November 2007 - January 2008

January 9 - Rock 'n' Roll will officially close 9 March so if you haven't seen it, get your tickets now. You can read about it here and here. And you can read the press release for Downloading Nancy at the Sundance Film Festival, here.

  January 7 - A huge thanks goes  out to quoll for all of her hard work and creativity in making the 2008 Rufus Calendar. You  can download it here.

January 5 - "Rock 'n Roll's" Rufus Sewell, quite simply, rocked. Roma Torre: NY1. You can read the rest here.

January 4 - We've just added the new January Clip of the Month. You can view it here.

December 31 - For a little New Years treat, Rock 'n' Roll has been extended an additional week from 2 March to 9 March.

December 30 - It's the end of the year so where would we be without Rock 'n' Roll (and Rufus) making several 'best of' lists: Rock ’n’ Roll," which — under Trevor Nunn’s firm directorial hand — suggests that rock music and revolutionary politics may be one and the same. Set that philosophical foundation under a tale of familial warfare, and you have one of the year’s most profound new works — featuring striking turns by Brian Cox, Sinead Cusack and Rufus Sewell. And you can read another here and also here and yet another here.

December 27 - There is only one day left for The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn. Be sure not to miss it. If you've fallen behind, you can catch up here. With much thanks to tinkerdog, we've added several new photos to the last page of the photo section. And 2007 is drawing to a close. Don't forget to make your plans in the New Year to catch Rufus on Broadway in Rock 'n' Roll.

    December 24 - We'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday from all of us at roofsewell.com and remind you that The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn continue through 28 December. Don't worry if you miss it, you can always catch up with the BBC's listen again feature. You can read more here. Variety.com added a few well deserved cudos for Rufus in Rock 'n' Roll here. And you'll find an interview with cast and playwright on the Leonard Lopate Show here. In a related story from the New York Times about the wealth of drama on Broadway this season you'll find Rock 'n' Roll featured here. Finally to the cast and crew of Rock 'n' Roll we look forward to an exceptional year for all of you in 2008. Thank you for all of your hard work in 2007!

December 21 - More well deserved words of praise for Rufus' Jan in Rock 'n' Roll here. And The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn continues running through 28 December. This is something you don't want to miss. You can read more here.

December 18 - Rock 'n' Roll makes several "Best Lists". Thanks to etb, you can read them here and here. A reminder that The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn is airing from 17 December and running through 28 December. You can read more here.

December 14 - It's been a quiet week for Rufus fans but today has been worth the wait. First, for those of you who enjoyed Rufus' rendition of Dr. Syn, GE2 passes along that Rufus will be creating a new version of the drama in The Further Adventures of Dr. Syn starting 17 December and running through 28 December. You can read more here. And also from  GE2 we have the first trailer for Downloading Nancy. You can watch it here. We've also added a few new photos of Rufus out and about to the last page of the Photo Section.

  December 10 - Rock 'n' Roll had it's best week ever last week with a gross of $501,015.83. You can read about it here. And The New Yorker offers a hint about Rufus' favorite music: Everyone has a music life, or a life in music. Rufus Sewell’s goes something like this: “Fred Astaire–Ginger Rogers, Elvis, Beatles, Stones, David Bowie, Crass, Killing Joke, Elvis again, bebop, never country and Western, except as a joke." You can read more here.

December 8 - Live chat has been added to the Rufus Forum but you must be a member to participate so join here or if you're already a member you can login here. And we never tire of hearing how brilliant Rufus is. You can read the brief comment from Bloomberg.com here.

December 7 - We've got a few more Dolce & Gabbana shots thanks to tinkerdog. You can find them on the Last Page of the Photo section. And you can find a transcript of Rufus' answer to your questions to PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and the interview with segment correspondent Jeff Brown here, or you can listen to the audio here.

December 6 - We've got some great new stills from Vinyan and an article you can read here. We've also added a few new shots from Downloading Nancy. Just look for the on the Cinema page. And if you need just a bit more Rufus you can visit the last page of the Photo Section for a few new shots from the opening of Dolce & Gabana in NYC.

December 1 - Like to ask Rufus a question or two about Rock 'n' Roll, being an actor or working on Broadway? He'll be taking your questions here until 5 December. And if you happened to miss the piece about Rock 'n' Roll on PBS you can view it here.

