Buzz
Jasper Rees
Every generation is inclined to moan that they don’t make them like they used to. It’s a favourite refrain of television dramatists. It scarcely seems credible now that a theatre animal like Simon Gray could regularly write single plays for television and attract audiences of millions. In recent weeks there has been the opportunity to see some of his many scripts for the screen exhumed thanks to Cine Anglais, a collaboration between the Whiteleys cinema in Bayswater and the restaurant Cafe Anglais. The screenings are bracketed by canapes and dinner. The works shown thus far have been A Read more ...
josh.spero
As anyone on the Royal Opera House's mailing list will no doubt be aware, today is the first day you can book for the new season. In theory. Why in theory? Because currently I am number 1087 in the queue to get onto the website. Not even to buy tickets - just to see what there is to buy tickets for. If you want to see anything in this summer's season (Manon with the divine Anna Netrebko, say), you may need to start queuing for returns now - or at least be prepared to pay for the most expensive seats, which are usually all that are left after such a scrum. Last I heard, Lady Gaga was not Read more ...
Jasper Rees
Everyone who likes his reviews on Radio FiveLive would have wanted Mark Kermode, the gobby critic who is well known for having seen just about everything. But he claims that he didn't want the job. And who knows if he'd have got it? Jonathan Ross's replacement as BBC One's resident film critic is Claudia Winkleman.The announcement has been greeted with whoops of joy almost nowhere. Or nowhere in the critical fraternity (or whatever the collective noun is). But hell, at least there's still a television programme on a mainstream channel that thinks exclusively about film. At the Movies, Read more ...
Ismene Brown
Film of Pina Bausch’s dances is rare, but linked to the London performances by Tanztheater Wuppertal this week the Barbican centre is showing a season of films about her theatre as well as her working methods, capped by the famous 1985 film of Café Müller, her evocation of the restaurant in which she grew up, and in which she danced.Film of Pina Bausch’s dances is rare, but linked to the London performances by Tanztheater Wuppertal this week the Barbican centre is showing a season of films about her theatre as well as her working methods, capped by the famous 1985 film of Café Müller, her Read more ...
David Nice
Above the Stag, an unpromising-looking, ominously shuttered gay pub in the ungainly heart of Victoria, a little miracle has been taking place. Word of mouth quickly sold out an intelligent adaptation of E M Forster's great coming-out novel Maurice, so the run has been extended until this Saturday. At the time of writing there were a few seats left for the final performance; as for a transfer, who knows? Friends bought tickets for this one, so I came to it fearing all that's bad about pub theatre (and from some I've seen, it couldn't be much worse). How wrong I was. Roger Parsley and Andy Read more ...
Ismene Brown
How does a ballerina feel during Swan Lake? Find out instantaneously from the New York ballerina who tweets while she dances. Ashley Bouder is one of the most exciting dancers of the new generation over there - and new-generation she is.According to Gia Kourlas’s article in the New York Times today, Ashley’s iPhone is her closest partner, and her constant twittering is opening up a new understanding of a leading dance-artist’s life. So what did the Swan Queen tweet the other day as she magically flew off the stage and prepared to change into the black tutu of her wicked doppelganger? “Odette Read more ...
Peter Culshaw
This week's musicians birthdays include the genius/lecherous mediocrity (according to taste) Serge Gainsbourg, singing a duet with Brigitte Bardot, classic early 60s footage of Marvin Gaye, vibraphone maestro Red Norvo, Herb Alpert in a rodeo video doing “Casino Royale”, and Astrud Gilberto from Ipanema. Composer birthdays of the week are Franz Joseph Haydn and William Walton. Videos below.2 April 1928: French maverick Serge Gainsbourg, here singing a duet with Brigitte Bardot of “Bonnie and Clyde”. 2 April 1939: Marvin Gaye, with an early TV appearance singing the sublime “ Read more ...
Jasper Rees
Four decades ago, a bunch of good books fell through the net. The year was 1970, in which the Booker Prize – as it was then sponsorlessly known – was inaugurated. The original winner was Bernice Rubens with The Elected Member, but it now seems that she may have had an easy run of it.In the first two years of its life, the prize was awarded in March, rather than November, with the result that several books published in the months after the cut-off date were not considered. Hence the Lost Man Booker Prize, open 40 years on to those novels which fell victim to the scheduling black hole.The Lost Read more ...
Jasper Rees
Next month a concert celebrating the unique career of Humphrey Lyttelton, the great jazzer, broadcaster and quizmaster, will take place at HMV Apollo in Hammersmith, west London. The show, which takes place on 25 April, has been constructed about Lyttelton’s twin talents: blowing a trumpet and giving people silly things to do. All proceeds will go to a new charity known as the Humph Trust. Its aim will be to help develop the careers of young jazz musicians. To give the Humph Trust’s efforts a focus, the Royal Academy of Music is introducing an annual gong known as the Humphrey Lyttelton Read more ...
sheila.johnston
Now in its ninth year, London's East End Film Festival today announced its programme at a reception at the heart of its manor, at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane. The Festival kicks off on 22 April with a preview screening of Barney Platts-Mills' cult 1969 film Bronco Bullfrog, set in Stratford, East London and starring local kids, prior to its re-release this summer. Over 200 films will be screened in the next nine days, with a double focus on local culture, with new and old films exploring East London's roots, and on international cinema, with strands showcasing work from East Read more ...
igor.toronyilalic
Filmed extracts of a fantastically vivid 1954 production of Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen have been unearthed by the great blogger Doundou Tchil of Classical Iconoclast. Václav Neumann is the conductor; Berlin's Komische Oper is the house. Whets the appetite for tonight's Bill Bryden revival production at Covent Garden. Hard to imagine the sets or the acting (watch that singing vixen scrambling about before the poacher) being bettered. My friend says I'm setting myself up for a fall. But Sir Charles Mackerras will no doubt give Neumann a run for his money.
Book for The Cunning Little Read more ...
joe.muggs
A little revolution is taking place at the top of the pop charts. UK artist Tinie Tempah's rap track “Pass Out” has had two weeks at number one, and at the time of writing looks very much like it may successfully fight off Lady Gaga & Beyonce's spectacularly-hyped “Telephone Thing” to make it a third week on top.Now this might not seem revolutionary in itself: over the last year or two it has become commonplace to see black British rappers from the formerly underground grime scene in the “proper” charts. However up until now, with the exception of Dizzee Rascal – who has always been a one Read more ...