Mountview LIVE

A series of exclusive online conversations with high-profile members of the creative industries, including Dame Judi Dench, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Olivia Colman, Paapa Essiedu, Craig Revel-Horwood, Glenda Jackson, Amanda Holden and Kwame Kwei-Armah. In these fascinating and educational sessions, guests discuss their careers and experiences, give expert advice and take questions from Mountview students.

All four series of Mountview LIVE interviews are available to watch for free on Mountview’s YouTube channel.

 

Mountview LIVE is free for all. Sign up here for information on other free events. 

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Guests

Giles Terera MBE

Mountview Live Host, Season 1

Giles Terera trained at Mountview. His career has included Candide, Hamlet and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (National Theatre). He was in the original casts of Avenue Q and Book of Mormon. Most recently he originated the role of Aaron Burr in the London production of Hamilton, for which he won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical and appeared in Rosmersholm at the Duke of York’s Theatre. In his 2013 documentary Muse of Fire Giles interviewed many of the world’s leading actors about acting Shakespeare.

Noma Dumezweni

18 May, 6pm

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On stage, Noma has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Almeida, The Royal Court, Shakespeare's Globe and the Young Vic, having started out professionally with a Theatre in Education company called ‘Traveling Light TC’ based in Bristol.

She has also worked alongside The Red Room Company on The Bogus Woman, a one person show at the Battersea Arts Centre and The Traverse Theatre's Edinburgh Festival programme. Noma originated the role of of Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End and on Broadway.

She was filming an upcoming HBOMax series when production was shut down in this extraordinary time. She will be appearing in The Undoing, a limited HBO series also starring Hugh Grant and Nicole Kidman in the autumn.

Noma's other TV and film work includes Black Earth Rising, Mary Poppins Returns and Normal People.

Photo credit Dario Calmese

Amanda Holden

25 May, 6pm

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An award-winning actress, talent show judge, presenter, singer, fashion designer and author; Amanda Holden truly defines the term 'household name', soon to celebrate 30 years in the entertainment business.

With a career spanning almost three decades she firmly sits on the judging panel of Britain's Got Talent, hosts the biggest commercial radio show Heart Breakfast alongside Jamie Theakston, has her own clothing collection with Fenn Wright Manson, her own homeware collection 'Bundleberry' on QVC and is signed to VirginEMI for an imminent debut album release.

Dame Judi Dench

1 June, 6pm

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Dame Judi made her stage debut in 1957 and has since become a seven-time Academy Award nominee, winning Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love.

Other awards and honours include six British Academy Film Awards, four BAFTA TV Awards, seven Oliviers, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globes and a Tony.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Tue 30 Jun

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Lin-Manuel Miranda is a Pulitzer Prize, Grammy, Emmy and Tony award-winning composer, lyricist and actor. He is the creator and original star of Broadway’s Tony-winning Hamilton and In the Heights.

His additional Broadway credits include Bring It On: The Musical (co-composer/co-lyricist, Tony nomination for Best Musical), and West Side Story (2009 revival, Spanish translations).

Miranda is the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award and the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors. He received an Emmy Award with Tom Kitt for their song, “Bigger” from the 67th Annual Tony Awards.

Miranda has actively supported the relief efforts in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in September 2017, creating the benefit single, “Almost Like Praying” in support of the Hispanic Federation’s UNIDOS Disaster Relief and Recovery Program.

In honor of the historic 2019 run of Hamilton in Puerto Rico, the Miranda family, the producers of Hamilton, and the Flamboyan Foundation partnered to create the Flamboyan Arts Fund, raising $15 million for arts and culture on the island.

TV/Film credits include His Dark Materials, Fosse/Verdon, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Curb Your Enthusiasm (2018 Emmy Nomination, Guest Actor), Saturday Night Live (2017 Emmy Nomination, Guest Actor), Sesame Street, The Electric Company, House, DuckTales, 200 Cartas, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Moana (2017 Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, Grammy Award for Best Original Song) and Mary Poppins Returns (2019 Golden Globe Nomination, Best Actor).

Miranda received his B.A. from Wesleyan University in 2002. He lives with his family in NYC.

Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE

6 July, 6pm

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Brought up in Southall, Kwame Kwei-Armah became the second Black Briton to have a play staged in the West End, with his award-winning piece Elmina’s Kitchen in 2003.

Following multiple appearances on stage, television and radio as an actor, including a recurring role in Casualty, Kwei-Armah soon turned his attention to writing, receiving the Most Promising Playwright Award from the Evening Standard in 2003.

Following his role as Artistic Director at Baltimore’s Center Stage Theater, he is now the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre in London.

Stephen Daldry CBE

13 July, 6pm

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Stephen Daldry is an award-winning theatre, film and television director and producer. He has directed many theatre productions, with sold out runs in London's West End and New York's Broadway, winning multiple Olivier and Tony awards.

His production of Billy Elliot the Musical has several current tours worldwide. Stephen's 1992 version of An Inspector Calls is the longest running production in the National Theatre’s history and is currently touring the UK. His next play, The Jungle, is about to open at St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, before it embarks on a US tour.

Stephen has directed five major feature films which have all been nominated for major film awards. His next feature will be the film version of Wicked, which is currently in pre-production for Universal Pictures. Netflix's The Crown, which he serves as Executive Producer, is currently filming Season 4. Stephen is the Chairman of charity Good Chance.

Glenda Jackson CBE

20 July, 6pm

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From humble beginnings in Cheshire, Glenda Jackson studied at RADA on a scholarship in 1954. Since then she has won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Tony.

In 1992, Jackson was elected as Labour Party MP for Hampstead and Highgate and went on to serve in the government of Tony Blair.