November 30 - The strike has ended! For anyone heading out to see Rock 'n' Roll we can't wait to here your opinion. Downloading Nancy will have it's premiere showing at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. You can read more here.

November 27 - From the New York Times - a Strike update: Negotiations are scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the dispute between Broadway theater owners and producers and striking stagehands after breaking off today when 13 hours of bargaining failed to produce deal.

But in a sign that this stoppage might have been more of a break than a breakdown, the League of American Theaters and Producers announced that it was canceling performances only through Wednesday's matinees. Two weekends ago, when the talks fell apart, the league canceled all of Thanksgiving week. You can read the rest of the article here.

26 November - It looks as if an end may be in sight for the stand off between the Stagehands and the League of Producers. You can read about it here. It remains to be seen what effect if any this will have on the run of Rock 'n' Roll, but we're pulling for an extension. Looking for the Bond books Rufus read? There is a repackage read by Rufus Sewell and Samantha Bond, and presented in a stylish tin, this set will make a great gift for the 007 fan in your life. You can find out more here.

24 November - Not much in the way of news while the stagehands strike lingers. We've got a few new photos we'll be adding and this from the Seattle Times: And as Act 2 calms down to a more human tone, one savors Sewell's droll, nuanced and touching portrayal of a decent modest fellow caught in the rockin' storms of history. You can read the rest here.

22 November - Happy Thanksgiving to all of our Ruffians in the US. Dreamer brings us the news that Vinyan will be released in France on 24 September 2008. We don't know about you, but this is one we're really looking forward to!

20 November - We've found an interesting article on the strike which specifically mentions Rock 'n' Roll. And being from The Guardian gives an "outside" perspective of what might actually be happening. You can read it here.

19 November - We've run off for a little holiday at roofsewell.com but fortunately we've got lots of wonderful help to unearth the very latest in Rufus news. Thanks to GE2 today for this video link from Broadway.com of opening night of Rock 'n' Roll. Also from GE2 we've got a new photo from Vinyan! You can see it here. And from the Home News Tribune a bit more praise for Rufus' Jan: The cast is simply stellar, led by Rufus Sewell, who has not been on Broadway since 1995's "Translations." His performance as Jan is remarkable for his accent, how he effortlessly manages to convey the character's aging as the show goes on, and for his ability to capture Jan's dynamic passion and range of emotion.

15 November - The New York Times has published a Broadway Strike Survial Guide. You can read it here. If you're stuck with the hotel room and the flight you can always try some of the terrific shows Off-Broadway. Read more here.

Amazing Grace will be released in R4 (Australia and New Zealand) DVD on 27 December.

13 November - Tinkerdog has passed along a terrific video interview about Rock 'n' Roll on Broadway.com. It's from opening night at Angus McIndoes and everyone has their say. You can watch it here.

And don't forget to pick up your R1 copy of Amazing Grace today.

12 November - There is a terrific little interview with Rufus about the fluidity of the accent he uses in Rock 'n' Roll: In the lead role of a Czech scholar who spends periods of his life in Britain, Sewell doesn't only switch his accent on and off, he uses it in varying strengths.

At times, though, even in Czechoslovakia, you can detect a slight accent, suggesting a period of readjustment to the country. And when he returns to Britain more than 20 years later, his accent is significantly thicker than before he left. To read the rest of the article click here.

  11 November - Happy Birthday to Us! Roofsewell.com is a year old today. We'd like to thank everyone for their generous support over the past year. We couldn't do it without you. The online Rufus community is truly a special one.

Can you stand one more review of Rock 'n' Roll from the Boston Globe? For a long time it seems as if the conflict between Max and Jan is the central focus of the play; certainly it is given breathtaking depth and range by the virtuosic performances of Brian Cox, as the stubborn and irascible Max, and Rufus Sewell, whose beautifully complicated Jan is worn but never broken by years of trying to stay human under a crushing regime.

And finally we have a new Clip of the Month for November/December. You can view it here.

10 November Update: We are sad to report that Local 1 of the Stagehands Union has voted to strike leaving Rock 'n' Roll as many other Broadway shows dark for the time being. You can read about it here. We will provide further developments as they become available.

