Chris back for a seasonal visit
WHEN Christopher
Timothy was a youngster he loved playing with puppets, so its easy to
understand his pleasure at landing a role with strings attached in the
new production of Alan Ayckbourn's festive play,
Season's Greetings.
The veteran actor plays Uncle Bernard whose puppet
show for the children at an annual Christmas family gathering is a real
hoot as things go wrong during hilarious rehearsals when the nasty Mr
Wolf meets the three little piggies.
There are mistakes galore, and that's part of the fun
as well as involving a considerable amount of skill in Christopher
making the various errors appear genuine when he is handed the puppets
by another family member.
Timothy said: "I saw Matthew Kelly in this part eight
years ago, and more recently, when I was in Haunting Julia at
Lichfield Garrick, he came to see me and when I told him I was going to
play Bernard, with the puppets, he said: 'Bloody hell, it took me weeks
to learn that.'
"But it's great fun. I was fascinated by puppets as a
kid, and one I had when I was eight or nine - a skeleton - is now
hanging in my office."
Christopher will be demonstrating his skill as an
amateur puppeteer and a rather dodgy doctor when Season's Greetings
opens next week at Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre.
And he will be grabbing the opportunity to visit
friends in Birmingham, like John Broom, a former props buyer for the
BBC. They became best mates when working at the old Pebble Mill
Television centre in Edgbaston. "Birmingham is my second home," he said.
He worked in the city when playing Mac McGuire in the
television series Doctors and James Herriot in the long-running
and much-loved All Creatures Great and Small.
"That's the worst thing about Pebble Mill going. It
was packed with a lot of talent, and a lot of really, really good stuff
came out of Birmingham.
"We had a party before they closed it and I was
sitting in the courtyard in the middle with some 'suits' from London. I
said to them 'This is a mistake, isn't it, this place closing', and one
of them replied: 'A mistake . . . a mistake! It's the biggest f******
mistake in broadcasting history.' And he was one of the 'big
boys'.
"It was a tragedy, an absolute tragedy. It should
never have happened. It was the most famous TV centre in the country".
Another member of the cast - Mathew Bose, who plays
sexy hunk Clive - also has links in the Midlands. He is friends of the
Ditchfield family who had a highly successful bakery in Walsall for many
years.
A keen painter, he is also looking forward to
visiting Walsall's famous art gallery.
Season's Greetings is Mathew's first stage play after
ten years in television, during which he was best known for his role as
Paul Lambert in Emmerdale.
The cast also includes Ricky Groves, of EastEnders
fame, who also did well in Strictly Come Dancing.
*Season's Greeting is at the Grand Theatre,
Wolverhampton, from November 21-26.
Paul Marston
Bob the singer back on song
BOB Geldoff is set to perform a rare concert at
Lichfield Garrick next May.
The Irish singer’s musical career was put on hold to
form Band Aid in 1984 then Live 8 and so on.
But earlier this year he released, How to
Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell, his first album for 10
years , which was a return to the Mercury label and has released two
singles this year, Silly Pretty Thing and Here’s To You.
He will be touring next year with his own band and
with songs from his days as lead singer with The Boomtown Rats.
He appears at the Garrick on Tuesday and Wednesday
May 22 and 23 – apparently he doesn’t like Mondays.
New Kid on
the barre in
Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet have snapped up
rising star Max Westwell from English National Ballet.
The young dancer, who joins
the company as a soloist, has built up an impressive reputation in his
short career and was a nominee in this year’s ENB Emerging Dancer Award
which was eventually won by
Shiori Kase, an artist at the ENB.
Westwell, aged 25, from London, was a former member of
National Youth Ballet and joined ENB in 2004, becoming first
artist in 2009 and subsequently junior soloist.
He also appeared in the BBC 4 documentary Agony & Ecstacy which followed ENB around in their 60th anniversary
year year revealing that being a ballet dancer is a hard, physically
demanding profession which takes it’s toll on both mind and body.
Westwell appeared in the well-watched clip of Romeo & Juliet rehearsals from the BBC programme when he and partner Sarah McIlroy, both exhausted, look at the sweat on Westlake’s back, faced a rehearsal in front of the whole company.
