Will the cavalier Willmore look anything like..
Apparently 'The Rover' is a go according to a tweet by the production company and retweeted by RA_ Central 1 hour ago Favorite Retweet Reply »
ETTtweet ETT: by RA_Central
Great read-through of The Rover with Richard Armitage yesterday! Positive feed back and things are looking good! 4 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply »
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RA_Central RA Central - Lovely review of Richard Armitage's reading of Georgette Heyer's Sylvester audiobook. http://bit.ly/eU3h18
24 Nov Favorite Retweet Reply
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Historical background of the play and it's lightyears-ahead-of-her-time female writer: http://allthingsrarmitage.blogspot.com/search?q=the+rover
One item at the above link: From Stage Magazine, link below : Spooks star Armitage plans return to stage
>Published Thursday 22 April 2010 at 11:52 by Matthew Hemley
Spooks actor Richard Armitage is set to return to the theatre after a hiatus of almost a decade, with plans for the performer to appear in a new production of Restoration comedy The Rover.
Armitage, who started his career in theatre, made his last major appearance on stage in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2000/1 production of The Duchess of Malfi at the Barbican.
He subsequently took part in a rehearsed reading of a new play presented by the Operating Theatre Company in 2002, but has spent the last eight years focused on television.
Armitage is now hoping to make a return to the theatre and he told The Stage he was particularly keen to do some comedy, because his most recent roles have seen him appear in action-based TV dramas, such as Spooks and Robin Hood. His latest is the Sky One series Strike Back, which is based on Chris Ryan’s book.
The LAMDA-trained actor said he wanted to have a “bit more of a laugh” and revealed that one of the options he is considering is a new production of Aphra Behn’s The Rover.
He said: “I did it at drama school and it’s something that has come back on the horizon for me. It would be a great big bawdy romp through a carnival, with lots of sex and naughtiness. It would be very different for me.”
The actor revealed that the production is in the “early stages of development” and added he was looking to take a theatre role when the ninth series of Spooks finishes recording in July.
However, he ruled out an imminent return to musical theatre, where he started before his professional training at LAMDA. He said: “Things do come up occasionally, but I have not quite explored enough of classical theatre. And there are so many things I would like to do before I go back to it [musical theatre].”<
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/27965/exclusive-spooks-star-armitage-plans-return
In observance of William Blake's birthday, US film critic Roger Ebert (at his journal) listed some of Blake's work. The coincidence is his first choice of paintings...
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/poetry/william-blake.html
Some other Ebert selections are listed on right sidebar, including 2 Brit comics doing their Michael Caine impressions....hilarious!
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Tweeted by middleearthminutes..
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Am I the only one in the world who had not until the past few days stumbled upon this sweet, funny and oh so true film - Amelie? Adorable love story..
22 comments:
Oh yes! The Rover! No dates yet I guess. Starting my "RA Rover Travel" savings account right this minute RicRAr!!!!!!!!!!!! Love that man!
I hope this is correct and not a wind up? I looked on the ETT website http://www.ett.org.uk/ their next production is Great Expectiations. If he is going to be on stage in The Rover (although when he'll fit it in is anyone's guess, with his busy schedule) then as ETT stands for English Touring Theatre, us northerners may well get a chance to get a peek of him. Oh goodie! My guess/hope would be that he may play at The Lowry in Salford! At last I may get to see him in the flesh!Whoopi!!!
I hope so Sue, that it comes your way.
I was trying to think of when he could fit it in if The Hobbit starts filming in February (we don't know when in February). He either has to do it before then (January?), and that seems awfully close, or Bilbo, Martin Freeman, is getting some of the summer off next year to film Sherlock, maybe RA and the cast will all be off at the same time (unlikely), or RA has arranged his own break from filming like Martin. But if he's doing the read through now??? Mystery.
Great Expectations finishes touring in May...all ready for a summer or autumn tour of The Rover! We all hope!
