Liverpool Echo - Culture Chat

what's on in liverpool july 4-11

2009-07-03T09:00:00Z

It's a poptastic week ahead with the Summer Pops kicking off today with Australian Pink Floyd and the Phil's classical summer pops continuing tomorrow with the return of Vasily Petrenko to the podium for an all-Russian programme.

]]> The Summer Pops continue with N-Dubz tomorrow, James Morrison on July 7, McFly on July 11 and of course, it's Beatles Day next Friday, July 10.
Then there's Bryan Adams, who isn't part of this year's line-up but who brings his acoustic show to the Empire. Expect to hear one man, one guitar and 2,000 audience members singing "everything I do, I do it for you".
On the art front, Whistler etchings go on display at the Lady Lever art gallery over in Port Sunlight, and the Walker's new exhibition New Radicals opens on Friday. You can still also see Cecil Beaton's stunning portraits at the Walker too of course.
July is a notoriously quiet month at the theatre, but the Playhouse continues its run of The Hypochondriac while on Thursday the Empire's big new show, Nicky Allt's One Night in Istanbul, opens with a fanfare.
And don't forget to catch Liverpool's own Stephen Graham acting alongside Johnny Depp and Christian Bale in Michael Mann's new Depression era gangster tale Public Enemies.

spooks writer howard brenton at everyword

2009-07-01T08:08:16Z

Sir Peter Hall once advised paywright Howard Brenton not to "dine out" on his successes by becoming a regular on the chat show circuit.
Sage advice from the theatrical knight, but what a shame for audiences to be deprived of the thoughts of this genial raconteur.

]]> Luckily for the Everyword festival (if not his multiple deadlines), the writer made an exception for Liverpool yesterday afternoon. And he kept us happily entertained for the best part of an hour-and-a-half.
You may not be instantly familiar with the name, but the chances are you'll have seen some of Howard Brenton's work - BBC spy drama Spooks for example, or the play Pravda which he wrote with David Hare.
Incidently, for all collaborative playwrights out there, a handy tip from Howard - try not to be the one who ends up on the typewriter/computer.
He must be a pretty driven individual, after admitting, with a big smile, how despite his first play as a student at Cambridge bombing horribly (he was panned by contemporary Germaine Greer in the student press) he immediately started writing a second play which was a) completely different and b) because he'd learned from the inaugural disaster, a roaring success.
You can't argue either with the likes of The Churchill Play, Weapons of Happiness, The Romans in Britain, Iranian Nights (which he wrote with Tariq Ali in a single week and I am SURE I saw at the Royal Court in London 20 odd years ago - unless I am dreaming) or of course Pravda.
But of course Spooks is the name that leaps out for most, and he had a few interesting tit bits to tell about the series which he agreed to do because he "needed the money" but then came to really enjoy.
I loved the fact that he wrote a role specifically for Hugh Laurie and at first the producers said: "don't you know he's enormously expensive?!" but then they got him anyway.
Brenton wrote 13 episodes - some of the best such as the departure of Matthew Macfadyen's Tom Quinn who had a spectacular breakdown. I don't know if he was responsible for Lisa Faulkner's early departure courtesy of a deep fat fryer, but I suspect he was.
He gave up the series eventually because as he said, he was just writing variations of the same story. "There's really only one story which you're telling again and again," he admitted. "And that's the story of the double agent. Someone who isn't who they say they are."
It was a joy to listen to this erudite man who has definitely got more than one story to tell.

liverpool comedy trust stand out competition

2009-06-30T10:02:17Z

The final of the Liverpool Comedy Trust's Stand Out competition takes place at St George's Hall this weekend.
Seven young comedians from Merseyside and Glasgow will compete for the top title.

