The Week in Light & Sound
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Creative Industries Federation chief executive John Kampfner said the election result cast doubt over the country’s political stability, but said: “One thing is beyond doubt, however: Theresa May has seen that there is no clear mandate for the government to negotiate a hard Brexit. Federation members were 96% in favour of remaining in the EU when surveyed before the referendum. They saw Brexit as a threat to the continued success of the creative industries, damaging growth and the UK’s global outlook. This general election vote now offers the opportunity to look at the issue again."
His thoughts were echoed by head of BECTU Gerry Morrissey, who said the result was a “rejection of a hard Brexit and austerity at any cost”. Morrissey added that the union wanted action to protect self-employed workers, and an end to plans to place more burdens on freelance workers through the tax system.
Equity also said it would fight to give creative workers a voice during the Brexit negotiations but also ensure that they were supported in domestic policy. “Our sector is hugely important to the economy but without the right support for arts organisations and the creative workforce – particularly on the issues of funding, healthcare and mobility – we risk losing one of our strongest engines of growth,” an Equity spokesman said.
Tony Award Winners - Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen was the big winner at the 2017 Tony Awards in New York, taking home six prizes. The musical, about teen suicide, won six awards from nine nominations at the ceremony held at Radio City Music Hall on 11 June. The show won best musical, as well as best book of a musical and best original score. Ben Platt took home the leading actor in a musical award, with Rachel Bay Jones winning the featured actress in a musical prize.
Bette Midler’s performance in Hello, Dolly! won her the leading actress in a musical prize, with Laurie Metcalf and Kevin Kline also taking home leading acting prizes on the night. Groundhog Day the Musical, which began life at the Old Vic in London – and won the Olivier Award for best musical – was nominated in seven categories but failed to take home any prizes.
British winners included designer Nigel Hook, who won best scenic design of a play for The Play That Goes Wrong, and sound designers Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, who won a special award for their work on Complicite's The Encounter.
Most Played - Coldplay, followed by Adele, Olly Murs and Little Mix, have topped a chart of the most played artists of 2016. The data, shared by PPL - the body which ensures artists royalties get paid - also showed two of Coldplay's tracks are in the top ten of the most played songs. The rest of the top ten is dominated by American artists with Justin Timberlake's Can't Stop The Feeling at number one. The success of British artists delivered a record year for music licensing in 2016 with more than £212m collected.
Rocking On - Alice Cooper is playing his first UK tour in five years later this year and is due to release a new album with his original band. Speaking to Chris Evans on Radio 2, he said the thing that kept him going was that rock music "has never changed". "It's got a life on its own, you can just keeping doing this forever as long as your body holds up. This tour is five continents, 130 shows, I'm one of those die-hard hard rockers."
Down but not Out - Phil Collins was forced to postpone a number of shows after tripping over in the middle of the night and hitting his head on a chair. The 66-year-old singer needed stitches for a serious cut close to his eye following the fall in his London hotel room and was being kept under observation for 24 hours. It happened just hours after he performed at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday night as part of his comeback tour.
(Jim Evans)
13 June 2017