YouTube also has a couple of other clips of Westwell including this interview for Emerging Dancer – there is a dead 30 seconds at the end with a blanks screen by the way
And there is also a clip of Westwell’s performance of Les Bourgeois
Meanwhile other leavers and
joiners, along with promotions at Birmingham Royal Ballet include:
Promotions: Joseph Caley
- First Soloist to Principal, Tyrone Singleton -
Soloist to First Soloist, Rory Mackay - First Artist to
Soloist, Mathias Dingman - First Artist to Soloist,
Samara Downs - First Artist to Soloist, Céline Gittens -
First Artist to Soloist, Feargus Campbell - Artist to First
Artist and James Barton - Artist to First Artist.
Newcomers:
Artist Emily Smith from the Royal Ballet School and Soloist
Maureya Lebowitz from Winnipeg Ballet, who joined in May this year.
Elmhurst graduate Lewis Turner, who, after his Prix de Lausanne
Laureate year, continues with the Company as an Artist. Karla Doorbar
and Brandon Lawrence join from the Royal Ballet School as
Artists alongside Tzu-Chao Chou from Australian Ballet, who will
join as a Soloist.
Leavers: Video Archivist and former dancer and Principal Character Artist David Morse has retired after 50 years with the Royal Ballet Companies. First Soloist Andrea Tredinnick has also retired from dance after being with the Company for 24 years. First Soloist Alexander Campbell leaves the Company take up a position as a Soloist with The Royal Ballet, and Artist Christopher Rodgers-Wilson returned home to dance with Australian Ballet. Artists Sonia Aguilar, Dusty Button, Machi Moritaka and Anniek Soobroy have also left the Company.
Hancock and Hennegan – a
new team
MAVERICK THEATRE, launched in Birmingham by artistic
director Nick Hennegan, has started a new offshoot – the West London
People’s Theatre – with a nine-minute reading from his Henry V – Lion
of England.
Actress Sheila Hancock, CBE, was involved in the
event at Chiswick Fair, with actors who included a recent drama school
graduate, a local amateur actor, a technician who wanted to try acting
and a rock musician who wanted to write music for the performance. She
described Maverick as “a remarkable company,”
It started in 1994, but began London operations only
last year. The West London People’s Company is a pro/am theatre concept
aimed at raising the creative and artistic standards of the
participants.
Hennegan was appropriately excited. "It was a perfect
mix of skills, talents and aspirations and just what the People's
Theatre is all about", he said. “Sheila was marvellous. Her talent shone
through and it was perfect that a pro/am theatre concept should be
launched by one of the top theatre professionals."
He said that the new venture’s future is dependent on
funding, but it was hoped to attract a mix of support and mount either a
full-bloodied, large-cast new play or a Shakespeare production in the
next few months.
He added: “We're also looking for our own performance
space, so if anyone has a free space in West London or wants to host us
and our new audiences, please get in touch.”
Further details are available at
www.mavericktheatre.co.uk.
IAN Dickens is perhaps more deserving of honours for services to
the theatre than aging film stars and entertainers given gongs rather
like long service awards because they are famous and have outlasted
contemporaries.
He is one of that small band which includes Bill Kenwright and Middle Ground’s Michael Lunney who are battling to keep live theatre . . . well . . . alive.
They produce the plays and musicals which fill stages
up and down the country week after week. Theatre only survives as long
as it has something to put on its stage apart from the likes of
tribute acts and clairvoyants.
Which is where the likes of Dickens, Kenwright and
Lunney come in with a steady stream of quality drama.
Kenwright brought the national tour of The Pitmen
Painters to Wolverhampton Grand last month, the best play so far of
2011 while Middle Ground gave us Rolf Saxon and Kelly McGillis in
Frankie & Johnny in the Clair De Lune just over a year ago in what
was one of my top plays of 2010.
Now it is Ian Dickens turn again as he brings his
Summer Play Season to Wolverhampton Grand for a third consecutive year
in what is almost a return to those heady days of weekly Rep.
Four weeks, four plays and, in a departure from Rep, four casts to provide a treat for theatre goers and perhaps encourage some of those more at home with the telly in the corner to get out and try a drop of the live stuff.
The Grand are pitching in with a season ticket for
all four shows at £48 – £12 a play - which is less than a round of
drinks these days.
