(upbeat music)
- Welcome back to "London Calling."
The latest low down for every Broadway buff
about what's happening on the other side of the pond.
Later we'll catch up with Tom Sturridge,
who's staring with Jake Gyllenhaal in "Sea Wall/A Life."
But first, let's take a quick look
at which shows the Brits are getting
into one of their infamous queues for.
(bass guitar music)
We're keeping an eye on this one at Broadway.com HQ.
Following a sold out, much acclaimed run
at the National Theatre, "The Lehman Trilogy" is playing
to packed houses at the West End's Piccadilly Theatre.
Helmed by "The Ferryman's" Sam Mendes
and starring Simon Russell Beale and Adam Godley
the show follows three generations of the family behind
one of the world's biggest financial corporation.
Over at the Garrick, John Malkovich is making
his first West End appearance in almost 30 years
in David Mamet's new play "Bitter Wheat",
which focuses on Barney Fein,
the head of a major Hollywood studio
who falls from power to shame.
Meanwhile Clive Owen has returned to London's boards
for the first time in 18 years
intriguing crowds as a defrocked priest
in Tennessee Williams' "The Night of the Iguana"
at the Noel Coward Theatre.
Shout out to Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, aka Dad,
whose first three show of note
have all been revived this summer.
"Joesph" at the Palladium,
"Superstar" at the Barbican,
and "Evita" at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.
And we would be remissed not to mention that "Six"
where the wives of Henry VIII joined forces
for an electrifying pop concert spectacle
has just extended through July 2020 at the Arts Theatre.
This side of the pond,
the show made it's North American premier
at Chicago's Shakespeare and has planned stints at ART,
the Citadel and the Ordway
before landing at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson in early 2020.
It can't be long before New York is bowing to these queens.
(rock music)
Thumbs up to Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
In the likely event you've been unable to score tickets
to the limited run of "Fleabag" at the Wyndham's Theatre
this summer, you'll still be able to see it.
Her solo show is scheduled to be broadcast through NT live
from the West End on September the 12th.
The play debuted back in 2013 at the Edinburgh Festival,
winning a Fringe first award.
The TV adaptation's second season is up
for 11 Emmy awards in September.
With or without the hot priest,
Waller-Bridge is on fire right now.
Thumbs down, so many have been saying,
in online petitions and the like
to the end of "Les Mis'" revolving stage.
The original production of the classic musical,
which had been playing in London since 1985, recently closed
allowing the Queen's Theatre to undergo renovations.
However, another day, another destiny.
A starry concert version headlined by Michael Ball
and Alfie Boe is to run at the Gielgud Theatre this summer,
and a re-staged version, sans revolve, will open
at the Queens this December.
(upbeat rock music)
This episode's lesson is very simple.
A show is on Broadway and in the West End.
It is never in Broadway or in the Broadway
or on the West End or, indeed, on the West End.
Broadway is a street. You can be on a street.
You can never be on Broadway.
Yes, Broadway is also a greater concept
that includes Lincoln Center and other streets,
but the roots of the expression on Broadway
are actually very logical.
The West End isn't a street. It's an area of London.
Thus, you're in the West End.
If an entertainment journalist you're reading makes an error
on this one, and I have seen it done, in publications
of record, you're allowed to ignore them forevermore
because they clearly do not know what they're talking about.
Lesson learned?
And now we're catching up with Brit actor Tom Sturridge,
who is Tony nominated for "Orphans" and is currently back
on the Great White Way in "Sea Wall/A Life."
- Tom
- Hi - Thank you for doing this.
- Thank you for having me.
- So The Hudson Theatre in this beautiful row.
- It is the Hudson Theater
- You were here in "1984" is that now in your contract
so that you have to come to this particular theater?
- Well, it's the best theater on Broadway.
- Well, you and Jake both of you.
- Yes, this is the second time for him as well.
He opened it with "Sunday in the Park with George."
- He did. - Well reopened it.
- And then, you know, you turned out "1984."
- Yeah, kicked him out.
- This is bit different from "1984."
- Little bit. - If anyone saw "1984".
There was a lot of noise,
there was a lot going on in "1984."
And you are doing a monologue.
- mm-hmm
- Is that the most terrifying mountain to climb
or is it something that you always wanted to do?
- It's definitely not something I always wanted to do.
I thought it would be the most terrifying thing in the world
but what I discovered is that
you can't really go wrong as theater actors.
We're pretending to be something that we're not.
You're normally in a room in Russia with your dad
talking about the horse you're in love with.
