THE first version of Candide, with a book by Lillian Helman, met with little success on Broadway and in London’s West End, but, rather like Topsy in Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the show refused to die. Gradually, with a reworked book and lyrics, it has developed into a classic opera. I doubt if any production since…
TAKE three mazurkas and a polonaise by Chopin, a Neapolitan tarantella by Liszt and six Romanian folk dances – and you have a recipe for a whirlwind of fiery dancing, flying fingers and virtuoso musicianship. Italian pianist Giovanni Lonati returned to The Old Schoolhouse for two concerts that showcased his brilliant playing – and thrilled…
DAPHNE du Maurier’s Don’t Look Now, a haunting story of loss and mystery, mainly set in Venice, was memorably filmed with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. Now a stage adaptation, by West Country writer Nell Leyshon, comes to Salisbury Playhouse from 29th October to 15th November. This co-production with the New Wolsey Theatre at Ipswich…
STORY Weaver Becky Burchell is inviting women (and men!) to take part in one of a series of four Dark Skies walks on Cranborne Chase, ending on 15th November. The creative arts producer originally created Women of the Dark Skies “to invite women to walk in the footsteps of the female ancestors of this land….
ONE of Agatha Christie’s most exotic murder mysteries – Death on the Nile – comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 21st to Saturday 25th October in a lavish new Fiery Angel production, starring Mark Hadfield as Hercule Poirot. On board a luxurious cruise under the heat of the Egyptian sun, a couple’s idyllic honeymoon…
WHAT does the word “wild” mean to you? Is it standing at the edge of a raging sea or being lifted up and spat out of a whirling tornado, running for your life through the streets or coming face to face with a wolf; the animal within that can’t always be tamed or the wilderness…
THE West front of Salisbury Cathedral is one of the glories of Western architecture – and it makes for an astonishing backdrop as Luxmuralis return from 4th to 8th November with a breathtaking spectacle of light and sound – Sarum Lights: Lost Worlds. This innovative light and sound show will take viewers on a journey…
CIRENCESTER’s exciting little theatre, the Barn, is making a name for its adventurous programming, with new plays that go on to tour the region or nationally. Now the Barn’s hilarious production of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister is headed for the West End, and will be at the Apollo Theatre from 30th January to 9th May…
A MASTERPIECE of silent cinema, set in one of the world’s greatest cathedrals, will be screened in another – Salisbury Cathedral, on Saturday 15th November, when The Hunchback of Notre Dame will be shown, with a live organ score. Jonathan Hope, one of the most dynamic organists of his generation, will improvise a live organ…
WELSH National Opera’s A Night at the Opera should not be confused with the Marx Brothers’ first film, made in 1935, when they left Paramount Pictures to join the always high production value studio of MGM. But WNO’s show has one major feature in common with the Marx Brothers film – it sets out to…