Seeing as he is being written out of Strike Back and has been killed off in Spooks (at least for series 10) and the only film he's doing next year is The Hobbit which is being filmed in NZ from Feb, I reckon that will be done by May ready for live Richard all over the UK we hope!!
Can't wait! I shall be there... : )
Why would RA do a readthrough for 'The Rover' if it's not - barring unforseen developments - a sure thing? His time has become more precious than ever. Therefore, wouldn't he spend it where he's assured positive results.
Perhaps his '24 Hour Play' appearance was not only intended as a charitable deed for younger actors, BUT also as a warm up for his scheduled Rover readthrough.
You are right RicRAr, all evidence points to a sure thing :)
A US northerner just realized you said he might come here w/The Rover, Sue. WooHoo to that!:)
Someone on Twitter said the Great Expectations tour ends in May. Will The Rover follow? That would give RA 3mos of work on The Hobbit before opening in his play. Perhaps the movie production is planning to break for a few mos?
MsG68, just noticed it was you who mentioned the May finish for Great Expectations.
My senses must still be stuffed w/yesterday's turkey, etc:) Guests brought killer desserts: key lime & coconut custard pies..yum! plus a sinfully rich trifle.
Have to take at least 3 long hikes before all the calories have burned off. Off I go like an exceptionally slow herd of turtles;)
hahaha RiCrAr! Oh yes! Happy Thanksgiving to all you peeps on the other side of the pond....we don't get to stuff ourselves for another month :(
It would make sense if The Rover did start touring from May onwards (after Great Expectations has finished).If so that begs the question why a read through now? Unless he just wanted to iron out a few things while he could regarding the character. But that means that he will only be filming a few months for The Hobbit, although as filming of scenes will be out of sequence I suppose they could film all Richard's scenes in one go, take a break and then resume later on in the year. However there are going to be two parts (i.e. in essence two films) of The Hobbit, so surely it would take Richard longer than a few months to film his role of Thorin. Does Thorin have a large part? (As the actress said to the vicar!!!)Then there is Strike Back, he's just done the Old Vic play (yes I think he used that as a warm up for his proposed stage debut too!). This man never stops working!
hahaha..Sue, you are soooo naughty*giggles*
Large parts are in proportion to...err, never mind;)
The Thorin role is almost as large as Bilbo Baggins..in fact, judging from the duet photo published with casting news, I'd say there are actually 2 leading roles. Thorin is the commanding leader of the 13 dwarves who convince hobbit Bilbo that adventure is a good thing. Apparently Richard will get to use his stage combat skills yet again--sword fighting, etc. Same can probably be said of the cavalier Rover role.
I've seen speculation on twitter that The Rover might run in Jan before TH shoot begins. It does however make sense that the movie production would take a break between parts 1&2, doesn't it.
If not in January, then the play could be during the summer. Martin Freeman (Bilbo) is getting a break from filming The Hobbit during the summer to film Sherlock (only way he would do The Hobbit). He then returns in September to NZ continue filming. Since Freeman is the lead character, I'm sure there's a limit to how many scenes they can film without him. So, it's possible RA will have a break as well during the summer.
The Spanish newspaper, El Pais, interviewed Freeman earlier this month because he's filming in Spain, and he talked about having this summer break.
I think The Rover is probably sooner rather than later, but you never know :)
Musa, I Wonder how long the ETT plays usually run? That might be a clue to the dates for The Rover.
Might their tweet re the RA readthrough have been a test to gauge the enthusiasm of feedback? Just in case that's so...going to reiterate the query re dates for the play at the ETT twitter account:)
Check The Hobbit pic I'm about to post above....*heart flutters*
Yowzer! If he's going to look like that as Thorin, on the big screen, in 3D!!!!!!!!!!!! Medical attention will be required in the movie theaters.
LOL
Isn't it delicious:)..it was originally from the last Lord of the Rings film. I'm convinced Peter Jackson will give Thorin the same manly look Viggo had - it drew more females than males to his LOTR movies. The breakdown was 60% swooning ladies 40% males.
