Palladium star brings the hills alive in a new production of the timeless musical classic, The Sound of Music.
A NEW production of one of the greatest musicals of all time Sound of Music returns to the stage in a new production which opens on Thursday, January 15 at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley and then moves to the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton to commence a major national tour, arriving at Eastbourne Congress Theatre in July 2015.
Playing the iconic role of Maria von Trapp is Danielle Hope, who won BBC Television’s Over the Rainbow and made her professional debut as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium. Danielle has since played Eponine in Les Misérables in London’s West End and Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Produced by Bill Kenwright, directed by Martin Connor, choreographed by Olivier Award winner Bill Deamer, musical direction by David Steadman, this lavish new staging of the classic musical coincides with the 50th anniversary of the film version – the most successful movie musical in history.
The score features some of the most memorable songs ever performed on stage, including Edelweiss, My Favourite Things, Do-Re-Mi, Climb Ev’ry Mountain, So Long, Farewell and of course, the title song, The Sound of Music.
LET IT BE returns to the Garrick Theatre on February 28, 2015, celebrating its third year in the West End.
LET IT BE, the international hit show celebrating the music of The Beatles, will return to London’s West End in February, followed by a second national tour starting October, opening in Manchester and visiting over 30 cities including Liverpool, Edinburgh, Bristol, Milton Keynes & Southampton.
After a record-breaking summer season in the West End, LET IT BE will return to the Garrick Theatre on, February 28, 2015 where it will play for a limited season until September 27, 2015 before hitting the road to tour the length and breadth of the UK.
LET IT BE established itself as one of the West End’s most popular shows when the production originally opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in September 2012, before transferring for a year-long run at the Savoy Theatre from January 2013 – February 2014. The show then embarked on its inaugural UK & Ireland tour before enjoying a summer season at the Garrick Theatre this year.
LET IT BE showcases the music of the world’s most successful rock’n’roll band, in a spectacular theatrical concert charting the band’s meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through the height of Beatlemania, to their later studio masterpieces.
The show is packed with over forty of The Beatles’ greatest hits including: I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Hard Day’s Night, Day Tripper, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Strawberry Fields, When I’m 64, Twist and Shout, Get Back and many more.
Event: LET IT BE
Where: Garrick Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HH
When: Open Saturday, February 28
Tickets: £15 – £65
For more information and to book tickets, click here
Seafront Officers urge residents and visitors to stay away from the sea this winter.
THE WARNING follows the recent incident when an experienced swimmer had to be rescued after getting into difficulty while swimming near the pier.
Seafront Manager Chris Ingall explained:“The continuing mild weather has meant that the Seafront has been much busier than in previous autumns. It’s been great to see so many people enjoying a stroll on the promenade and its good news for Seafront businesses, but we would ask people to stay on the path or high up on the beach, especially when the sea conditions are rough.
“Please keep a close eye on children and hold their hand when on the beach. Do not allow children to play ‘chicken’ with the surf washing up the beach – we see this regularly on big winter surf days and this is precisely how people become washed out to sea. Parents need to take greater responsibility and keep little ones close at all times when visiting the beach.”
This year the council will be taking extra measures to discourage swimmers from taking a Christmas Day dip by closing the beaches around the Palace Pier.
“Sea swimming takes skill, stamina and knowledge of the physical dangers and should only be for the very experienced, using suitable wetsuits, in very calm conditions and with a friend,”said Chris. “Even on a calm day sea currents, undertow or a sudden change in weather can create life threatening hazards without warning. Even experienced swimmers can get caught out.”
1066 Country Tourism Businesses crowned at The Beautiful South Awards.
The Beautiful South Awards: Swan House winners of best B&B
BRIGHTON’S Grand Hotel provided the setting for this year’s Beautiful South Awards on Thursday, December 4.
The event welcomed over 275 industry professionals from the elite visitor experiences across the South and South East of England and recognised their contribution to the tourism industry. Established over 20 years ago, The Beautiful South Awards help drive ambition and raise standards throughout the region rewarding excellence, quality, innovation and customer service.
It was a particularly good evening for 1066 Country businesses, with five star Crowhurst Holiday Park and five star boutique B&B Swan House, Hastings both scooping Gold as top holiday park and top B&B of the year in their respective categories.
Winning their third award in this annual event, Rye Tourist Information Centre achieved Silver in the Visitor Information Provider of the Year category and was described by the judges as, “A shining example of what a Tourist Information Centre should be”.
Crowhurst Park’s Julie Hannah was delighted to win Bronze in the Outstanding Customer Service category.
Brendan McDonagh, co proprietor of Swan House, Hastings, said:“We are absolutely ecstatic to have won the Gold Award in the Bed and Breakfast category. Our success has been a real team effort. We won Gold in 2009 and to be recognised again in this way, five years on, has us bursting with pride. The awards ceremony was a fantastic evening, not only for Swan House, but for Hastings and 1066 Country”.