]]> The ECHO is a sponsor of the event and our features editor Jane Haase will be one of the judges on Saturday evening.
Having seen other winners of this competition over the years, I can attest to the fact there are some very funny kids out there. But I suppose we shouldn't be surprised in the capital of comedy.
Here, if the link works as it should (I am not the most technologically advanced of creatures, despite being willing!), is a taster of what you can expect to see at St George's Hall....
oh, and entrance to the 7pm event on Saturday is £3 on the door. I hope they get lots of support

torrid star productions auditions in liverpool tonight

2009-06-29T14:13:02Z

Liverpool's Torrid Star Productions has auditions tonight for a new one act play called Bread for the Table.
The show, written by Kieran Lynn, is part of a showcase evening of entertainment at St Luke's the bombed out church in August 8.

]]> The company is casting for three parts, Daniel who is in his early 20s, Nathan, late 20s, and
Don who is 30+
The August 8 evening is called Can't Stop the Beat and will feature more than 25 performers acting, improvising, and singing.
Rehearsals will be Monday evenings each week leading up to the performance.
For more details about the show and the auditions, which take place at Torrid Star's offices, visit www.torridstarproductions.co.uk/22.html

tartuffe on BBC radio

2009-06-29T11:45:38Z

Those of you who revelled in couplets like "forgive me sir, I don't wish to pry....but is that your hand upon my thigh?" take note.
Tartuffe, the McGough version, comes to Radio 3 this weekend.

]]> The original cast met up in London a couple of months ago to record the wonderful Scouse version of Moliere's play.
And now this Sunday, July 5, everyone gets the chance to hear (as I said in my review) not simply a theatrical highlight of Capital of Culture year, but of any year.
I've only ever given two 10/10 scores in my reviewing career, and Tartuffe received one of them.
The Hypochondriac, currently playing at the Playhouse - on a set which, I hear, is based on Moliere's own theatre near Uzes - is marvellous and I recommend it to everyone.
Tartuffe, though, was sublime.
Catch it at 8pm on Sunday.

battle of the bands for the RLPO

2009-06-26T12:32:26Z

Fight! Fight! Fight! I can just see the brass scrapping in the street and the strings giving someone a poke in the eye with their bow.
It looks like there's a row brewing between the RLPO and the Halle down the road in Manchester about which is the oldest professional orchestra.

]]> Those of you who read my feature on the Phil's new book, The Original Liverpool Sound, a couple of months ago now will recall the claim made that the RLPO is actually five years older than the Halle.
Archivist Vincent McKernan discovered paperwork while researching the book to confirm the Phil had a professional contracted orchestra as early as 1853.
Now the Halle is striking back, according to the Guardian this week, saying Liverpool's claim is "b*****ks".
Tsk, tsk! Language.
A Phil spokesman tells me: "The vast majority of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra were professional from 1849, when the new Hall opened, with only the 1st and 2nd violins being augmented by amateurs.
"Members of the orchestra were contracted for the whole season from 1851, showing that it was a permanent fixture rather than simply a scratch band.
"This is reinforced by the orchestra lists in the programmes, which show the same players appearing in concert after concert, year after year.
"From 1853, the orchestra was composed entirely of professional musicians.
"It's clear that the RLPO predates the Halle, which did not give its first concert until 1858."
Batons at the ready!

joe mcgann on masterchef

2009-06-26T10:28:11Z

Did anyone see Joe McGann on Celebrity Masterchef the other night?
We seem to have a pretty good track record when it comes to the show.
Joe the chef beat his rivals to get through to the next round - but will he be more winner Liz McClarnon or 'that's it, I'm off' Mark Moraghan?

what's on june 27-july 3

2009-06-26T09:00:00Z

Motown legends, dancing icons and writing stars of the future are on the cultural radar next week.

