October 2007 Archives

THE Turner Prize will be at the centre of October’s Late at Tate event this Thursday - with the competition debated all round the building including the toilets!
On the last Thursday of every month Tate Liverpool opens late for special events, music, food, drink and of course the best modern and contemporary art.
This Thursday’s (oct 26) event, from 6-9pm, invites visitors to voice their opinions on the recently opened 2007 Turner Prize exhibition.

Have you been yet? What do you think? Who deserves to go away £25,000 richer?
We'll have to wait until December 3 to learn that, but meanwhile the Turner Prize is now Liverpool's.
The 2007 exhibition was launched with a fanfare and not a few glasses of wine (kept carefully downstairs, nowhere near the exhibits) last night and is now open to the public.
Freely open as well.
So there's no excuse not to get along down to the Albert Dock and give it a whirl.

Yet another delay to the Mathew Street Festival report.
How many times has it been back to the solicitors, and what are the problems?
Warren Bradley said today he wanted to make sure there was no possibility of legal action being taken against the council by anyone who is implicated in the report.
If they are that worried about the fall out from the finger being pointed I fear it will end up as a no-name, no-blame set of findings - and if that is the case, will it really have got to the bottom of what happened back in August?
"Unlikely" is an understatement.
Certainly that is Labour's view. They have been pushing for a look at the report in advance of tonight's full council meeting.
If it is back in the hands of the legal eagles, poring over every 'allegedly' with a toothcomb, goodness only knows WHEN we'll get a look at it.
Maybe in time for next summer's Mathew Street.........

Every year I've reviewed the panto at the Royal Court I've been on the wrong end of a soaking from a water pistol-wielding Pete Price.
So with him being Buttons in this season's Cinderella, I'll be asking for a seat somewhere way out of his line of sight.
I can't believe I'm already talking about Christmas and pantomimes.
But we did a photocall - complete with fairytale coach - outside the theatre today.
Quite a crowd gathered as a tiny snow machine valiantly tried to blow 'flakes' of the white stuff all over the cast members in all their finery.
Eithne Browne said it looked more like dandruff - it was bad luck for her that she was wearing a black 'ugly sisters' outfit!

I've returned from a week away to find there are more things going on at the theatre than you can shake the proverbial stick at.
Among the usual spam and press releases, my inbox is crowded with information about plays, opera and the like.
Leaving aside the usual suspects (Empire, Playhouse et al) for a moment, Pauline Daniels is appearing as Willy Russell's runaway housewife Shirley Valentine.
The popular play is on at the delightful little Liverpool Academy of Arts Actors' Studio in Seel Street from Thursday until November 15 and tickets are £10 on 709 9034.
Meanwhile next month, a new production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest opens at the Little Theatre in Birkenhead.

100 days and counting to the opening of Capital of Culture.
Actually, technically it's 99 days and counting because there's the spectacular "People's Opening" at St George's Hall the night before.
But the Liverpool the Musical - the greatest story ever told event is a double celebration as it also heralds the official opening of the Liverpool Echo Arena.
Many of the new buildings in Liverpool have faced criticism for their architectural merit, their height etc, but the arena and its neighbouring convention centre seem to be a real triumph for the city.

By all accounts the Phil's table was groaning with gongs at the Dorchester yesterday when the Gramophone Awards - the classical music 'Oscars' - were announced.
As revealed in the Echo, boy wonder Vasily Petrenko took the accolade for young artist of the year, while the Phil's foray into the weird and wonderful cyber world of Second Life also scooped it an award.
But in addition to that, Phil exec director Andrew Cornall also took home two awards for work he has done separately to the Liverpool orchestra.