O'Toole Blasts West End 'Dross'
http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/otoole%20blasts%20west%20end%20dross_1064269
"(April 1, 2008) PETER O'TOOLE has slammed London theatre because artistic directors have turned the West End into "dross". The outspoken 75-year-old thespian is unimpressed with modern musicals and plays in the capital, accusing directors of ruining the art of acting. He rages, "Acting today is s**t. London theatre is a graveyard and it's all because of this whole invention of the director. The power of the actor has been taken away. "There are only three indispensable things: the audience, the actor and the author. The rest is dross.""
O'Toole's sentiments echo those of actor Kevin Spacey, owner of the Old Vic theatre in London, who most recently railed against the BBC's penchant for reality-show-style talent competitions, saying they express a bias for big-money musicals of the sort produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.