]]> The Once in a Lifetime Motown Legends tour reaches the Echo Arena on Sunday - see a review in the paper next week.
Everyword, the Everyman's annual new writing festival, kicks off on Monday. Highlights include a Q&A with Spooks and Pravda writer Howard Brereton, rehearsed readings of new plays by Kellie Smith and Lizzie Nunnery, and the inaugural showing of three Liverpool-made 3 Minute Wonders for Channel 4.
Elsewhere, the Summer Pops start on Friday with Australian Pink Floyd, but the Phil's classical summer pops are already under way. Check out the RLPO accompanying Dance Legends of the Silver Screen on Thursday while Vasily Petrenko returns after a month's absence (in which time he's been conducting in Copenhagen, Tenerife, St Petersburg and Monte Carlo - it's a hard life!) for the White Nights concert on July 4.
Meanwhile Bryan Adams delivers and acoustic show at the Empire on July 3, and there are new exhibitions at the Walker (Cecil Beaton) and the Lady Lever (Whistler sketches) which are both absolutely free.

roger mcgough's adaptation of The Hypochondriac

2009-06-24T09:46:13Z

THE 'McGoughière' partnership shows no sign of faltering with this latest cross-centuries collaboration between the living Liverpool bard and dead French playwright.

]]> And while comparisons, as they say, are odious (or perhaps, given the level of 'humeur de toilette' in the piece, malodorous) anyone who saw Roger McGough's joyous version of Tartuffe last year won't be able to help themselves.
The same sense of silliness, of clever wordplay and knowing nods to the audience shines through in vastly enjoyable swathes of this repeat prescription of Molière from the Scouse poet's pen.
But it's also a somewhat uneven evening's entertainment, ranging from terrific and twist-tongued tomfoolery to verse which at times feels like it's trying just a little too hard.
The Hypochondriac was Molière's final play and, ironically, the playwright/actor died while starring as central character Argan.
The past is alluded to within McGough's adaptation, with Clive Francis playing not simply hypochondriac Argan but also Molière playing Argan.
It requires some knowledge of Molière's life from the audience, and, while an interesting idea, doesn't add anything to the plot.
Francis is terrific as Argan, the man with more money than sense who has allowed an assortment of quacks and charlatans to persuade him he's on his last legs.
His household and Hippocratic harem of hangers-on includes a scheming hussy of a wife (Brigid Zengeni), sweet-but-vapid daughter Angelique (Lucinda Raikes), and Molière's favourite plot device - the no-nonsense saucy maid, played with brio by Liverpool's Leanne Best.
Miserly Argan has a cunning plan to marry Angelique to Thomas, the medical student son of ghastly doctor Diaforius (Neil Caple), thus ensuring he can get his treatment for free, en famille.
Toby Dantzic's Greek-spouting, tedious, mincing nincompoop Thomas is one of the pleasures of a production chock full of winning performances and directed with obvious love by Playhouse artistic director Gemma Bodinetz.
There's also much entertainment to be had from Angelique and secret love Cleante's (Jake Harders) ridiculous coded duet, and from a script which dares a series of slightly groansome French knock, knock jokes and rhymes including "theses" and "faeces" along with the immortal phrase "enema at the gates".
8/10: McGough's magic potion.

dreamboats and petticoats at the empire

2009-06-23T09:48:00Z

THOSE who hanker for a more innocent time before economic depression and MPs' duckhouses will revel in the frothy feelgood factor of this sing-a-long music-fest.

