viernes, 20 de julio de 2012
Liverpool Arts: SPOTLIGHT: Emily Brogden, acting director of Chester Festivals
Emily Brogden, acting director of Chester Festivals
Tell us a bit about your job The job involves anything and everything because we are such a small team. I lead the organisation and report to the board making big decisions on the cultural landscape of Chester. However, it has also involved carrying a giant lily pad through the streets for Amber Ray, burlesque performer of MBNA Chestival Vaudeville Weekend!
What inspires you? Innovative and fun ideas, quality artistic product and a hardworking and committed team around me.
What show/event/exhibition are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months? In the next 12 months we have a diverse, entertaining and informative Chester Literature Festival (October 14-28), and finally, our fabulous children’s Lit Fest GobbleDEEbook (October 20-27).
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? I can safely say I’ll still be working in the arts. I have such a huge respect for this industry. People, resources and budgets can often be spread thinly, but because the passion is there, we continue to make things happen.
What makes you laugh? Do you find that whenever you are lifting something heavy, particularly with the help of someone else, that you get the giggles at the most unhelpful moment and lose all ability to “lift and shift”?! No?! Well these are called the “heavy giggles”.
What’s your hidden talent? Keeping a smile on my face when someone’s being negative.
Liverpool Arts: FILM REVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises is brilliant and brutal
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (12A) Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson Director: Christopher Nolan Duration: 164 mins.
DIRECTOR Christopher Nolan completes his dark and brooding trilogy based on the DC Comics crime-fighter in suitably grandiose fashion, delivering not only the longest film in the series but also the most brutal, violent and satisfying.
Replete with more than an hour of footage shot on IMAX cameras to enhance picture quality and truly immerse the audience in the pulse-quickening action, The Dark Knight Rises ends Nolan’s tenure on a giddy high.
It’s to the London-born film-maker’s credit that he resisted the urge to jump on the 3D bandwagon for the caped crusader’s swansong.
Certainly, the breathlessly orchestrated action sequences, including the spectacular opening aboard a huge C-130 Hercules transport plane, would draw bigger gasps in the eye-popping format.
However, Nolan has always focused on the characters and their twisted psychologies, and he puts all of them and us through the emotional wringer in this final chapter, co-written by his brother Jonathan.
The script is a little too cute in places, inadvertently giving away one major plot point well in advance, but it certainly doesn’t hurt our enjoyment to be two steps ahead of the good guys.
Christian Bale brings typical intensity to the title role and the tender bond with Sir Michael Caine’s lackey continues to tug heartstrings.
Thankfully, Tom Hardy’s electronic vocals have been improved since the early trailers for the film so his masked villain is largely intelligible and Anne Hathaway slinks away from Michelle Pfeiffer’s memorable portrayal of Catwoman but still purrs some choice one-liners.
It is eight years since Batman falsely assumed responsibility for the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in order to bring the anti-crime legislation into effect and crush Gotham’s criminal fraternity.
The caped crusader is a fading memory and crippled billionaire Bruce Wayne (Bale) has become a virtual recluse, holed up in his manor with trusty butler Alfred (Caine).
Liverpool Arts: Laura Davis: The neon lights aren’t quite so bright on Broadway
I’M YET to see a TV drama that comes anywhere near to accurately depicting my experience of working in journalism so it’s perhaps a little unfair to base my opinions of life behind the scenes of a Broadway show on the NBC series Smash.
Who I am to say whether it’s entirely realist to burst spontaneously into song in a bowling alley like a scene from Grease 2, be forced to whisper-sing Happy Birthday Mr President to a famous director in his penthouse apartment or get accidentally hooked on sleeping pills as the result of a freak combination of a sore throat and a limelight-scrobbling mother.
When it comes to switching on the next episode of Smash, I actually don’t care.
I want to believe that it’s possible for Debra Messing to write the whole book of a musical on an A4 notepad with a perfectly sharpened HB pencil, while looking both effortlessly chic and Einstein intelligent in her tortoiseshell reading glasses and white shirt.
I want to believe the world is full of scrupulous theatre producers like Anjelica Huston, who are able to balance a strong moral conscience with savvy business acumen while still finding time to fall for a bartender with a hidden talent for central heating repair and chuck a few cocktails in her nasty ex-husband’s face.
I want to rig a live orchestra to my bedroom curtains so the action of drawing them each morning is accompanied by the sound of the band tuning up before a show – just like Smash’s opening credits.
And I’d swap my big stack of theatre programmes to be able to fast forward the dull better-stick-in-a- pop-song-to-keep-younger- audiences-happy bits of real life so that it becomes one long stream of exciting choreography, big ballads and snappy dialogue.
If, in reality, behind the scenes at Broadway isn’t the way it’s depicted in Smash then frankly it’s been invented wrong.
Countering the misconceptions of the glamorous lives Broadway actors lead is the book Making it on Broadway by David Wienir and Jodie Langel, which, since it came out in 2004, has been shocking wannabe musical theatre stars into signing up for engineering courses.
Told through the voices of real life Broadway performers, including Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander, it reveals the cockroaches, crises and chicanery behind their supposedly charmed existence.
Despite what it says in the song, it turns out that the neon lights aren’t quite so bright on Broadway – it’s much more dramatic than that.
Authentic Broadway life is not complete without money worries, stalkers, co-stars with wandering hands, embarrassing bar mitzvah performances, disappointed family members, broken marriages and broken Tony awards.
And even if you do eventually make it into a top-billed role – after years of sleeping on a friend’s lice-ridden sofa, walking miles home because you have no subway money and dodging obsessive fans – there’s no guarantee you’ll ever get another one.
It seems that even with handsome-but-selfish director Derek and needy prima donna Ivy, the world of Smash is a fluffy paradise compared to the back-stabbing, soul destroying reality of Broadway backstage.
Now that would make a good musical.
Liverpool Life: Look of the Week: Marion Cotillard
French Actress Marion Cotillard attends the world premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises"
I IMAGINE it is hard for Marion Cotillard to look anything less than gorgeous with that divine visage and fine French style.
Here she is at the New York premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in a fantastically frothy Christian Dior affair.
Luckily the spikey (and slightly scary) Louboutin heels toughen up the look. Trés sexy.
Liverpool Arts: Classical Column 190712
Preview
RLPO Summer Pops Season
RECENTLY at the Wigmore Hall, a mezzo-soprano ended her recital by singing as an encore of the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow – there was not a dry eye in the house. It is very right and proper that those wonderful Broadway and Hollywood songs of the last century increasingly find their place alongside the great masters of song like Schubert and Schumann.
The best of them are being recognised as an important genre in their own right. Kim Crisswell joins John Wilson and the RLPO on Saturday night to celebrate Hollywood’s leading ladies with many of the songs made famous by Judy Garland, Deanna Durbin, Lena Horne and more.
Orchestral music is not forgotten as Wilson includes amongst other things, The Carousel Waltz, which to my mind stands alongside Strauss as one of the finest of its kind. There is a preview of some of the programme tomorrow night when Crisswell, Wilson and the RLPO entertain the crowds at the Pierhead and they will also hear Thunder and Lightening Polka, Crown Imperial and Candide Overture.
It’s all part of a general letting down of the hair, before the Orchestra has a summer break, climaxing on Sunday evening with soprano Elizabeth Watts and Carl Davis presenting popular classics from concert hall and opera house, including Puccini, Mozart, Stars and Stripes for Ever and the Last Night of the Proms routine. Four weeks of relaxation follows for the band before the London Prom on August 23.
Reviews
Neeme Jarvi conducts Saint-Saens (Chandos), Saint Saens Organ Works (Hyperion)
AFTER their glittering release of the music of Debussy, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra follows up with Neeme Jarvi conducting a programme of that under-estimated composer, Camille Saint-Saens.
Omphale’s Spinning Wheel, Danse Macabre and the Danse Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah are joined by six lesser known but attractive pieces in spectacular recorded sound from Chandos. The composer lived too long and was considered out of date when he died in 1921 but he is due for a revival. Hyperion adds to the argument by releasing Volume 3 of his organ music played by Andrew-John Smith on the composer’s own organ at the Madeleine, Paris. Three Breton songs are quite delightful and, in tackling the Fantasie for mechanical Aeolian organ, the organist admits that he has managed to play most of the notes in this first recording. The composer did not expect it to be played by human hand, just on the machine but the Madeleine instrument having no bells, Adrian Bending steps in to add chimes. The programme is completed with three of his pieces for religious ritual and a delightful Sarabande.
Liverpool Life: Restaurant Review: The Little Manor, Thelwall
Thelwall’s Little Manor has had quite the facelift. Emma Johnson finds it looks good on it
THEY do say you can have too much of a good thing. Take rice pudding for instance. I like it – on occasion – but I would not like to have to live off it for any length of time.
Yet that is precisely what I found myself doing after I tripped over on my way back from holiday and broke my jaw in two places. Dramatic I know.
Thankfully I was lucky enough to avoid the discomfort and indignity of having to have my jaw wired shut and am fully healed now (I think). But for the best part of a month I was reduced to living off calorific mush, so to speak.
Needless to say eating out was off the cards for a while – what adult wants to ask for their food to be puréed?
It was during my “confinement” that I came to hear about the new-look Little Manor in the Warrington suburb of Thelwall.
The Little Manor is quite the piece of Cheshire history. Originally built back in the 17th century for the Percival family (their crest still adorns the walls) it passed from family to family over the next few hundred years before becoming the Cottage Restaurant and Guest House in 1950.
Its fortunes ebbed and flowed in the following decades. The name was changed to the Little Manor some time in the eighties and during the nineties it was a popular hangout for well-heeled Cheshire set types.
My husband and I had not been there for some years but on hearing of its refurbishment, under the ownership of the Brunning and Price pub group, and always on the look out for a good gastropub near home, I resolved to check the place out as soon as my jaw was back in action.
That opportunity came on Saturday evening (on the advice of a pal we had booked a table but you don’t have to, if there are none free they run a waiting list from behind the bar) and found the place bustling – a mix of couples and big groups some dressed up and out for the night, others still out from the afternoon judging by the jeans and wellies.
There is nothing revolutionary about the Little Manor refurb – country pub is the look, with fireplaces, stone floors and pub paraphernalia aplenty. But where so many chain pubs feel fake, there is a pleasing air of authenticity to the design.
We ordered a bottle of wine at the bar (Le Campagne Viognier £18.95) from a very reasonably priced yet varied list and were shown to our table and handed menus.
I was disappointed to see they were paper ones but perhaps that is because the chef likes to change the offering regularly. Judging by the number and variety of dishes on offer they are certainly not short on ideas in the kitchen.
MID-JULY MIX by Monkeybicycle
Songs for the Road
It’s summer. Time to say goodbye to the office and that awful business casual attire, and get away to your favorite relaxation spot, wherever that may be. The day-to-day responsibilities of your regular life fade into the rear view mirror and what lies in front of you is nothing but a good time (Note: Poison’s Nothing But a Good Time will not be included on this mix tape—sorry).
