Pierre Audi obituary: influential opera director
Pierre Audi, an ebullient and bull-necked Beirut-born Oxford graduate, spent a year in the 1970s hunting for a London venue to use as a theatre. Eschewing 'abandoned cinemas which looked like mosques, derelict town halls which resembled La Scala and an agricultural hall like the Vatican', he finally stumbled across a decaying former warehouse in north London.
Built by public appeal, the Islington Literary and Scientific Institution originally opened in 1837. Later it was a music hall, staged cock fights and wrestling matches, served as a Salvation Army citadel and became a showroom for Beck's British Carnival Novelties run by Malcolm Heaysman, a transvestite murdered by a stepson who had stumbled across his secret life.
Harry Secombe, Ned Sherrin, Robert Stigwood and Steven Berkoff had
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Daily Mail
37 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
How a French sex worker got away with murder by blackmailing Edward VIII
Play on Apple Spotify On the first episode of a new ' Queens, Kings and Dastardly Things' podcast series, Royal biographer Robert Hardman and historian Kate Williams examine the 'objectionable' love lives of King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. This three-part miniseries aims to definitely answer the question of whether the controversial Royal couple are deserving of their notorious reputation. Scandal followed King Edward VIII after his unlikely romance with the twice-divorced American socialite. The King's unprecedented decision in 1936 to abdicate and leave the throne to his younger brother in order to marry Ms Simpson changed the course of British history, leading to the reign of the nation's longest serving monarch Elizabeth II. Even before the pair met and broke with Royal tradition, King Edward was displaying signs he may be unworthy of the crown as early as the First World War. This first episode explores the scandals of Edward's youth, kept under wraps in their day, which expose the soon-to-be King's dubious character. Edward's Liaison with a Murderous Courtesan Young Prince Edward was deemed the British Empire's most eligible bachelor. He was tall, handsome and a would-be King. In 1914, at the onset of the First World War, a 20-year-old Edward joined the Grenadier Guards, leaving Britain for France to help the war effort. On the insistence of Secretary of State Lord Kitchener, Edward never saw any frontline action and was appointed a Staff Captain, an administrative role. Two years into the war, Edward had been gotten drunk by some senior officers and they prompted him to lose his virginity in a French brothel. He eagerly obliged, as Mail columnist Hardman explained: 'Edward got very drunk at a dinner in Amiel and he was then introduced to a popular girl in town named Paulette. 'She was already attached to an officer in the Royal Flying Corps, but I think everyone decided he could spare her for this important duty. 'She took him to bed and this night of passion was by all accounts a great success. It made a lifelong impression on Edward himself. 'Afterwards he writes, all I think of is women now.' After sleeping with a prostitute, the Prince of Wales then turned his wandering eyes to a more serious paramour, a Parisian courtesan by the name of Marguerite Alibert. Unlike the Prince, 17-year-old Marguerite had a difficult upbringing, as Kate Williams told the podcast. 'Marguerite is the daughter of a coachman. Her little brother was killed by a lorry and her parents blame her for it. 'They send her to a Catholic school in Paris where Marguerite gets pregnant and then expelled. 'She's quickly snapped up by one of these high-end brothels. She's only 16 at the time and this is the only way she can earn money. 'Marguerite works her way up to becoming a courtesan to much older men, which she is very good at – marrying clients and receiving generous divorce settlements.' In 1917, Marguerite is introduced to Edward, and they begin a very intense love affair. Edward sends 20 letters to the courtesan, featuring explicit sexual details. 'They're very explicit – they'd ruin his reputation if they ever got out', Williams said. Knowing that the prince would soon be forced to leave her, Marguerite cleverly kept hold of the letters as an 'insurance policy' if she ever found herself in trouble with the law. She would need the letters six years later, as Robert Hardman explained: 'Marguerite ended up in a particularly miserable marriage with an Egyptian aristocrat. 'She ends up murdering him at the Savoy Hotel. It all goes to court – with the courtesan tried in London.' The former Courtesan shot her husband three times - in the neck, back and head - in what is seen as an 'open and shut case'. However, as Hardman told the podcast: 'Marguerite presents the letters to the prosecution and threatened to make them public. Some kind of deal is done. 'Afterwards the case was not pursued with any great alacrity, almost certainly thanks to her earlier liaison with the Prince of Wales.' Marguerite was acquitted of all charges. The letters were so decisive in the case not only because of they revealed the affair, but also due to the Edward's moaning about the war effort. 'These letters aren't just love letters', Williams said. 'Within them, he's also critical of his father George V and there were also criticisms of how World War One was organised and fought. 'There were whispers at the time Marguerite had a relationship with Edward, but no one could prove it because they were buried in her chest at home.' To hear more Royal scandals like this one, search for 'Queens, Kings & Dastardly Things' now, wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes are released every Thursday.