The season starts with two comedy thrillers,
Busybody which opens on June 28, by Jack Popplewell and Death
by Fatal Murder by Peter Gordan, which is the second in the
Inspector Pratt trilogy.
For those who saw Murdered to Death last year the inept Pratt has a tendency to see body counts rise once he starts to investigate in what is an Agatha Christie send up complete with an interfering old biddy of an amateur sleuth in Miss Maple and a cast of characters who could have walked of an upmarket Cluedo board, old chap
David Callister is Pratt while Leslie Grantham is an
Italian Lothario with Richard Gibson (Herr Flick from ‘Allo ‘Allo)
shunning the Gestapo to join the chinless wonders of the English
aristocracy
Next up is an old fashioned gripping thriller,
Who Killed Agatha Christie? by Tudor Gates which does have plenty
of humour but the laughs are from the dark side rather than the belly
induced version of farce and slapstick.
This is unusual in that it is a two hander with Neil
Roberts (Charmed and Life Bites) as a Arthur “Agatha”
Christie, a vitriolic theatre critic lured into a deadly trap by
stranger John Terry (no not that one) played by Stephen Rashbrook (Emmerdale).
Terry is a playwright with homicidal tendencies who is convinced his
career is on the skids because of the scathing reviews he has received
from the critic.
I might add, just to be safe, that even without seeing it this is the finest play and production the world of theatre has ever known and, as a critic, I cannot praise it enough . . . is that OK Mr Gates?
NEW ADAPTATION
The final play in the quartet is a new adaptation of The Woman in White by Nicola Boyce, who, incidentally, is also Mrs Ian Dickens.
Wilkie Collins, who wrote the original novel which
was first serialised in 1859, was one of the first mystery and detective
novels. For a time Collins was more popular than Dickens (Charles not
Ian).
The play stars Peter Amory (Emmerdale) and Karen Ford (Grange Hill).
The opener Busybody
was a bit of a disappointment for its star Tracy Shaw, who was Maxine
Peacock in Coronation Street for nine years.
She has had some heavy duty theatre roles including
appearing in Sir David Hare's The Blue Room
and T. S. Elliot’s Murder in the Cathedral which are not
exactly a barrel of laughs.
She said: “I looked at the script and thought ‘great,
I am going to be doing comedy’ but found out that my part is straight
with no laughs.”
Not that that means there are no laughs and she says
that the twists and turns in the plot with the super sleuth cleaning
women finding the clues has everyone guessing as to the murderer.
“Most people think they know at the interval but
most of them are wrong by the end. It is very funny and very clever.”
Busybody runs from
Jun 28 to July2, Death by Fatal Murder July 5 to July 9,
Who Killed Agatha Christie? July 12 to July 16 and The Woman in
White July 19 to July 23.
Portrait produces a very funny picture
Kim Carnock (left) and Lorna Meehan painting their own portrait of being an actress
IT was once said that the most oft
spoken line by professional actors was “Do you want fries with that?”
Apocryphal or not it serves to remind that at any
one time far more professional actors are resting, as the term goes,
than entering stage left in what is one of the most precarious
professions known to man.
Even those who are working are often not plying their trade for the Equity minimum rate – principles are fine but they don’t pay the bills.
Kim Charnock has been treading the boards, most of
the time, for seven years and has survived all that the profession has
thrown at her - so far . . . (can’t be too careful).
Not only has she survived them but she has dramatised
them with Lorna Meehan in their comedy Portrait of an Actress . . .
The play, which is more a collection of episodes
connected by a common theme, also explores that relentless
struggle for actors at the non-Oscar end of the profession who often
have to choose between artistic integrity and agreeing to underpaid
roles just to pad out the old CV and pay the bills.
Kim and Lorna find another side to their colourful and well observed portrait of an actress
That might sound a bit serious and heavy but the
portrait the pair hang before you is shamelessly bitchy, witty and
downright funny.
The play had a successful tour of fringe festivals
last year and has been revived for a Midland tour starting at The Other
RSC, the pub theatre at The Station in Station Street in Sutton
Coldfield on Thursday, March 3.
Kim, 29, originally from Bournemouth, said: “It is
really about the trials and tribulations of being an actress. It started
off as a comedy sketch I wrote based on a workshop I had been to.
