Бенджамин Элтон: Комедиядан мюзиклдерге дейін шығармашылық жолы

British comedian, author, playwright, actor and director

Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms The Young Ones and Blackadder, as well as continuing as a stand up comedian on stage and television. His style in the 1980s was left wing political satire. Since then he has published 17 novels and written the musicals The Beautiful Game (2000), We Will Rock You (2002), Tonight's the Night (2003), and Love Never Dies (2010), the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. His novels cover the dystopian, comedy, and crime genres.

Elton starred with Adrian Edmondson in a sitcom based on the song "Teenage Kicks" for BBC Radio 2. A television version of Teenage Kicks for ITV has been made; Elton appeared in the pilot but was replaced by Mark Arden when it went to series production.

Elton wrote and directed the film adaptation of his novel Inconceivable, under the title Maybe Baby (2000) starring Hugh Laurie and Joely Richardson. It was a moderate UK success and distributed globally. The film was also nominated for a prize at Germany's Emden Film Festival. In 2015, Elton wrote a song for The Wiggles for the Wiggle Town DVD and CD: The Wonder of Wiggle Town. In September 2016, filming began in Western Australia on Three Summers, a romantic comedy film written and directed by Elton, which was released in 2017. Elton wrote All is True, released 2018, a speculative story of William Shakespeare's years in Stratford upon Avon after his retirement from the theatre and move from London. Along with the filmcraft and acting, returning collaboration with Kenneth Branagh, All is True shows Elton giving a more serious and biographical perspective to some of the same characters who appear in Upstart Crow.

Elton collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on The Beautiful Game in 2000, writing the book and lyrics (Lloyd Webber wrote the music). The Beautiful Game won the London Critics Circle Award for best new musical. He went on to write compilation shows featuring popular songs from the catalogues of pop/rock artists. The first was the musical We Will Rock You with music by Queen. Despite unfavourable early reaction, this was successful in the West End and won the 2003 Theatregoers' Choice Award for Best New Musical. It has since opened in the US, Australia, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Japan, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, Canada, and The Netherlands. Elton also directed the 10th Anniversary Arena tour, in 2013. The musical ran for 12 years in London. The character of Pop was originally played by Elton's The Young Ones, co star, Nigel Planer. His second compilation musical was Tonight's the Night, based on the songs of Rod Stewart, which opened in London's West End in November 2003. Elton worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musical Love Never Dies, which opened in London's West End in 2010. It was the sequel to Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (1986). Elton directed a new 20th anniversary tour of We Will Rock You, that opened in February 2022 and visited over 25 cities in the United Kingdom. He will also make his theatre debut as the Rebel Leader (previously known as Pop) in a production of the show in 2023 at the London Coliseum from 2 June to 27 August. The 3 main cast members from the touring production will also be starring. Elton wrote and directed Close Up: The Twiggy Musical (2023) which had its world premier at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London.

Elton has written five West End plays. Gasping (1990) was first performed at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It starred Hugh Laurie and featured the voice of Stephen Fry. Silly Cow (1991) again at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London. It was written for and starred Dawn French. Popcorn (1996) was adapted for the stage and went on a UK tour. It also toured Australia in a production starring Marcus Graham and Nadine Garner in its Eastern States seasons. Popcorn won the TMA Barclays Theatre Award for new play and the Olivier Award for comedy. The Paris production of Popcorn ran for a year and was nominated for seven Molière awards. Blast From the Past (1998) was also adapted for the stage and was produced at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. The Upstart Crow, like the TV series Upstart Crow, a comic version of William Shakespeare's life and society, and sharing some of the same actors and characters, opened in London on 7 February 2020. Starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare and Gemma Whelan as Kate, the play was intended to run until 25 April 2020, but only ran up to mid March, with the remainder cancelled as a result of restrictions put in place due to the COVID 19 pandemic. The play reopened in the West End at the Apollo Theatre for a ten week season from 23 September until 3 December 2022.

In 1981 Elton was hired by The Comedy Store in London as compère. He made two albums of comedy, Motormouth (1987) and Motorvation (1988). In 2005 Elton toured for the first time since 1997, touring the UK with Get a Grip. He toured Australia and New Zealand with the same show in 2006. In September 2019, Elton embarked on a three month UK stand up tour, his first tour since 2005. The New Zealand leg of the tour was interrupted in February 2020 by the COVID 19 pandemic. He resumed it over a year later once trans Tasman quarantine free travel was launched. In 2022, his sell out UK stand up final show was held at the Palace Theatre Southend. It was filmed for broadcast on free to air, Channel 4.

Elton received an honorary doctorate in 2004, from The University of Manchester. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Rose for lifetime achievement at the Rose d'Or festival, and was also made a Companion of the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, in recognition of his work with students. He has won 3 BAFTAs for Best Comedy Series for The Young Ones, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth. Popcorn and We Will Rock You each won an Olivier Award and The Beautiful Game was awarded the Best Musical at the Critics' Circle Awards. The Man From Auntie won him a Royal Television Society Writer's Award and The Thin Blue Line won a British Comedy Award as well as Jury Award at Reims The 2022 revival of Channel 4's " Friday Night Live " won a Royal Television Society Award and BAFTA for Best Comedy Entertainment programme. Ben Elton has also been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM). His books have won the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award for Crime Fiction (Popcorn), the Swedish Kaliber Award (Popcorn), WH Smiths People's Choice Fiction Award (High Society) and Prix Polar International Crime Writer Award (Amitiès Mortelles for Past Mortem, French edition).

Elton first met 18 year old Australian saxophone player Sophie Gare in 1986 while working in Melbourne (he had a girlfriend called Kate at the time). A year later in Edinburgh, a newly single Elton rekindled their friendship and they became a couple. The two married in 1994 and have three children (including twins). They decided to settle in North Fremantle, Western Australia Elton holds dual British/Australian citizenship, the latter since 2004. He has speculated on a future move back to London when their children have completed their schooling. Elton has been nominated three times for the television series Room 101, firstly by broadcaster Anne Robinson in 2001, secondly by comedian Mark Steel, and also by comedian Stewart Lee, who described Elton "as ranking lower ethically than Osama bin Laden".

Elton champions left wing political positions. Prior to the 1987 UK general election, Elton supported Red Wedge by participating in a comedy tour organised by the campaign. Elton was a longstanding Labour Party supporter and was named as one of the biggest private financial donors to the party in 1998. Elton subsequently distanced himself from the party under Tony Blair, although in April 2015, he stated that he was "back with Labour" for the general election. Describing his brand of satire in 2022 as a criticism of those in power, he encouraged the Channel 4 viewing audience to elect Labour. Responding to criticism for writing a musical with Conservative Party supporter Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton said, "If I were to refuse to talk to Tories, I would narrow my social and professional scope considerably. If you judge all your relationships on a person's voting intentions, I think you miss out on the varieties of life." Elton added, "I would have loved a honeymoon period, but I've been irritating journos from the beginning. Originally I was knocked for being too left wing, and now apparently I've sold out and I'm too right wing, but all the time I've been being me, and that certainly isn't the person I recognise in anything that's written about me." He has denied being anti establishment. He also said he was a socialist at a time when "the media was on the whole slavishly worshipping of Thatcher". He said of his political views, "I believe in the politics of Clement Attlee. I'm a Welfare State Labour voter."