Liverpool Echo - Culture Chat

kylie minogue and me

2009-11-06T17:12:09Z

My colleague Jade Wright asks the question of Calvin Harris in today's Echo - so what do you do when you're in a room with Kylie?
Well, if you're me you don't notice!

]]> It was at the Royal Shakespeare Company a few years ago when the tiny Aussie popstress was stepping out with actor Rupert Penry-Jones.
Myself and my friend Angela were at Stratford to watch well, I don't rightly recall but I think it was Penry-Jones in Don Juan at The Other Place.
It was the interval and we were in the ladies loos, washing our hands etc, and as we left Angela turned to me and said: "you do know you were standing next to Kylie Minogue at the mirror don't you?"
She must have been the slight, fair-haired girl doing her make-up.
So much for my powers of observation.

celia imrie talks about mixed up north, dame judi dench and meeting bill clinton

2009-11-04T11:37:24Z

We don't often see Celia Imrie in Liverpool (the last time was when she filmed Reuben Don't Take Your Love to Town with Tina Malone a few years ago).
So audiences who have tickets for Mixed Up North at the Everyman on Friday and Saturday are in for a treat.

]]> The actress is appearing in the new Out of Joint production directed by Max Stafford Clark, and when I caught up with her on the phone last week she said she couldn't wait to return to the city.
"And that's real, that's not smooge" she added in typical Imrie fashion.
She's recently been filming Cranford - penned by Garston's Heidi Thomas - alongside Dame Judi Dench, and told me what a joy it was to work with "JD".
"To say that you are lucky enough to work with Judi Dench is a fantastic thrill in your life and she's the sort of person that, I don't know how she does it, but it's a very special sort of relationship with everybody that she works with," she explained.
"I don't know how she has the time - but ours is based on the fact that she doesn't really think that I should do glamorous parts, so wherever I can I get in a grey cardigan which is what I wore when I first worked with her in a production of The Sea at the National Theatre, so you'll see I am wearing a grey cardigan in Mixed Up North ESPECIALLY for her."
So there you have it.
Celia also admitted to me she gets starstruck, and apart from just finishing a film with Woody Allen, the day after we spoke she was going to meet former US President Bill Clinton.
"Somebody asked me on an interview who would I most like to meet, and actually I would love to meet him and I hear he's a wonderful speaker, and somebody read the article and they've invited me," she told me.
I wonder if she wore her cardie?

Read the rest of my interview in today's Echo:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-entertainment/echo-entertainment/2009/11/04/celia-imrie-excited-by-liverpool-show-of-mixed-up-north-100252-25085158/

natasha hamilton and bruce "les battersby" jones on come dine with me

2009-11-02T11:53:44Z

Oh dear oh dear! Come Dine With Me is the new car crash telly isn't it? You know it's all going to unfold horribly in front of you but you can't help but watch.
Remember Phil Olivier fighting off Christopher Biggins with a fly swat? I think Natasha Hamilton - looking luminous I thought - could have done with one of those last night to fend off the attentions of a very red-faced Roy Walker.

]]> Then there was Bruce Jones, aka Les Battersby, who said he only liked fish if it was tinned salmon and was faced with three nights of salmon, cod and haddock. Whoops.
I spoke to Bruce last week at the launch of the Contemporary Urban Centre panto Dick Whittington, in which he plays King Rat, and he admitted to me he'd had assistance from a chef to pull off his menu.
I asked him if he'd had a good experience on the show - bearing in mind this is before I'd seen his "embrace" with hilariously mad potty -mouth Yvette Fielding.
"I wouldn't do it again," he said.
No kidding.

ricky whittle and strictly come dancing

2009-11-02T09:30:09Z

It may not have grabbed the attention the way previous series have, but it's good to see Hollyoaks' Ricky Whittle doing so well in Strictly Come Dancing.
Despite injury and long days of filming, he put on quite a show in the quickstep on Saturday night.

]]> I just hope now he doesn't peak to early like Austin Healey did a couple of series ago. If you start off being good, there's always the danger you plateau by the quarterfinals and it would be such a shame if that happened.
For anyone who hasn't seen Mr twinkletoes dance, here is a taster of last weekend's effort.....

english national ballet's giselle and the 'exuberant' effects

2009-10-29T09:01:07Z

A somewhat alarming - quite literally as it happens - night out at the ballet last night.
All was well in the English National Ballet's super production of Giselle (professed by many to be their favourite ballet) until the start of the second act.

]]> The curtain lifted. Mist rolled atmospherically across the floor of the stage and seeped down into the orchestra pit as the Wilis (the dead sisterhood posse out to dance unwary men to death St Vitas like) crowded the stage.
Then mist must have apparently rolled towards the smoke detectors too because no sooner had Giselle and Albrecht begun their ghostly pas de deux than the lights went up, the siren wailed and we were all told in no uncertain terms to vacate the Empire.
Frustrating for the dancers, frustrating for the audience (although the sight of two engines full of burly firefighters did raise a cheer from the gathered women outside).
Luckily after 25 minutes we were allowed back in from Lime Street and the show, of course, went on.
Read my review in today's Echo....

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-entertainment/echo-reviews/2009/10/29/review-the-english-national-ballet-perform-giselle-at-the-empire-100252-25040503/

Incidently, the opening piece Men Y Men, was very enjoyable and I could happily have sat through that again.

merseyside young singer 2010 competition auditions

2009-10-28T09:30:00Z

THE Rotary Club of Liverpool has launched its annual competition to find the best young vocalist in the region.
The first round of auditions for The Merseyside Young Singer 2010 competition - the eighth annual contest - take place next month.