“Then I started to work with Lorna and we started to
write comic scenarios based on actual events.
“It was about 20 sketches but that has been whittled
down. It includes portrait of an actress on the dole, as a workshop
leader, at a RADA audition, as a critic – just things that have
happened to us.”
The pair have been likened to French and Saunders and
their delivery is assured and quickfire with rapid costume and character
changes.
Kim, who started her professional career in Leicester where she was a student and drifted to Birmingham following the work which has also included education and workshops. With, Lorna aged 30, who comes from Birmingham, she helped start the RoguePlay Theatre Company which has rapidly been making a name for itself with some innovative productions and its home grown work.
RoguePlay was first based at The Custard
Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham then, briefly at The Old Fire Station in
Moseley, and now lives at New Life Baptist Church in
Kings Heath.
Portrait of an Actress will be at The Other RSC Pub Theatre, The Station Pub, Station Street Sutton Coldfield, on Thursday March 3 at 8pm. Tickets £8 (£6 students and concessions)
Details 0788 682 0535.
It will be at the Old Joint Stock, Birmingham on Friday March 4 and
Saturday March 5 at 8pm. Tickets £10.
More info about Rogueplay
www.rogueplay.co.uk
Romance – well, Romantica
– is in the air
THERE has been an
overwhelming response to the idea of recreating Nick Hennegan's hit BRMB
radio show Romantica
on-line over the Valentine’s weekend – so now there will be an
additional show from 8 pm to midnight on Valentine’s Night, Monday,
February 14, and sponsors are being sought.
"We're hoping to raise a
modest £500 for our Youth Academy" said Maverick Theatre Company
artistic director and former dj Nick Hennegan. "We're also looking for
business owners who will sponsor the show.
“For £100 there will be sponsored presenter, plus
credits on our website. If you are a business wanting to get your
name out to a professional, artistic and creative ABC1-2 audience and
bask in the goodwill this project is creating, then please email me at
nick@mavericktheatre.co.uk “
The idea of re-creating the hugely successful show
seems to have hit a nerve with former and current BRMB listeners and
already the first requests and dedications are coming in – and the show
is to be repeated on Valentine’s Day. Initial plans are for this to be a
recording, but it could be a completely new show if the initial level of
interest is maintained.
For requests see
http://pledgie.com/campaigns/14451
Nick Hennegan said: "Like most Maverick theatre
ideas, it was a chat in a pub that made me think that here was something
we could do as a fundraiser. Using current, cutting edge technology and
good old fashioned emotion!
"The music will be a mix of classics and modern love
songs. There are some stunning songs around at the moment and I'm
looking forward to putting them all together. I've had a lot of emails
and phone calls wishing us luck.
"It's been a long time since I last did this show,
but with everyone’s help I hope it will be possible to recreate the
feeling and atmosphere we had 20-odd years ago!"
The first show will be broadcast on-line from 11 pm
on Saturday, February 12, to 3 am on Sunday, February 13.
Further information is available from the Maverick
Theatre Company (0121 444 0933), info@mavericktheatre.co.uk, Nick
Hennegan (0789 49 50 176) and
nick@mavericktheatre.co.uk.
Your chance to win a real
operatic gem!
A stunning crystal
necklace which features in Welsh National Opera’s new production of
Strauss’ Die Fledermaus
is to be given away after the final performance of the Company’s Spring
Season.
The ruby Psydelic Baccarat crystal
pendant will be worn in the opera by soprano Nuccia Focile, who is
performing the role of Rosalinde, and it will feature during a
magnificent party scene in Act 2.
The crystal necklace, inspired by the amulets of ancient Egypt, has been kindly supplied by Parkhouse the Jeweller in Cardiff and was chosen by the BAFTA and Olivier award winning costume designer Deirdre Clancy for use in this production.
Deirdre has created 42 individual
costumes for the production, which is set at the end of the 19th
Century.
Deirdre, who has previously
designed costumes for Helen Mirren and Judi Dench, said: “The Baccarat
jewellery works very well because the pieces are so eclectic. I
wanted to choose something which would be acceptable as a 1905 piece and
this contemporary piece works wonderfully.
“I wanted it to be joyful, but
while the shape of the costumes are pretty accurate to the period I have
looked at more modern influences for the fabric design - like Zandra
Rhodes - which adapt rather well to this.”
