May 2010 Archives

Have you seen the pictures in today's Echo of Jodie Prenger all glammed up in a medieval velvet frock for her role as Lady of the Lake in Spamalot?
I caught up with Jodie on the phone a couple of weeks ago to talk about the show, which comes to the Empire in August, and her very busy diary - it seems to have been non stop since she won the part of Nancy in Oliver!

Just off to a presentation by architects and theatre bosses about the plans for the new Everyman theatre.
You may have seen latest details of the scheme in this morning's papers - hopefully I will learn a whole lot more at this morning's event, such as whether the slashing of culture budgets in the nationwide belt-tightening is going to have any effect on the Everyman's £28m budget.

ANFIELD legend Ian St John is set to become the next Club Geek Chic guest when he takes part in an In Conversation event at St George's Hall next week.
The former footballer will talk LFC, footie, Shanks, and also share his love of music at the evening on Saturday, June 5.

THE search is on for a pair of young actors to play theatre's most famous star-crossed lovers.
Romeo and Juliet by Merseyside Community Theatre (MCT): Alt Valley 2010 is an ambitious project coordinated by The Reader Organisation and directed by actor Neil Caple.

Someone recently said to me that of all the arts disciplines (theatre, music and so on) art itself gave you the chance of a direct link with the person who created it.
When you see that canvas, or sculpture, or whatever, there's no Kevin Bacon Six Degrees of Separation about it. The artist created it, and you are looking at something their hands shaped.

Simon Callow's one man Dickens garnered much acclaim so I can imagine his The Man From Stratford show due at the Liverpool Playhouse next month will be just as good.
My interview with the ebullient actor is in today's Echo (ignore what I said about "this month" - a slip of the fingers-on-keyboard, of course I mean it's NEXT month!) and his enthusiasm, I hope, radiates from it in the same way it radiated down the phone to me when I chatted to him about the show.
I asked him about where his love of Shakespeare came from and he explained it started as a six year old listening to Macbeth on radio.
I didn't have room for the whole story in the paper, so I'd like to share what he said to me here. These are the words straight from the actor/director/writer's mouth!

He told me: "My first experience of Shakespeare was when I was six years old and I listened to Macbeth on the radio on the lap of - my mother was a school secretary at that time of my life and my education was sort of thrown in as part of her salary, but there were no teachers to teach me, instead I was in the hands of the headmaster's mother who was a wonderful, rather hairy old woman called Mrs Birch.
"And on Mrs Birch's very generous bosom I nestled as I listened to this very frightening play called Macbeth.
But there was something about it, about the world that it presented to me that absolutely stunned me.
"All these witches and blasted heaths and it was largely incomprehensible to me of course but | got a taste of the atmosphere, the unique world that Shakespeare brings on to the stage.
"And so from then on I used to read, my other grandmother had a collected Shakespeare, and I used to read it out loud all the time, even though again I hardly knew what I was doing.
"Then of course when I started going to the theatre, I quite compulsively went to see as many of Shakespeare's plays as I could, and I think any human being must recognise how extraordinary Shakespeare's work, is, what a miracle it is, these 37 plays which seem really in some mysterious way seem to contain all of human life, in a way that I don't think you can quite say of any other writer I know of who ever lived."

I'd strongly urge anyone who feels even a hundredth of the enthusiasm for Shakespeare that Simon Callow does to go and see the show. It's on from June 16 to 19 (that's right, June not May!!) at the Playhouse.

I never got down to London to see Melanie C in Blood Brothers so this week's news she's going to repeat her Olivier-nominated appearance in Liverpool was greeted with a resounding "hurrah" on the Echo arts desk.
Particularly as it's the only place outside the West End that she'll be appearing in the role.

There's been plenty of fanfare for Picasso: Peace and Freedom which opens at the Tate on Friday.
You'll have to wait until then to read my full review, but I did pop along this morning for a look at the exhibition and an overview by co-curators Christoph Grunenberg and Lynda Morris.

Drama takes to the open air this week with theatrical performances inside Liverpool's landmark bombed out church.
Gambolling Arena theatre company is putting on a series of shows between today and Saturday at St Luke's in Berry/Leece Street.

Hand on heart, I hoped but I wasn't sure Vasily Petrenko would be taking home the trophy at last night's Classical Brit awards.
Not that I doubt his talent, but he was up against two classical music giants - Bryn Terfel and Anthony Pappano, and Bryn Terfel is a hefty bloke in the physical sense to boot.
But the judging committee proved they don't always go for the biggest name when they are handing out accolades and Vasily will no doubt get a warm reception when he starts rehearsals with the Young Musician of the Year lot in Cardiff today.