Producer of popular BBC television dramas
Alan Shallcross, who has died aged 78, epitomised the BBC television producer of the 1970s and 80s. Always dapper, never without a tie and eminently respectable, Alan had a passion for drama and a respect for writers, actors and the creative process. He knew what he wanted and he got it by searching out talented individuals, nurturing them and then watching them weave their magic in his productions.
In those days, when Paul Fox was controller of BBC1 and Christopher Morahan was head of plays, the BBC drama department bubbled with life. Producers such as Alan were given commissioning power. The writer Brian Phelan, who worked with him often, has described how they went out to lunch, chewed over an idea and, if all was well, went ahead and did it: no committees, no commissioning department, just one producer with an eye for a good...
Alan Shallcross, who has died aged 78, epitomised the BBC television producer of the 1970s and 80s. Always dapper, never without a tie and eminently respectable, Alan had a passion for drama and a respect for writers, actors and the creative process. He knew what he wanted and he got it by searching out talented individuals, nurturing them and then watching them weave their magic in his productions.
In those days, when Paul Fox was controller of BBC1 and Christopher Morahan was head of plays, the BBC drama department bubbled with life. Producers such as Alan were given commissioning power. The writer Brian Phelan, who worked with him often, has described how they went out to lunch, chewed over an idea and, if all was well, went ahead and did it: no committees, no commissioning department, just one producer with an eye for a good...
- 2/14/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
London – If all the world's a stage, then it never has been more true than in the British capital right now. The nation's economy is in dire straits, but that hasn't stopped theatergoers from flocking to the West End, where attendance last year topped 14 million and boxoffice revenue hit a record £500 million ($775 million).
"It's been an extraordinary year of hits, with very few misses," says producer Nica Burns, chair of the Society of London Theatre, which represents all 52 of the city's playhouses. "We've just had an outstanding time."
Hits have included classics from Beckett ("Waiting for Godot") and Chekhov ("Ivanov") to Shakespeare ("Hamlet") and Tennessee Williams ("A Streetcar Named Desire"); new plays dealing with a modern English family ("Jerusalem"), U.S. capitalism ("Enron") and World War I ("War Horse"); such long-running musicals as "Les Miserables," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Mamma Mia!"; and new tuners including "Sister Act" and "Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.
"It's been an extraordinary year of hits, with very few misses," says producer Nica Burns, chair of the Society of London Theatre, which represents all 52 of the city's playhouses. "We've just had an outstanding time."
Hits have included classics from Beckett ("Waiting for Godot") and Chekhov ("Ivanov") to Shakespeare ("Hamlet") and Tennessee Williams ("A Streetcar Named Desire"); new plays dealing with a modern English family ("Jerusalem"), U.S. capitalism ("Enron") and World War I ("War Horse"); such long-running musicals as "Les Miserables," "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Mamma Mia!"; and new tuners including "Sister Act" and "Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.
- 4/15/2010
- by By Ray Bennett
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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