An Ear to the Ground

The Tony Awards are regarded as the Oscars of the stage. Which is why we should be gushing with pride at this years nominees.
The British flag is flying high at this the 63rd ceremony. Not least the Broadway production of British hit musical Billy Elliot has picked up 15 nominations.
Other nods go to Stephen Mangan (Green Wing ) and Jessica Hynes (Spaced) who face the British cast of The Norman Conquests – Amanda Root and Paul Ritter – following the nominations for their Broadway performances in the Alan Ayckbourn plays.
Director Matthew Warchus is also up for best director for The Norman Conquests and God Of Carnage. HIs competition? Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd for Mary Stuart.
And the list goes on…
Harriet Walter (Mary Stuart), is up for best leading actress in a play opposite Hollywood screen stars Marcia Gay Harden and Jane Fonda,
Meanwhile Stephen Daldry, director of Billy Elliott: The Musical.is lapping up all the attention. Daldry directed the 2000 Oscar-nominated film which the original West End production is based upon. Billy Elliot will surely be favourite for best musical and best original music for Sir Elton John. Sir Elton, however, will go head-to-head with Dolly Parton in the best music category. And touch competitions comes from graduates Shrek, Rock of Ages and Next to Normal for best musical.
In nominations for plays, Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and former Sopranos star James Gandolfini are shortlisted for best actor, with Jane Fonda up for best actress.
British stage stars Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter are also nominated for their work in Mary Stuart, which is in the running for best revival.
Winners will be revealed on Sunday June 7 in a glitzy ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

Simon Pegg is Hollywood hot stuff at the moment. And the 39-year-old British comedy star told the LA Times that he’s never felt hotter than in his Starfleet uniform.
Yes Star Trek has had a re-work. And while we may know Pegg from Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, from now on he will be known as Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, played originally by the late James Doohan.
It cost a whopping $130-million to make the revival. And in it director J.J. Abrams takes us back to the 1960s TV series.
The trailer looks incredible and hopes to win over a generation of new fans.
Lets hope they don’t alienate the old ones.
Anyone who has an unhealthy appetite for horror and comics will know that this is film gold.
Abrams has conceded that he was never an impassioned fan of “Trek” but his take on the mythology promises to be intriguing considering his television success with Alias, Lost and Fringe as well as his work as director of Mission Impossible III.
Beam us up please.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine has kicked off the summer season in style. The film is a high-paced spectacular filled with action, romance, humour and some fine CGI. Following the success of the original trilogy, there’s seemingly a lot of pressure riding on this flick, particularly after reports of expensive re-shoots, on-set fights and leaks about an incomplete version. The question is, does it live up to the hype?