10 November - A bit on Playbill.com and one of those gorgeous pictures of Rufus. You can read it here. And a lovely balanced little review from the as yet unheard New York Magazine: Jan (the memorably dynamic Rufus Sewell) is a Czech grad student who returns to Prague after the Soviets invade in 1968, leaving Professor Max Morrow (Brian Cox) to stew in his Marxist juices at Cambridge. Stay tuned for the November/December Clip of the Month.

9 November - We've added several new photos and a multimedia page for Rock 'n' Roll. Be sure to check them out.

8 November - The raves for Rufus in Rock 'n' Roll just keep rolling in.         

From TheStar.com: Rufus Sewell is perfection as the dissident Jan, who is more devoted to his rock albums than anything Vaclav Havel might say. 

From the Philadelphia Inquirer: The entire cast is superb but especially Sewell (the original Septimus in Stoppard's Arcadia), who is, as the young Jan, shockingly beautiful, all passionate enthusiasms and wild gestures, and, as a middle-aged, graying man who has been in a Soviet prison, so convincingly restrained and yet still so much himself.          

And one last offering: The story, directed by the always deft Trevor Nunn, concerns Jan (Rufus Sewell in a meticulously heart-rending performance), a Czech university student at Cambridge who is a protege of Max, an old Communist lion of a professor...

But you get the idea. If you haven't already done so, all you R1 people, don't forget to order your copy of Amazing Grace which will be released on 13 November in the US. We've got all kinds of goodies to add over the next few days so check back often.

6 November - Whew, it's been a busy couple of days here. We don't know how Rufus does it!

Playbill.com has a bit about the Rock 'n' Roll after party at Angus McIndoes and a few pictures of the revelers. You can read it here.                                   Broadway.com has a terrific Q&A with lots of new fodder from Rufus: "Stoppard, for example, has so much generosity that you find that you say quite funny and intelligent things when you talk to him—or at least he doesn't stop you from feeling that. He brings that out in you in the same way that on a successful night watching a Stoppard play, you come away feeling, "Oh, I'm not that stupid actually!" Then, of course, by the time you get home, you may feel a bit stupider. And in the morning, when you're asked to explain it, it's fucking hopeless. He kind of loans you that intellect." You can read it here.

From MTV.com: Rufus Sewell has a sly, nimble delivery, but he also channels the gentle soul of a man trampled by history in an extraordinarily moving way.

From Courant.com: Rufus Sewell's fascinating performance gives the play its center and its heart. Jan loves rock 'n' roll, carries his trove of vinyl with him, and sees it destroyed. His life parallels Roger Keith Barrett, who called himself Syd, when he was writing for and performing with Pink Floyd. As Barrett became a casualty of fame, broken and mentally and maddened by drugs, so Jan fell victim to his naivete and his passion for decadent western music.

And a little bit of gossip from FoxNews.com to finish up: Sunday night's wildly successful Broadway premiere of "Rock 'n' Roll," the new Tom Stoppard play, brought out the stars. You can read the rest here.

5 November - Ben Brantly of the New York Times on Rock 'n' Roll: ...the rhythms of Mr. Nunn’s swift-footed staging had me hooked again. So did Mr. Sewell’s portrayal of a hopeful, smart young man who, though aged prematurely by a punishing totalitarian regime, holds on to the essence of what he always was. In the second act, when Jan returns to Cambridge in 1990, Mr. Sewell’s performance becomes that rare thing in acting: a palimpsest in which you see all the layers of a single life.  You can read the rest of the review here.

From the New York Sun: it is Mr. Sewell's chastening journey toward political and personal serenity — christened by an awkward, beatific dance to the chugging chords of the Rolling Stones — that I will not soon forget.

From the Washington Post: Stoppard's buoyant imagination is invigorated here by tributaries of ideas about politics and art that flow into rivers of wisdom about the nature of revolution and the human craving for free expression. It is principally, however, through the moving struggle of one person, the Czech academic -- played with endearing reserve by the captivating Rufus Sewell -- that the dramatist gives 'Rock 'n' Roll' its fiercely beating heart.

