1 April, 2012
- It is Michael Praed's birthday today! Because
we know Michael enjoys Indian food (he's a curry fan in
particular) we decided to treat him to a couple of London's
award winning restaurants. Both specialize in
modern Indian cuisine,
The Cinnamon Kitchen and
The Cinnamon
Club. We sent two £50 gift vouchers, one for
each restaurant. Since Michael enjoys experimenting in the kitchen
himself, we dispatched a well-known Indian cookbook as well;
'Madhur Jaffrey's Quick & Easy Indian Cooking'. The cookbook reached his agent Tuesday. The rest was scheduled to arrive later in the week.
Many thanks to those who contributed. You know who you are --
and so does Michael! Your names are on the cards we sent.
Happy Birthday, Michael!
Birthday donations for Michael
18 March 2012
-
Wow! That
crept up on us quickly! It is time to collect money from fans for Michael's birthday present and we
are inviting you to donate what you feel comfortable
contributing for his gift. As always, I wont be telling
you here what it is. Since Michael may read this, we
don't want to give it away. Just email Celeste at one of
the email addresses below and ask what it is we are giving him.
We'd like to
get the money collected in time to give it to Michael for his birthday,
but we don't have much time. We are setting a deadline of Sunday, 25 March.
It should make it to his agent by his birthday on 1 April..
Records will
be kept so we have the names of contributors to give to Michael. Please
join us.
Michael's birthday present
In memory of Richard (Kip) Carpenter,
creator of 'Robin of Sherwood',
14 August 1929 - 26 February 2012
Richard (Kip) Carpenter passes away
15 March 2012
- Richard (Kip) Carpenter, the creator of
Michael Praed's best known role in 'Robin of Sherwood' passed
away suddenly of a heart attack on
Sunday, 26 February, 2012. Kip died in the English countryside he
loved while walking his dog.
As Simon Farquhar of The Independent said,
Kip "was charming and twinkle-eyed, a born storyteller
with the curiosity of a child and the wisdom of a grandfather." He
leaves behind his wife Annabelle Lee
(who played Mad Mab in the RoS episode 'Rutterkin'), their children Tom and Harriet,
and two grandchildren.
Kip
was much loved as a writer of children's television drama.
Along with BAFTA winning
'Robin of Sherwood', Carpenter wrote scripts for 'Catweazle',
'The Boy From Space', 'The Ghosts of Motley Hall', 'The Adventures of Black Beauty',
'The Famous Five', 'Doctor Snuggles', 'Smuggler', 'Dick Turpin',
'Adventurer', 'The Winjin Pom', 'Stanley's Dragon' and 'Out of
Sight'. He also created notable adaptations including 'The
Borrowers', 'The Return of the Borrowers', 'True Tilda', 'The
Scarlet Pimpernel', and Philip Pullman's 'I Was a Rat'.
His productions won
Writer's Guild
Awards, BAFTA Awards,
Banff Television Festival award,
and awards from
PACT and The Royal
Television Society. He was nominated for an International
Emmy Award for 'The Borrowers', At the
2000 Children's Award for his
substantial contribution to children's television drama through
the years.
The funeral took place today, at 3.30pm at Harwood Park Crematorium
in Stevenage.
Attending the funeral were family and friends which included Michael Praed,
Judi Trott, Nickolas Grace, Ray Winstone, Clive Mantle, RoS producer Paul Knight,
RoS producer and casting director Esta Charkham, and director
Robert Young. Mark Ryan sent his regrets.
Michael thanks you!
29 February 2012
- As you know, for Christmas Michael received a
number of presents from Fanfare including a book entitled 'Montreal, then and now',
a mulled wine gift box, an
iTunes gift certificate for £50, an
iTunes Apps gift certificate for £25, and an iBooks gift certificate for £50.
Michael sent me a note to express his appreciation.
What follows are the relevant excerpts from his message.
I treasure these gifts. I really do. And I assure you, hand on heart, I can't wait to begin using them. And not only that, I have a multitude of books, movies and apps I am dying to acquire! I owe a great - a tremendous - debt of gratitude to the many folk who have contributed to my birthdays and Christmases that is well overdue. And I really want to redress that.
