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 ]

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Harry Potter and Beatrix Potter up for Waterstones book of the year

A Harry Potter script and a Beatrix Potter story are among the titles up for Waterstones Book of the Year 2016. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry and Beatrix Potter face off on eclectic Waterstones book of the year shortlist

Sarah Perry’s The Essex Serpent is the only novel on the six-book shortlist, up against JK Rowling’s play script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and a long-lost Beatrix Potter storySarah Perry’s novel The Essex Serpent might have missed out on the big literary prizes this year, but her... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-11-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter: Rare book could fetch £500,000 at auction

A one-off edition of a Harry Potter spin-off book, handwritten by JK Rowling, is being sold by its owner. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Jim Broadbent writes graphic novel inspired by Bruegel

Dull Margaret, a darkly humorous tale illustrated by the artist DIX, is tipped to be a hot property at the Frankfurt book fairThe actor Jim Broadbent is making his first foray into fiction with a graphic novel inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 16th-century painting of a “strong, intense... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Audiobooks Turn More Readers Into Listeners as E-Books Slip

It’s unclear if publishers will bounce back by year’s end, but there are encouraging signs. There have been some prominent best sellers, including “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cursed Child boosts Scholastic Corp revenues

Sales of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has given US-based Scholastic Corp a huge boost, as the company has today posted a first quarter revenue increase of 48%. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Cursed Child' Drives Big Gains in Scholastic's Trade Group

Sales of 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' helped add almost $70 million to Scholastic’s trade division in the quarter ended August 31, and drove a 104% jump in revenue in the company’s children’s book publishing and distribution group. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-09-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Girl on the Train derails Cursed Child to return to number one

The Girl on the Train (Black Swan) has overtaken Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) to claim the UK Official Top 50 number one spot for a seventh week, as the film tie-in edition of Hawkins’ unstoppable thriller rose to third place. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cursed Child clings on for a sixth week at number one

J K Rowling and Jack Thorne’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has held on to the number one spot for a sixth week—by the tips of its fingers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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High five for Cursed Child in book chart

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has racked up five weeks as the Official UK Top 50 number one—but the gap is closing. According to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, the playscript sold 36,485 copies for £455,824, just 7,503 units above runner-up The Girl on the Train... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Cursed Child' gives Rowling her 75th number one

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has snatched the Official Top 50 number one for a fourth week, according to Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-09-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: The 'Train' Reigns

Paula Hawkins is back on top of the iBooks bestseller list with 'The Girl on the Train,' pushing J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' down into the #2 slot. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Children really don't need a picture-book version of On the Road

Illustrated tales introducing youngsters to ‘iconic works of classic literature’ such as Jack Kerouac’s beatnik adventure are missing the pointMy daughter is five, and all for knowing about what her parents are up to. Her father was reading The Lord of the Rings on holiday last week, and she... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2016-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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iBooks Bestsellers: One Harry and Two Girls

J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2' continues its domination of the iBooks chart as it nets another #1 slot, followed by Amy Schumer and Paula Hawkins. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rowling keeps rolling: Cursed Child claims third straight number one

J K Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) once again easily triumphed at the top of the charts, shifting 86,525 units last week through Nielsen BookScan’s Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harry Potter Ebooks Released in South Korea

South Korea becomes the latest country to get the Harry Potter series of seven books and the new 'Cursed Child' playscript in ebook format. This time, they're in both Korean and English. The post Harry Potter Ebooks Released in South Korea appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What's next from J.K. Rowling? Three new Hogwarts ebooks

J.K. Rowling is revealing more details about the school of witchcraft and wizardry in new ebooks. The books follow the July debut of the West End play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cursed Child Tops in Germany

German readers were as wrapped up in Pottermania as readers in America and England in July, as the eighth installment in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts 1 and 2, took the top of the fiction chart in Germany at the end of July. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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JK Rowling unveils 'brand new treat' of three more Harry Potter-related books

JK Rowling just can't seem to let Harry Potter go. Having launched the "eighth book", in the form of a two-part play, the best-selling author has revealed three new texts will be released next month.  Continue reading at Stuff

[ Stuff | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Eighth Harry Potter book surpasses one million copies sold in first fortnight

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Little, Brown) has once again taken the Official Top 50 number one spot, with 168,389 copies sold for £1.86m in its second week on sale. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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