But before you can get to all that fun in the sun there is the travel, the time in between. That’s the space this mix tape is meant for. It’s not for listening to at home or at the beach; it’s for the world on that line that connects A and B on Google Maps. These songs, chosen carefully by Monkeybicycle’s editors, are the map. Let them guide you as you go, mighty traveler.
STEVEN SEIGHMAN
1. Unobstructed Views, Death Cab for Cutie:
Every time I hear this song I think of a scene from a movie. In that. Scene someone is driving through an empty tunnel, or across a bridge in the dead of night. This song feels lonely and vast. I imagine who is driving the car in the scene in my head is running away from something, and not headed toward anything, it is best listened to at night, preferably near a tunnel or bridge.
2. Life During Wartime, Talking Heads:
This song is obvious in its roadliness. It’s about being on the run and its beat is impatient, waiting to get out the door. If you’re a few minutes behind on your travel schedule, put on this song and you will make up the lost time for sure.
3. Chinese Apple, Loose Fur:
I remember hearing this song on a road trip once. It was nearly sundown and I was passing, alone, through an especially Americana part of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Something about those last rays of light in the sky, mixed with Mennonite décor, Shoo-fly pies, and the soft, poetic sounds of Jeff Tweedy made that the perfect moment. Chinese Apple is an ideal prescription for winding down after a long day on the road.
J.A. TYLER
4. We Are Young, Fun.:
Yes, this is overplayed as shit on the radio, but the album is literally loads of fun, and this song in particular is infectious in the best possible way.
5. Somebody, Jukebox the Ghost:
This band has been glorious for years, and “Somebody,” the first track on their third album, is a rad and lifting song that drives for you. Maybe this will finally solidify the monstrous audience they deserve.
JESSA MARSH
6. My Father’s Gun, Elton John:
When thinking about roadtrip songs, I can’t help it, my mind goes to “Elizabethtown,” the dorky 2.5 hour long rom-com starring Kirsten Dunst as the founding Manic-Pixie-Dreamgirl archetype. I love this movie, and I simply don’t care who knows it. And as it is a Cameron Crow movie, I also adore the music in it. “My Father’s Gun” plays TWICE in the movie because it’s just that good.
7. Graceland, Paul Simon:
I moved to Memphis last July and I recently fell in love with it on a deep, almost blasphemous level (by that I mean that I’ve caught myself saying things like “I don’t even miss Chicago because Memphis has everything I like about Chicago plus HEART, MAN!”). After falling in love with Memphis, I stole my fiance’s copy of Graceland and listened to the second track on repeat whenever driving through the city. And I have reason to believe that we will all be received in Graceland.
SHYA SCANLON
8. Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen:
As could any reader of this blog, I could go on about how intensely redundant and backwards this song is–from the shy, noncommittal chorus to the absurd “garage band” stand-ins and OMG-the-hunk-is-gay reveal that concludes the insipid video–but while all other seasons represent some element of toil (fall, incipient loss; winter, dogged denial; spring, simply becoming), summer is a season of blissful, effortless surrender. As I unto Jepsen’s insistent, dimensionless commercial-ready pop. It’s the song I want to blast while driving through the small, un-recovering towns on my way to a series of self-consciously “upstate” picnics and swims.
LAURA CARNEY
9. Drive, Incubus:
This is the literal answer, but I’d be remiss if I did not acknowledge this as a road trip song as I have vivid memories of gripping the steering wheel of my little Honda tightly when I was 23 years old and thinking, That’s right, I should “be the one behind the wheel.” I was usually on my way out to some ridiculous bar in my hometown and would not likely “choose water over wine” that night, as the song abstractly advises. There, I brought the literal back to abstract again. Thank goodness.
10. A Day in the Life, the Beatles: [Editor's Note: There is no Beatles song on this playlist, because the Beatles are nazis about their copyright laws. Instead, please put the player on pause, and then listen to this song that you have (hopefully) already previously illegally downloaded on to your hard drive, or, you know, just go here.]
During a difficult period, I took an amazing road trip from Seattle to New York with my then (and current) boyfriend, but at the time the relationship was fresh. While driving through the Rockies, I insisted that we listen to this song when it was my turn to drive the huge SUV we’d rented. I’ve been informed by said current boyfriend that the twisty, veering curves I navigated while listening to Sir Paul sing about grabbing his coat and hat were not the Rockies at all but rather some hilly area near Mt. Rushmore. Regardless, hearing “somebody spoke and I went into a dream… aah.. aah.. aah…,” etc., and then, you know, the amazing crescendo at the end… well, it was just intense. I’m pretty sure All You Need Is Love came on immediately after.
11. Don’t Stop Me Now, Queen:
A few years after that, I was living on my own again and attending lots of dance parties at my brother’s house where people regularly belted out “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Somebody to Love.” And it was always sweaty. I preferred this one, mostly while driving alone. I like to think that’s an improvement from the Incubus “hit” six years earlier. I took a three-year hiatus from driving and once I was able to do it again (which only required seven trips to the worst place on the planet, the Baltimore DMV), all I wanted to do was sing, “I’m gonna go, go, go, there’s no stopping me.” Oh, and, “That’s why they call me Mr. Fahrenheit”—definitely the best line in this song. (It’s because he had reached 200 degrees, he was going so fast. That never happened to me, though.)
***
–Monkeybicycle is a literary journal that lives both in print and online. It’s currently celebrating its tenth year on earth with a new web format and print issue, which you should pick up.
TweetLiverpool Arts: Review: Alison Krauss, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
WITH her easy Southern charm and winsome blonde looks, Alison Krauss makes a perfect poster girl for the alternative country scene.
Now in her early 40s, Krauss’s 26-year career has seen her grow far from her bluegrass roots to the point where touts are eagerly selling tickets outside a sold-out Liverpool Philharmonic Hall.
It’s not hard to see why Krauss inspires such devotion and acclaim (she has won an incredible 26 Grammy Awards). Her voice is an exquisite thing of beauty and the backing she receives from her superb band Union Station is often simply breathtaking, so much so that Krauss frequently steps back from the mic to let them have the spotlight.
Guitarist Dan Tyminski and dobro player Jerry Douglas both get their moments on centre stage, with Douglas’s dizzying fretwork on a Paul Simon and Chick Corea-inspired instrumental is one of the night’s undoubted highlights.
Despite her willingness to play her fiddle and be one of the boys, Krauss is the undoubted star of a show which tends to concentrate on the slower- paced and more tragic songs from her back catalogue (a fact she amusingly alludes to when she lists the various troubles that befall the unlucky Wild Bill Jones on the song of the same name).
Krauss’s choice of material, from her tender covering of The Foundations’ Baby Now That I’ve Found You to a lovely reading of Richard Thompson’s Dimming of the Day, all show the range of her remarkable vocals but her version of Keith Whitely’s When You Say Nothing At All sadly cannot escape the depressing spectre of Ronan Keating.
Judging by the reaction to each song, Krauss’s long term followers and newer fans attracted by her collaboration with Robert Plant and her film work with Cohen Brothers (a beautiful a cappella version of Down To The River To Pray is a lovely highlight), are more than satisfied but as good as Krauss and her band are, there’s a nagging feeling that they are rather going through the motions during what is an incredibly slick performance.
As Tyminski (who was George Clooney’s voice double in O Brother, Where Art Thou) launches into I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow for probably the umpteenth time of his career, one can’t help thinking that Krauss should be stretching and challenging both herself and her band to a greater extent.
Jamie Bowman
Liverpool Arts: The Post's 50 events for fun and culture this summer
WHETHER summer is a wash out or cracking the flags there are plenty of cultural events to enjoy in Merseyside. Laura Davis and Jade Wright select 50 to go to over the next few weeks and months
1. THE organisers of the annual Threshold Festival are holding a one-day event as a fundraiser for next year.
Taking place at Camp and Furnace, Greenland Street, on Saturday, July 28 it will feature music, art, fun and games while showcasing some of the best emerging talent in Liverpool.
Featured bands include We the Undersigned, 69 Watts, Bolshy, Dominic Dunn and Vanessa Murray, The Thespians, Triphazard and Thom Morecroft.
Family friendly events include The Littlepool Art Prize for children, judged by Liverpool Art Prize 2012 winner Robyn Woolston.
CantmixWontmixShdntMixDontMix will be hosting have-a-go DJ tasters, while there’ll also be a vintage clothing swap shop, big screen retro gaming and a prize for the most flowery summer hat.
Chris Carney, Threshold’s artistic director, says: “This event is all about three things – music, fun and raising funds for Threshold 2013. We are really excited about the line-up and also eager to make our annual main event more open to families.
2. AFTER a trip to the planetarium, the universe starts to wobble for a group of young people in Liverpool.
In 20 Stories High Youth Theatre’s new production, Ruby and her gang start to experiment with teleportation, Jason is feeling so small that he’s starting to become invisible and Abdul has to choose between Nigeria and his one true love.
The Universe and Me is at The Black-E tonight and tomorrow before touring to Manchester’s Truth About Youth Festival. Tickets are £3 (£2 concs) from 0151 709 5109.
3. THE Everyman and Playhouse’s Summer School is returning for another year, giving children interested in drama and acting that chance to have fun in a professional theatre environment.
Professional theatre practitioners will use acting exercises and games to develop skills in voice, movement, improvisation and storytelling, culminating in a short performance piece at the end of each week.
All abilities are welcome, no performance or acting experience necessary.
Places are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and cost £100 per week (payable in advance). The course, for seven to 10-year-olds, runs from August 13-17, 10am-4pm. Further details on 0151 709 4776.
4. AUTHOR Tony Hawks will be at Picturehouse at FACT for a screening of Playing the Moldovans at Tennis plus a Q&A on Saturday, July 21.
He’s giving away a pair of tickets to the first two Moldovans who come to the cinema with their passports. The screening takes place at 4pm.
5. THE Chemical Brothers, Groove Armada, David Guetta, Skrillex, Tiesto, Afrojack, Avicii, deadmau5, Calvin Harris and Example are among the big names at this year’s three-day dance fest, Creamfields.
A new Nation stage has been added to the tfestival and will be showcasing talent from UK DJs.
This will include a performance from DJ and producer Jordan Suckley who recently secured a monthly show on BBC Radio 1.
The festival starts on Friday August 24 with a night offering three silent discos featuring music choices from more than 10 different DJs, and continues through the weekend with both the Saturday and Sunday night offering multiple stages with live DJ sets.
Creamfields has sold out of day tickets for Saturday August 25, two-day non-camping and the limited ticket offer has also sold out. There are now only a limited number of tickets still available.
Details at www.creamfields.com
6. BROADWAY star Kim Criswell will join the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in the first of two free concerts taking place at the Pier Head this weekend.
She will sing a range of classics from the Hollywood’s golden age, including There’s No Business Like Show Business and Stormy Weather, on a waterfront stage tomorrow evening.
Fresh from the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall last week, John Wilson will conduct the RLPO in an evening celebrating the silver screen.
The programme will feature songs from the musicals Carousel, Annie Get Your Gun, Funny Girl and The Sound of Music as well as a selection of music by The Beatles to mark the pop group’s 50th anniversary.
Before the RLPO begins, there will be performances by young opera singers Danielle Thomas and Nick Hardy, former stars of the city’s performing arts festival, accompanied by the Liverpool Signing Choir.
