British Comedy Awards writing prize renamed to honour Barker
The British Comedy Awards have renamed one of its annual accolades in tribute to the late Ronnie Barker.
The Writer of the Year Award will now be known as the Ronnie Barker Writer of the Year Award and will be presented at the ceremony by former comedy partner Ronnie Corbett. David Jason, who co-starred with Barker in Open All Hours, will introduce a selection of film clips in honour of the 76-year-old star, who died in October.
Barker’s widow Joy said: “I know Ronnie would have been delighted. Throughout his career he thought writers were so important and were to be encouraged.”
Writers’ Guild of Great Britain chairman David Nobbs, who was also one of the first writers on the Two Ronnies. The show, fronted by Jonathan Ross, will be broadcast on ITV1 on December 14.
Stein’s Blackbird to transfer to Albery in 2006
Peter Stein’s production of David Harrower’s Blackbird will transfer to the Albery Theatre in the West End in February 2006.
The play, which stars Roger Allam and Jodhi May, opens on February 7 with press night on February 13 and will run until May 13.
Blackbird, commissioned by the Edinburgh International Festival, where it received its world premiere earlier this year, has set designs by Ferdinand Wögerbauer, lighting designs by Japhy Weideman, costume designs by Moidele Bickel, music composed by Arturo Annecchino with sound by Ferdinando Nicci.
It is presented in the West End by MJE Productions. MJE reunites Michael Edwards and Carole Winter who previously produced Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men directed by Harold Pinter, in the West End.
The Al. Ringling Theatre
Step back from a timeless setting of quiet, red-carpeted hallways that vibrate with remembered sounds of chattering children at a matinee into a spacious auditorium encircled with golden carved theatre boxes and rich draperies. Hear the tempo changes of the Mighty Barton theatre organ, join the lively applause as the curtain comes down on another hit show. Designed in 1915 by Chicago architects C.W. and George Rapp, the Al. Ringling Theatre has been an ornate fixture in downtown Baraboo for over 80 years. The Theatre is one of the first examples of palatial design applied to the moving picture theatre in this country, and is the earliest structure that can be accurately called a "movie palace," as noted by the Theatre Historical Society of America.
The "Prettiest Playhouse in America" had a distinguished opening night in November 1915, and has been in continuous operation ever since. Ringling Circus brother, Al. Ringling, built the Theatre for approximately $100,000, as a gift to the people of the community he loved. From the start, the Theatre featured live performances from vaudeville to grand opera and starred the likes of Lionel Barrymore and Mary Pickford. First-run films were known to debut in Baraboo before they reached Madison and larger cities.
Plush and gilded, the Theatre is an original. and remains so to this day. The look and feel of the Theatre has not changed in its lifetime; no alterations or remodeling have been done to interfere with its original appearance. Movies still flicker across the big screen, and local theatre and perforinance groups take their turns on the stage every season. Hundreds of thousands of people have experienced the magic of the Al. Ringling Theatre.
In 1976, the Theatre was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and through the successful efforts of the community-based Al. Ringling Theatre Friends (ART Friends), the Theatre was purchased from private owners in 1989.
With the Al. Ringling Restoration Fund, ART Friends brings the curtain up on one of the most important performances in the Theatre's history. This fund drive is the chance to preserve the elegant beauty of a historic jewel and to create a unique cultural facility; a vital centerpiece for community events.
Restoration of the Al. Ringling Theatre is a community effort with community benefits. A successful multi-million dollar campaign will support plans to historically preserve and upgrade the Theatre, while the acquisition of adjacent property lays a new foundation to expand programming and operations.