The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sydney Theatre Company books $10m revenue boost after Dorian Gray production becomes global hit
Sydney Theatre Company has recorded a $10m boost to revenue after its Dorian Gray production became a West End hit, and is poised to reap millions more when it receives a cut from this year's even more lucrative Broadway run. The company's chief executive, Anne Dunn, cited commercial in confidence when asked whether that additional $10m was attributable to the heavy lifting done by Kip Williams' phenomenally successful production, which is now grossing more than $1.6m a week on Broadway and earlier this week earned Snook her first Tony. More than 77,000 people paid to see Australia's stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray in London's West End last year. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email But the Sydney Theatre Company is remaining tight-lipped about the part the internationally lauded production, which collected Laurence Olivier awards for best costume design and best actress for Snook, played on the company's bottom line in its 2024 annual report, released on Thursday. That report showed the company was still not out of the red but its total deficit shrunk from $1.8m in 2023 to $566,000. Gross revenue from continuing operations, which includes local box office takings and income from touring, licensing and royalty payments, came to $37.7m in 2024, $10m more than the company earned the previous year. After multiple sold-out Australian seasons, heavyweight theatrical production house Michael Cassel Group licensed the rights to the production to transfer Dorian Gray to London and New York. The nature of the deal with STC remains confidential, with Dunn saying only that STC has received royalties and has retained a 'small investment stake' in the production's ongoing life. That investment stake – just under $500,000 paid in 2023 – was secured through the generosity of STC donors, Dunn said. There is no evidence in the 2024 report that the company has stumped up another $500,000 to retain its stake in the Broadway production but Dunn said a further agreement with Cassel was signed early this year. While the generosity of the company's benefactors in 2023 made the global success of Dorian Gray possible, the largesse of supporters in 2024 was comparatively lean, with its fundraising arm earning just $4.86m compared with the previous year's $5.9m. 'It was a challenging start to the year on a number of issues and I think it's a very competitive environment for philanthropic support,' Dunn said. In November 2023, the company saw the departure of two of its board members and threats of cancelled subscriptions after three actors used a curtain call to signal their support for Palestinians in Gaza during a season of Chekhov's The Seagull. The company issued three apologies over the incident and cancelled one performance. While the protest took place in late 2023, its financial impact would not have been felt until the following year. 'It's an impossible question to answer specifically,' Dunn said. 'You're asking me, how much did we not receive? And that's something just we don't know. Philanthropy is something that people gift to the company each year, and some people may have chosen not to. We can't know exactly what they may have given if they had made a different decision.' Contrary to unconfirmed reports that the STC had lost some loyal followers due to The Seagull protest, subscriptions and casual ticket sales were up by more than 10,000 – from 228,847 in 2023 to 239,951 in 2024. Dunn described Suzie Miller's Ruth Bader Ginsberg play, RBG, One of Many, Joanna Murray-Smith's Julia Gillard work, Julia, and the adaptation of Pip Williams' The Dictionary of Lost Words as standout successes. The resonance the STC-commissioned RBG would have with US audiences is obvious but Dunn said there were as yet no formal discussions with the Michael Cassel Group on a follow-up to Dorian Gray's success on Broadway with RBG. 'But we can certainly see there would be some market appeal,' she said. The Michael Cassel Group did not respond to the Guardian's request for comment. Reflecting on Dorian Gray's overseas triumph, Dunn insisted STC had no regrets about partnering with commercial producers instead of going it alone and reaping the lion's share of the handsome profits. As a government-funded arts organisation, it was not the company's role to embark on risky overseas commercial ventures, she said. 'And taking a show to Broadway and the West End is a very risky proposition. As a not-for-profit theatre company in Australia, what we specialise in is generating new shows … It's about doing the work on creative development and giving space [for] these incredible shows' In 2024 STC received $2.58m from the federal government through Creative Australia and a further $574,000 from Create NSW, which contributed just 6.7% of the company's annual revenue. 'That makes us the most highly leveraged of the not-for-profit arts companies in the country,' she said. The Sydney Theatre Company will announce its 2026 season on 15 September.