Continue reading REVIEW – X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Does anyone remember the Beverley Craven? The dark haired songstress won a Brit award back in 1992 and had a classic hit Promise Me. After years of enjoying maternal domesticity, the Brit Award-winning singer, songwriter and piano player is back in action and gearing up for a new album release and Autumn tour. This after having three daughters by her songwriter and musician husband Colin Campsie, and undergoing successful treatment for breast cancer in 2004.
LOOKING BACK
Beverley’s first break was a brief stint touring with soul legend Bobby Womack (who tried to sign Beverley to his record label).
And then thanks to Go West’s manager, John Glover, secured a major music publishing deal with Warner Brothers. Followed by a development contract with Epic record label. She went on to record with Paul Samwell Smith (Cat Stevens, Carly Simon and All About Eve).
SPOTLIGHT ON…
Yadda yadda yadda. Needless to say, after all the hype, her self-titled album Beverley Craven was released in July 1990 to a disappointing response. If not for a spot on Wogan and Top of the Pops the album would never have got anywhere. And then there was Beverley’s appearance at a charity concert at Wembley arena in aid of Kurdish refugees, (televised to an estimated audience of 50,000,000) which gave Promise Me a good push to No.3 in the charts. Followed by other hits such as Holding On and Woman To Woman which won her top spot at Sir Bob Monkhouses’ 70th birthday celebration, as well Capital Radio’s Help a London child charity, the Night of the Proms and a Unicef gala hosted by Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore.
In February 1992, Beverley performed at the ‘Brits’ Awards show (following her nomination in three categories), winning the Best British Newcomer Award. She spent much of 1992 revelling in motherhood.
Shortly after releasing her third album, Mixed Emotions’ and somewhat disillusioned by the music industry, Beverley famously turned her back on the glittering show-biz parties and glamorous globe-trotting to raise her three daughters (Mollie, now 17, Brenna, 14 and Connie, 12) with her songwriter/musician husband Colin Campsie.
In 2004 she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And has since been given the all-clear. It’s an experience that she has drawn on in her music.
Well the story certainly sets her up for popularity. However the musical landscape is now a lot tougher to break in to than back then.
If you like the lights down low and some heartfelt piano playing with a soft singing voice above then Beverley is for you. Her seductively soulful voice delivers her gift for rendering a story into song, telling of the wavering temperament of love.
Anyone wanting a sneek preview, can catch Beverley at The Lowry on June 7.
Did you know?
Get this Tambrands marketing experts deemed her ‘the most popular performer among 20-35 year-old Tampax consumers’! The following Christmas she played a sell-out show at the Royal Albert Hall.

Having a laugh and raising money for a good cause. Can’t be a bad idea.
Sunday July 5 a host of talent will stand up at The Lowry in Salford in aid of Christies Hospital with all the acts performing free of charge to help raise as much money as possible.
The night will star a dazzling array of award winning comedy from the cream local talent and stars of the international comedy scene.
The who’s who…

JUSTIN MOORHOUSE (pictured): Key 103 DJ and Star of Channel 4’s ‘Phoenix Nights’. Described by Jimmy Carr as “Easily my favourite comedian”. Go to his website to find out more.
JASON COOK: Best International Act at the New Zealand Comedy Festival 2008. “He doesn’t lose his crowd for one second,” said The Metro. Go to his website to find out more.
DALISO CHAPONDA: Best Newcomer Nominee, Montreal Just For Laughs Festival 2006. “Had the audience won over instantly” BBC online
GARY MORRIS: Co founder of comedy sketch team ‘Slaughter House Live’ this comic, said Edinburgh Evening News would “warrant a full show in his own right.”
PHIL BUCKLEY: Star of ITV’s ‘Glee Time’ & Channel M’s ‘The Basement’. “Downright hilarious. Interspersed with savvy observations” Three Weeks. In 2008, he was a finalist in the City Life North-West Comedian Of The Year competition. In 2008, he was also a finalist in the City Life North-West Comedian Of The Year competition.
Where? The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
When? 8pm – 9pm
How much? £15
Contact? 0870 787 5780
More information? www.thelowry.com

Variety is back at the top of the bill. It’s no longer old hat. Or so it seems… ITV did recently return this old-school formula to prime-time with hit show, For One Night Only. Judging by the popularity of Brucie and other programmes, such as Britain’s Got Talent, it seems variety is the kind of night out many people are looking for.
Variety, as they say, is the spice of life and Library Theatre’s line up on Sunday March 29 for Variety Live looks set to justify that title.
Promising a ‘heady mix of intelligent humour; brilliantly observed character comedy, and sweet sweet music.’
For one night only promises to combine exciting hosts with top quality comedy, dazzling speciality ats and massive music stars.
The line-up looks enticing. Not least comedian and impressionist Steve Nallon, whose memorable impressions of the likes of Sir David Attenborough, Alan Bennett, Roy Hattersley, and most famously of all, Margaret Thatcher, made him one of the best-loved voices on the legendary ITV satire show Spitting Image.
Variety Lives is the second of two comedy and music nights at the Library Theatre in Manchester. The bill is completed by laconic and lugubrious stand-up and star of cult TV series Red Dwarf Hattie Hayridge; smart and sassy veteran comedy-musician Ronnie Golden, who also comperes; and jazz and sweet soul singer/songwriter Carol Grimes.
Will it tempt new audiences to the stage door. Undoubtedly so. It certainly ticks a lot of boxes. So if you don’t like one thing you may enjoy another. Everyone goes home happy.
Sunday 29 March 2009, 8pm. Tickets £14.70. Box office: 0161 236 7110