Parkhouse & Wyatt was first
established in 1794. In 1995, it became Parkhouse and in July 2000
the Parkhouse store in Cardiff was opened.
Parkhouse is an exclusive stockist of Cartier, IWC, Bulgari and Tiffany
in Wales and is located in the new St Davids 2 shopping centre.
Emma Strachan from Parkhouse said:
“We are delighted to be associated with Welsh
National Opera. WNO is a company of great talent and repute and is
an integral part of Welsh life. Our core values and professionalism
complement each other perfectly. To see one of our pieces of
Baccarat crystal in a production is a great honour and we look forward
to a fabulous season of opera.”
To enter the competition to win the
necklace, just visit
www.wno.org.uk/fledermaus
from 31st January.
Bellinis and Divas with a touch of canapés
WITH guest performances from West End stars,
the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is putting on a night of Diva
music and has joined forces with local businesses to make it an extra
special evening.
The Definitive Divas concert conducted by
Gareth Hudson, on Friday 28 January, is a celebration of divas through
the decades, with a programme packed full of memorable songs including
Every Time We Say Goodbye, My Heart Will Go On, and I
Will Survive!
The night kicks off with pre-concert pampering, a
glass of bubbles and complimentary health and beauty treatments. Vibro-Suite
Health and Wellness Club will be providing mini neck massages and
showcasing their VibroGym Evolution fitness equipment, and a stunning
range of Vicki Marks Jewellery will be exhibited, with special discount
prices.
Then, to keep the night going, this will be followed
by an exclusive after-show party in Nuvo – one
of Birmingham’s coolest cocktail bars located in Brindley Place. This
includes a Bellini and canapé reception and a complimentary cocktail to
get in the mood!
Stephen Maddock, Chief Executive of the CBSO said,
“Our Friday Night Classics Concerts are designed to bring favourite
tunes to the Symphony Hall stage and are always popular with people in
Birmingham. This concert in particular brings the West End stars to the
Midlands, to honour the glitz and glamour of bygone personalities such
as Judy Garland, Whitney Houston and Tina Turner.
“It’s great to be working in partnership with other
local businesses to make this an extra special night. The CBSO is always
keen to collaborate in order to broaden our audience and bring great
music to as many people as possible.”
Other concerts coming up in the Classics Series
include The John Lennon Songbook featuring Curtis Stigers in
March, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber® in April,
A Night at the Opera in April and A Night at the Oscars
in May.
To book for Definitive Divas: The package
costs £30, including show tickets, programme, goodie bag, pre-concert
reception and after-show Bellini and Canapés at
Nuvo Bar. Call Ellie Griffiths on 0121 616 6514, or email
egriffiths@cbso.co.uk
A century of pantos all in one show
Orville with some bloke called Keith . . . Arras or Harris or something like that at rehearsals for Dick Whittington with Jeffrey Holland in the background
IF Joan Collins needs any advice
as she embarks on her first sortie into panto at the Birmingham
Hippodrome she could do worse than ask our very own Jeffrey Holland.
The Hi-Di-Hi star started his career with the
Grange Players at the Grange Playhouse and is now their patron, trained
in Brimingham and his first job was at the Belgrade in Coventry.
His long career has seen him in 39 pantos where he has a reputation of being one of the tope dames in the business.
You can see for yourself in Dick Whittington where he is Dame Felicity Fitzwarren. To Holland panto is something special.
He said: “It is just a unique form of expression,
unique to the British theatre and it is always the first time a kid goes
to the theatre and mum and dad take the kids to see what they liked
seeing when they were kids, I know I did.
“This promises to be a fantastic show.”
Then again she could also ask Keith Harris, or for
more sense, Orville who along with Cuddles are the rat catchers. They
have managed a mere 47 pantomimes “which is quite a lot,” said Harris,
“as I am only 32.”
My first I was nine which was long time ago before
Orville was an egg then my next I was 14 when I played a babe in Babes
in the Wood which is now Roding Hood, then missed a year then from 16 I
started a ventriloquism act and have worked ever since.
“In Birmingham I was here with Larry Grayson in, I
think, 1976 then in 1985-86 we started in our own Humpty Dumpty.”
