Reviews

The Lowry, Salford
21 - 26 Jul 2008

The abdication of King Edward VIII in 1936 to enable himself to marry twice divorced Wallis Simpson less than a year after succeeding his father to the throne sent shockwaves through both the Royal Family of the time and the general public. Furthermore, the event provided the gossiping foreign press with a wealth of material for attention-grabbing headlines.

Little, it would seem, has changed and with the modern day Royal Family used to scandal this revival of Royce Ryton’s ‘Crown Matrimonial’ makes efforts to demonstrate the relevance of the writers work to a modern day audience. Read more »

Venue: The Royal Exchange
Date Reviewed: 8th July, 2008

Some plays are revived endlessly and yet, apart from filling theatres with their demographic, they seem to do nothing new with the text itself. You can understand why, as the target audience go home pleased as punch, but the Royal Exchange’s current production of Noel Coward’s Hay Fever will do very little to please coverts.

Unlike Coward’s brilliantly brittle comedy Private Lives, Hay Fever is uneven in tone and therefore it veers from amusing to dull bewteen scenes. None of this is the fault of the cast though who give the play oomph, when required.

The wonderful Belinda Lang gives a splendidly over the top performance as retired actress Judith Bliss. I say retired, as this is where most of the humour comes from, as this Margot Ledbetter style character ‘acts’ in everyday life, as if she is in a melodrama of epic proportions. This means that whenever Lang is on stage, there are plenty of laughs to be had, however forced. Read more »

News

Following in the footsteps of the ITV1 show, Rock Rivals, The eXtra Factor is a comedy/musical which takes an ironic look at reality shows. The ultimate winner will be decided each night by the audience!

Apart from the comedy antics in the living quarters, the live-singing action takes place in a TV studio, with the wannabe pop-stars fighting for their 15 minutes of fame; and we see there is no limit to what some people will do to get it. From the house to the studio and back, this fast paced production will keep you laughing and guessing until the final moments

The eXtra Factor features 6 extremely talented performers, locked away in a house, desperate for fame, fortune and stardom.

Kevin Kennedy ( Coronation Street) teams up with Antony Costa ( Blue, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here), Kelle Bryan (Eternal), Anthony Kavanagh (chart topper & ITV1’s Grease is the Word); Russ Spencer ( pop group Scooch & West End’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) Jennifer Biddell (Hollyoaks) and Suzanne Carley (Pop Idol, Blood Brothers & Grease). Read more »

The Lowry has the perfect treat for all the family this summer with one of the most magical and spellbinding circus shows ever to grace the stage – Le Grand Cirque. The show arrives at the Lowry from Wed 27th August until Sat, 31st August and we have a family ticket up for grabs!Visit Le Grand Cirque website here.

THE SHOW:
Le Grand Cirque features a cast of 50 world-class artists from all over the globe including jugglers, acrobats and high-wire artists will perform a breathtaking and heart pounding spectacle that has stunned and amazed audiences all over the world.

Le Grand Cirque arrives in Salford Quays following a sell-out tour of the USA where it received standing ovations at every performance. Described by critics as ‘the next generation of Cirque du Soleil’, Le Grand Cirque has played to more than 10 million people worldwide. Read more »

Interviews

Rupert Hill has traded life on the cobbled streets of Coronation Street for the Wigan Casino, as he takes on the role of Eugene in the hugely popular exploration of the Northern Soul scene; Once Upon A Time In Wigan at The Octagon. Re-worked by Nick Martin, the show now features live music, as opposed to the sound of the famous long players.

As Jamie Baldwin, Rupert garnered quite a following, but he clearly enjoys performing on stage, juggling his acting career with his passion for music, via his band.

We caught up with Rupert and he talks about the challenges of performing in such a well loved piece as Wigan. He also talks about life on the street, his band Yellow Dog and Stephen Fry.

Place Of Birth
Southampton

Lives now in
Manchester

When did you first realise that you wanted to act?
When I was 3 I acted in my first play, I was a Inn Keeper (one of the great 3 year old keepers). Apparently I told my mum, there and then, that I wanted to keep doing it (act).

What would you have done professionally if you weren’t acting or performing in your band?
I don’t know. I’d probably try writing novels and scripts, or directing. I don’t have an academic bone in my body and I’ve only ever excelled in the arts, so it would have to be creative.

Is there anyone you would still like to meet and why?
I have many heroes like Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese etc…but I don’t believe meeting them would do their legend any favours. So I suppose I’d have to say Stephen Fry (who I have actually met). Read more »

Jonathan Best (pictured) is the artistic director for Queer Up North. Following the Arts Council’s U-turn, the festival will go ahead, as planned from 9th -25th May.

This year’s programme includes Tough Time, Nice Time, by radical theatre troupe Ridiculusmus and The Fairy Godfather of Hollywood, avant-garde performer Bette Bourne’s show about the life and times of Hollywood screen icon Rock Hudson.

Opening the festival is controversial comedienne, Sandra Bernhard, who we will be interviewing shortly.

In the meantine, we caught up with Jonathan recently and he talks about the organising the festival, his love of Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter, the funding crisis and what you can look forward to at Queer Up North. This is Best’s second year as artistic director and he is confident that the programme is the best yet. Read more »