Liv Lorent’s emotive choreography has always won acclaim. Not only in her native north, but also among illustrious peers at Sadler’s Wells and around the UK.
To say her programmes are exceptional doesn’t really do them justice. The award-winning Luxuria, a contemporary dance piece about love, lust and romantic yearning like most of her work leaves audiences full of emotion and joy.
Any chance to see her should not be missed. HOoray, then that her latest project, Designer Body, comes to the Lowry this week.
Another ingenious set up: seven dancers balancing on revolving turntables. Through the show the dancers are transformed as layers of clothing slip away. A journey from one designer body to another.
The dancers have their work cut out for them having to manouevre on revolving plinths with speeds of up to 20rpm. But that just adds to the danger factor. Originality always wins out.
As with all Liv’s work the performance will be rich in every element. Not least the sound. This is a specially commissioned soundscore by :zoviet*france. Expect also incredible costumes from outurier and long-term balletLORENT collaborator Paul Shriek. And exquisite lighting of designer Malcolm Rippeth.
I can’t wait.
March 13-14 at The Lowry. For tickets call The Lowry Box Office on 0870 787 5780.

Continue reading Designer Body

Once in a while you trot out to the theatre to see some new comedy and come back buzzing with excitement because you know what you’ve just witnessed is the beginnings of something pretty special. Nobody at The Dancehouse Theatre on Oxford Road Saturday March 7 could disagree.

This brand spanking new sketch show is made up of six-strong troupe of ladies smacks of the early Comic Strip days.
After a successful debut at The Edinburgh Festival 2008 Lady Garden has been touring the UK with a 50 minute show and has appeared at BBC Comedy Presents, Brighton Fringe Festival and Manchester Comedy Festival among many others.
And from the moment they entered with a rather surreal barrage of contemporary dance and words in an off the wall Vagina Monologue skit, the audience were in stitches. All very good signs for what was to come.
The material didn’t disappoint, inspite of the girls young age span [somewhere around the mid 20s at a guess). It is extremely polished and more importantly relevant, much in the same way that Victoria Wood always was.
We are treated to Facebook tales, Mancunian ways, a highbrow art-review and more during this fast-paced show.
Each sketch flows seamlessly in to the next. From a parody of thee Australian Tourist Board’s ‘So where the bloody hell are you?’ to the Girls on Town “Get your muff out”.
A personal favourite, the Vintage scene where three of the girls outdo each other for the best vintage clothing and the hideous Heart Health advisor with backing singers.
They may be young, but there’s impressive maturity and subtlety in Lady Garden’s work. The facebook and Tesco call centre sketches are some of the best bits. You can see flashes of things that remind you of the genious of The Fast Show, Bill Hicks, Nighty Night, Green Wing, the silliness of Monty Python, French & Saunders and more.
One of the girls, Beattie Edmondson, it transpires is the daughter of Jennifer Saunders and Edmonson. You couldn’t get much better comedy stock! Not that the other girls are any less impressive.
The final sketch is an appalling best man’s speech matched by the Maid of Honour’s rap.
Lady Garden, you are brilliant. For your sheer uglymindedness, for your songs and voice overs imbetween packing lyrical punch. Real edge and great acting.
Keep your eye on these girls in the future. BBC 3, 2 and 1 beckon. IT would be well worth the licence fee.