And, normally. (laughs) - Normally.
- And, with this.
And the audience, pretending that they don't exist.
And with this it's the opposite.
Like, I walk in off the street, and I go hi to everybody.
And we're all in the room together,
and whatever happens, happens.
You can't really make a mistake.
It's as live and present as it could possibly be.
- I mean you break the fourth wall.
It's one of the reasons why you grab the audience.
I mean, they were hanging onto every word you were saying.
- I hope so.
- The piece is tough, isn't it?
It must be difficult to deliver eight shows a week.
- It's primarily for me about love.
And about the love that we have for our partners.
And for our children.
- Yeah.
- And the energy it gives you trying to articulate
how much you care about another human being is, actually,
really kind of easy.
I mean kind of beautiful.
And because you're so connected to the audience,
you're charged by them. - Yeah.
- And you can come on in whatever state.
And this kind of collective consciousness
of a thousand people is the best battery in the world.
- You and Jake are doing different monologues,
but I understand that you were
in the rehearsal room with each other, is that right?
- The entire time, yeah.
- Wow
- Technically two monologues, but this is an evening.
This is one singular theatrical experience.
And it was really important to us
to spend as much time together as possible so that
somehow our personalities would sublimate the way
we were approaching the work would have consistency
and also it's so rare to watch
an extraordinary director,
Carrie Cracknell, and extraordinary actor Jake
work together and as an outsider.
Normally when you're rehearsing you're kind of in it.
And it was fascinating.
- So it sounds like there's been a huge learning curve
on many levels, this whole experience.
- For sure, yeah.
- You come from a very theatrical background.
It's exciting to me, I was watching Amazon Prime
the other day, go with me on this.
- I'm with you. - "Brideshead Revisited" pops up
and I think, I've not seen this in years.
So then I start binge watching "Brideshead."
- Classic
- And I'm busy doing a bit of a Google on the sofa.
- Sure.
- Your parents met on "Brideshead Revisited."
That's the most amazing love story I think I've ever heard.
- They did meet on "Brideshead Revisitied," yeah.
- So, you were a young actor.
You must always,
did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
- Honest truth is, no.
The first time I saw my mom act was when I was, like, 24.
- Oh really?
- I saw her in a play called "Waste" at the Almeida.
So they kept that life very separate from me.
Connected to this, the reason I wanted to be an actor
is because of Simon Stephens, who wrote my play.
I did my first play with him, basically.
I'd done a couple of movies which happened by accident.
Interesting experience, but totally hadn't
become a job for me.
And I didn't go to drama school
and so the London theater world is a little bit, kind of,
if you haven't been to drama school,
they don't really like to let you through the door,
because they're worried you can't speak loud enough.
- You can't project.
- Yeah that's right. - Seriously, genuinely
it's like that. They're like have you done a film?
You whisper.
- When did you first become aware
of the concept of Broadway?
Were you a kid?
I mean did you come to New York as a kid?
- My dad took me to "The Lion King?"
- Here, on Broadway? - Yeah
- Oh wow. - When I was 12.
Seriously, it was like, I remember when the elephant
walks down the aisle at the beginning,
you know what I'm talking about.
- No, no, we all know what you're talking about.
It's still here.
- And like a little 12 year old.
You're like looking at the sun on stage going,
yeah kind of this is Disney, they really skimped on this.
(both laughing)
- It's like a linen sun, like come on guys.
And then. - And then.
- And then suddenly there's an elephant next to you.
That was just like, I started to believe in magic.
- So, did in that moment you think
I would really love to come here one day, to Broadway.
- I think I was more like, I really want to be an elephant.
- It's a goal. - It's a dream.
- But I mean what is it about Broadway
that keep you coming back to it?
This is your third show on Broadway.
- In many ways it's sort of like the pinnacle
of the theatrical experience.
There's something about the energy,
there's some kind of ley line underneath.
(stammers)
Yeah, something magic happens
in this little square mile or whatever it is.
- What do you hope audiences take away with them
from this evening you're doing with Jake?
- What I love about this play actually is it's refusal
to be prescriptive in what we want them to take away.
I inherently mistrust in theater the idea of consensus.
That you're supposed to laugh at the same time
or clap at the same time.
I think theater at its best
is an extraordinary democratic space.
And what I want is for every single individual
in that thousand seat theater to have a personal experience
and live with their own.
- I think they absolute are.
Tom, thank you very much.
- Thank you.
- See you next time, cheerio.
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