Today Margret has received an email from Liz Thompson, Director of Communications at the RSC.

"Following last week's reports in the papers about the possibility of a Hamlet DVD, I just wanted to let you know we're still working on the idea. At this stage,we're still trying to secure the funding and other details, so we can't confirm a filming date nor, indeed, a transmission date. I'll be back in touch as soon as we have anything confirmed."

Yes, thank you for keeping us informed! {thumb2}

[quote="osiris"]Apologies for double post, but we have major news.

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4903759/David-Tennants-curtailed-Hamlet-will-rise-from-the-grave.html[/url]

Yesterday, The Telegraph printed an article with a comment from ensemble member Oliver Ford Davies. In it, Oliver stated that they hoped to film the DVD over a few weeks during the summer. This is hugely encouraging, but as always I'm remaining only cautiously optimistic. Even if the RSC confirm this, plans can always fall through. I'd urge anyone who hasnt yet signed the petition to please do so.

[url]http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/hamlet-dvd.html[/url][/quote]
That is fantastic new Osiris! Thanks for informing me of the campaign, and fingers crossed it should be successful.

Phoebe :D

Apologies for double post, but we have major news.

[url]http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4903759/David-Tennants-curtailed-Hamlet-will-rise-from-the-grave.html[/url]

Yesterday, The Telegraph printed an article with a comment from ensemble member Oliver Ford Davies. In it, Oliver stated that they hoped to film the DVD over a few weeks during the summer. This is hugely encouraging, but as always I'm remaining only cautiously optimistic. Even if the RSC confirm this, plans can always fall through. I'd urge anyone who hasnt yet signed the petition to please do so.

[url]http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/hamlet-dvd.html[/url]

For anyone interested, we have now got downloadable & printable posters for the petition. Please ask your local libraries or cafes etc to put them up, or pop one on your local community news notice board, or up on uni halls of residence notice boards.

[url=http://www.paperpangolin.net/osiris/poster.pdf]Hamlet DVD Petition Poster[/url]

A few rules for usage -
[list]
[*]Posters cannot be placed on outside walls or lamp posts - fly-papering strictly forbidden!
[*]Permission from the premises (i.e. shop/cafe/library etc) must be obtained before putting it up[/list]

Is the Donmar at the "Menier Chocolate Factory" or whatever ?? Some great stuff has transfered from there to London to over here :) (Sunday in the Park with George!).

You clearly aren't too big of a fan of musicals :). Andrew Lloyd Webber's last *new* show was Woman in White!

Hmm never even heard of Woman in White. & I haven't seen the Donny O version of Joseph (I saw Phillip Schofield in the role back in ohhh 1993/94)

I have however heard today that Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Tish Jones from Doctor Who), Ron Cook, Penelope Wilton & Kevin McNally will be starring opposite Jude Law's Hamlet this summer at the Donmar. I might go to that. Wasn't going to, not that great a fan of Jude Law, but it sounds interesting, and I love Gugu & Kevin. Be fun to compare the two productions, and it's not til the summer (starts in May).

Maria Friedman is star-esque, but figured she wouldn't have been AS known! She doesn't have a big belter-y voice (although it's there) like someone like Elaine Paige! She has done a lot with the national theatre/Stephen Sondheim stuff over there, .. and is seeen as the Narrator in the filmed version (opposite Donny Osmond) in Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat!

She last starred in the musical Woman in White over there (Aug 2004-July 2005), and then that transfered over to Broadway for a big floper :(!

[img]http://i40.tinypic.com/2md02no.jpg[/img]

That's her as Marian Halcombe! (She unfortunately got news days before opening here that she had Breast Cancer...luckily she has since recovered.

Speaking of WiW (which I love...and is apparently the equivilant to us in the US to "A Tale of Two Cities"...apparently it's frequently read/hard not to read during the shcool years? I wish I could have read either of those books!) and I'm jealous of any of you who've gotten into the Palace Theatre in London! Talk about a pretty theatre....!!!!!!! Even more jealous if you got to see WiW there!

[img]http://i39.tinypic.com/npmkd3.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i42.tinypic.com/14ucf9j.jpg[/img]
(The stage...and the "scenic design" element for WiW!)



I've seen the Carrie The Musical archive they had and I guess your evaulation is right...the soundboard system isn't too good for that!

[quote="TheScarletPimpernel"]I know that Stratford-upon-Avon theatre has a specific house camera that they can film the entire stage in suprisingly pretty good quality (although no zooms!), but the thing I'm refering to is from 1988....![/quote]

Yeah they record every production for archive purposes still, but the sound quality isn't good. You can request to view them if you go down to Stratford. There's a recording of Romeo & Juliet from 2000, where David starred as Romeo. Am dying to see it. It's on the agenda for my next trip.

[quote="TheScarletPimpernel"]Does RSC produce any musicals any more? Or was Carrie The Musical the last of these sorts? They always manage to get great casts & creative teams! (Although I'm assuming John Napier is in no way involved with RSC!)[/quote]

One or two, though usually it's just a bit of music in a show. For instance, there were a few songs in Love's Labour's Lost this year (a rap by Costard, Dumaine sang his letter to Katherine, rather than read it, accompanied on a small guitar, and the whole company sang an ode to the owl & cuckoo at the end).

[quote="TheScarletPimpernel"]but it seems like in London someone like Elaine Paige or Maria Friedman would get picked out in a moment's notice! Maybe I'm wrong....never been to London but want to sooooo bad!!![/quote]

It's definitely true in London, however mostly the ensemble members get ignored, as few would know their names. Elaine Paige would be recognised, as she's a big star. Maria Friedman I'm not aware of.

I know that Stratford-upon-Avon theatre has a specific house camera that they can film the entire stage in suprisingly pretty good quality (although no zooms!), but the thing I'm refering to is from 1988....!

Does RSC produce any musicals any more? Or was Carrie The Musical the last of these sorts? They always manage to get great casts & creative teams! (Although I'm assuming John Napier is in no way involved with RSC!)

And not to thread jack, but I entirely love how big the theatre is to England! Or atleast it's much more than it is over here in USA. As in it seems like people know who _____ is and they are in ____. The majority people over here have no idea that Cats & Les Miserables have closed, who Patti LuPone is (whom many people know worldwide) or ... anything really. Many of those stars take the subway/walk home and are often left un-noticed unless by a fan...but it seems like in London someone like Elaine Paige or Maria Friedman would get picked out in a moment's notice! Maybe I'm wrong....never been to London but want to sooooo bad!!!