Don't believe we'll be one bit disappointed in the 4ft tall version of RA.
After watching the Old Vic exit and boarding bus vid..plus party pix, it does look like Annabel was his companion for the evening. Will we ever learn the true nature of that relationship? Very doubtful it's more than close friendship.
I've just read on Twitter that there is no definite start date for The Rover! Although that begs the question why bother with a read through? I think it may well be that they are trying to drum up interest (and financial backing)for this project and obviously mentioning Richard Armitage was bound to get a response. I hope they get around to Manchester and not stay in London and the outskirts. There are some pretty good theatres up North yer know! It's not all cobbled streets!
Yer sound like an expert on the North, Sue;) Ever visited Selston, Notts? It's about 7mi NW of Nottingham - that's the location my coal miner ancestors identified as their hometurf prior to emigration to the US. There are local church records(submitted to the IGI) giving B,M,D as early as 1720.
Good point about drumming up interest for the play, Sue. That could very well be the gameplan. In that case, we need to give their twitter account steady hits for the next few wks. Maybe our interest could help ignite a wildfire of excitement in the twitter-universe. Worth a try.
About to tweet the ETT twitter site - just realized I was distracted by something else RA related the last time and didn't get it done.
Thanks for the article about RA doing theather. So since April they've (RA and ETT) been in 'negotiations' for him to be in a play. I think if that was back in april and now ETT had twittered he read for a part, it's gives strong suggestions he will do it.
Maybe he had to read so early so they can decide if he is cast and both sides can arrange schedules to make it happen.
I'm soo envious of you, UK fans and starting to be of US fans if the Rover goes there. I live in the wrong country! :P
OML :)
Thanks for the article about RA doing theather. So since April they've (RA and ETT) been in 'negotiations' for him to be in a play. I think if that was back in april and now ETT had twittered he read for a part, it's gives strong suggestions he will do it.
Maybe he had to read so early so they can decide if he is cast and both sides can arrange schedules to make it happen.
I'm soo envious of you, UK fans and starting to be of US fans if the Rover goes there. I live in the wrong country! :P
OML :)
I think whether Richard does The Rover will largely depend on when he can fit it in with his other acting work. He won't have much time in 2011 that's for sure and unlike filming when you can dip in and out, with the theatre he will have to be there from start to finish. Unless of course some other actor starts the tour off and then Richard takes over for a stint (which does happen at times). It will depend on how long the tour is going to be, and often these can be quite gruelling, especially travelling from town to town.
RiCrAr,
Yes I come from the North of England, as do all my family, ancestors and all. I haven't been to Nottingham, but I have been to Coventry where Richard hails from. (Not stalking Richard I hasten to add, it was quite a few years ago when I was studying horticulture. There's a vast laboratory that carries out soil tests etc., there). I've pretty much travelled around most of the North of England doing conservation work, and freezing my bits off in winter weather.(It's blo*dy hard work I can tell you!)
If all the UK snow in recent reports has hit you in the North, Sue, you've probably felt some frozen bits by now. Keep warm...play RA vids--that should help;) All the white stuff does set the mood for a Dickens Christmas, doesn't it. Was Scrooge's counting house supposedly in London? Wondering if Dickens identified the location. I know he wrote extensively, as a journalist, on conditions in the North during mid-1800s.
It hasn't snowed here..although there's been plenty of cold, driving rain. If the temps were not unusually high for Nov-Dec, we would certainly have experienced a blizzard the past few days. Don't we all wish we were in sunny Spain along with One More Lurker:) She says she's envious of us..HA! Make room OML, if the weather gets much worse we're packing our bags and paying you a visit. *wink*
Has everyone heard Richard's latest voiceover encouraging contributions to a childrens' charity? Telling you, if he isn't married in next couple yrs - there's a chance all that sexiness could end up in some remote monastery - perhaps in the southern Alps where he skis. Banishing that horrible thought asap:)
RiCrAr,
Yep the snow has reached where I am in northern England, but it's not as bad as most places - yet!
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