Following a 23-year absence, she returned to acting in 2015 with a series of Radio 4 plays, and later returned to the stage, playing the title role in the Old Vic’s King Lear in 2016, taking the role to Broadway last year.

In 2019, she also returned to television in her role in BBC One’s Elizabeth is Missing.

Adrian Lester CBE

7 Sep, 6pm

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Award-winning actor and director of stage and screen, Adrian Lester is known for stage roles including Othello and Henry V at the National Theatre and Hamlet, directed by Peter Brook.

In television, Lester played the leading role in the iconic BBC series Hustle and has appeared in numerous TV dramas including Trauma, Undercover, Riviera and the forthcoming BBC series Life. He has appeared in movies including The Day After Tomorrow, Primary Colors and the Oscar nominated Mary Queen of Scots.

Lester has also directed on stage and screen, including Riviera, Hustle, short film Of Mary and The Greatest Wealth at The Old Vic.

Craig Revel Horwood

14 Sep, 6pm

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Craig Revel Horwood, of Strictly Come Dancing fame, built his career as a director and choreographer in the UK’s West End, with credits such as Sunset Boulevard, Sister Act and Chess. He also directs the annual Strictly Come Dancing UK tour.

Other television credits include his role as Head Judge for Dancing with the Stars Australia, winner of Maestro for BBC2 for which he conducted the orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and he was a subject of Who Do You Think You Are, tracing his ancestry in Australia.

His first solo tour of the UK, All Balls and Glitter, is scheduled for this autumn.

Paule Constable

21 Sep, 6pm

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Paule is a multi-award winning lighting designer, Royal Designer for Industry and National Theatre associate.

Her work at the National includes Manor, The Visit, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, 'Master Harold'...and the boys, Follies, Pericles, Nine Night, Pinocchio, Mosquitoes, Common, Angels in America, The Red Barn, The Threepenny Opera, wonder.land, Behind the Beautiful Forevers, The Light Princess, Table, This House, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Phèdre, Death and the King’s Horseman, Waves, Saint Joan and War Horse.

Other theatre includes: Wolf Hall (RSC/West End/Broadway), ear for eye, How to Hold Your Breath, Clybourne Park and The Weir (Royal Court), The Cripple of Inishmaan (Michael Grandage Company), Teddy Ferrara, The Chalk Garden and Othello (Donmar Warehouse), Happy Days, Feast and Vernon God Little (Young Vic) and 17, Herons and Blasted (Lyric Hammersmith).

Opera includes: Benvenuto Cellini, Satyagraha, Medea and Dr Dee (English National Opera), Billy Budd and Entführung aus dem Serail (Glyndebourne), and Roberto Devereux and Cav and Pag (Metropolitan Opera, New York).

Dance includes: Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, The Red Shoes, Sleeping Beauty, Play Without Words and Dorian Gray (Matthew Bourne).

Tom Piper MBE

21 Sep, 6pm

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Tom Piper is Associate Designer at the RSC from 2004 -2014 where work included the Histories season and the design of TOP Theatre.

Recent work includes Red Velvet (Tricycle Theatre, New York & West End), Curtain Up exhibition at the V&A and a collaboration with Paul Cummins to create Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red: the fields of poppies which were presented at the Tower of London and then across the UK.

Sir Lenny Henry CBE

30 Nov, 6pm

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Lenny Henry has been a comedian since the age of 16. He has risen from being a cult star on children’s television to becoming one of Britain’s best known comedians, as well as a writer, philanthropist and award-winning actor.

In recent years Lenny has starred in The Comedy of Errors (National Theatre), Fences (Duchess Theatre), The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (Donmar Warehouse) and King Hedley II (Theatre Royal Stratford East).

Lenny’s on screen credits include Broadchurch, The Syndicate, The Long Song and the biographic film Danny and The Human Zoo.

He is a co-founder and longstanding campaigner for Comic Relief as well as a strong advocate for diversity, using his voice to give talks on the subject all over the world.

He has been a Trustee of the National Theatre since February 2016 and was awarded a Knighthood in 2015 for services to drama and charity.

In 2018 the BBC broadcast The Lenny Henry Birthday Show, looking back on Lenny’s career to commemorate his 60th birthday.

In autumn 2019 Lenny published his Memoir Who Am I Again? with a second volume confirmed for publication in 2021.

Paapa Essiedu

7 Dec, 6pm

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Olivia Colman CBE

14 Dec, 6pm

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Olivia is a multi-award winning British actress having won three BAFTA TV Awards (including Best Actress for DS Ellie Miller in ITV’s three seasons of Broadchurch), three BIFA Awards, one Golden Globe (BBC TV’s The Night Manager) and twice nominated for an Emmy.

Olivia first came to prominence in the Channel 4 comedy series, Peep Show. Other comedy roles include Green Wing, Rev, Beautiful People and Twenty Twelve. Additional television credits include Fleabag, Flowers, Mr Sloane and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher.

She was awarded Best Actress in a TV series at the 2020 Golden Globes for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in Season 3 of The Crown.

Film credits include The Iron Lady (Carol Thatcher opposite Meryl Streep), Locke, Cuban Fury, Hot Fuzz and Hildegarde Schmidt in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express.

Her leading role as Queen Anne in The Favourite won her Leading Actress at the 2019 Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, BAFTA, BIFA, Critics Choice and the Volpi Cup at the Venice Film Festival. She will next be seen in a leading role opposite Anthony Hopkins in The Father.

Olivia is also highly established on stage for roles in Long Day’s Journey into Night (Lyric Theatre), England People Very Nice (National Theatre) and most recently Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes amongst others.’