Category: events

Wrap-Up: A Weekend with the Oliviers Part 2

By Kendra + June 5, 2011

Group shot (minus a few faces) at the Old Vic after our big tour

Saturday the 28th was the official start date of A Weekend with the Oliviers. Our group converged upon the Old Vic once more to hear Ned regale us of legendary theatrical tales. Ned is a wonderful tour guide and has a virtual database of historical details in his head so that no two tours are exactly the same. Nearly everyone from Friday came to the Saturday tour, as well so we had a rather large and nearly complete group. One of the most exciting parts of the tour was when we were all backstage and Ned raised the fireproof curtain so that we could all experience what it’s like for an actor to start a performance. It was exhilarating to hear the gasp that went through the crowd as the beautiful auditorium was revealed before us!
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events

Wrap-up: A Weekend with the Oliviers Part 1

By Kendra + June 2, 2011

On stage at the Old Vic Theatre

I can’t believe it has been here and gone. I started planning A Weekend with the Oliviers back in January and now it’s already over. Time flies when you’re having fun! This was the first time I’d ever organized an event like this–let alone an international one–and the first time leading a group of people who were counting on me to share knowledge of something they really enjoy. I’m so happy to say the event was a success! I was worried something would go wrong but it turned out fine and we even had a few surprises! The event itself was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, but somehow it ended up unofficially starting a day early and unofficially ending a day late. So, instead of two days worth of event wrap-ups, there will be four. Watch this space!

events

Announcing: The Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier Appreciation Blog-a-thon!

By Kendra + May 14, 2011

One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as a blogger is participating in classic film blog-a-thons. You may remember the Film Preservation blog-a-thon hosted by Ferdy on Films and the Self-Styled Siren, or the Japanese Cinema blog-a-thon to raise money for disaster relief. Tomorrow I’ll be taking part in the 1939 blogathon hosted by the Classic Movie Blog Association and YAM magazine, and in June the Queer Film blog-a-thon hosted by Garbo Laughs. This morning I thought it might be really fun to organize a blog-a-thon to celebrate none other than our own Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier.

That said, I’d like to introduce the Vivien Leigh & Laurence Olivier Appreciation Blog-a-thon! The goal is to celebrate Vivien Leigh’s and Laurence Olivier’s films and their lasting impact on popular culture. I’ve chosen the dates to correspond with the anniversaries of both their deaths (July 7 and July 11th, respectively). This will be a great way to show some love for the Oliviers, as well as to become more familiar with the film blogging community at large.

When: July 9-10, 2011

Where: The internet! Hosted by vivadlarry.com

Rules: This blog-a-thon is open to all film bloggers (and readers) around the internet. You can write about their films, theatrical contributions, your love of their beauty, fashion, etc., any aspect of Vivien Leigh’s and/or Laurence Olivier’s careers or lives. As per the usual blog-a-thon protocol, posts should be made to your own blog on the dates listed above, and a running list of links will be posted here at vivandlarry.com. Note: You do not have to write about a film that starred both Larry and Vivien. If you just want to write about Vivien, or just Larry, that’s totally fine.

One other thing: Although participants are welcome to write about any film or aspect of Vivien and Larry’s lives, it would be great if we can get posts about a variety of films rather than just the ones that are the most popular today such as Gone with the Wind.

Also find it on: Facebook

Not sure which films Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier starred in? Check out their imdb profiles below:

If you’d like to participate as a blogger, do let me know by leaving a comment on this post! Below you can find some banners (250 x 150) to put on your own blog!

Participating Blogs:

events gone with the wind laurence olivier vivien leigh

Vivien Leigh at Bonhams and the Lost Gone with the Wind Manuscript

By Kendra + May 9, 2011

There have been two exciting, recent exhibitions in the US featuring Vivien Leigh. The first was at Bonhams in New York where many of director George Cukor’s personal items were auctioned off. The artifacts had been in the hands of the Estate of Charles Williamson and Tucker Flemming, and included several photos and letters from and related to Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier. The Oliviers were lifelong friends with Cukor, and their mutual friendships with the The Philadelphia Story director continued after their divorce. Along with photos and personal letters, the auction also contained and letters from Vivien’s daughter Suzanne to journalist Radie Harris about a book Radie was planning to publish about Vivien in the late 1980s.

The second exhibition is currently ongoing. 4 chapters from Margaret Mitchell’s original Gone with the Wind manuscript (thought to have been destroyed upon the author’s death in 1949) have been recovered and will be on display at the University of Georgia as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations going on throughout the state. Right now, the exhibition is traveling, and vivandlarry.com visitor Meg was able to see it at the Pequot Library in Southport, CT. She was kind enough to snap some photos (as well as the ones from the Bonhams auction) and send them in to the site. Thanks so much, Meg! I wish this exhibit would come to London.

events london

Air Raid Warning! Everyone in to the Shelter!

By Kendra + March 13, 2011

It’s not every day that one can channel one’s ancestors and relive a time gone by. But that is exactly what I did last night when a group of my friends and I converged on Holywell Lane in Shoreditch to get in the fighting spirit and do our bit for the war effort at the Blitz Party.

A wildly successful event (tickets always sell out right away so this was the first time I’d been able to snag one), the Blitz Party is put on every couple of months at the Village Underground, railway arches converted into a makeshift East End air raid shelter complete with sandbags, ration books and blackout curtains. Men were on leave from the Navy, RAF and Army, and girls donned their tea dresses and victory rolls (there were quite a few Rosie the Riveters, too) for a night of dancing to swing music and gin drinking. A live Big Band got the crowd dancing and in the intervals we were treated to The Andrews Sisters, Glenn Miller, Vera Lynn and more. The air raid reveling was a lot more fun than what people actually experienced during the Blitz, but aside from the constant threat of death by bombing, starvation and the whole war bit, there was something glamorous about the 1940s. The “make do and mend” attitude ensured that women never looked completely dull, even when clothes and essentials were hard to come by. Even Vivien Leigh had to make do with rationed goods. Laurence Olivier had to go to Paris to find nylon stockings for her in 1945. Most women didn’t have that luxury and had to rely on American GIs to provide the contraband.