The Liverpool Youth Orchestra will be playing at locations around the Pier Head as the audience arrives.
Sue McAdam, Music on the Waterfront event manager, says: “We want to encourage people coming to the Friday night concert to bring a chair and have a picnic and really enjoy the ambience of what will be like a picnic at the Proms event.
“The waterfront is an absolutely awesome location to have a free concert.
“People can come along and enjoy the view of the World Heritage Site as well as listen to the music.”
It’ll be standing room only at Saturday’s concert when Smooth Radio presenters will introduce some of the station’s best loved artists.
Paul Carrack, the distinctive voice of Mike and the Mechanics classics The Living Years and Over My Shoulder, will take to the stage to deliver some of his biggest hits, including How Long?.
Internationally renowned tenor Russell Watson will be performing his own unique brand of rousing classical-pop crossover.
The line-up also includes British trio Honey Ryder, New York singer-songwriter Nell Bryden and singer-songwriters Scarlette Fever and Ben Montague.
Both concerts are open air so audience members are advised to dress appropriately for the weather and check the event’s website for updates.
This is the fourth year of Liverpool’s On the Waterfront events.
Last year’s included Spring on the Waterfront in April, Reflection on the Waterfront in July, featuring a 3D light show by Czech artists The Macula, and the return of the Mersey River Festival in September.
In total they attracted 250,000 people, bringing in more than £10m to the local economy.
Music on the Waterfront takes place at the Pier Head this weekend with John Wilson conducting the RLPO tomorrow, 6.30pm-9.30pm and Love Live Music with Smooth Radio on Saturday, 6pm-10.30pm. Both concerts are free and unticketed. Further details at www.liverpoolonthewaterfront.co.uk
7. PROFOUNDLY deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie will perform a diverse recital at the Philharmonic Hall on Saturday, August 18.
The programme will include Ilijas by Nebojsa Zivkovic, Clapping Music by Steve Reich, Rhythmic Caprice by Leigh Howard Stevens and her own work.
The concert will be followed by an insightful talk about her unique connection to music, challenging the listener to ask where music comes from. It will be British Sign Language interpreted.
Liverpool’s Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra will open the event with its new 10-minute work The Jasmine Flower, performed with the Merseyside Signing Choir and Shanghai Deaf School.
8. TRY your hand at digital SLR photography on one of Open Eye Gallery’s photowalks.
On July 28, McCoy Wynne will be hosting a Cityscape workshop, while Mark McNulty will be showing beginners how to take street and even photography on August 4.
The one-day events aim to de-mystify the digital single lens reflex camera, helping participants to take some outstanding pictures.
After an introductory session at Open Eye Gallery, at Mann Island, the workshop moves outside for them to test their new skills on a specially tailored photowalk.
Aimed at beginners and people who understand the basics but want to be more creative, the courses cover all the essential tips and techniques including getting the correct exposure and understanding the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO, learning about composition and light, lenses, colour temperature and white balance.
To take part, you’ll need your own DSLR camera and appropriate dress for the weather. The photowalks, priced £80 (£60 concs) are limited to a maximum of 15 people so make sure you book ahead at www.openeye.org.uk or 0151 236 6768.
9. JOHN REILLY has recorded with Bryan Adams and can claim Sean Connery as a fan, but the thing he’s most excited about is playing a gig in his hometown.
“My mum’s a Phelan from Scotland Road and the Reillys are from Aigburth,” explains Reilly. “It was a big family, all kinds of music. Dad was the youngest of 14 kids. Mum was one of nine. I have three older sisters, so I grew up wearing their cast offs.”
The singer moved to Sheffield at 18, but he’s still a proud Scouser, and a devoted Evertonian. He’s looking forward to playing The Cavern this month.
“I’m looking forward to a reaffirmation of my roots and identity, and of course the Walker Art Gallery,” he says. “I miss the tangible sense of a shared and unique culture, a sense of pride that our city survived the late 70s and 80s when its soul was in danger of being suffocated. Now I tell everyone I meet, wherever I am in the world, to visit Liverpool.”
John Reilly plays The Cavern on July 27
10. DISNEY Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show at the Echo Arena from August 29 to September 2. The master magician joins forces with professional illusionist Michael Barron and a host of Disney friends to perform the magic of the films live on stage. Tickets £16.50-£23 from 0844 800 3680.
You can also take part in a treasure hunt at the Albert Dock to win tickets to the show. Find out how at www.albertdock.com
11. JAMES BURTON has played on some of the most influential guitar riffs in popular music. Elvis Costello says he is one of a few players who musicians call “legendary”, while Pete Townshend calls him “probably the most important guitar player in American music.”
He’s best known for playing guitar for Elvis Presley from 1969–1977.
“Elvis was a wonderful entertainer,” smiles Burton. “One of the best. It was an honour and a privilege to play alongside him.”
Burton will be performing some of the songs he played with Elvis when he plays the James Burton Weekend at Fort Perch Rock, New Brighton.
“I’ll play some of the Elvis songs,” he says.
“I like playing Suspicious Minds and the Trilogy, but anything goes.”
His back catalogue reads like a who’s who of popular music – he played alongside Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis,The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Simon and Garfunkel, The Righteous Brothers and The Mamas and The Papas.
“I’ve had a great life and I’ve been so lucky to work with so many wonderful people,” says Burton.
“I always enjoy playing live, particularly in Merseyside. I’ve been coming here for years, decades, and I always have a great night.”
James Burton plays three nights – Elvis Night on Friday, July 20, a double header with Albert Lee on Saturday, July 21 and Los Pacaminos, featuring Paul Young and James Burton, on Sunday, July 22.
12. IT’S not just all about The Beatles at the Liverpool Academy of Arts this summer.
The gallery has extended its annual Come Together exhibition, usually focused on all things Fab Four, to cover all Merseyside pop bands.
The show runs from August 14-30 and you can still submit works for inclusion. Find out more at www.la-art.co.uk
13. THE Royal Court is running a heritage tour of its Grade II-listing building on Tuesday, August 7.
See behind the scenes of one of the country’s finest art deco theatres after it has completed the first phase of its £10.6m renovation scheme.
Tickets for the hour-long tour are £5, with the whole sum going towards the building’s restoration.
More details at www.royalcourtliverpool.co.uk
14. JOIN comedian Gareth Berliner and comedy actor Kiruna Stamell (Life’s Too Short, Cast-Offs) as they entertain you with their real life rom-com exposing discrimination on route.
A Little Commitment is at The Unity on Thursday, August 30. Tickets £10 (£8 concs) from www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk
15. IMAGINE yourself on Time Team with a session of simulated digging at the Museum of Liverpool. The 30-minutes sessions are being run as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, July 24 and 25; 11am, 1pm, 2pm. Further details on 0151 478 4545.
16. SENSE of Sound is hosting a singing masterclass at The Bluecoat on July 28 for those who aspiring to be a singer or already performing and wishing to improve their vocal and harmony skills. Further details and tickers, priced £25, from www.thebluecoat.org.uk
17. THE Pantaloons theatre company is performing Oscar Wilde's classic comedic masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest outdoors at Speke Hall on Wednesday, August 15. Tickets, priced £14, (child £7) at www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Liverpool Life: Wine: More reasons to enjoy a classy glass of riesling
SOMETIMES you can just have one of those eye-opening revelations. Like realising staying up after 10.30pm is no longer a credible lifestyle option; or that olives are quite tasty after all.
This year, yes; staying up after 10.30pm is now a rare occurrence. I do eat olives. And hey, I’ve started to drink riesling.
I’m not talking cheap German plonk here; not that warm, sweaty, sickly sweet mass-market liebfraumilch. British misconceptions probably put liebfraumilch and riesling in the same glass, for lack of a better analogy.
In fact, as Gray Simpson, manager of Corks Out in Heswall gently prompted me, liebfraumilch, contrary to popular belief, is not riesling, (It’s a blend, usually Müller-Thurgau riesling, silvaner, and kerner.)
Riesling is Germany’s most famous grape variety. Over 60% of the world’s Riesling vineyards are in Germany. It has probably suffered the most in terms of public approbation. But it is now basking under some summertime limelight and rightly so.
Riesling is a star. It has dry, zesty, fruity complex flavours that can delight and tingle; acidity that can excite tastebuds even just as a memory; aromas that can be floral, fragrant and fruity or even hold a petrolly hint.
Wines of Germany recently held a Riesling Summit, with the drinks trade taking part in discussions and tastings. It showcased wines along with masterclasses.
David Motion, from The Winery, London, spoke at one of the masterclasses. So what is it about riesling that he loves so much?
He told me: “Dry German riesling is, in my opinion, the greatest dry white wine on the planet.
“Nothing beats it for finesse, for the almost electric tension between power and fresh acidity, for terroir definition – by which I mean it’s as if you can taste the geology it is grown on – the stone, the slate, the soil. It’s like licking the slate and the oily minerals explode in your mouth.
“Once you convert, it’s hard to drink any other white wine!”
Joachim Flick’s Victoriaberg Riesling trocken 2011 (£16.99, The Winery, email info@thewineryuk.com) is a burst of fruit and acidity with a playful spritz. I love Chablis (I have told you this before) and the stylish, classy, zingy-apple-dry edge of this wine from the Rheingau did it for me. Surprise – a murmur, for me, of peach on the long finish.
Axel Pauly is one of the young stars of German wine, his dry or off-dry wines from the slate soils of the Mosel. Axel Pauly Helden Riesling 2011 was tasted at the summit and what a delight it was. Another with a spritzy, zingy edge with hints of nectarine. Sadly it is not available in the UK; but some of his wines are imported by Liberty Wines (020 7720 5350). But Axel Pauly Purist Riesling Kabinett Trocken is at Vinea in Liverpool (£14.59, www.vinealiverpool.co.uk). Vinea is supporting Wines of Germany’s 31 Days of German Riesling which is running this month. It will have occasional riesling ‘wine clinics’ as well as advice on food matches.
The Liverpool-born UK sales manager of an organic wine company is combining her love of wildlife – and her love of wine – to support the Born Free Foundation.
On Saturday August 4, Linda Ward will take part in the Liverpool Big Fun Run in Sefton Park.
Linda and the team at wine merchant Vintage Roots have also established Wild Thing, a wine which raises money for Born Free from each bottle sold. Sauvignon blanc, merlot, or a tempranillo rose, it is £7.75 from www.bornfree.org.uk
Liverpool Arts: THEATRE REVIEW: Starlight Express, Liverpool Empire
IT WAS the roller skates that gave Starlight Express the wow factor when it first opened in the West End back in the 80s – musical theatre performers transformed into daredevil trains by swapping their dance shoes for wheels.
And despite that no longer seeming such a radical concept nearly three decades on, it’s the roller skates that keep the show popular today.
Which is just as well because the plot won’t do it – as love stories go it’s hardly Gone With the Wind, although the heroine is just as selfish as Scarlett O’Hara, and the hero’s triumph over adversity is not that great a victory when it’s only his own stubbonness that’s holding him back.
