Miyazaki not ready to retire again
Ghibli, the Japanese studio that won its second Oscar for feature animation Sunday for “The Boy and The Heron,” hasn’t said yet what it plans next.
But founder Hayao Miyazaki, who at age 83 was the oldest director ever nominated in that category, won’t rule out making another film, even if his next project is a short instead of a full-length feature.
Miyazaki, according to a longtime confidante, is a bit embarrassed about having pronounced a decade ago that he would no longer make movies, citing his age.
“He regrets having announced to the world he won’t make another film,” producer Toshio Suzuki, co-founder of Ghibli, said after the latest win.
When the Oscar winner was announced in Japan, a cheer went up in the building that houses the studio on the fringes of Tokyo where dozens of invited media had gathered to watch the ceremony. Miyazaki celebrated his Oscar win in private at his atelier and did not attend the studio event, Suzuki said.
Ghibli chose a low-key approach to promoting the film that was 10 years in the making and released after Miyazaki was supposedly retired.
“We thought it was OK to make something we really wanted to make,” Suzuki said.
Stars among Olivier nods:
An acclaimed revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Boulevard” and a play about the travails of England’s national soccer team lead the race for the Olivier Awards recognizing work on the London stage.
The 11 nominations for “Sunset Boulevard” announced Tuesday include best actress in a musical for Nicole Scherzinger, a former member of girl group the Pussycat Dolls, and best actor for Tom Francis. The Jamie Lloyd-directed production is due to transfer to Broadway later this year.
James Graham’s “Dear England” got nine nominations, including best new play and best actor for Joseph Fiennes, who plays Gareth Southgate, the coach who has restored the team’s fortunes.
Other acting nominees include Andrew Scott for the one-man Chekhov adaptation “Vanya,” “Succession” star Sarah Snook for her solo show “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” Sarah Jessica Parker for Neil Simon comedy “Plaza Suite” and Sophie Okonedo for Greek tragedy “Medea.”
Musical performance contenders include Daniel Mays and Marisha Wallace for “Guys and Dolls,” which is also nominated for best musical revival.
The other nominees for best new play are
Jez Butterworth’s “The Hills of California,” Jack Thorne’s “The Motive and the Cue” and Beth Steel’s “Till the Stars Come Down.” The best new musical contenders are “The Little Big Things,” “Next to Normal,” “Operation Mincemeat” and “A Strange Loop.”
Winners of the Oliviers, the U.K. equivalent of Broadway’s Tony Awards, will be announced April 14.
March 16 birthdays: Actor Erik Estrada is 75. Actor Victor Garber is 75. Guitarist Nancy Wilson is 70. Actor Clifton Powell is 68. Rapper Flavor Flav is 65. Actor Lauren Graham is
57. Alan Tudyk is 53. Singer Blu Cantrell is 48. Actor Brooke Burns is 46. Actor Alexandria Daddario is
38. Bassist Wolfgang Van Halen is 33.