t look too happy about it. Read more >>>>

Play As Cast – Not Typecast

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Michelle Magorian plays a "down and out" in Mayor Barbara by George Bernard Shaw

‘Play as cast’ were the words written on a long term acting contract with a repertory theatre company. I was not only fortunate enough to have been offered these contracts but my work was mostly in theatres that were three and a half weekly rep.

For six days a week these companies would have three weeks to rehearse a new play or musical followed by the technical and dress rehearsals, while giving six evening performances and two matinees of the preceding production. Each month we would be given the cast list for the following play/musical and would be expected to play whatever was thrown at us. Occasionally I was cast as more than one character in the same piece.

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An Autumn Letter from Michelle

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At Last the new Jazz CD by Heather CairncrossWelcome to my new website designed by the talented and versatile, Heather Cairncross.  Heather’s highly acclaimed album At Last was released earlier this year to wonderful reviews. Heather’s voice was my inspiration for Grace in Just Henry. You can hear clips from all fourteen songs from At Last by clicking HERE.

By an extraordinary coincidence, the composer of a one woman jazz musical hello life! originally written for Heather, is bringing out an album in November. The album New Things To Say will include four of the songs from it. Heather and I created the book, I wrote the lyrics and Alexander L’Estrange wrote the music. It was Heather’s performance in the musical which won Pick of the Fringe at the Brighton Fringe Festival. The album will be performed by Alexander and his wife Joanna Forbes L’Estrange otherwise known as the duo, L’Estranges in the Night with guest musicians.

And for those who laughed at radio 4′s hilarious series Two Pipe Problems, written by Michael Chaplin, and starring Richard Briers and Stanley Baxter as resident sleuths living in a retirement home for members of the theatrical profession, keep your ears peeled. A new episode is about to be recorded for Radio 4. It was Michael who adapted Just Henry for ITV.

That’s all the news for now.

Michelle

Update: New Things To Say is available now by clicking  on the CD Cover.