Perhaps it’s hard for steam engine Rusty to rally his spirits for a race against more modern rolling stock simply to impress his girl after she’s dumped him for a gyrating locomotive in a red, white and blue mohican.
Actually, the two leads played their parts well – Kristofer Harding as the dishevelled dreamer and Amanda Coutts as high-maintenance first class coach Pearl – the characters are just not all that endearing.
Yet there’s something enduringly charming about Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, even in its updated form which replaces some of the original music with bland, modern, instantly forgettable pop. Many of those original numbers that survived the cull work as well today as ever – among them the rock ’n’ roll song Pumping Iron, the country and western pastiche U.N.C.O.U.P.L.E.D. and the rhythmical Freight.
The staging is exciting enough – movable ramps, pyrotechnics and snazzy lighting creating the imaginary world of a little boy’s dreams where toy trains compete in break-neck races. A series of fun 3D films show the different heats, with competitors tumbling off bridges or falling victim to sabotage in Wacky Races fashion.
And Arlene Phillips’s choreography is energetic and playful, although performances in the opening few numbers felt a bit mechanically lacklustre.
It tightened up as soon as Electra arrived on stage however – flying in dramatically on a wire. Mykal Rand as the “engine of the future” blew the rest of the cast off the stage – his magnetic performance showing no sign of fatigue despite having appeared in Starlight Express regularly since 1987.
miércoles, 18 de julio de 2012
Liverpool Arts: PREVIEW: Liverpool’s Brazilica festival takes place this weekend
LIVERPOOL is turning Brazilian for three days this weekend with a festival of music, dance, art, sport, culture, food and film for the whole family.
Brazilica will feature samba bands and performers from across the world in a Rio-style carnival.
The festival opens tomorrow with a charity gig in aid of Action for Brazil’s Children, in a collaboration with Brazil’s own festival Festinho.
The event, at Nation on Wolstenholme Square, will showcase DJs and three rooms of live bands.
On Saturday, Brazilica will take over Williamson Square, for a day-long event featuring musicians, Brazilian cuisine and samba dance.
New for 2012, Bold St will be closed to traffic and animated with live samba music and dance performances. Liverpool’s independent retail district will dress its shop fronts and open its doors late into the night.
The highlight of the weekend will be the Carnival Parade, which last year attracted 60,000 visitors, as it winds its way through the city centre to a confetti-filled finale in Williamson Square.
Finally, on Sunday, exhibitions and performances will take place across the city centre before a huge closing party.
Maeve Morris, of Liverpool Carnival Company, says: “We cannot wait to bring the carnival spirit to Liverpool again this year.
“It is a pleasure to have so many samba schools taking part in this year’s parade and an amazing line up of Brazilian artists throughout the festival. I am so grateful to all the groups and volunteers working behind the scenes.”
FURTHER details at www.brazilicafestival. com/
Liverpool Arts: MUSIC REVIEW: Ian Prowse, Philharmonic Hall
Musician Ian Prowse launching a new album The best of Ian Prowse to mark his 21 year career.LIKE Mischief Night and the Mathew Street Festival, singer-songwriterIan Prowse’s annual Philharmonic shows have become peculiarly Scouse-centric institutions which to the outsider feel like you’re gatecrashing a private but very loud party.
Noted as both a talented tunesmith and legendary carouser in his home town, Prowse’s heart-on-the sleeve music has never quite translated into chart success or recognition beyond the boundaries of Merseyside but that could all be about to change with the release of a new Best Of album.
The potential to showcase his 20-year-old career has clearly rejuvenated Prowse, who takes to the stage in ebullient fashion. Mixing the politics of the heart with a passionate left-wing sensibility, it’s obvious why the Ellesmere Port-born musician names Bruce Springsteen as a hero.
In the blink of an eye Prowse can switch from a sensitive eulogy to Marvin Gaye (Marvellous Marvin) to spitting out an aggressive diatribe against Cameron and Clegg on a great version of The Jam’s Going Underground.
Despite his constant mentions of issues like Hillsborough, the Coalition and his dislike of playing London, it’s when Prowse mines his well of personal experience that he really hits his targets.
Maybe There Is A God After All ruminates on Prowse’s recent fatherhood but, far from being an idealised and soppy celebration of all things baby, it’s an honest appraisal of the event from a man’s point of view.
“It has been like a tour of Vietnam,” he jokes in the song’s introduction but lines like “These are the days/that made a man of me”show his true feelings.
Songs from Prowse’s early-‘90s stint in proto-Britpop band Pele have dated little in the intervening two decades, material such as Raid The Palace and Fat Black Heart welcomed with particular glee by the partisan crowd.
They also serve as a handy signpost to Prowse’s current musical template with the Gaelic-influenced fiddle and folky bouncy showing why Prowse is so admired by the likes of Christy Moore and Elvis Costello.
Prowse finishes with probably his best known song, John Peel favourite Does This Train Stop On Merseyside and there’s a tearful atmosphere as he dedicates the song to both the much-missed DJ and the 96 Hillsborough victims.
Jamie Bowman
Liverpool Arts: What’s on in Liverpool: July 12-18, 2012
THEATRE
The Bald Prima Donna Catfish Theatre tackles Eugene Ionesco’s satirical representation of the English language, July 13. The Lantern Theatre, Blundell Street, 0151 703 0000, www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk
Desperate Scousewives Comedy by Lynne Fitzgerald and Claire Bowles, starring Bernie Foley and Philippa Goodwin, ends July 15. The Liverpool Actors Studio, 36 Seel Street, Liverpool, 0151 709 9034, http://www.theliverpoolactors studio.com/
Masters Are You Mad? Poet Glyn Maxwell’s comedy sequel to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, July 13 to August 19. Grosvenor Park, Chester
The Match Box Leanne Best stars in Frank McGuinness’s compelling one-woman play, extended to July 21. Liverpool Playhouse, Williamson Square, 0151 709 4776, www.everymanplayhouse .com
Reds And Blues – The Musical Dave Kirby’s new stage version of the football film The Ballad of Dixie and Kenny, until July 28. Royal Court, Roe Street, 0870 787 1866, www.royalcourt liverpool.co.uk
Starlight Express Bill Kenwright presents a new production of one of longest running shows in musical history, July 17-28. Liverpool Empire Theatre, 0844 871 3017, www.liverpoolempire .org.uk
Twelfth Night Classic Shakespearean comedy, until August 19. Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre, Chester, 0845 241 7876, www.grosvenorpark opentheatre.co.uk
The Winters Tale Liverpool Network Theatre Group presents Shakespeare’s play of contrasting halves, July 13-22. Various Liverpool venues, www.liverpo olnetworktheatre.org.uk
DANCE
1979 Two artists born during the Iran-Iraq war draw the audience into the horrors in their memories, where a human life was worth less than a dog’s, July 12. The Unity, Hope Place, 0844 873 2888, www.unitytheatreliverp ool.co.uk
Merseyside Arabic Dance Showcase Students and teachers of Middle Eastern dance come together for a unique and colourful showcase, July14. The Unity, Hope Place, 0844 873 2888, www.unitytheatreliverp ool.co.uk
COMEDY
Thursday 12
Comedy Central Stand up night with regular favourites, tonight and tomorrow. Baby Blue, Albert Dock. 0151 702 5834, www.liverpoolcomedycentral .com.
Friday 13
Frankie Boyle – The Last Days of Sodom Tonight and tomorrow. Liverpool Empire Theatre, 0844 871 3017, www.liverpool empire.org.uk
Laughterhouse Comedy MC Neil Fitzmaurice introduces Keith Carter as Nige with Lloyd Langford and John Gordillo, tonight and tomorrow. The Slaughterhouse, Fenwick Street. 0151 227 5946, www.laughterhousecomedy.com. The same acts, along with MC Chris Cairns, are also at The Slug and Lettuce, North John Street, 0151 227 5946, www.laughter housecomedy.com
Hot Water Comedy Whose Line is it Anyway with resident MC Paul Smith. The Crown Hotel, Lime Street. 0777 211 2344, www.hotwatercomedy. co.uk
Sunday 15
I Predicted a Riot Edinburgh Preview from Alfie Moore. The Lantern Theatre, Blundell Street, 0151 703 0000, www.thelanterntheatre.co.uk
Hot Water Comedy New Act of the Year Final With MC Paul Smith and six finalists plus special headline performance from Carl Hutchinson. The Crown Hotel, Lime Street. www.hotwatercomedy.co.uk
Tuesday 17
Crown Jester Comedy Night The Crown, Lime Street, 0151 707 6027.
ROCK AND POP
Thursday 12
Blink 182 Headlining their first tour in over eight years with special guests The All-American Rejects and The Blackout. Echo Arena, Kings Dock, 0844 800 3680, www.echoarena.com
Saturday 14
The Songbook Sessions With Endeci, 10 Bs, Dan Elson and The Rhythm Pixies, Rhyming With Orange, D-Tales, Sue Whitebrook And The Amateur Hour and Unplugged. Zanzibar, Seel Street, www.thezanzibar club.com
The Heroes Festival Sixties music with live bands The Cryin’ Shames and The Dominoes and Then One Night in Vegas with Martyn Lucas. Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton, 0151 666 0000, www.floralpavilion. com
Lomax Presents The Vivid Hollow, Animus, Awooga, Deadblonesuperstars and Sankofa. Lomax, Cumberland Street, www.lomaxliverpool.com
French Touch With Zinc, High Violet, The Visitors, Broken English and Support the supports. 02 Academy, Hotham Street, 0844 477 2000, www.02academyliverpool.co.uk
Wednesday 18
Remember When Travel down memory lane in an afternoon filled with magical musical memories from the fabulous 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s. Floral Pavilion, New Brighton, 0151 666 0000, www.floralpavilion .com
JAZZ AND ROOTS
Saturday 14
Alison Krauss & Union Station Multiple Grammy Award-winning Krauss bridges the gap between roots music, country and rock and pop. Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, 0151 709 3789, www.liverpoolphil.com
Sunday 15
The Alif Ensemble Oud player Khyam Allami brings together a group of musicians from traditional and contemporary backgrounds for a blend of inspiring new acoustic and electronic music. Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, 0151 709 3789, www.live rpoolphil.com
The Grapes Band The Grapes, 35 Knight Street, 07950 828674.
Monday 16
Jazz You Like It Pistachio Restaurant, 88 Lark Lane, Sefton Park. 0151 726 0160.
Tuesday 17
Parr Jazz Night and Jam Session Studio 2, 23 Parr Street, 0151 707 3727.
Sidney Bailey’s No Good Punchin Clowns Peter Kavanagh’s, Egerton Street, Liverpool, 0151 709 3443.
Wednesday 18
Jarrett and Guests Keith’s Wine Bar, 103 Lark Lane, Sefton Park, 0151 728 7688.
