Royal Mail launches stamps celebrating UK stage musicals

From BBC News (yesterday):
Royal Mail has launched a new set of stamps celebrating seven decades of UK stage musicals.

Watch a video from RoyalMailStamps:
Royal Mail Musicals stamps set to rock you!



Royal Mail celebrates over seven decades of popular UK stage musicals on a new set of stamps issued today.

To launch the stamps, Royal Mail caught up with Brian May and Roger Taylor from Queen, plus stars from Billy Elliot, We Will Rock You and Billy Elliot.

2010 Laurence Oliver Awards Winners

Weisz and Rylance are Best Actress and Actor, Wicked wins Audience Award

Rachel Weisz and Mark Rylance have been named Best Actress and Actor in the 2010 Laurence Olivier Awards, while Wicked was voted most popular show by the readers of Official London Theatre.

2010 Laurence Olivier Awards Winners (complete list)

Laurence Olivier Audience Award shortlist

The Olivier Awards - Britain's equivalent of the Tony Awards - shortlist has been announced.
From a long list of 20, five shows have been chosen by the public to be nominated for the 2010 Laurence Olivier Audience Award.

The 5 Finalists are:

• Wicked
• The Phantom Of The Opera
• We Will Rock You
• War Horse
• Billy Elliot The Musical

The second round of voting for the brand new Laurence Olivier Audience Award is now open. And even if you voted in round one you can vote again now.

Anyone is eligible to vote by visiting the Audience Award voting page. You have until 17:00 on Wednesday 17 March 2010 to have your say on which show should win the award.

Vote for your favourite show and you could win four top-price tickets to the winning show!

The winning show will be announced at the star-studded Laurence Olivier Awards ceremony on 21 March 2010.

Blogs by famous people

I was reading the review of a play - 33 Variations - on Broadway in New York, starring Jane Fonda and noticed a link to her blog. I've read a few posts and think her blog is quite nice - very friendly and chatty: Jane Fonda I would love to see Jane Fonda in her play. I hope the rumours are true that she may be bound for the West End in London. I would definitely go to see her play. Here are a few more blogs by other celebrities that I enjoy reading: Neil Gaiman Stephen Fry Jamie Oliver If you are in New York, have you seen 33 Variations yet or are you planning to? Do you read any blogs by celebrities? Which ones would you recommend?

Great Theatre Giveaway from TimeOut London & OffWestEnd

Time Out's Great Theatre Giveaway TimeOut London have teamed up with OffWestEnd.com: to bring you the Great Theatre Giveaway, a day of free theatre at some of London’s best independent venues taking place on March 25. We’ve got over 1000 tickets to give away for some of London’s best and most unusual dramas and comedies. Simply apply for a pair tickets for your chosen performance and we’ll let you know by March 20 if you’re a lucky winner.

The most powerful women in British theatre

Judi Dench and Helen Mirren ranked among powers of theatre The veteran actresses are among a clutch of stars including Rachel Weisz and Rosamund Pike to appear in a list of the 20 most powerful women in British theatre. The American actress Gillian Anderson, who has been described as an "honorary Brit", also makes the power list compiled by Harper's Bazaar and the jeweller Tiffany & Co. (link via telegraph.co.uk)

Free theatre tickets for those under the age of 26

If you are under the age of 26 , then you can get free tickets to shows across England via the Arts Council England website. Simply use the search box to find a participating theatre near you and then choose from available free tickets. (link via moneysavingexpert.com)

It's time for Panto!

Thanks to Flighty for the reminder that it's That time of year. Yes, indeed it's Christmas time and in Britain, that means it's panto time! Pantomimes are a tradition in British theatres. They are nearly always based on well-known children's stories or fairy tales. Some of the most popular pantomimes are "Cinderella", "Snow White", "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Aladdin", and "Peter Pan" and a variety of these stories are acted out up and down the country in professional and amateur productions. A very odd (but hilarious!) feature of panto is that the lead male role is played by a woman and the lead female roles are played by men. The costumes are usually very elaborate and colourful and the whole production can be quite impressive. Panto is fantastic family entertainment and a great way to introduce the joy of theatre to children. I still remember one production of "Cinderella" we took our sons to see and how thrilled we were to see real Shetland ponies being used to pull the carriage on stage. Sadly, it looks like that particular bit of panto tradition is ending because it breaches rules on health and safety and animal welfare. The professional productions almost always star some well-known TV celebrities. Sometimes they are actors from British soap-operas or from Australian soap operas. A few years ago, a couple American actors (Patrick Duffy and Henry Winkler) came over to take part in pantomimes. Henry Winkler is returning this year (his third year) to star in a panto as Captain Hook in a panto in Milton Keynes and another American actor, Steve Guttenberg, is doing his first panto this year as Baron Hard-up in the production of Cinderella in Bromley, Kent. As much as I enjoy the professional pantos and seeing famous actors, I think the amateur pantos are often the best ones. The Big Panto Guide :find a Pantomime in the UK 2008-2009 Milton Keynes Theatre: Henry Winkler, Andy Ford and Louisa Lytton (Eastenders, Strictly Come Dancing, and The Bill) star in Peter Pan The Churchill Theatre: Steve Guttenberg (Police Academy, Three Men And A Baby, Cocoon), Helen Lederer (Absolutely Fabulous), Laura Hamilton (Nickelodeon), Mark Evans (Troy from High School Musical at Hammersmith Apollo), Tucker and David Langham & John Barr (As the Ugly Sisters) star in Cinderella