Orville has apparently been refluffed several time
over the years and Harris has also directed some of the shows he has
been in but this year is a new experience for him.
If audiences went to a panto starring just one of the big names on show at the Hippodrome they would not be disappointed but here they have a whole galaxy to choose from.
Harris said: “This is the first time in 30 years that
I have not really topped the bill but when this was offered we jumped at
the chance to work in this theatre which is known as the best in the
country and we haven’t been in Birmingham for such a long time and to
work with such great names, such a professional company. It is a very
good mix and we hope it will be a very successful pantomime.
“I think we are there very much for the children.
King Rat and Queen Rat are quite scary in a tongue in cheek way and
Julian Clarey as Spirit of the Bells has his own way of performing and
we . . . we are the old variety turn that gives ‘em what for.
“It’s great and everyone wants their picture taken
with Orville because they grew up with him and we have a new generation
who see him for the first time.”
Julian Clarey has been doing panto for about ten
years and this looks like it is going to be an exciting one.
“This one is very funny, very magical. You won’t feel
short changed. I enjoy panto and I always look forward to it. Much of my
time I am travelling around on my own and it nice o be part of a company
and to be in one place rather than in motorway service stations.”
After this he will be writing another book then
another tour . . . “life goes on”.
By the way, if anyone out there is looking to put on
Twelfth Night, the one serious theatrical role Julian would like to play
is Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
It may be one of Shakespeare’s comic characters but
there is a lot of pathos in the role of the fool who is constantly being
taken advantage off by Sir Toby Belch.
Dick Whittington also stars Nigel Havers, as King
Rat, with about four pantos to his name to bring up the century. Finally
is the biggest star of all, a Hollywood legend making her first venture
into the land of thigh slapping, Joan Collins as Queen Rat who aims to
be bad.
Dick Whittington runs from December 18 to January 30, 2011
Roger Clarke
350 Pearls of pleasure
WOLVERHAMPTON-based Pearl
Communications Ltd has given 350 preview performance tickets of
Aladdin at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre
to pupils of Wilkinson Primary School, Bilston, which was destroyed by
fire in October.
The children are currently housed
as a temporary measure on the school site in demountable classrooms.
Head Teacher Tina Gibbon says: "It’s been a difficult few months for the
children and staff after the fire so this is a perfect treat just before
Christmas.”
Pearl Communications Ltd,
formed 12 months ago, is a business mobile phone specialist based in the
Pressworks building in Berry Street, in Wolverhampton city centre. It
provides help with all mobile phone queries and offers a free dedicated
account management service throughout a business contract.
It has provided the doctors and
staff at Compton Hospice with BlackBerry handsets, enabling vital
prescriptions to be edited, managed and forwarded on the
move instead of by using fax machines.
Aladdin
runs from December 11 to January 30.
LINDA LUSARDI will be in next year's panto at
Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre. She is going to be the Wicked Queen in
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – definitely a different role from
the one I watched her perform on the same stage a long time ago.
I can't remember what the play was, but my abiding
memory is of her having a romp under bedclothes that were turbulent
enough to suggest that there was considerable action underneath.
Alas, imaginations were put to the sword when she got out of bed – wearing tights
.
Arts faces 30 per cent cuts
THE Government today announced a 29.6 per cent cut in Arts Council England funding and told ACE that it should only pass on 15 per cent of cuts to its so called front line beneficiaries - the organisation it regularly provides with funding.
This means that not only will major organisations face cuts but the smaller and less visible areas of theatre and the arts will have to bear greater cuts and many may lose funding completely.
Michael Boyd, Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company said: “Any cut is hard to take and 29.6% will hit the arts and audiences hard.
"We understand that cuts in Arts Council England funding to regularly funded organisations may be 15% over 4 years. This will be a big blow to theatres - especially those who will also be losing local authority funding - and audiences will be the poorer.
"We are concerned that the
settlement for the Arts Council doesn’t allow it sufficient room to
manoeuvre. We know cuts
are likely to be front-loaded next year, but we hope they can be applied
so as to allow time to plan for the future, reduce costs efficiently and
find new sources of funding.
"We are pursuing ways to cut our costs and maximise
our income, and will do what we can to support smaller organisations by
continuing our collaborations with other artists, professional and
amateur companies and drama schools.