CLASSICAL
Thursday 12
Music from Film & Television Carl Davis and the RLPO with a programme including music from The Apprentice, Cranford Suite and Brassed Off. Presented by Liverpool screenwriter Heidi Thomas. Liverpool Philharmonic, Hope Street, 0151 709 3789, www.liverpoolphil .com
Saturday 15
Neil Campbell: Classics and Originals An evening of music for classical guitar, View Two Gallery, Mathew Street, 0151 236 9444, www.viewtwogall ery.co
The Handbag of Harmonies Choir concert. The Gladstone Theatre, Port Sunlight, 0151 643 8757, www.gladstonetheatre .org.uk
CLUBS
Friday June 13
Festinho Presents Brazilica With sets from Norman Jay OBE, DJ Marky, MC Stamina and more. Nation, Wolstenholme Square. www.festinho.com
Saturday 14
Saturdays at Mo*Niques: Hosted by Joe-Ann Randles and Danny Latimer, with DJs Ian Woods and Matt Gall. Mo*Niques, Temple Court. www.moniquesliverpool.com
Circo: With music from Peter Piorun and Robbie Edwards. Circo, Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4AD. 0151 709 0470
EXHIBITIONS
THE BEATLES STORY
Elvis and Us Exploring the influence of The King of Rock ’n’ Roll on John Lennon and the early Beatles, ends October 4. Mersey Ferries Terminal, Pier Head, 0151 709 1963, www.beatlesstory.com
THE BLUECOAT
Niet Normaal 24 international artists ask “What is normal and who decides?”, July 13 to September. 2 School Lane, 0151 702 5324, www.thebluecoat.org .uk
BLUECOAT DISPLAY CENTRE
My Place Selected artists from the Craft Council of Ireland’s Craft Portfolio, ends August 25. College Lane, 0151 709 4014, www.bluecoatdisplaycentre. com
THE CORKE GALLERY
Leaving of Liverpool Work by Paul Gent, ends July 21. Aigburth Road, 0151 726 0232, www.corkeartgallery.co.uk
CORNERSTONE GALLERY
First Hand Intimate look at the private work of Liverpool artist and craftsman Edward Carter Preston, ends August 31. The Creative Campus, 17 Shaw Street, 0151 291 3578, www.hope.ac.uk/cornerstoneg allery
DOT ART
Every Heartbeat Counts Every Word Matters Erica Hamilton considers the rhythm of the natural world, ends July 27. Queen Avenue, Castle Street, 0845 0176660, www.dot-art.co.uk
FACT
The Humble Market: Trade Secrets UK/Brazilian theatre company Zecora Ura and artists Jorge Lopes Ramos, Alastair Eilbeck, James Bailey and Persis Jade Maravala fuse theatre, performance and media art, ends August 26. Wood Street, 0151 707 4464 www.fact.co.uk
THE GALLERY LIVERPOOL
Maria Tavares The Portuguese-born artist shows paintings inspired by the sun, ends July 13. The Gallery Liverpool. The Courtyard, Stanhope Street, 0151 709 2442, www.thegallery liverpool.co.uk
INTERNATIONAL SLAVERY MUSEUM
White Gold – the true cost of cotton Highlights the Environmental Justice Foundation’s campaign to end the abuse of labour rights in the cotton production industry in Uzbekistan, ends September 2. Albert Dock, 0151 478 4499,www.liverpool museums.org.uk/ism
LADY LEVER
A Pre-Raphaelite Journey: Eleanor Fortescue-Brickdale Curated by renowned art historian Pamela Gerrish Nunn, ends November. Port Sunlight Village, Wirral, 0151 478 4136, www.liverpoolmuseums.org. uk/ladylever
LIVERPOOL ACADEMY OF ARTS
A Head of Arts Group show supporting charity Neurosupport, July 17-26. Seel Street, 0151 709 0735, www.la-art.co.uk
MERSEYSIDE MARITIME MUSEUM
Titanic and Liverpool Explore the city's central role in the disaster that claimed 1,517 lives, ends April 21, 2013. Albert Dock, 0151 478 4499, www.liver poolmuseums.org.uk/maritime
OPEN EYE GALLERY
Still Outside (Or Unexplained) Four artists question what we think we know about the world around us, ends September 2.
Erwin Wurm: One Minute Sculptures Austrian-born cult artist uses photography and film to capture transient sculptural works, ends September 2. Mann Island, 0151 236 6768, www.openeye.org.uk
PENNY LANE ART GALLERY
Anthony Brown Paintings by the Liverpool-born artist behind the 100 Heads series, ends August 12. Penny Lane, 0151 733 4355, www.pennylanegall ery.co.uk
TATE LIVERPOOL
Turner Monet Twombly: Later Paintings ends October 28.
Innocence and Experience Exhibition put together by celebrity curatorMarianne Faithfull, ends September 2. Albert Dock, 0151 702 7400, www.tate.org.uk/liver pool
VICTORIA GALLERY & MUSEUM
The Spectacle of the Lost Jon Barraclough, Alexandra Wolkowicz and Rob Peterson produce work inspired by the artist and naturalist John James Audubon, ends August 26. Ashton Street, 0151 794 2348, www.liv.ac.uk/vgm
WALKER ART GALLERY
Rolf Harris: Can You Tell What It Is Yet? The first major public gallery show of his art work and memorabilia includes paintings, drawings, lithographs, cartoons and sculpture, ends August 12.
Feathercuts and Flares Discover some of the most influential looks of the 1970s, ends autumn.
Elements and satellites Recent work by Liverpool Art Prize 2011 winner Markus Soukup, ends July 15. William Brown Street, 0151 478 4199, www.live rpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker
EVENTS
Thursday 12
Canned Brazil Outdoor screening of Brazilian cinema. St. Luke’s Church, Berry Street.
The Arabic Arts Festival At various venues across the city. See www.arabicartsfestival.co.uk for full details
Friday 13
Brazilica Vibrant festival of Brazilian culture, until July 15. Venues across Liverpool city centre, www.brazilicafestival .com/
Yemen Day Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival event featuring music, film, food and Yemeni culture. Liverpool Arabic Centre, LAC/MYCA Building, Beaumont Street, 0151 734 0550, www.arabicartsfestival.co.uk
Brouhaha International Street carnival with performers from across the world, parade from Liverpool city centre to Princes Park from 4pm. Festival in Princes Park on July 14, www.brouhaha.uk.com
Saturday 14
Rolf Harris Book signing event with the Australian artist, 10am. Walker Art Gallery, William Brown Street, 0151 478 4199, www.liverpoolmuseums. org.uk/walker
Ben and Holly visit Come and meet Ben Elf and Princess Holly from Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom. The characters will meet and greet fans. Knowsley Safari Park, Prescot, 0151 430 9009.
The Big Saturday Day of music, debate, film, poetry and food, featuring Libyan poet Khaled Mattawa. The Bluecoat, School Lane, www.arabicartsfestival. co.uk
Sunday 15
Big Dance Some 1,275 people will perform together as the finale for the Big Dance 2012 Festival. Liverpool One, www.liverpool-one.com
Sunday Crafternoons Bring along your little (and big ones) to make and learn, 2-4.30pm. Museum of Liverpool, 0151 478 4545.
Tuesday 17
Eleanor Fortescue Brickdale Tour Director of art galleries Sandra Penketh gives a guided tour, 2-3pm. Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight Village, 0151 478 4136, www.liverpoolmuseums.org .uk/ladylever
French Club of Liverpool Brew Tea Bar, Old Hall Street, Liverpool, 6pm. 0151 281 2684.
Liverpool Life: Emma Johnson: Look of the week - Freida Pinto
AH THE lovely Freida Pinto. Does the Slumdog star ever look anything other than achingly pretty?
Here she is at a screening of her new movie Trishna shimmering away in a scallop embroidered dress by Californian designer Rachel Roy and sexy Brian Atwood heels. Effortlessly beautiful.
Liverpool Arts: LAURA DAVIS: Who wants to reopen Garston’s Empire Theatre?
WHICH building in Liverpool would you choose to regenerate if you could pick from any that are not currently in use?
I would go for the former Irish Centre – the Wellington Rooms on Mount Pleasant.
That’s partly for personal reasons. It’s where I first learned to play the violin when I was just five and I have lovely memories of my dad and his friends meeting for a session there in the early-80s, the air thick with pipe smoke and the smell of tweed.
Last year, during Heritage Open Day, I went for a look around and, despite the holes in the floor and everything seeming a lot smaller, it was pretty much as I remembered.
Even the velvet curtains were still hanging above the stage where my sister and I had once stood as two of a group of assorted angels in the Nativity play – tightly bound in white crepe paper, a wreath of silver tinsel on our heads.
We’re lucky in Liverpool that so many of our once deserted buildings have been given new uses, even though notable examples remain dilapidated – the Stanley Dock Tobacco Warehouse immediately springs to mind.
Despite the fact that it was touch and go for so many of our theatres in the 1980s, just one is left on the Theatres at Risk Register, compiled each year by national advisory body The Theatres Trust.
The most recent list, which has just been released, features 49 theatre buildings of the estimated 2,000 in the UK – that’s seven fewer than last year, although sadly that’s because some no longer exist.
Seventeen new ones, including Margate’s Theatre Royal, have been added.
Factors considered to put them at risk include sale or change of ownership, funding difficulties, poor quality of operation threatening the building’s continuing use, high cost of maintenance or refurbishment works, local development adversely affecting access or restricting future expansion/improvements, threat of demolition, the building alteration to another use and threat to the building or theatre itself through decay or irreversible alterations.
The one Liverpool theatre on the list spent most of its life not as a theatre, but more than 40 years as a cinema and 30 as a bingo hall.
The Empire, on James Street, Garston, was built in 1915 and was used as a theatre for just three years, possibly due to the First World War when many venues across the country were forced to close.
It has been closed since 2009 but retains many of its original features, including a marble staircase, curved balcony front and high-arched proscenium, and is considered by The Theatre’s Trust to be “architecturally important”.
That’s the Empire’s past – so what of its future?
The Theatres Trust hopes that since the introduction of the Localism Act last November – the same one that allowed Liverpool City Council to be headed by a mayor – local communities will find it easier to take over abandoned venues.
When a building is up for sale, the Act buys community groups time to develop a bid and raise the money.
It’s a big challenge but we’re a city that loves a dare – is there anyone ready to reopen the Garston Empire?
And, while they’re at it, there’s a lovely old building on Mount Pleasant that’s worth a second look.
Liverpool Life: Restaurant review: Franco's Italian, Castle Street, Liverpool
Luke Traynor pays a visit to a popular city restaurant that has stood the test of time
THERE’S something immediately comforting when you walk down the staircase into Franco’s. Away from the bustle of Castle Street, I felt transported to a little corner of Italy in this basement, with its stone floors and promisingly authentic decor.
Franco’s is a well-known name within Liverpool’s restaurant trade – the eaterie was previously know as Bar Italia, but in recent years has been rebranded to take on the name of proprietor Franco Colangeli.
The boss is one of the main draws of this underground trattoria and a beaming veteran of the kitchen, he scuttles around his headquarters with a quiet pride.
Franco’s is all about homestyle comfort, and the reassuring arm on the shoulder as he reveals the contents of his Gamberoni alla Franco, the chef’s signature recipe, is evidence of the convivial atmosphere here.
Two Peroni beers opened our account, which we followed with a perfectly drinkable small carafe of house red wine (£9.95).
Two things stand out about Franco’s – first is the lack of music, which is no bad thing, second is the absence of a pizza anywhere on the menu. Instead of pizza the focus here is on authentic Italian cooking, with pasta and risotto dishes taking the spotlight (available in starter or main form, £7.95 and £9.95 respectively) plus an array of meat and fish options.