The Guardian
44 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sky Sports News' golden age at an end as rival platforms turn up the volume
A constant in pubs, gyms and hotel breakfast rooms, almost always with the sound down. Perhaps not since cinema's silent age have faces been so familiar without the general public knowing their voices. The vibe is more casual than in previous times, shirt sleeves rather than business suits, but the formula remains the same: a carousel of news, clips, quotes, quips, centred around highlights, all framed within a constant flow of results, fixtures and league tables. Sky Sports News hits 27 years of broadcasting in August, having been launched for the 1998-99 football season by BSkyB. As the domestic football season concluded, news came of changes within the Osterley-based newsroom. Seven members of the broadcast talent team would be leaving, including the long-serving Rob Wotton and the senior football reporter Melissa Reddy, within a process of voluntary redundancies. Sky sources – not those Sky sources – are keen to state the changes are not a cost-cutting exercise, instead a redress of SSN's place within a changing media environment. Ronan Kemp, the One Show presenter and Celebrity Goggleboxer, is understood to be in discussions to join Sky and despite Wotton's departure, Ref Watch will still be serving those who get their kicks from re-refereeing matches and VAR calls. Rolling news, which became common currency around the time of the initial Gulf war with Iraq is no longer the go-to information environment. Sky News, SSN's sister organisation, is going through similar changes, including the loss of the veteran anchor Kay Burley. The smartphone, where news alerts supplant even social media, takes the strain of keeping the world informed of Micky van de Ven's latest hamstring injury. Desperate to hear even more from Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville? There are podcasts and YouTube channels available at a swipe. In the US, ESPN's SportsCenter and its accompanying ESPNews channel were the progenitors of a medium copied globally and by Sky in launching SSN. SportsCenter is a flagship in marked decline from a golden 1990s era that made American household names of presenters such as Stuart Scott, Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick. ESPN, an organisation in the process of taking itself to digital platforms as cable TV gets mothballed, closed SportsCenter's Los Angeles studio in March. Linear TV's death will be slow, but it is dying nonetheless as streaming, all bundles and consumer choice, takes hold. Meanwhile, YouTube channels, with production values way below industry standard, amass huge audiences for fan-owned, independent media. The time of viewers tuning in for 10pm highlights voiced over by presenters' catchphrases – Scott's 'boo yah!' being the prime example – has long passed. Social media and YouTube have killed the demand. Though live sports remain the foundation of broadcasting contracts, highlights and analysis can be watched at the time of the viewers' choice. Digital is where the eyeballs go, and what the advertising dollar is attracted to, despite the ubiquity of Go Compare et al. Viewing figures remain healthy but the game is now about far more than ratings. SSN's imperial period was the early millennium days of Dave Clark and Kirsty Gallacher's toothsome double act, to a time when the yellow ticker of breaking news held great sway, though not always delivering on its promise of earthquake journalism (news of Nicky Shorey's Reading contract extension, anyone?). Millie Clode, Di Stewart, Charlotte Jackson, Kelly Cates: a nation turned its lonely eyes to them. Then there was transfer deadline day, more important than the football itself. Long, frantic hours spent hearing Jim White's Glaswegian whine declare anything could happen on this day of days. In the early years it often did, from Peter Odemwingie's mercy dash to Loftus Road to the brandishing of a sex toy in the earhole of reporter Alan Irwin outside Everton's training ground. Another reporter, Andy 'four phones' Burton, labelled the night the 2008 window closed: 'The best day of my life, apart from when my son was born.' Eventually, though, it became too knowing. Not even White's yellow tie, as garish as his hype, accompanied by Natalie Sawyer's yellow dress, could stop the event from becoming desperate hours chasing diminishing returns. Live television is a challenging environment, especially with nothing to feed off. Though many presenters have been lampooned – abused in the more carrion social media age – the difficulty of 'going live' with an earpiece full of instructions and timings should never be underestimated. How does Mike Wedderburn, the channel's first presenter, make it look so easy? When, in a broadcasting-carriage dispute between Virgin and Sky, Setanta Sports News was given brief life in 2007 – 22 months as the Dagmar to Sky's Queen Vic – it was made apparent how hard, and costly, the business can be. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion Over-exposure to SSN – as happens when someone works in a newspaper sports department, say – can lead to contempt. The joins can be seen, too. Haven't they done that same gag for the past six hours and each time pretended it was an ad lib? Just what is Gary Cotterill up to this time? Why did Bryan Swanson always use such portentous tones? From morning till night, it would be ever-present. On weekend evenings, when you caught the skilled veteran duo of Julian Waters and the late David Bobin running through the day's events, you knew it was time to leave the office, down that late drink, question your life choices, the pair's clipped tones taking on the effect of a lonely late-night cab ride. SSN is forced to move with the times. As is the case across the industry, journalists have often been supplanted by influencers, as the mythical, perhaps unreachable, 'younger audience' is chased. That is not to say the channel is short of decent reporting. In the aftermath of the 2022 Champions League final in Paris, chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol produced a superb account of the ensuing chaos and danger while others floundered for detail. SSN, like SportsCenter across the Atlantic, is now more a production factory for content being sent across the internet, published to multiple platforms, than it is a rolling news channel. Within press statements around the redundancies there was the word 'agile', a term repurposed – and overused – in the business world, but meaning doing more with less. Next season, as heavily trailed on SSN right now, Sky will have 215 Premier League live matches to show, including every game played on Sundays. That requires the company's shift in focus, for Sky Sports News in particular. Though look up wherever you are and it will still be on in the corner, almost certainly with the sound down.
