The Week in Light & Sound
- Details
World Fringe Day - Edinburgh Festival Fringe is uniting with other international arts festivals to launch World Fringe Day in July. The event, which will take place on 11 July, is supported by £100,000 from the Scottish Government’s Edinburgh Festivals Expo70 fund. It will bring together more 200 different fringe festivals from around the world, according to its organisers.
The aim is to reflect on the collective power and worldwide reach of the fringe movement. Participants and audiences are invited to take part on the day "by sharing their love for all things fringe" on social media. Shona McCarthy, chief executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: "This is an incredible opportunity for fringe organisers, venues, participants and audiences to take part in a truly international celebration of creativity that will transcend national boundaries, demonstrating the power of arts and culture to bring people together."
Fringe On Top - Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein will be revived as part of this year’s BBC Proms programme. A semi-staged production will be directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, whose recent credits include the West End production of Half a Sixpence, with music by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, as well as the forthcoming production of The Wind in the Willows, also by Stiles and Drewe.
The Proms programme also includes a staged performance of Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King, a dramatic monologue exploring the disintegrating mind of King George III.
Temporary Closure - The Liverpool Playhouse is to close for repairs until September after a £550,000 investment from Liverpool City Council. During the closure asbestos will be removed from the venue, which opened in 1866. The stage will be given a new safety curtain, replacing the original believed to date from 1896. The theatre’s facade will be cleaned and repairs will be made to the stone exterior.
Everyman and Playhouse executive director Deborah Aydon said: “We are very grateful to Liverpool City Council for supporting these essential repairs, including this much-needed facelift. These works are just the first step towards our long-term plan for full rejuvenation of the Playhouse and to realising a shared vision for the wider regeneration of this important part of the city centre.”
Getting Better - Sir Elton John suffered a "potentially deadly" bacterial infection during a tour, forcing him to spend two nights in intensive care and cancel concerts in the US, his management says. The singer became violently ill at the end of a tour of South America last week, requiring him to return to the UK for urgent treatment. Nine concerts that were due to be staged in Las Vegas and California over the next two weeks have been cancelled. Sir Elton, currently recovering at home, is due to resume his schedule of live performances in the UK on 3 June.
"I am so fortunate to have the most incredible and loyal fans and apologise for disappointing them. I am extremely grateful to the medical team for their excellence in looking after me so well," he said. His Million Dollar Piano tour is due to end its run in May 2018.
Together Again - The original line-up of Bananarama have reunited. Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward were the biggest girl band of the 80s, scoring hits including Venus, Shy Boy and Love In The First Degree. Although they scored 10 top 10 hits, the trio never toured before Fahey quit to form Shakespears Sister in 1988.
The split was acrimonious, but the members recently reconciled and have announced a 15-date UK tour for winter. The band's website crashed shortly after the tour was announced on Monday morning.
(Jim Evans)
25 April 2017