I am, frankly, astonished - and here I really do mean that word 'astonished' - at the fabulous and sometimes heartbreakingly mindful gifts I have been fortunate to receive. I have many people to thank.
It is true I can be
accused, and rightly so, as being someone who likes to 'stay in
the background'. I suppose another way of putting it is: A man
who 'likes to be private'. I'm not saying this is is a virtue.
In some ways it is a fault. Because by not saying much, my lack
of correspondence can be construed as indifference. But nothing,
nothing, could be further from the truth. What is absolutely
true, and what has also gone so many times unsaid, is how often
that man has been humbled by an affection shown, so often, by so
many.
As ever,
Michael
More Ben Kane narrations offered
29 January 2012
- The continuing saga of Ben Kane's 'The
Forgotten Legion' has been completed in audio format and
released. Like the first novel in the series, Michael
Praed narrated the final two titles 'The Silver Eagle'
and 'The Road to Rome'. They were released 3 November
2011 and 1 December 2011, respectively.
The lives of four characters are bound and interwoven in a
story in which Romulus, Brennus, and Tarquinius find themselves
press-ganged into fighting for Rome's enemies. Taquinius' twin sister Fabiola,
a slave in a notorious Roman brothel,
escapes to find her lover Brutus in Egypt. All roads lead
back to Rome, however. A conspiracy to
murder Julius Caesar is afoot and loyalties amongst the
surviving characters are tested.
'Spartacus the Gladiator' follows the rise of the
legendary leader
of a famous gladiator revolt against the might of Rome. An
experienced soldier, Spartacus is betrayed into
slavery to fight in the arena for the amusement of his former
foes. This is the first part of the story, released on 19 January, 2012.
You should be able to find it on various audio
download sources. Click here
for a link to our Merchandise page for assistance.
Update: Although Amazon US lists these audiobooks,
they aren't available outside the UK due to licensing
restrictions.
Thanks goes to
Michael Praed fan Tabitha Clark for bringing our attention to this
news.
Happy New Year!
1 January 2012
- I'd like to take this time to wish all of you the
brightest, happiest new year. May you find joy,
contentment and success in 2012. Bright blessings to all
of you.
Merry Christmas, Michael!
17 December, 2011
- Michael's gifts have been sent! In the end, we gave him the following:
Book titled 'Montreal, then and now'
Mulled wine gift box
iTunes gift certificate for £50
iTunes Apps gift certificate for £25
iBooks gift certificate for £50
The book reached his agent last week. The rest is scheduled to arrive the first part of this week.
Many thanks to those who contributed. Your name is on the card we sent.
4 December, 2011
- We are collecting donations from fans for
Michael's present and we are inviting you to donate what you
feel comfortable contributing for his gift. Since Michael may read this, we don't want to give
this away, but if you attend Fanfare chat, you will probably hear
what we plan to get Michael for his Christmas present! If
you miss chat, just email Celeste at one of the email addresses
below and ask. (No Michael, not you!)
We'd like to get the money
collected in time to give it to Michael for Christmas, so we are
setting a deadline of Friday, 16 December. This should give
us time to order the present and get it to him.
Records will be kept so we have
the names of contributors to give to Michael. Please join
us.
Michael's
2011 Christmas present
Michael back in 'The Sound of Music'
11
October 2011
- Michael is back onstage as the Captain opposite Verity Rushworth
as Maria in 'The Sound of Music' at the New Wimbledon Theatre in
Wimbledon. Michael is filling in for Jason Donovan from 11
to 22 October.
Maria, a vivacious novice in
Salzburg's Nonnberg Abbey, isn't fitting into somber convent life.
To give her an opportunity to get away from the abbey to
reconsider her future, the Mother Abbess sends her to the
aristocratic household of Captain Georg Von Trapp, a widower with seven
children. Maria is to be the governess to his emotionally
neglected children. As Maria reconciles her growing love for the
children's father with her desire to become a nun, the looming Nazi menace in nearby
Germany threatens to overwhelm them all.
Please contact the
New Wimbledon Theatre
directly for tickets.
Join our group on Facebook:
Contact 'Celeste
At Fanfare' and ask for 'Friend' status. She will give
you group membership once you connect.
For
access to older Club News, 
