Good News: London's theatres enjoyed their most successful year on record in 2007, with attendances exceeding 13m for the first time, a report says. The Society of London Theatre's annual report says that box office takings rose to almost £470m. But the number of plays opening was down by a third on the previous year. The report says two-thirds of tickets sold were for musicals, with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Grease doing particularly well.

Sports News: More than 90,000 visitors to the Beijing Grand National Stadium will hear the words of the opening speeches of the 2008 Olympic Gasmes mixed on two Aurus desks installed in the stadium's central control room,, which will be fed via a Nexus audio network to the sound reinforcement system of 220 line arrays. Additionally, around 40 billion TV viewers around the world will view the opening ceremony and the audio for that will be forwarded from the Aurus control room via MADI lines to the International Broadcast Centre and around 60 OB trucks.

International News: Chewing gum, high heels, 'booming' amplified sound systems and other modern plagues are seriously damaging Greece's 2,500 outdoor theatres and should be banned, according to the country's powerful archaeological establishment. As the shows become more elaborate, with bulkier sets, high-volume speakers for acoustic shock effect, and high heels clattering on the ancient marble, experts fear that theatres such as Epidavros, built 2,400 years ago for men in leather sandals and relying on natural acoustics, are under threat. According to a report in The Times, avant-garde directors are being blamed for damaging the sites where ancient writers once perfrormed.

Live News: Swedish supergroup Abba will "never" perform on stage again, two of the band's members have said. Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson told The Sunday Telegraph there was "simply no motivation to regroup". "We would like people to remember us as we were, young, exuberant and full of ambition," Ulvaeus told the newspaper. The band enjoyed a string of hits in the 1970s and 80s, later spawning the hugely successful musical Mamma Mia! which has been adapted for the big screen. Ulvaeus added: "I remember Robert Plant saying Led Zeppelin were a covers band now because they cover all their own stuff. I think that hit the nail on the head." Andersson said that he is surprised that the group's hit songs have lived on for so long. "You know what pop music is. It is there for the time it actually happens. We were absolutely dead sure it would be the same for us."

(Jim Evans)


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