]]> Not that the late 50s and early 60s were a laugh-a-minute. Rationing hadn't long finished, parents were still in control and the Beatles - referred to in a knowing aside here - were yet to hold anyone's hand.
But Marks and Gran, the writing team behind TV hits like Goodnight Sweetheart and Birds of a Feather, are children of the era and have crafted an atmospheric old-fashioned boy-meets-girl tale interspersed with an eye-watering 40 hits from the period.
In truth, the evening would go just as well if the songs were thinned out a bit, with the first half in particular feeling rather start-stop as each minute of dialogue appears matched with a minute of music.
Saying that, the storyline - half Grease, half Cliff Richard movie - has enough charm and amusing one liners to keep things rolling along and it's not spoiling anyone's enjoyment to reveal that love (eventually) triumphs and it all ends with a good song and a dance.
That the show works is, also, down to all those hits which are engraved on the brain - Three Steps to Heaven, Bobby's Girl, The Wanderer and Happy Birthday Sweet 16 among them - and the enthusiasm of the young cast who all prove to be accomplished singers and musicians, their energetic performance aided by an excellent sound system.
Scott Bruton plays drippy Bobby, who dreams of writing a hit song and wooing "runaround" Sue (Jennifer Biddall) while studious schoolgirl Laura (Daisy Wood-Davis) pines silently for him before his eyes.
Meanwhile heads are turned at St Mungo's social club with the arrival of the preening bad boy Norman (Emmerdale's Ben Freeman oozing rockabilly oiliness) who of course gets his comeuppance in the end.
Freeman and Wood-Davis in particular are strong singers, while Bruton has a sweet tone and AJ Dean as best mate Ray is no slouch at the mic.
The joie de vivre of the company carries the show through to its hand-clapping, twist and shout finale.
8/10: shakin' all over

opera on the BBC big screen

2009-06-23T09:00:00Z

LIVERPOOL'S BBC big screen will broadcast free live opera tomorrow.

]]> The Clayton Square screen will show Wagner's Die Walkure as part of the European Union's Viva Europa, a cultural flagship event of the 2009 European Year of Creativity and Innovation.
The broadcast comes live from the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain, to cities across Europe.
Bristol, Manchester, Swansea and Cardiff are also showing the opera.
Die Walkure is the second part of Wagner's four opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and is considered as the most emotionally intense of his epic operas.
The cast is led by Placido Domingo and the screening runs from 6-11pm with two half-hour intervals at just after 7pm and 9pm.

Willy Russell's our day out

2009-06-22T16:53:10Z

I went to the launch of Our Day Out at the Royal Court at lunchtime - and they served us all a school packed lunch!
I felt like I should at least be on a coach when I tucked into the sandwiches in foil and the crisps and chocolate....

]]> You may have seen from the interview I did in today's Echo, but Willy and director Bob Eaton have created a new, improved, all singing, all dancing Our Day Out - their third, but they tell me their best, collaboration on the seminal school tale in 25 years.
The young cast were keen and excited, and they will be joined by Drew Schofield and Mickey Starke among others when it hits the stage in September.
Three of the original songs from the first stage show at the Everyman remain, including I'm In Love With Sir which is impossibly catchy.
Incidently, I had a good chat with Howard Gray the musical director of the show and it turned out that we were from the same neck of the woods (Worcestershire) and knew quite a few people in common.
In fact, he went out with a girl two years ahead of me at school and, he was telling me, for a short time he also went out with Rik Mayall's sister Kate.
Small world.
I must be the only person in the universe who hasn't seen (or at least can't remember seeing) Our Day Out so I look forward to September with anticipation.....

chaplin's city lights and the RLPO

2009-06-22T11:00:00Z

THE golden age of silent cinema returns to Liverpool when Charlie Chaplin's classic City Lights illuminates the Philharmonic Hall next week.

]]> Audiences will be transported back to the early 30s as Phil favourite Carl Davis and the RLPO provide live orchestral accompaniment to the black and white masterpiece.
New Yorker Davis has penned scores for around 40 silent movies during his career, but the music on offer next Thursday is a 'tactful restoration' of the original score which was composed by Charlie Chaplin himself.
The conductor explains: "We used to do regular performances of films in the 90s and proved quite specialist with Chaplin.
"1930, when the film was released, was a crossover period between silent films and sound. Chaplin made City Lights as a silent movie but by the time he'd finished it the world had changed so he created a score which he wrote himself. He grew up in variety and music hall and his score is in the old style."
City Lights follow the romantic adventures of a little tramp who falls in love with a blind girl selling flowers.
It will be preceded by Gershwin's overture to another 1930 film, Girl Crazy, which contains some instantly familiar hit Broadway melodies including I Got Rhythm, But Not For Me and Embraceable You.
The programme will be completed by another Gershwin classic, his "epoch-making" Rhapsody in Blue which will feature Ian Buckle on piano.
Carl adds: "The music is all of the same period - we have a little warm up with Gershwin before the film. The Phil are great at this and we're going to have a wonderful time."
The flamboyant honorary Scouser will also be back on July 19 for the traditional Last Night of the Summer Pops, which he describes as a "three coat event".
He explains: "It's a double- edged 'last night'. It's simultaneous with a record release on Naxos of film music we've recorded, and we'll preview some of that as well."
Meanwhile City Lights is one of three film-related evenings in this year's Pops series at the Philharmonic Hall. There are also two chances to catch Dance Legends of the Silver Screen, with the RLPO under John Wilson providing the music for twinkle-toed Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse and Leslie Caron on July 2 and July 15.
Chaplin's City Lights takes place on Thursday, June 25.

