Michelle Gayle: ‘They said don’t leave EastEnders – I never regretted it’

From Grange Hill to the West End, via Eurovision and the Brit awards, the star has built multiple careers. She talks about stage-school pressure, TV diversity and playing Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed ChildMichelle Gayle was 10 months into her role as Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child last March – and in such full swing that she was in “total denial” of the pandemic – when the West End closed its doors. Sitting in a chintzy backroom of the Palace theatre now, she talks in athletic terms about 12-hour rehearsal days and re-building her stamina. The whole cast is ecstatic to be back, she says, but they are also whispering about how tired they feel.Exhaustion aside, she speaks of her debt to Noma Dumezweni, whose casting in 2016 sparked online outrage from some at the prospect of a Black Hermione. JK Rowling piled in to the furore to defend the casting and call out the complaints as racist. Dumezweni won an Olivier award for the part. “I owe her a lot of gratitude – I’m standing on her shoulders,” says Gayle. “She got through that [time] with incredible grace and proved she was there on merit because she’s a bloody good actress but she had to take a big hit online to do that. When someone of the quality of Noma steps up, no one’s got anything more to say and then the conversation’s dead. It’s a shame that you have to be brilliant to end that conversation, but there are enough brilliant black actors out there.” Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-10-13 08:41:05 UTC ]
News tagged with: #hermione granger #cursed child #full swing #palace theatre #harry potter

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Brooke leaves Chatto for Sceptre

Juliet Brooke is moving from Chatto & Windus to Sceptre to become its editorial director. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Waterhouse Returns to MHE as Levin Leaves

McGraw-Hill Education announced that onetime president and CEO Buzz Waterhouse has been named to both those posts on an interim basis. He will succeed David Levin, who is leaving the company. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-10-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Nine Continents' is Chinese author Xiaolu Guo’s resonant memoir about leaving her past

'Nine Continents' is Chinese author Xiaolu Guo’s resonant memoir about leaving her past Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PRH Enterprises to close, director Jo Edwards to leave

Penguin Random House Enterprises is closing, after PRH admitted it has been unable to turn the unit into a commercially sustainable business. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Grace Cheetham to leave HarperCollins

HarperCollins' cookery and lifestyle publishing director Grace Cheetham is leaving the business on 22nd September. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama photos to Sphere

Sphere Non-fiction is publishing a new book of photographs of Michelle Obama by former White House photographer Amanda Lucidon. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Riot founder Hooson leaves to start charity

Anwen Hooson, co-founder and co-managing director of PR agency Riot Communications, is leaving the company to launch a performing arts charity.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Andornino leaves Two Roads behind for W&N

Federico Andornino, currently editor at John Murray imprint Two Roads, is joining Weidenfeld & Nicolson's fiction team this September as commisisoning editor.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Walliams on leaving his Little Britain days behind

Comedian and writer David Walliams talks about writing children's books and why he has to pinch himself every day. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2017-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Macmillan Heads Downtown, Leaving Flatiron Building

Macmillan Publishers has signed a 20-year lease at 120 Broadway, called the "Equitable Building," in lower Manhattan, and will leave Chelsea's iconic Flatiron Building. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kakutani Leaving Times' Book Dept; Sehgal Stepping In

Michiko Kakutani, the chief book critic for the 'New York Times,' is leaving her job in the books department. While the paper has not named a new chief critic, Parul Sehgal (formerly of PW) is joining the paper's team of daily critics. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arzu Tahsin to leave W&N

Arzu Tahsin, publishing director for fiction, is leaving Weidenfeld & Nicolson after almost a decade. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beal leaves Oneworld for Muswell Press venture

Kate Beal, formerly sales director at Oneworld, has left the company and, in partnership with her sister Sarah Beal, acquired Muswell Press. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-07-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Man arrested in death of teen who disappeared after leaving Virginia mosque

Police in Virginia arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the death of a teenage girl who was reported missing after she and her friends left a mosque early Sunday. Darwin Martinez Torres is suspected of murder, Fairfax County police said. Officials found what they believe is the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2017-06-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Educational Publishing Execs at HMH, Cengage Leaving

As educational publishers continue to deal with dramatic changes in the college and school markets, two high-placed executives at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Cengage will leave their roles later this year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Charlotte Atyeo to leave Bloomsbury

Charlotte Atyeo, publisher of sports narratives and Wisden at Bloomsbury, will be leaving the company on 18th May after her role was made redundant. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Emma Coode to leave HarperCollins

Voyager editorial director Emma Coode is to leave the publisher after close to 20 years, "to spend more time with her family and explore new ventures". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Trading director Siôn Hamilton leaves Foyles

Siôn Hamiton, trading director at Foyles, has left the company after 15 years in order to address his "work-life balance". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bigger Lesson From Facebook’s New Bereavement Leave Policy

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s world came to a sudden halt when her husband, Dave Goldberg, died suddenly, at age 47, during a spring 2015 trip to Mexico. In the months that followed, the self-assured author of Lean In found herself lost in grief, adrift from the life she and Goldberg had... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2017-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Missingham to leave HarperCollins

Sam Missingham, digital project manager at HarperCollins, is leaving the company in May after the role was made redundant. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2017-04-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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