14Jun 
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14Jun No Comments
No Comments These Hills Are Ours – Clougha Pike
Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley were just about to set off a national of their new show, These Hills Are Ours, exploring through stories and song the relationship between art and the great outdoors, but then the virus struck.
So in lieu of those live shows they’ve been releasing a short series of videos where they take a small choir on a hike to the top of a hill singing a specially composed song on their journey to the peak.
This time they’ve taken a trip from the nippy shores of Morecambe Bay through town and up some rugged paths to the top of Clougha Pike.
This is a more political video as the choir tramp past Do Not Trespass signs as they sing: ‘It’s mine, but I don’t own it/and it makes me sort of sad/to know this land is parcelled and exchanged.’
Once again, the singers are a...
13Jun No Comments
No Comments Jason Manford’s Muddle Class – Stockport Plaza
Jason Manford tweeted a video reminding the public that his stand-up special which he took all over the world was on BBC One tonight. He shared that we were in for a “great laugh” and luckily he didn’t disappoint with an hour of refreshing comedy that was warmly welcomed by audiences everywhere who continue to “stay at home”, several months into lockdown.
Having seen this man perform live in “Curtains” at Liverpool Empire Theatre back in January and also watching him impressively become ‘Hedgehog’ on ITV’s The Masked Singer, it came as no surprise that his latest tour ‘Muddle Class’ has also been a huge success . This particular show was recorded back in February at Stockport Plaza and Jason opens the show by asking everyone to leave all of their troubles outside, enjoy the magic of the...
13Jun No Comments
No Comments La Fille mal gardée – The Royal Ballet at Royal Opera House
Based on a 1789 French ballet originally created by Jean Dauberval, Frederick Ashton’s final full-length ballet for The Royal Ballet premiered in 1960, with this joyous and colourful affair a fiftieth revival from 2010. Inspired by his love for the Suffolk countryside, the piece is set on a farm and tells the story of the burgeoning love between Lise (Marianela Nuñez), the daughter of Widow Simon (William Tuckett), and Colas (Carlos Acosta), a local farmer. But Widow Simone has far more ambitious plans for her only daughter and is determined that she marry Alain (Jonathan Howell), the half-witted son of a wealthy landowner (Christopher Saunders). The only question is, will love win the day?
The ballet displays some of Ashton’s most virtuoso choreography in a ballet laced with exuberance...
13Jun No Comments
No Comments The WIZ Live! – The Shows Must Go On!
The Shows Must Go On! is a YouTube channel dedicated to streaming various musicals for people to watch from the comfort of their own homes. The shows are available for a 48-hour period and tonight it was The WIZ Live! that took centre stage. This particular production was filmed in New York at Grumman Studios and was originally shown live on television in 2015. The show was produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron and was a perfect way to keep you entertained on a Friday night in lockdown.
Before the show began, Black Lives Matter was shown on screen and this was something I was glad to see, especially given that the majority of this extremely talented cast are of black ethnicity.
The thing that hit me quite early on was the style of the music. The sorts of songs I am used to hearing f...
12Jun No Comments
No Comments The Madness of George III – National Theatre
Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III, directed by Adam Penford, tells the story of one of the first periods of George III’s illness which plagued the later years of his life and eventually led to the Regency of his son George IV. Wryly amusing and horrifying for its exposition of tortuous Georgian treatments of mental illness, this is a wonderful play which juxtaposes the appearances of royalty and the regular lives hidden beneath.
The play has a very grand opening which emphasises the importance of show for the Royal Family from the start. An assassination attempt is made on George III’s (Mark Gatiss) life and the Court points out how lucky the failed murderer is as England has asylums for her to go to whereas in France she would be executed, the veiled point being that for man...
11Jun No Comments
No Comments From Page to Stage is a Leap
Today I received an email from a publisher saying that while the theatres are dark it’s an ideal time to start giving reading playscripts a go, as it creates the same experience you’re missing while you’re not able to see a play.
Now, a publisher’s primary responsibility is to sell books, so I understand where they’re coming from in making the best of the situation to create a market for books which probably don’t sell that well to people who don’t work within theatre, but I do think it’s very important to point out that reading a playscript absolutely does not create the same experience we’re missing out on while our theatres sit empty during this crisis.
Obviously, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t read playscripts. Reading scripts can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience, ...
11Jun No Comments
No Comments Lockdown Interview – Willy Russell
On 11th May as part of Bloomsbury Academic and Stage-ed, I had the pleasure of being involved in a Q&A session with writer, composer, and lyricist Willy Russell, best known for Blood Brothers, Educating Rita, and Our Day Out, to name but a few of his celebrated works.
I have a confession to make: on a personal level, Russell had a huge influence on me both as a writer and actor. Our Day Out was the first musical I was cast in and Blood Brothers was the first musical I watched. So, to be part of this was something really special for me.
Russell spoke openly and honestly as to how Blood Brothers came about and how he wrote and composed the songs for the show, and in a session that was scheduled to last one hour, ever the gentleman, he gave us ninety minutes. With the soundtrack for...
11Jun No Comments
No Comments The Mountaintop – Royal Exchange Theatre
As we continue with closed theatre doors, the Royal Exchange Theatre has stepped forward with a reading of an Olivier Award winning play that was written by Katori Hall. Directed in 2016 at the Young Vic, by the current Co-Artistic Director of the Royal Exchange Theatre, Roy Alexander Weise; this play has been reprised with its original cast, to perform a reading to communicate the plays important message, to assist in igniting community spirit.
In partnership with Desara Productions and introduced by Katori Hall; the two artists perform the play from their homes.
For those who have been watching plays at home for the last few weeks, it is a familiar sight to see actors framed by the computer screen. In this case there is a background of a motel room to give the mind some e...
10Jun No Comments
No Comments Adventures with the Painted People – Pitlochry Festival Theatre/BBC Radio 3
Leading Scottish playwright David Greig’s first play since 2013 was going to be the centrepiece of the new season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until Covid-19 forced them to close their doors.
But the virus has forced theatres to become much more agile so Adventures with the Painted People has been rejigged to be part of their online Shades of the Tay offer, and not surprisingly given Greig’s reputation BBC Radio 3 snapped it up for their Arts in Quarantine series
It’s the same story set in 86AD as disgraced Roman officer and wannabe poet Lucius is captured by the fierce Picts lead by Caledonian witch with a heart Eithne, who is keen to use her captive to negotiate a peace with the disciplined legionnaires who are massacring their wild menfolk.
By a quirk of theatrical luck Ei...