OMD and the RLPO in a unique collaboration

2009-06-22T10:00:00Z

Joan of Arc, Electricty, Romance, Messages, Souvenir, Sailing on the Seven Seas and Enola Gay - as you've never heard them before.
The RLPO teamed up with Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark in a unique concert at the Philharmonic Hall on Saturday.
And if you missed it, it was being filmed for a DVD.
Here is my review.

]]> WHEN Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys first came up with the name Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark they little knew how prophetic it would turn out to be.
It may have taken 30 years, but those orchestral manoeuvres became more than simply a catchy name in this unique pairing of the Wirral synth band and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic.
Last year the RLPO teamed up with Elvis Costello, and the orchestra seems to have developed an appetite for unusual projects.
But in fact the first half of this sell-out show was more a traditional concert format with the Phil giving an inaugural live performance of McCluskey's Energy Suite.
The work, reflecting the peculiar romance of gas, water, air, nuclear and coal power stations, was premiered at FACT as part of a film installation in 2008.
Images of these sources of power were beamed on a screen as the Phil, under conductor Clark Rundell, played what was an attractive, if ultimately unmemorable, series of pieces. The most texturally layered was "nuclear" with its strangely pastoral tone and lovely woodwind giving way to a powerful surging melody.
But it was the collaboration between band and orchestra that most had come to see, McCluskey and Humphreys taking centre stage for an OMD greatest hits as you'd never heard them before, the electronic-driven numbers augmented by swelling strings, rampant brass and a masterly display from the hard-working percussion section which drew the disparate sides together with what was often exciting results.
The collaboration faired best on Maid of Orleans, with its big meaty theme on brass and military drum beat that crescendoed to an assault on the senses, a grandiose Walking on the Milky Way, the unmistakable Enola Gay which had people on their feet clapping and singing, and the crowd-pleasing Sailing on the Seven Seas with a grooving RLPO.
If there was an issue, it was a tendency for the orchestra to overwhelm the OMD duo - at times McCluskey's vocals struggled over the strings and you were never sure whether you were hearing Humphreys' synth or a clever echo of it on percussion and piano.
McCluskey himself said: "It's been a voyage of discovery. We won some and there were a few draws and maybe we lost one or two."
But it was a memorable trip all the same.
8/10: orchestral manoeuvres

20 Stories High looking for actors

2009-06-21T10:22:25Z

Liverpool's 20 Stories High theatre group is looking for actors for a new play by city playwright Laurence Wilson.
Blackberry Trout Face will be on tour around theatres, youth clubs and schools in the north west from September 29 until November 27.

]]> They are looking for two professional male actors for the play, which will be directed by Julia Samuels.
Actors should be aged 16 and over, but will be playing an age range from 13 to 19 and they must have a Liverpool accent.
Audition workshops take place in Liverpool between July 13-15, but anyone interested needs to contact Julia Samuels at the address below by this Friday June 26.
Metal, 6 Marmaduke Street, Liverpool L7 1PB or.......
julia@20storieshigh.org.uk