Tracey Young, manager of the Rye Tourist Information Centre, said:“We are delighted to have received a Silver award at the 2014 Beautiful South Awards. It is a fantastic achievement to be recognised at this level for the quality of service that we deliver, and we are thrilled at receiving such wonderful feedback from the judges”.
Commenting on the awards, Kevin Boorman, manager of 1066 Country Marketing, said:“These are excellent results for us, and show what a great quality tourism product we have here in 1066 Country. To get two ‘best in show’ winners, and two other awards also, for our small area in a huge regional competition is a credit to the industry. We often think we punch above our weight, these results prove it.”
Jimmy Somerville will release his sixth solo album Homage on March 9, 2015.
Jimmy Somerville
FAMOUS FOR re-making disco classics his own – You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Never Can Say Goodbye, Don’t Leave Me This Way and I Feel Love to name but a few – Homage was a logical next step in Somerville’s career, one at which he can only excel considering his background, passion and undisputed vocal talent.
The record, a collection of 12 original disco tracks, is a tribute to the genre that inspired him so much during his teenage years.
Jimmy said:“A homage to disco is something I always wanted to do. I never really thought I could pull it off but I did, and it’s a really brilliant album to be perfectly honest.”
“All influences, all the music I’ve listened to are in there. When I listen to it, it makes me think of being 15, sitting on the bed, taking the vinyl out of the sleeve, putting it on the record player, then just sitting and reading all of the sleeve notes whilst losing myself in the music…”
Two teaser tracks – Back To Me and Travesty – have been digitally released this autumn, to provide a taste of the forthcoming album.
While working with the record’s producer and friend John Winfield, Jimmy had the idea to turn the songs they were working on at the time into ‘disco’. John didn’t need convincing.
Jimmy continued:“We took all the songs and structured them into disco; when we started doing that I realised they were all closet disco songs and they all came to life… it was really exciting.”
The album was a ‘family and friends’ production which Jimmy says had not happened since his Communards days.
He said:“Working with people who have been really been into it, completely supportive and understanding about what I wanted to achieve has been a complete dream – no egos, no drama queens, no divas: just a real commitment and connection to it”.
Homage will be available as a Limited Edition CD in Gatefold sleeve and Coloured Vinyl double LP in Gatefold Sleeve on Strike Force Entertainment through Cherry Red Records.
Inspired by music and politics, Jimmy rose to fame in the early 80s as the lead singer of electronic dance outfit Bronski Beat.
Their radio friendly single Smalltown Boy boldly addressed the social issue of gay isolation, while bringing into the spotlight one of the most unique voices of that generation. Following singles Why, It Ain’t Necessarily So and I Feel Love consolidated Somerville’s success.
Bronski Beat’s only album The Age of Consent reached platinum in the UK before Jimmy’s departure in 1985. He went on to form The Communards, enjoying a string of hits from their two albums Communards (1986) and Red (1987). Their single Don’t Leave Me This Way held the no.1 slot for several weeks and went on to become a classic.
Jimmy Somerville embarked his solo career in 1989 releasing 5 albums – Read My Lips, Dare To Love, Manage The Damage, Home Again and Suddenly Last Summer.
Southbank Centre presents a dazzling new Christmas show from international singing sensation Meow Meow as part of Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival.
MEOW MEOW brings her unique brand of non-traditional Christmas cheer to Southbank Centre this winter with a dazzling new Christmas show Apocalypse Meow: Crisis is Born from December 16-29.
Meow Meow sizzled at Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall with her award-winning Little Match Girl in 2012, performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in 2013, and most recently earned rave reviews across the board this summer with Feline Intimate at the London Wonderground.
This Christmas she makes a rapturous return to London, performing her special festive show for twelve nights only, with sensational songs, a hot band and surprising stocking fillers to warm up the cold winter nights.
Southbank Centre’s Winter Festival will see the 21-acre site transformed with shows for all ages, festive art installations and Christmas markets.
The Winter Festival sees the much-anticipated return of Slava’s Snowshow; Cirque Alfonse’s Timber, a circus show featuring three generations of one family from the remote forests of Québec, and Oily Cart’s There Was An Old Woman Who… for children aged two to five.
Event: Apocalypse Meow: Crisis is Born
Where: Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, South Bank, London
When: Tuesday December 16 – Saturday, December 29, 2014
New report reveals 36 pregnant women died from flu in the last three years.
PUBLIC HEALTH ENGLAND (PHE) is recommending pregnant women have a free flu vaccination this winter as a new report published today (December 9) shows how fatal the virus can be for pregnant women.
The national maternal deaths report led by a team of academics, clinicians and charity representatives, called MBRRACE-UK shows that amongst those women who died in, or shortly after, pregnancy, between 2009 and 2012, flu was the cause of death in one in 11.
Within this period, which includes the period of the influenza pandemic in 2009/10, a total of 36 pregnant women died with strains of the flu virus that the current vaccine will protect against. Half of the deaths occurred after the vaccine became available free-of-charge to pregnant women, but sadly none of the women were known to be vaccinated.