Taking heed of the chef/owner’s good name, I plumped for the risotto alla Franco to start. A piping hot dish of chicken strips, pancetta, white wine and parsley, it was moist but not overly watery, with good bite to the rice. Chris also went down the pasta starter route with the spaghetti marinara which was brimming full of seafood and some well-placed tomato and basil.
He praised the perfectly al dente pasta which came with myriad sealife including prawns, mussels, anchovies and pieces of white fish. The rudimentary crabstick at the expense of fresh crab (or even tinned crab, he intimated!) got a thumbs down, however.
For our mains, we immersed ourselves in the 24 fish or meat options and I eventually plumped for Anitra al pepe nero pan – fried breast of duck served with crushed black peppercorns, fresh cream and brandy sauce topped with fresh parsley.
It comes presented with around six slabs of bird, pinky-grey in colour and wonderfully soft to chew.
The pepper sauce was pleasingly light so as not to overpower the duck in any way and while the meat did have a touch of fat, the breast was wonderfully succulent.
My friend boldly ordered the dish of the house – iletto di Manzo Franco's – a pan fried fillet cooked with cream, mustard, onions, mushrooms, tomato and brandy sauce topped with fresh parsley.
Chris was delighted with the true rareness, caramelised crust and immediate tenderness. The only negative observation was how it possibly needed resting a while longer as a touch of blood leaked into the sauce with each sweep of the knife.
At £19.95 and £23, these were top end main course dishes, and while undeniably well cooked, we felt they were a touch pricey and the accompanying basic boiled potatoes and vegetables were a bit of a let down. When forking out £20 or more on a course, I want more thought given to my greens and spuds.
We could have stopped here, but two courses, and generous bread baskets, hadn’t left us bursting yet, so the offer of ‘Dolci’ from our attentive waiter was hard to pass up.
Blackcurrant cheesecake for me and something caramel for Chris came straight from the fridge, and they were a lukewarm end to the meal, given you could no doubt buy something similar at your supermarket at a third of the price.
Still, it’s not a point exclusive to Franco’s, as the dessert chef seems a dying breed nowadays.
The bill, for two, was £87 and did make the lips purse a touch. But, we had steered away from the cheaper pasta and there was no denying the quality of the food.
The meal was finished off in typical style, with complimentary shots of limoncello. Foul in my eyes, but savoured by my friend.
Directly opposite Franco’s is fellow Italian San Carlo, a relative new kid on the block that, in its relatively short life, has become a very popular destination for Wags and footballers in equal measure.
Good then that the seasoned old pro across the road is hanging in there in these tough times.
Liverpool Life: Shoes give women an extra sense of femininity and of empowerment
Christian Louboutin is celebrating two decades of creating sexy shoes. Lisa Haynes hotfoots it to meet the king of the cobblers
YOU might not know much about Christian Louboutin the man, but his shoes with their signature red soles are world-famous.
Protected even, like a rare exhibit for the Parisian designer is currently fighting a court case against a major high street brand which has “imitated” his trademark design.
That Louboutin look started out 20 years ago as an experiment when he painted a sole with red nail polish, but it’s gone on to become the brand’s iconic stamp.
“It immediately became a sort of sign of recognition, a signature, and women would come to me and say, ‘It’s like a vacuum for guys!’”, Louboutin tells me.
Despite the legal wranglings, he’s far from seeing red when we meet. Me, clad in one of my favourite Louboutin perspex heel boots; him, wearing flat studded loafers flashing those scarlet soles as he crosses his legs after warmly shaking my hand and offering me a chocolate biscuit.
Louboutin, 49, is walking on cloud nine right now: there’s a range of cosmetics in the pipeline for next year (Louboutin Red lips, anyone?), he’s the top judge for Martini’s Royale Casting (the new face of the brand will bag 12 pairs of Louboutins), and a retrospective exhibition at London’s Design Museum is currently celebrating his two decades of shoe wizardry.
From towering heels to studded sneakers and bejewelled pumps, it’s like the best shoe shop in the world, only with “Don’t Touch” signs at every stiletto turn and security guards positioned near the wall of thigh-high boots.
“It was hard to choose two hundred!” Louboutin exclaims when I ask him to pick out his favourite pair featured in the exhibition.
“I mean some shoes, like the Guinness shoes (with heels constructed from actual cans) we no longer have – not one pair.”
He goes on to reel off the names of shoes as if they were his children, struggling to single out “the” style deemed most iconic by Louboutin aficionados.
“I mean lately the Pigalle...” he says, before hesitating, “probably. Between the Pigalle and the Lady Lynch – or the Fifi, which has a really high heel with a round toe.”
So what it is about Louboutin’s vision that ensures his shoes are red carpet regulars, fashion industry favourites and capable of commanding upwards of £395 for a classic pair?
“Balance. Proportion. And the cleavage,” Louboutin replies succinctly, using shoe designer speak for the amount of toes flaunted.
“Shoes can do a lot for a woman. They can give this extra sense of femininity and empowerment.”
Louboutin’s fascination with shoes dates back to when he was just 11 or 12 years old. He recalls discovering a drawing at an African art museum near his parents’ apartment that displayed a woman’s high heel vividly crossed out in red. “I sort of discovered creativity through that drawing,” he says.
His now inspirational image of the Fifties-style stiletto, which was intended to safeguard the parquet floor, was a sharp contrast to the Seventies trend for flat or chunky-heeled shoes.
Louboutin’s love of performance, cabaret and the showgirl later fuelled his glamorous vision.
Although he doesn’t name one specific muse, he regularly links up with burlesque performer Dita Von Teese at events. “Nobody wears shoes like a dancer on stage,” he says.
He cites art, architecture, landscape, travel and artefacts as areas from which he draws inspiration.
Louboutin packs his suitcase and seeks out a hot climate to design his summer collection and a cold bolt-hole to find autumn/winter inspiration.
The designer goes to extremes to achieve the right working environment. “I have a house in the country in France and it’s often cold but if it’s not cold enough I just turn the heat off then I’m sure to be frozen.
“I’m quite influenced by the light and by the heat, so it’s easier to imagine a super-light sandal when it’s boiling outside than furry boots and vice-versa.”
Just as Louboutin’s shoes range from flats to six-inch heels, his personality is full of light and shade, humour and sincerity.
Discussing how foot sizes have become bigger during his career, he remarks: “I was just going up to a size 41 (UK 8), but now I have to go all the way to 43 – and then there’s the trannies, which make me go all the way to a 47!”
Although Louboutin creates flat shoes for men and women, it’s the towering stilettos that have brought him worldwide fame.
The higher the heel, the more prominent that revered red sole. “People say I am the king of painful shoes,” he says. “I don’t want to create painful shoes, but it is not my job to create something comfortable.
“I try to make high heels as comfortable as they can be, but my priority is design, beauty and sexiness.”
Liverpool Arts: SPOTLIGHT: Giles Agis, executive director, Brouhaha International
Giles Agis, executive director, Brouhaha International
Tell us a bit about your job? A lot of my time is spent meeting with people locally, across the UK and abroad, developing great new art projects that bring young people, communities and artists together. Then I have to go about finding all the funding.
What inspires you? The determination of artists, performers and those people in the community who make things happen. Secondly, my two sons who are growing up knowing and meeting so many inspirational people from around the world.
When were you last moved by culture? I was walking down Bold Street and came across a busker, a young women called Chi. I was with my 5-year-old son who said “she sings nice”. Chi will now be appearing on the acoustic stage on the July14 World in Princes Park Festival.
What show/event/exhibition are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months? Liverpool International carnival and World in Princes Park Festival of course.
Where do you see yourself in five years’ time? I must go and get a lottery ticket.
What makes you laugh? My children’s observations. Recently I overhead my two sons talking about a work colleague of my wife who had tragically and suddenly passed away. “Today was sad wasn’t it? Did you cry? A little bit but he is an angel now, you know, we just need to move on”.
What gets you angry? Ignorance.
Liverpool Arts: ALBUM REVIEWS: Lianne La Havas - Is Your Love Big Enough? and more
SOUTH Londoner Lianne La Havas has already piqued interest, with fevered excitement growing around her debut album, after being championed by Jools Holland, Bon Iver, Stevie Wonder and Prince, as well as DJs Zane Lowe and Fearne Cotton.
The 22-year-old's ethereal vocals, much like Corinne Bailey Rae's, can be heard throughout the 12 tracks from soulful opener Don't Wake Me Up, the heartrending Lost & Found, the toe-tapping Au Cinema and No Room For Doubt, featuring Willy Mason. There's nothing to find fault with here: Age is a slice of sunny soul you'll want to sing along to, while she shows her angry side in Gone. An impressive debut from an up-and-coming starlet, who is definitely one to watch.
Rating: HHHHH
The View - Cheeky For A Reason
THE View's lead singer Kyle Falconer has claimed the Dundee rockers' fourth album was "Fleetwood Mac's Rumours done by The Clash", but Cheeky For A Reason sounds just like The View.
The fact that the amiable Scots – Falconer, Kieren Webster, Pete Reilly and Steven Morrison – have developed an almost instantly recognisable sound can only be a positive, but apart from The Clock, which is very much a homage to Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon, there appears to be no obvious change in direction. Lead single How Long has the trademark killer chorus and punchy vocal and is the band at their best, while more mellow moments such as Anfield Row and Bunker (Solid Ground) are also highlights.
Rating: HHH
Various - Pete Waterman Presents The Hit Factory
NOEL Coward could have been talking about the songs that rolled off the production line at Pete Waterman Limited (PWL) when he said: "Extraordinary how potent cheap music is."
Producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman clocked up hit after hit during the 1980s, with bubblegum pop by Kylie (I Should Be So Lucky), Jason Donovan (Too Many Broken Hearts), Rick Astley (Never Gonna Give You Up) and Bananarama (Love In The First Degree) resonating with teenage listeners of that generation. PWL also produced the high-energy disco of Liverpool band Dead Or Alive's You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) and the smooth soul of Princess' Say I'm Your Number One. For relentless hits and unashamed pop indulgence, this will not disappoint.
Rating: HHHH
Newton Faulkner - Write It On Your Skin
SURREY-born singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner's third album drips with cynical optimism, perhaps indicating a jadedness brought on from the overexposure of his 2007 debut Hand Built By Robots, and his second release's relative obscurity in 2009. Stand-out tracks include the simple yet beautiful folky Long Shot and upbeat opener Pulling Teeth, while the soaring harmonies in ballad In The Morning make it perfect for a live show.
The 27-year-old even channels an Elbow-like vibe on Pick Up Your Broken Heart. Lyrically, the album calls for people to be true to themselves and there is little diversion from this, but the infectious, optimistic pop of top 10 tune Dream Catch Me is sorely missing.
Rating: HHH
Liverpool Life: Wine: Sparkles take tinge out of tennis defeat
EVER the optimist, I was hoping to celebrate a British win at Wimbledon... armed with a lovely glass of sparkles I chink-chinked Andy Murray’s victory in the first set.
