The 120,000 tickets were snapped up even before the line-up was announced, with only rumours about who might play at the festival. Adele and Coldplay are the top bets, with the Foo Fighters also hot favourites after pulling out of this year's event when front man Dave Grohl broke his leg. ACDC, Blur and Fleetwood Mac are also being tipped to perform.
Stars of Motown - Cedric Neal is to star as Berry Gordy in the West End production of Motown the Musical, which opens at the Shaftesbury Theatre next year. The American performer will lead the cast alongside Lucy St Louis, who will play Diana Ross. The musical, featuring music and lyrics from the Motown catalogue and a book by Motown founder Gordy, is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.
Music direction will be by Gareth Weedon, while Patricia Wilcox and Warren Adams will choreograph the production, which has set design by David Korins. Lighting is by Natasha Katz, sound by Peter Hylenski and projections by Daniel Brodie.
More Dirty Dancing - A new production of Dirty Dancing is to embark on a UK tour next year. According to producers, the set design of the musical has been updated so that it will now be able to tour to mid-sized venues. The new production premiered earlier this year in Italy, and is directed by Federico Bellone - artistic director of Teatro Nazionale in Milan. It also features choreography by Gillian Bruce and set design by Robert Cometti.
Dirty Dancing will open at the Blackpool Opera House on 11 August, 2016, and will tour nationally until November, playing at venues including Manchester's Palace Theatre, New Wimbledon Theatre and the Derngate in Northampton.
RADA President - Kenneth Branagh has been named as the new president of RADA. Branagh, who trained at RADA, succeeds Richard Attenborough, who died last year. He said: "It's such a privilege to be asked to take up the role of RADA president. I am delighted to see - and now help - RADA continue to nurture and support generations of acting and technical talent. To be able to give back to the school which provided me with so much is a wonderful honour."
He added: "I look forward to seeing what lies ahead, including achieving the redevelopment plans for our studios building, conceived by my predecessor Richard Attenborough, which will provide a professional theatre space and most importantly some much needed student accommodation."
Ballet News - A soloist at the Royal Ballet in London has told Sky News the ballet world is too elitist and needs to be more mainstream and accessible. Eric Underwood was the only black dancer when he was training in America and he wants to inspire more children to get involved. "I went to ballet school and I had absolute culture shock; all of a sudden I was the only black dancer," he said. "I think a lot of other kids can have the same career as I've had if they had the accessibility.
Underwood, who is from Washington DC added, "I think if you have more diverse people coming to watch this art form they'll be more inclined to see something that's relatable to them and to see something that they consider is beautiful and magnificent." He was speaking on World Ballet Day, which is part of the Royal Ballet's push to be more accessible.
(Jim Evans)