From the New York Post: Rufus Sewell's Jan is masterly in its complex understatement of ambiguity and decency - he doesn't just inhabit this role, he lives it from 1968 until 1990, ticking off the years with meticulous truth.

From Newsday.com: Still, Rufus Sewell (Jan), Brian Cox (Max) and Sinead Cusack (Max's wife, and later their grown former flower-child daughter) splendidly personify the contrasting beliefs in consciousness and Communism. Sewell, his dark intelligence riveted in his eerily translucent eyes, transforms from bright young academic with a Czech-accented English to haunted political prisoner to contented adult in even more ways than he changes hair styles, which is a lot.

4 November: Update - The reviews for the opening of Rock 'n' Roll are beginning to trickle in. From Micheal Kuchwara - Associated Press Drama Critic: The amazing Sewell, not seen on Broadway since the 1995 production of Brian Friel´s "Translations," anchors the richly embroidered story. He portrays Jan, a young Czech lecturer at Cambridge University in England. [...] The characters age just as quickly and with astonishing realism, particularly Sewell´s Jan. The actor flawlessly captures the man´s journey from young idealist to weary, apparently beaten middle-aged man. Yet throughout, Jan retains a generosity to others that is enormously appealing.

From Variety: ...its mostly unengaging characters -- had half the humanity packed into Sewell's wonderful performance. [...] But the most consistent involvement comes via Jan. Presenting a touchingly arrhythmic figure despite a lifetime of passionate immersion in music, and balancing his intelligence with a disarming hint of social awkwardness, Sewell deftly shapes the character's path from passivity through persecution to rehabilitation and unexpected, somewhat whimsical deliverance. Jan embodies the bittersweet view of rock 'n' roll as a language of underground political protest whose once-trenchant social significance has given way to meaningless commercialization, though its liberating power somehow endures.  More as they become available.

4 November: Update - NPR has put up an incredible article about Rock 'n' Roll with interviews, sounds bites, video clips(!) and more. You can view it here.

4 November - Today is the day! Rock 'n' Roll officially opens on Broadway!  We'd like to send all of our best wishes to the cast  and crew, and say "break a leg". We know you'll be brilliant.                             

We've added a couple of new photos to Rock 'n' Roll in the Theatre section. We've added a new photo or two to the Gallery and we've got a new Fan Commentary for Dark City. There is an article on Playbill.com giving the details of the opening of Rock 'n' Roll. You can read it here.

3 November - Can't get enough of Rock 'n' Roll? We know how you feel. Tom Stoppard, Trevor Nunn and the cast of Rock 'n' Roll will be featured on NPR this Sunday 4 November, talking about what else? Rock 'n' Roll. You can read more here.

2 November: Update - We've started a Rock 'n' Roll - New York photo page. You can link to if from out theatre section. And we have two new bits: Mick Jagger was in the audience when Tom Stoppard's "Rock 'n' Roll'' opened in June 2006 at London's Royal Court Theater. Similar star power is likely to fuel the play's Broadway opening on Sunday as well. You can read them here and here.

2 November - We've added a new photo to the       Fan Fun section as well as a new Fan Commentary for Rock 'n' Roll. We've also added several new photos to the last page of the photo gallery. If you're looking for past news we've done a News Archive. You can find the link at the bottom of this page. Be sure to check them out!

1 November - NJ.com has done a nice little interview with Rufus about turning 40, Rock 'n' Roll and the difference between being a theatre actor and a film actor. "We needed a kindred spirit to Tom since this play is kind of autobiographical," Nunn says. In "Arcadia," Sewell had proved "quick-witted and sparky with an innate comic sense," he adds. You can read it here.

31 October - We're not the only ones that expect Rock 'n' Roll to be the hit of this year's Broadway season: Following a record-breaking run in London, the new play by Tom Stoppard Rock ‘N’ Roll launched preview performances on Oct. 19 at the Jacobs Theatre. It promises to receive the same acclaim on Broadway with original London cast... You can read the rest here.

30 October - Rufus attended the 10th annual Angel Ball last night at the Marriott Marquis ballroom. The five million dollars raised goes to fund cancer research. You still can bid on items from the G&P’s silent auction at www.charitybuzz.com. You can read the rest here.

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