Pregnant women are at increased risk of serious complications and death from flu compared with other healthy adults.
Flu can also affect the pregnancy, leading to stillbirth, prematurity and low birthweight. Flu can also be serious for new-born babies, who cannot be protected themselves by vaccination, but gain some protection if their mother is vaccinated in pregnancy. The mother’s antibodies from the vaccine help to prevent serious infection from flu for the baby in first few weeks of life. They are also less likely to catch the virus from a vaccinated mother.
The report is published as latest figures from Public Health England show that, while influenza levels remain low in England, there are recent indications that flu is beginning to circulate more widely in communities as the number of outbreaks and hospitalisations due to the virus begins to increase.
Professor Maria Zambon, Director of PHE’s Reference Microbiology Centre, said:“Flu is now largely preventable for pregnant women and their babies, because a free, safe and effective vaccination is offered from the NHS. The vaccine is not a live vaccine and it cannot give you flu. Despite this, around 60% of pregnant women in England have yet to get the flu vaccine this winter – and this of great concern.”
For most healthy people, flu is an unpleasant but usually self-limiting disease with recovery taking up to a week. However for older people, the very young, pregnant women and those with a health condition (particularly chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, diabetes or heart disease or those with a weakened immune system) are at particular risk from the more serious effects of flu. As a result these groups are offered a flu vaccination by the NHS.
Since 2013, two and three-year-olds have been eligible for flu vaccination with a newly available nasal spray, and this year the spray is also being offered to 4-year-olds.
2015 marks twenty five fantastic years of Pride celebrations in the City of Brighton and Hove.
THAT’S A quarter of a century of out and proud celebrations and visibility of our diverse LGBTI communities and the outstanding work done by our community groups.
To mark this important milestone, and in recognition of Brighton’s diverse and inspirational community, the theme for Pride in 2015 will be ‘Carnival of diversity’.
With over 160,000 participants and spectators expected to attend and watch, the Brighton Pride Community Parade is a sensational celebration of every aspect of the LGBT community, its supporters and allies.
2015’s Carnival of Diversity will encompasses everything that has become iconic about the diverse, creative and open-minded community that makes Brighton internationally famous.
The community parade is the spectacle of the year and a chance for you to join with others in what is the liveliest, most colourful, uplifting and empowering visual showcase in the city.
Pride director Dulcie Weaver, said: “The Pride Community Parade perfectly reflects the diversity of the city as organisations, businesses and community groups come together for a truly unique event.
“It’s essential that Pride continues to have campaigning message, so alongside the celebrations Pride will continue to highlight the plight of LGBT communities across the globe that are criminalised and denied the Freedom to Live.
“Thousands of people watch the parade every year and it is the best ‘shop window’ for community groups and business to get your message of support for Pride and the message of equality and diversity.
“As Pride celebrates it’s 25th Anniversary, there’s no better time to celebrate Pride in our City.”
For guidance of creative idea’s Pride participants will shortly be able to download a Parade briefing and attend creative workshops.
Parade entries will open early 2015 with discount for early entries.
The Iron Duke is a unique venue boasting a small theatre and established restaurant to complement the bar.
THE RESTAURANT has a new chef, Russell Tisbury running the food franchise and when we visited at 6pm on a Saturday night the bar was already full and bustling.
My dining partner started with a peperonata brushetta with melted goats’ cheese, balsamic reduction, pesto and dressed leaves (£4.95). He reported it was delicious, in fact one of the best starters he had sampled for some time. I chose the Thai infused crab cake, a little pricey at £6.95, but nevertheless very tasty and not too spicy. A soup of the day at £3.95 was the final choice on the starters menu.
For the main course I plumped for the 12 hour slow cooked pork belly (£11.95) with herbs and garlic, roast potatoes, glazed roots, kale, caramelised apple compote and jus. Perfectly cooked, not too dry and beautifully presented. The gravy was to die for and was perfect for serving with pork belly.
My partner chose the Reef and Beef, which included pan seared rib-eye steak topped with garlic king prawns served with hand cut chips and dressed leaves. He asked for it to be served medium rare and they got it spot on. He is still waxing lyrical about the quality of the meat and we will be returning very soon for an encore and to sample the lamb, bean and chilli burritos and the beer battered halloumi.
Both courses were really substantial leaving us no room left for a desert. Deserts on offer were sticky toffee pudding served with butterscotch sauce and vanilla seed ice cream and warm gooey brownie served with chocolate sauce and vanilla seed ice cream.
The diners on the next table sampled both deserts and assured us they were very satisfactory.
Apart from the main meals, burgers are available at £8.95 (toppings £2.50 extra). Filled ciabattas at £7.95 are just £5 from noon-3pm from Monday to Friday. The bar offers a very good selection of wines with the house wine at £13.95.
Iron Duke
7 Waterloo Street, Hove
Telephone: 01273 734806
Food served: Monday–Thursday 12–3pm and 5–9.30pm; Friday and Saturday 12–9.30pm; Sunday: 12pm till gone
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