Who's Next - The Who have unveiled their first song in eight years as they mark their 50th anniversary. Be Lucky includes lyrical references to Australian rockers AC/DC and French electro band Daft Punk and will be included in a double album featuring the group's greatest hits. The band will donate royalties from the new track to teenage cancer sufferers. Earlier this year, surviving members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend announced they would play a tour, which starts in the UK in November, to mark their 50 years in the industry. Daltrey described the tour as "the beginning of the long goodbye".
Ballet High - A live cinema broadcast of Billy Elliot the Musical from its home in the West End will have repeat screenings next month, with a DVD of the show to be released on 24 November. The musical, written by Lee Hall and Elton John, was screened live to cinemas yesterday and featured a finale which saw 25 former and current Billy Elliots perform on stage together.The show was broadcast live to eight countries from the Victoria Palace Theatre. There were also two screenings at the Easington Social Welfare Centre, formerly the Easington Colliery Miners' Institute, which is one of the settings in the story.
In addition to the this weekend's live broadcast, Billy Elliot will be screened to a further nine countries across four continents, and "encore screenings" will take place in 350 cinemas throughout the UK this week.
Royal Appointment - Katie Brayben will play Carole King in the upcoming West End production of Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, which opens at the Aldwych Theatre next year. Brayben, who is currently appearing as Princess Diana in King Charles III at Wyndham's Theatre, will be joined by Alan Morrissey who will play King's husband and song-writing partner Gerry Goffin. Morrissey recently appeared in I Can't Sing! at the London Palladium, while Brayben's other musical theatre credits include American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre and the West End and international touring productions of Mamma Mia!.
Running Repairs - London's Southbank Centre is set to receive £4.9m from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards a planned £25m repair and maintenance programme. The announcement of the "earmarked" HLF grant for the refurbishment of its Festival Wing - comprising the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery - follows Arts Council England's pledge of £16.7m - equivalent to 70% of the scheme's price tag - in May this year.
(Jim Evans)