"We
will wait to hear more detail following the Arts Council’s national
meeting on 25 October before we can say what impact the cuts
will have on the work of the RSC. As a supporter of the principle
of arm’s length funding, I find it disappointing that the Arts Council
has taken a bigger hit than the DCMS overall as they've already made
significant savings in the recent past.”
Making music from the pieces
THERE is a clever new move in the latest production of
Chess which will fascinate lovers of musicals when the latest version,
directed by Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood, returns in the
West Midlands.
Dressed in remarkable black and white costumes, the talented cast
actually play the music as well as act and sing, carrying their various
instruments around stage with no obvious discomfort.
It actually looks good, as audiences at Wolverhampton's Grand
Theatre saw in October and Birmingham Hippodrome audiences in February will be able
to judge for themselves.
After a matinee performance at the Royal and Derngate Theatre,
Northampton, leading lady Shona White told me: "At a question and answer
session in Newcastle someone asked if the cast were miming with the
instruments.
"But no, everyone is playing live, and it's quite phenomenal. I
have never done a show like this before. Some are playing five or six
different instruments, singing and dancing, and even lying on the floor.
It's been an amazing experience."
Shona, who has also appeared in the West End Musical, Wicked,
gives a brilliant performance as Hungarian-born Florence Vassy who
switches sides - and love - in the world chess championship, from
America's Freddie Trumper to Russia's Anatoly Sergievsky.
She sings beautifully, particularly in the famous duet with
Sergievsky's wife, Svetlana (Poppy Tierney)....I Know Him So Well. Then
Shona really has the audience on the edge of their seats as she closes
the show, joining Daniel Koek (Sergievsky) in a reprise of You and
I, before leading the company in another reprise, this time of the
Anthem. Gripping stuff.
Chess is not the greatest story for a musical, and I found the
first act rather heavy going and difficult to catch all the words over
the music, but the show moves up a gear or two when the love triangle
takes shape, and the big songs are stunning.
Daniel Koek, who has appeared in musicals like West Side Story,
has a key role in Chess for the third time - having appeared in a
Norwegian production and at the Royal Albert Hall.
He said: "The Scandinavian version was completely different, and
this show is a great follow-up for me after playing Tony in West Side
Story. The book is not particularly strong, in my opinion, but the music
is great.
"It's like an opera, in many respects....a rock opera."
Shona and Daniel are eagerly looking forward to starring in Chess
when it arrives in the West Midlands, with a visit to some of
Birmingham's curry houses a definite attraction.
Audiences here can look forward to stunning songs like One Night
in Bangkok - accompanied by rather raunchy scenes - Pity the Child, and,
of course, the emotional You and I and I Know Him So Well.
Chess runs at
Birmingham Hippodrome from February 8-12.
Paul Marston
Four into one is just fine
Getting the bird: Chris Simmonds gets to grip with a whole flock in the RSC property workshop
THE Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford upon Avon has taken on four new apprentices as part of its Craft Apprenticeship Scheme.
This is just part of the RSC’s new Think Theatre initiative, which encourages more people to consider theatre as a career..
Chris Simmonds, aged 18, from Lower Quinton, near Stratford upon Avon, and a former pupils at Chipping Campden School, has joined the property workshop on a three year apprenticeship after A-levels in Product Design, Media Studies and Psychology.
Chris works with Head of Props, John Evans, and recently made 25
collapsing roses for Twelfth Night and is currently working on a latex
screen for Arabian Nights.
Chris has always had an interest in theatre and has enjoyed every second
of his apprenticeship so far.
Paul Riddle, aged 28, from Birmingham, (pictured left) has joined the Scenic Art Department as a paintshop apprentice. He is originally from Santiago in Chile and moved to Glasgow with his mother when he was 17.
He studied multi-media design and production and his subsequent jobs in Glasgow and Birmingham have included working in the music and creative industries, in call centres, offices, comedy clubs, clothes shops and pubs. To date, Paul has worked on Twelfth Night, A Tender Thing and the Julius Caesar floor. He started during one of the department’s busiest times as they were working from 9am to 6pm on Twelfth Night. Paul is also a musician and enjoys photography and graphic design.
