Tuesday, December 23

Author: Paul Downham

Marry Me a Little – Barn Theatre
19Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

Marry Me a Little – Barn Theatre

Hearing of a Stephen Sondheim revue, I don’t think you’d be alone in thinking that it's going to be a bunch of ballads. I’m happy to tell you that with Marry Me a Little, this is not the case. It’s much, much more. The Barn theatre have cleverly updated this celebration of Sondheim and have produced a fresh love story. A set of two apartments sharing the centre of the stage, splits the recently parted couple as they go about their newly single lives. The production is sung-through, but the plot is brought together by innovative use of the technical elements. With a genius addition of a phone-screen backdrop, and even a song brought on by tinder swiping, catapult the story into the modern day. Jukebox musicals have attempted to merge catalogues of songs and fluid storylines for years....
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Macbeth – The Shows Must Go On
19Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

Macbeth – The Shows Must Go On

Macbeth is a TV film version of the 2007 Chichester Festival Theatre production of William Shakespeare's tragedy directed by Rupert Goold and starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood as Lord and Lady Macbeth. The film was shot entirely at Welbeck Abbey and makes full use of its larger halls and dingier corridors, and a much more limited use of its exteriors. These often almost empty but gigantic rooms (and peeling paint in the war scenes) and the almost total lack of exterior scenes in the first half evoke an almost apocalyptic underground world in which sunshine and fresh air may be (but seldom is) reached via the lift some characters disappear into. The costumes, props and stock footage evoke the Soviet Block in the Cold War, specifically Romania in the 1960s, thus establishing...
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The Royal Variety Performance 2020 Comes to Blackpool
18Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

The Royal Variety Performance 2020 Comes to Blackpool

The Royal Variety Charity is thrilled to announce that the Royal Variety Performance 2020 will take place at the Blackpool Opera House, within the Winter Gardens complex, on Sunday 29th November. This year, the charity has continued to support current members of the entertainment industry with our own nationwide grants scheme, assisting many people who have found this year a particularly difficult one. Before Covid-19, it was only the top 4.8% of those working in the entertainment industry who earned above the average UK wage.  Sadly, theatres, music and other entertainment venues have mostly had to close, so many more people, including those who usually work ‘job-to-job’, have sought out our assistance. The Royal Variety Charity has also continued to manage its own care home...
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Frozen: A Musical Spectacular – Disney Cruise Lines
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
REVIEWS

Frozen: A Musical Spectacular – Disney Cruise Lines

This reviewer must be one of the few people to have never watched the film Frozen, although even then has been unable to entirely escape a certain level of knowledge! The film cast though were at least credited, whereas the cast of the stage show performed on the Disney Cruise Lines are forever doomed to anonymity thanks to the Disney policy of not crediting their live performers because they are the character. Frozen – A Musical Spectacular is an abridged version of the film, mostly the songs and some interlinking short scenes and feels like a cross between a spectacularly staged musical and a provincial pantomime. A small cast of principles and ensemble are tasked with creating a feel of a show that needs to be bigger. The cast, uncredited, vary in skill. The young woman playing An...
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Compass Festival 2021 – First Projects Announced!
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Compass Festival 2021 – First Projects Announced!

Compass announce their first projects for their live art festival running from 19th – 28th March 2021.   This festival was postponed from November 2020 and will now aim to invigorate public spaces by staging its live art projects in Leeds.  Using spaces such as shopping centres, markets, museums and the city streets.  See below for the first project announcements: Museums In People’s Homes Would you like a visit from Joshua Sofaer and Museums in People’s Homes in your home during 2021? Joshua Sofaer has created a mobile museum comprising 14 artworks, each representing a collector in Leeds, telling the fascinating stories of the museums people keep in their homes. Book a tour to see objects from our portable museum – and you can even visit a fun size café and...
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Why The Child Is Cooking In The Polenta – Free Streaming by the Romanian Cultural Institute
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Why The Child Is Cooking In The Polenta – Free Streaming by the Romanian Cultural Institute

Written by Aglaja Veteranyi, and adapted and performed by Edith Alibec, this play is based on the autobiographical book of the same name.  The book loosely reflects on Veteranyi’s own experiences of life on the road with her family, after leaving Romania under a cloud.  This nomadic existence was necessary for this circus performing family as they moved from town to town, they were also running away; evading detection by the Romanian authorities for a crime that was committed whilst living in Romania.  Alibec was inspired to adapt this play as it resonated with her after visiting refugee camps in Germany, she wanted to highlight the vulnerability of people forced to move from their country and seek refuge in an unfamiliar country. The play never really gives the narrator ...
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Panto is back in Blackpool this Christmas… OH, YES IT IS!
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Panto is back in Blackpool this Christmas… OH, YES IT IS!

For the first time in its 157-year history Blackpool’s famous North Pier will present a Christmas pantomime. The pier’s newly named Joe Longthorne Theatre will present Cinderella from Tuesday December 15th to Sunday December 27th. Starring Britain’s Got Talent winner and Scottish singer-songwriter Jai McDowall as Prince Charming tickets are on sale now from www.ticketsource.co.uk/blackpoolpiers The production of Cinderella is presented by Blackpool-based International Shows who already programme events in the unique venue. Managing Director Dominic Creighton was determined to see panto’ return to the resort this Christmas and, due to the vast size of The Joe Longthorne Theatre, the production can be staged with full social distancing in place. Dominic said: “We are absolutel...
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M6 Theatre Company to Stream When We Started Singing
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

M6 Theatre Company to Stream When We Started Singing

M6 Theatre Company will be streaming a brand-new short film for families on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th November 2020. When We Started Singing for ages 5+ and families tells the story of Mr Popple (Declan Wilson), an elderly man whose acts of kindness bring his community together during lockdown. Written by Mike Peacock, the film began life as one of the winning entries in M6’s lockdown monologue writing competition. The theatre company went on to work with film maker Nick Farrimond to develop the piece. M6's Artistic Director Gilly Baskeyfield said: "Usually at this time of year we’d be creating a performance for schools which would then be toured to venues across the country. This year we’ve had to do things a little differently.  When We Started Singing reflects on a shared...
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Freedom Studios looking for new Youth Theatre members
17Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
NEWS

Freedom Studios looking for new Youth Theatre members

Award-winning Bradford theatre company Freedom Studios are looking for new members aged between 11-19 to join their Youth Theatre. Freedom Studios’ youth theatre continues to offer free weekly sessions and workshops creating a space where young people can connect, create, and express themselves. Some of the Youth Theatre members have formed a small film production company to make a short film. Not only will the film production team write and perform in the films, but they will be guided through a production process from fundraising and pitching to screening and dissemination.   All sessions will be delivered through a combination of Zoom workshops and in-person, where possible, at Kala Sangam under the guidance of actor, film director and online content creator Tanya Vital, j...
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We Missed You – Voila Festival
16Nov By Paul DownhamNo Comments
London

We Missed You – Voila Festival

‘We Missed You’ is two clowns' interpretation and message of lockdown and a fitting homage to the general feeling that currently pervades. They want to tell us that they missed us and create a warm fuzzy feeling inside audiences. It’s part of Voila Festival or Voila Europe that runs annually at the Cockpit Theatre in London’s Marylebone. But of course, the pandemic has brought it to our homes via the digital world. The enigmatic clowns are Julia Masli and Viggo Venn from Estonia and Norway respectively and are not the circus ring bright wigged & make up of nightmares but a more refreshing (and less scary) Harlequino and Pierrot who have a huge variety of fun costumes and tell us they are more Commedia Dell Arte. This draws on a European tradition where clowns travelled from ma...
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