Continue reading REVIEW: Lady Garden

Finally, Winslet wins the best actress award that has eluded her for so long.
The golden statue was received for her role as Hanna Schmitz in Stephen Daldry’s The Reader, her sixth Oscar nomination.
The 33-year old got her first Oscar nomination some time ago. 1996, in fact, for supporting actress in period drama Sense and Sensibility. Previous nominations she failed to capitalise on included a best actress nod for Titanic in 1998. She was last nominated two years ago for best actress for Little Children.
Winslet continued: “I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here and I’d like to thank some of the people along the way who had faith in me – my friends and my family, especially my mum and dad who are in this room somewhere. Dad, whistle or something ‘cos then I’ll know where you are.”
She paid tribute to director Daldry and told fellow nominee Meryl Streep to “suck that up”. She also beat “goddesses” Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married, Angelina Jolie for Changeling and Melissa Leo for Frozen River.
Indian composer AR Rahman won two Oscars for his work in Danny Boyle’s Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman took one Oscar for the best score and another for his song Jai Ho from the film. He spoke in his speech of Slumdog Millionaire’s themes of hope and optimism.
Well done Boyle who took 8 Oscars for this rags to riches film. His brilliance and energy over the years has now been applauded among peers. Well deserved.
Only seven other films in the 81-year-history of the Oscars have won eight or more awards.
Shakespeare in Love was the last to win big with seven statuettes in 1999.
There was surprise that Sean Penn beat Mickey Rourke to the best actor award. Rourke was favourite after a career comeback made him the sentimental favourite and his role in The Wrestler already won him a Golden Globe and a Bafta.

Continue reading Winslet triumphs at the Oscars

****
The Library Theatre
It begins in a quaint Cambridge garden in 1968 with a piper playing Syd Barrett’s Golden Hair and ends in Prague in 1990 at a Rolling Stones concert.

Rock’n'roll certainly has a lot of stories to tell and Stoppard has triumphed in his narrative here. While I am a little rusty on Czech history and political theory, it’s quite easy to keep up with the challenging discussions and heated debates whipping across the stage re Marxism and materialism among others.
It seems clear there are two main worlds with a few frayed communist strands either side. There are the freedom-fighters and the Marxists. Our main protagonist is an exiled Czech who returns to his country just as the Soviet’s take over.
Jan, however, is more interested in the Velvet Underground than signing the endless freedom petitions that his friends bring round. And why not? Maybe put on a bit of Pink Floyd instead. Hooray! We’ve all been there. Not that Jan played wonderfully by ex Corrie kipnapper, Graeme Hawley, isn’t a thinker. That he is. And it takes some determination to keep on track with his fertile mind in the first half.
Especially when he’s in rebuttles with old Cambridge don Max, played by the brilliant MIlton McRae. It takes Graeme a couple of scenes to find his acting stride against veteran MIlton, but they make a formidable pairing for Stoppard’s relentless and witty dialogue. Although some of the communist jokes may have been lost on me, I am sure the learned among the audience were filling up their intellectual cups at a fountain a political philosophical joy. Voltaire would be proud.
I found the convictions of Max riveting, the obsessive vinyl collecting of Jan endearing and was looking forward to the second half. A triumph on it’s own.
It must have been Stoppard’s intention to lift the mood for part two. Each scene illustrated through hypnotic sounds of Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead the Beach Boys and John Lennon, whose demise is duly noted in the plot.
Mention must be made of Cate Hamer who doubled as Max’s cancer-stricken wife and grown up daughter. She stole the show in all her scenes. Made me laugh and cry. Just wonderful. As was Leila Crerar as Elanor’s fiesty and free-spirited Czech student Lenka.
All was all the cast in fact. The balance between the characters all necessary to pull off this second act, the dialogue at times became indulgent and at other times skipped with pleasure across the stage.
Stoppard’s humour is not lost in the dinner scene. A cheering observation of everyday thinkers at that time.
I will say no more so as not to give it away, but director Chris Honer certainly gave Stoppard’s subject an necessary visual musical framework to take in.
Go to www.librarytheatre.com for more info.
For more reviews go to City Life