But by the time rain stopped play on Sunday afternoon, I realised that perhaps I had been a little hasty to celebrate.
Nevertheless the bubbles in my glass fizzed regardless. And very lovely they were too.
Elyssia Gran Cuvee Brut (RRP £19.99, from Freixenet and available in various outlets) combines traditional Macabeo and Parellada Cava grapes with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
It had lovely floral aromas, honey and a touch of rich stone fruit. Those flavours lingered on the palate too, in a nice clean finish.
I’ve taken quite a liking to Cava from Penedes – another one I tried a couple of weeks ago was Jaume Serra Brut Reserva Gran Seleccion (RRP £12.99, Tesco – down to RRP £4.99 from July 18 to August 15) which is a blend of Macabeo, Xarello, Chardonnay and 20% Parellada.
Dating back to 1647, the Jaume Serra winery sits on top of a hill which slopes down to the town of Vilanova i La Geltrú and the Mediterranean coastline.
Pale yellow in colour with green highlights, it is aromatic with fruity notes.
Before the rain came, I dared to take a glass into the back garden. When the rain came I went back inside – the al fresco trip lasting five minutes.
It has a sister, Jaume Serra Rosé Brut Reserva Gran Seleccion (also redced during the same dates) which is a blend of 80% trepat and 20% pinot noir.
ALSO in my glass... another wine from the Plaimont Producteurs co-operative in south-west France. Last week I told you about Tesco Finest Saint Mont... now I’ve also tasted Le Passé Authentique 2010 from the hills of Gascony. Made specially for Waitrose (£9.99) it is a wonderful blend of Gros Manseng, Petit Courbu and Arrufiac. Very refreshing, it is full of citrus and tropical fruit flavours.
Talking of the south of France, a wine exclusive to The Co-operative has won a trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2012 for the “Best Red Languedoc-Roussillon Under £10”.
Made by award-winning winemaker Catherine Delaunay, Les Jamelles Reserve Mourvedre 2011 is described as deep violet in colour with an “alluring nose of fresh red berry fruit”.
Ben Cahill, Category Buyer for wine at The Co-operative Food, says of the wine: “The ideal accompaniment to grilled meats and sausages, this fabulous, well-priced French red is a great summer wine for al fresco drinking and barbecues.” It is available at selected Co-operative stores on offer at £5.49 (down from £6.99) until 24 July inclusive.
MEANWHILE... did you know that some of us are a miserly bunch when it comes to taking wine to dinner parties.
I know this thanks to a survey conducted by Majestic Wine. It revealed that 2% of people admitted to taking a wine less expensive than they would buy for themselves... and 6%would take a wine they have lying around the house.
But some people – 46% in fact – take a wine they know works well with the food being served.
The survey also revealed that Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon are the favourite tipples at parties.
So there you go.
Liverpool Arts: TV COLUMN: David Higgerson airs his views
IMAGINE you are a TV producer. Your TV programme, on Channel 5, involves a posh, experienced hotel expert trying to sort out some of the UK's more random vacation locations.
You've done Blackpool B&Bs, you've done run-down country hotels, you've done the stereotypical awful-hotel-but-the-owner-can't-see-it in Cornwall, Cumbria and County Durham. Where to send the excellent Alex Polizzi next?
And then the letter arrives. From a nudist hotel. In suburban Birmingham. Naked Brummies!
Well, if life serves you lemons, you should make lemonade.
Chuck in some meat and two veg and you have documentary-comedy gold. What can go wrong?
The answer, as far as entertaining telly goes, is very little. And so The Hotel Inspector (Thursdays, 9pm, Channel 5) returned to our screens with Forte family member Alex rocking up at The Clover Spa in Birmingham, working with nudist hotel owner Tim Higgs, who can't understand why his hotel isn't more popular.
The stark fact was this: People don't like chewing on nuts at the bar while others are walking around revealing theirs. And this was a point that Higgs, who prefers to serve his customers in the buff, doesn't seem to understand.
Truth be told, this was fodder from heaven for Channel 5. The voiceover guy never missed an opportunity to pull out the puns, revealing how guests loved the new garden Polizzi insisted on 'so they can roast their chestnuts' before asking, after the future of the hotel was questioned, whether Higgs would 'get to see his end.'
There are programmes where celebrity fixers get sent in to sort somewhere out and you end up feeling sorry for those being fixed.
Anyone who runs a cafe and calls for Gordon Ramsay should really know they are beyond help. Likewise when Mary Portas rolls into a charity shop, you wonder what went wrong.
Polizzi is more subtle than that. She coaxes her people along, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but never (or rarely) having to refer to her hotelier track record to get what she wants.
Whether her trip to Birmingham is enough to save a nudist retreat remains to be seen, but if it does fold, it'll be because they ignored their invited expert, which in turn begs the question: “Why invite her at all?” Proof, maybe, that there is such a thing as bad publicity.
On a more serious note, the BBC has been running its 'When I'm 65' series over the past few days, a series of documentaries looking at various aspects of life as a pensioner.
Some of the programmes have been inspiring, such as How To Live Beyond 100 (Monday, BBC1, 10.35pm), featuring British 100-year-olds who swim every day, who are still active in their communities and, perhaps slightly more worrying in one case, admit to liking to drive fast despite being in triple digits.
Others, such as When I Get Older (BBC 1, Wednesday and Thursday, 9pm) were more moving. Seeing John Simpson choke up at the thought of being a burden to his family was moving in itself – a man who has spent a career dodging bombs and evading dodgy regimes revealing his most personal fears about the one thing none of us can avoid … time passing.
Insightful, informative and, yes, entertaining – this is the sort of stuff which reminds you why you don't really mind paying the licence fee. Which is more than can be said for the ridiculous 'who had sex with Kat?' plot in EastEnders (feels like nightly, BBC 1) at the moment. Two extremes, one TV station.
lunes, 9 de julio de 2012
Liverpool Arts: What's on in Liverpool - our picks for July 6 - July 8
The Liverpool Echo's guide to the best culture, theatre, music, arts and events around Merseyside during the coming week.
FORGET the deluge of wet weather - this weekend is awash with hot events to brighten up your summer.
From the opening of a brand new comedy night to live music with a record-swapping twist through to a maritime love-story and a night of hedonism from some of Liverpool's coolest kids on the scene.
And this weekend's guest tipper, Philip Bridges, communications officer at The Bluecoat, showcases a workshop for budding song-writers across Merseyside.
If you wish to be our guest culture tipper or have your event previewed or know of a happening we should be shouting about tweet Peter Guy here or send your information to peter.guy@liverpool.com.
Oh, and before we forget, on Monday we previewed the Brazilica Fringe festival - well, more events have been added: listen, watch and read all about them here.
Used Vinyl Club present Hallo... I Love You! at Mello Mello - Friday July, 8pm
LIVERPOOL melodic pop group Hallo...I Love You! play tracks from their eponymous debut album at Mello Mello.
This is the sixth in the hugely popular conceptual night at Mello which sees Liverpool talent release a record alongside playing live with the usual mix of DJs, midnight alt-karaoke and the used vinyl swap shop.
It's £3 on the door and for more information visit here.
Stand Up Comedy at The Engine Rooms, Skelmersdale - Friday July 6, 8pm
THE first of a new monthly comedy events at Skelmersdale’s alt-hangout and coffee shop - The Engine Rooms.
Usually the staple of musicians and creatives, the folks at the live music hub and recording studio bring a line up featuring comedians from around the country including headliner Tony Cowards.
More than able support arrives in the shape of Freddie Quinne, Clarence Frank, Bethany Black and compere Gareth Urwin.
This is a strictly over-18s night, ID will be required, tickets £5. For more details visit here or call 01695 731016.
Whale Song: A Land-locked Love Story - St Brides Church - Friday, July 6, 8pm
A SEA story set in a library; a love story cast out to sea.
Part 'Jackanory' for adults, part illustrated song - original, live storytelling through narration, live music and animated visuals.
Rebecca Sharp’s words, Mark Magill’s songs, Cathy Butterworth’s narration and Gill Smith’s visuals culminate in an immersive and other-worldly experience.
Support from the magnificent Ukulele Uff and Lonesome Dave.
Tickets are £5 on the door or online here. Doors 8pm, with 8.30 start.
Waxxx - House Party at Camp and Furnace, Saturday July 7
WAXXX have been holding some Liverpool’s coolest parties for sometime.
Saturday, the cats behind Liverpool's lifestyle magazine, return to their original home - the expansive Camp and Furnace for some late night mania, mind-crumbling visuals and Merseyside’s most whacked out DJs.
For a fiver you can’t go wrong, just don’t expect to be able to function on Sunday. Or Monday.
Event and ticket info here.
*** Guest pick by Philip Bridges of the Bluecoat ***
Songwriting workshop at The Royal Standard - Saturday July 7 - FREE
FANCY being the next John Lennon? Or maybe just learning the odd chord.
Well, here’s your chance. Join Mikey Georgeson on a complete masterclass for beginners on how to construct a song at his writing workshop.
It should be fun and educational - and best of all, it's free. Booking is required - so sign up and learn more about the event here.
The Royal Standard, Unit 3, Vauxhall Business Centre, 131 Vauxhall Road, Liverpool L3 6BN
United Kingdom. Royal Standard.
Liverpool Life: Wine: Tipples to try al fresco .... even if you have to brave the rain
THIS week, more thoughts on wine to cradle under an umbrella al fresco as you dream of the summer that we should be having.
If you like the zizzazizz you get from sauvignon blanc then you should try Tesco Finest Saint Mont Blanc 2010 (£6.99) – an amazing bargain for the flavour gymnastics you get in return.
This wine is made by Plaimont Producteurs in the Gers Department near the Midi Pyrenees, south west France. The Saint Mont appellation is within the Armangnac region and achieved AOC status in 2011.
In 1979 three wine cooperatives of Plaisance, Aignan and Saint-Mont in the Gers joined forces and, using the initials of the three areas, named themselves Plaimont Producteurs.
Now Plaimont represents 98% of the Saint Mont appellation with 40 million bottles sold every year.
Tesco Finest Saint Mont Blanc 2010 is a blend of the area’s native grapes – gros manseng (lively, citrussy) petit courbu (ripe fruit to taste, floral aromas) and arrufiac (floral aromas, elegant and crisp).
The result is a wine which bounces with exotic fruit. On the nose, lemon is strong, with pineapple. I also had a childhood memory flashback of a bowl of juicy, syrupy, mandarins.
On the palate the wine is juicy-lemon-dry but with lingering stone fruit to a good finish.
Another decent buy from the south of France is Les Estivales Rosé 2011 (£5.00 Asda). I met Philippa Carr, Asda’s master of wine at their spring and summer tasting and asked her to recommend a wine for the summer. This is it.
Les Estivales is a blend of shiraz (60 per cent) and grenache (40 per cent) and is harvested from 30-year-old vines around the villages of Puisserguier in Languedoc Roussillon – the largest wine-producing region in France. Philippa said: “The wine is full of juicy berries and would go great with pan-fried tuna and couscous. But it’s also great for easy drinking; not too dry.”
