“I’m going to try my hardest not to scream the minute he walks on stage” revealed one of the many Benedict Cumberbatch superfans to a WSJ reporter at last night’s first performance of Hamlet. I’m sure the Gielgubitches said the same back in ’48. Despite the worries that a legion of hysterical Cumberfans would have…
“May you live in interesting times,” says the old Chinese curse. Somebody seems to have willed interesting times onto the X Factor of late and much of it is to do with the ubiquity of social networking. Cowell’s money machine TV show has always trodden a fine line between seeking privacy for its big announcements…
A couple of first nights have grabbed my attention in the last few days, and both of them have presented interesting conundrums to consider. The first is the production of Yes, Prime Minister that has just transferred to the West End. It’s a great show; very funny, very well acted and rather more radical than…
Using shock tactics at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is less likely to garner publicity in this desensitised media age, argues PR guru Mark Borkowski The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is nearly upon us. And to prove it, should proof be needed, the first stunt of the summer has aroused a flurry of media interest and rattled…
“The reproductions are ubiquitous. A real sunset is infinitely more difficult to experience, even when it blazes before us. “ Death can be really cruel: last week it robbed us of the comic, anarchic life-force that was Ken Campbell and then swiftly tore the unique, reassuring and incandescent presence of Ritsaert Ten Cate from the…
I have just had a bad news phone call that has rocked my weekend. The comic genius Ken Campbell has died. Its seems unreal, the theatre and entertainment world has lost an extraordinary man. Ken was a dear friend and he had helped me launch of the Fame Formula at the Riverside three weeks ago. We had so…
My pal Adrian Bryan Brown, the fantastic Broadway theatre publicist sent me the following email this morning. The UK Press Association website “Ananova” has replaced its “Theatre” wire with a link called “Showbiz quirkies.” Yes, we are now officially a freak show! http://www.ananova.com/entertainment/ I have been banging on about how theatre marketing and PR needs…