JOINERY SHOP
Will Fagan, aged 19 from Leamington Spa is an apprentice in the Scenic Workshops. Will had settled on a career in carpentry and was working in a joinery shop
Apprenticed to the scenic workshop, Leamington Spa born and bred Will is 19 years old.
After attempting A Levels, Will settled on a foundation course in carpentry, and then found a job in a joinery workshop. So far he’s worked on making big flats, panels and stairs. He is surprised at the amount of steel-work that is involved in sets and is looking forward to have a go at that.
In the same workshop is Sam Reynolds, also 19, seem below, left, with Will) from Leamington who previously worked for Paul Dyer, a Stratford upon Avon based landscape gardener. The job took him to Scotland for six months when he worked on JK Rowling’s garden.
19 year old Sam is from Leamington Spa and is on a bench joinery course at Morton Morrell, Warwickshire College. He is finding his apprenticeship ‘brilliant’.
Sam was expecting to be treated as a labourer, sweeping up and picking
up after people but has found himself thrown in at the deep end.
He is constantly observed, but he has found much more trust in
his abilities and work than he has found in his experience on a building
site.
So far, he has worked on a few different floors – including the Twelfth Night floor, and helped make the trap door used by Richard Wilson and James Fleet.
Vikki Heywood, RSC Executive Director said: “It’s great to welcome Chris, Paul, Will and Sam to the RSC. It’s a win-win situation for us: we get to benefit from the skills they will develop here, and the apprentices get to start their careers working with our highly talented craftspeople.
THINKING THEATRE
“The Scheme illustrates perfectly our new campaign Think Theatre. We feel very passionately about promoting the theatre industry to school, college and university leavers, and we want to build a more diverse workforce here in Stratford, drawn from right across the West Midlands region. Our campaign kicks off with a specially commissioned film trailer, created by RSC actor and film director, Chris McGill, which we will be sharing with schools, careers services and via social media. The film encourages those making career choices to consider the enormous range of jobs in the theatre industry – not just acting, but everything from finance to carpentry and costume-making.
“This new Apprenticeship Scheme is just one of the many career development opportunities we offer. Last year over 150 schoolchildren and young people joined us at our Open Doors and A Taste of Theatre events, or on one of the work placements we regularly offer across many areas of the company.”
More information about Think Theatre can be found at www.rsc.org.uk/thinktheatre
Since they started, the apprentices have been working on RSC productions including Twelfth Night, Arabian Nights, Julius Caesar and A Tender Thing.
Each of the apprentices receives an annual salary, plus funding for all training and development, as well as financial support towards travel and accommodation arrangements.
Details of other career opportunities
A Taste of Theatre
A week-long work experience opportunity in
Open Doors
Open to students in Years 12 and 13 (16-18 year-olds), this careers day
gives students the chance to take part in a number of workshops run by
various departments across the whole organisation, demonstrating how
they contribute to the running of the RSC.
Undergraduate Placement Schemes
The RSC offers student placement opportunities in well over twenty RSC
departments (and that number is still increasing). These spells of
practical work experience, ranging from two weeks to three months, offer
those aged over 18, who have usually begun their theatre-related studies
on a university course, an opportunity to put their learning into
practice alongside more experienced colleagues.
These unpaid internships are advertised in much the same way as
other RSC vacancies, with applicants shortlisted after declared closing
dates, interviewed and subsequently supervised by the relevant
department head.
Further details of these can be found via
www.rsc.org.uk/jobs
Nutcracker
off the menu until 2011
BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet's acclaimed version of The
Nutcracker will become the notcracker next Christmas when it fails to
take to the stage at the Hippodrome for the first time in several years.
But before fans start spluttering in their sprouts amd choking on the
turkey its absebnce is because BRB will be perfomaning a completley new
version of CInderella
choreographed
by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director
The full-length, narrative ballet reunites the design team behind The Nutcracker.
MAGICAL DESIGNS
John Macfarlane’s extravagant and magical designs are currently enthralling audiences of all ages at Birmingham Hippodrome in The Nutcracker which is one of the post popular ballets in the company's repertoire and a firm Christmas favourite.
"The announcement of a new production shows the company continues to go from strength to strength in this great city."
Meanwhile The Nutcracker runs until Sunday 13 December and will not appar at the Hippodrome again until 2011.
*Friday 11 –
Sunday 13 December performances are now sold out