It is a lush girlie-pink, with concentrated dried-strawberry flavours, both on the nose and to taste, as opposed to punnets of cream-dolloping fresh fruit. But beware: Mischief lies in its imperceptible 13.5 per cent strength.
Talking of strawberries. Slice a couple into quarters and pour fizz over the top. (Wine of course – doubt if the girlie character from Corrie could fit in a glass.)
It seems eons ago that I sat in the garden, watching tiny bubbles of Henri LeBlanc Blancs de Blanc NV Brut cluster around the little strawberry triangles I’d popped in a flute. The sparkler is half price at just £6.99 (at the Co-op, reduced from £13.99 up until July 10). It packed a lot of fruit on the nose – assisted by my DIY-inclusion of a couple of England’s finest berries – and moved into a soft, tremblant, fruitbowl of apples and pears to taste. Glass emptied, the strawberries were yummy too.
Finally, a moscato may be a little too sweet for some of you, but put newly-launched Gallo Family Vineyards Moscato 2011 (RRP £6.79, various stores) in the fridge for a few hours and then decide. It’s not sickly-sweet, but if fruit salad was a luscious liquid, this would be it. It has bundles of peach and orange blossom which come at a sensible 8.75 per cent alcohol.
Apparently in the US hip-hop artists are penning lyrics about a new moscato-inspired wine trend. Over here in the UK, watch out for my moscato rap available on download soon.
Liverpool Life: FOOD: Our essential guide to eating in and eating out this week
SATISFY your sweet tooth at the Cakey Bakey Tart workshop by the Vegi Table at Claremont Farm. Chef Sarah Kearns says: “It’s all hands-on but you also get a fab ‘good practice’ bible that means you can carry on being a brilliant baker at home. As well as an introduction to pastry there will also be loads of sweet delights to take home – fudgy chocolate brownies, lemon drizzle tray bake, and traditional sandwich sponges. As always you’ll leave the kitchen super-confident after a very relaxed late lunch. The session is on July 21. To book go to www.vegi-table.co.uk.
DAVID GILLMORE, executive chef at The Lawns restaurant at Thornton Hall Hotel, has put together a new bespoke afternoon tea menu. Among the packages is the Champagne afternoon tea which offers a selection of finger sandwiches, pistachio macaroons, mini Victoria sponges and raspberry panacotta, a scone with clotted cream and fresh strawberries, and Champagne.
CHESHIRE Cooks Cookery School has opened with a programme of creative courses. For details see www.cheshirecooks.co.uk
jueves, 5 de julio de 2012
Liverpool Arts: THEATRE REVIEW: Reds and Blues, Royal Court
A SUPERB illustration of Merseyside humour was displayed during a full musical version of smash hit comedy film Reds And Blues – The Ballad Of Dixie And Kenny.
Renowned Liverpool playwright Dave Kirby’s latest play at the Royal Court was crammed with razor sharp wit and a constant stream of gags which are sure to please supporters from both sides of Stanley Park.
Kirby took the simple tale of a typical Blue family who just happens to live next door to a clan of avid Reds headed by Kenny (Andrew Schofield).
The tale begins with fanatical Evertonian Dixie (performed by Paul Duckworth), who arrives to stay at his Blues supporting sister’s house.
Kenny hopes to celebrate the anniversary of the Reds’ fifth European Cup victory in his front garden which the Blues are out to spoil. But both sets of fans declare war and the banter begins.
Some of the humour involved smutty insults, but it is dished out in equal measure so both fans don’t feel singled out.
The humour was brilliantly delivered and raising the roof were one liners such as Kenny’s underpants being “tighter than (Everton chairman) Bill Kenwright” and Kenny labelling Toffees fans as the affectionate Welsh term “boyo”.
Dixie’s was equally as amusing with his branding of all Liverpool fans as “Norwegian wools”.
Alan Stocks appeared as an eccentric Irish priest and Gwladys (Lindzi Germain) and Annie (Lynn Francis) were both class with their ridiculing of each other to the tune Que Sera Sera.
Annie boast “We beat you at Wembley” yet Gwladys didn’t care because the Reds lost their “cup in May”.
Young Red TJ Jones was charismatic and Stevie and cheeky child Blue Joseph Edwards (as Ronaldo) gave fine performances.
The play came into its own when the protagonists singing and rapping duels reached fever pitch.
For Kenny the party is all about his five times rap.
He belted out: “Get ready to do the five times rap.
“I was blitzed in Paris, blitzed in Rome, Blitzed at Wembley when we were at home.
“De de de de derr!”
An irreverent Dixie, however, is content for Kenny kiss his “Big blue hairy moon”.
The musical spectacular will have Merseyside’s football masses laughing until they are blue or red in the face.
Liverpool Arts: EXHIBITION REVIEW: The Humble Market, FACT
MORE interactive theatre show than traditional exhibition, the success of The Humble Market depends as much on its visitors as it does on what lies in the galleries.
Embrace the experience and you just might discover something about yourself, go in po-faced and it’ll be an uncomfortably embarrassing ordeal.
Created by theatre company Zecura Ura and artists Persis-Jade Maravala, Alastair Ellbeck, Jorge Lopes Ramos and James Bailey, it is based on the premise that by 2010 the world will be more Brazilian.
Visitors are taken through a series of situations that will prepare them for this eventuality.
They try on a carnival headdresses, take a virtual ride in a taxi, watch the stars on Philosopher’s Hill and have a conversation of sorts with a silky-voiced automated telephone system.
All the while, they are invited to answer questions about life and, most uncomfortably when you’re lying in a dark room with total strangers, death.
The point of all this is never made entirely clear but, to quote from a report handed out after you complete the tour, perhaps if you’ve had an enlightening, or simply entertaining, experience then “none of this matters”.
And there’s nice attention to detail – a game of Trivial Pursuit in a tent you are invited to crawl through, a miniature statue of Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer on the taxi dashboard, insulting quips from prying voice on the public telephone.
The Humble Market may not be for the excruciatingly shy but you don’t have to be an extrovert to get something out of it.
Laura Davis
Liverpool Arts: THEATRE REVIEW: Chicago, Liverpool Empire
THE current production of Chicago is proof that you should never underestimate a soap star.
There are four of them leading the cast at the Liverpool Empire this week – Ali Bastian (Hollyoaks) as foxy Roxie Hart who shoots her lover and tries to get her docile husband to take the blame, Tupele Dorgu (Coronation Street) as the alluring double murderess Velma Kelly, Brookside’s Bernie Nolan as prison Matron “Mamma” Morton and Stefan Booth (Hollyoaks again) as manipulative lawyer Billy Flynn.
Based on a play by Chicago Tribune reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, who was assigned to cover the 1924 trials of murderesses Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner, the musical is presented as a cabaret show, with characters performing different numbers to move the plot along.
It’s a musical for grown-ups – sophisticated, slick and caustically witty, with a cracking musical score and characters more likely to poison your popcorn than sing you sweet ballads of love.
With little set and few props – although the live band plays on the stage – the pressure is absolutely on the performances and in such a vigorous show there’s no room for even a second’s lacklustre.
Bastian and Dorgan prove themselves to be fine comic actors in the ilk of Doris Day – if nastier and egocentric. Roxie’s first meeting with the Chicago press pack in the song We Both Reached for the Gun was brilliantly done, Bastian slipping easily between mute ventriloquist’s dummy to spoilt wannabe showgirl.
That this is her first ever stage musical makes her performance more impressive, but Dorgan’s Velma threatens her leading lady status in real life as well as in the story.
Sharp and sexy with a voice made for belting show tunes and legs up to her ears, the former Corrie star puts in a magnetic performance that’s hard to forget.
Meanwhile, Booth, with his Rat Pack-style voice, makes a cheesily charismatic Flynn, and Nolan lives up to her pop star pedigree.
Laura Davis
Liverpool Life: Emma Johnson: Look of the Week: Alexa Chung
Television presenter Alexia Cheung
REGULAR readers will know I haven’t always been the biggest Alexa Chung fan, she comes off a bit too cool for school for me.
But, pictured here at Chanel’s Haute Couture show in Paris, she lands herself a place in Look of the Week for two reasons.
One: she is actually wearing heels and two: I swear there is actually a hint of a smile about that flawless visage.
Although, as a colleague pointed out, it could just be wind.
Liverpool Arts: TV Review: BBC football coverage is a shadow of what it should be
IT'S one of those curiosities of the TV schedule I've never really understood: Why do both the BBC and ITV insist on screening the same football matches at the end of international tournaments?
That's what we had on Sunday night as Euro 2012, the football tournament which was predicted to be marred by racism, poverty and the fact it was being staged at the far end of Eastern Europe but which actually turned out to go swimmingly.
And there’s no doubt who the winner of the head to head between BBC and ITV was. BBC: 13.3million viewers. ITV: 2.2million. Game, set and match, to confuse sports for a minute?
No doubt there will be much backslapping over at the BBC's Sports HQ in sunny Salford. But if you actually look at what the BBC served up, such backslapping is about as appropriate as Manchester City's first team high-fiving (which I'm sure they do, what with not just being there for the money) each other after a thumping of Crawley Town.
Because no-one really expects ITV to do football well.
We do expect the BBC to do football well. And the truth is, they don't do football well at all anymore. Not on TV at least. Radio Five Live is a different matter.
In no particular order: Gary Lineker comes across as dull and self-absorbed and incapable of getting an interesting debate out of a team of pundits – all of which is bad news for a host.
Then there are the pundits. Alan Hansen feels clearly out of touch with reality, and that's not a reference to his peculiar eyebrows. Comments like "Roy Hodgson's first big job was at Liverpool" leave him open to ridicule, not respect when talking about a man who had managed Inter Milan.
Then there's Alan Shearer, who makes Lineker look exciting as he somehow manages to combine been-out-of-the-dressing-room-too-long-to -be-able-to-give-insight with a determination to avoid offending any particular player.
The decision to stick the pundits in Salford for the group games rather than in Eastern Europe might have been a nice token gesture towards corporate cost-cutting, but it's a bit like MPs opting for paper napkins after bleeding the expenses system dry for too long.
And compared to ITV (and Five Live for that matter) who soaked up the atmosphere in the grounds, it left the Match of the Day team looking out of touch.
When they did get out to Eastern Europe (Lineker made the journey, despite being supposedly averse to travelling – or maybe it's just the commute to Salford he likes moaning about), the overcompensation for not being there from the start was all too evident.
It was as though Judith Chalmers had been brought in to advise on how to make people "wish you were here". Here's Gary in front of a mural, here's Gary in front of a stadium. Here's Gary... well, you get the picture.
Mark Lawrenson drew much of the criticism for the BBC's final coverage – especially on Twitter – but at least he tries humour. At least he tries to say something a bit different.
And if you didn't like the sound of Lawro, at least you could switch on to alternative commentary from Hacker the Dog and the rest of the CBBC cast.
The BBC should own football, but a combination of slavish devotion to a puntastic crisps salesman and a bunch of pundits who run a mile at the sight of an opinion means they're a distant also ran.
They're the Portugal of sports broadcasting – ok when no-one else is round, but once serious opposition arrives, their weaknesses are exposed.
Bring on the Premier League. Bring on Sky Sports.