]]> Young singers are invited to come to Birkenhead Sixth Form College in Park Road West, Claughton, on Saturday, November 14, with registration at 10.30am.
All entrants will be asked to sing a song of their choice before a panel of adjudicators and if successful will go through to the next round.
The competition is open to anyone between the ages of 15 and 20 who lives in the Merseyside area, with the final being held on March 26 at the New Brighton Floral Pavilion.
Organisers promise big cash prizes and fantastic concert opportunities for the winners.
For more information visit www.merseysideyoungsingeroftheyear.moonfruit.com or call 0151-652 6373.

jonathan pryce's caretaker davies gets a hug

2009-10-27T16:14:52Z

I'm not advocating everyone do this, but I would love to have been in the Caretaker audience at the Everyman last Wednesday.
People have been showing their appreciation for the cast's efforts - particularly the bravura performance of Jonathan Pryce as the old tramp Davies - throughout the run.

]]> But an audience member went one better, or at least a step closer, when they leapt to their feet at the end of the performance, stepped on to the stage and embraced the 62-year-old actor.
This was AFTER another man who had been exclaiming "hear hear" during speeches made by co-star Peter McDonald went forward and shook the young actor's hand.
Everyman theatre staff made their nightly report, saying about the stage invasion: "The company were obviously unperturbed by this and could have easily exited the stage, but stayed to take a further bow."
I mentioned it to Jonathan last night when he was having tea with the Youth Theatre youngsters and he told me: "Only at the Everyman!"
Incidently, The Caretaker finishes this weekend so if you haven't seen it yet, try to lay your hands on a ticket. But maybe refrain from laying your hands on the cast!

kim cattrall to return to the west end opposite matthew macfadyen in private lives by noel coward

2009-10-27T09:17:38Z

Has anyone else seen the news that Kim Cattrall is on her way back to the London stage - this time in Noel Coward's Private Lives?
The Merseyside-born Sex and the City star will appear opposite Matthew "Mr Darcy" Macfadyen in the comedy next spring.

]]> I like a bit of Noel Coward so hopefully I'll get to see the play, either in London or in one of its previews in Bath.
But I have to admit to a teeny bit of disappointment that if Kim is coming to perform live in Britain then it's not in Liverpool.
I understand she's quite keen to appear in her hometown, and that theatres are also very keen to have her on their stages, so it seems a little like a wasted opportunity to me that it's London (and Bath!) that will mark her return.
Hopefully next time we'll be able to bring you news that she's on her way here too.....

bryn terfel wins over the Philharmonic Hall crowd with his sense of humour

2009-10-23T08:31:58Z

My week of classical music (Wagner's Siegfried at the Hamburg State Opera on Sunday, La Traviata at the Empire) came to a close last night in the company of one Welshman, a piano and a crowd of 1,600 at the Phil.
Bryn Terfel was back in Liverpool - and in effortlessly fine form as he entertained with a recital evening at Hope Street.

]]>

Bryn's father, who retired from farming last week, was in the audience and the singer alternated songs by Ireland, Schubert, Schumann and others with merry banter and anecdotes.
He seemed in such a good mood that when a woman's mobile phone went off (for a long, long time, what on earth are people thinking when they are in a concert hall?) during the middle of one piece, rather than wade into the audience and stamp on it as I would have probably like to have done, he joked instead that at least it was in D minor - the key of the piece it had interrupted.
Anyway, he seemed so delighted with the audience response he asked what we were all doing next month and suggested we should come and see him in his Bad Boys tour in Manchester.
As someone said (well, actually it was me!) under their breath, "why don't you bring it here?".
Still, he's such a genial chap you can't be annoyed at him.
"I want to be artist in residence in this hall," he declared in between his second and third encores.
See my review on the Echo website today:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-entertainment/echo-entertainment/2009/10/23/review-bryn-terfel-at-the-philharmonic-hall-100252-24995970/

Welsh National Opera's la traviata and the curious case of the sympathetic coughers

2009-10-22T14:38:11Z

Verdi's celebrated La Traviata tells the tragic tale of the doomed love affair between the boyish Alfredo and the consumptive courtesan Violetta.
But who would have thought so many members of the audience at the Empire last night would have come out in sympathy with the 'dying' heroine?

]]> We saw the pair's love bloom in the opening act, and watched it come under unbearable pressure in the second - all with merely the odd rustle of sweet papers (the Werthers Original overture I call it) and an annoyingly errant mobile phone ring.
But as soon as the curtain rose at the start of act three and the audience saw Violetta prostrate on her death bed, complete delicate consumtive coughs (you don't want to make your throat sore when you have that many final arias to sing), they broke out in hacking sympathy.
It was most odd - and slightly unnerving to hear the coughing chorus strike up around me in the stalls. Goodness only knows what was going on in the circle.
Maybe they should offer free cough sweets on the confectionary counter, the way they do up the hill at the RLPO? Or would that take all the vim out of Verdi?

anthony mccall's projected column wins london 2012 cultural olympiad award

2009-10-22T09:07:21Z

We may no longer technically be Capital of Culture, but Liverpool is still a cultural powerhouse as is shown by today's news that Anthony McCall has won a commission for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
The Artists Taking the Lead project is part of the cultural run up to the 2012 games in London and 12 regional winners are each set to receive £500,000 to make their artistic visions a reality.

]]> Anthony McCall's Projected Column beat four other shortlisted entries, which in turn had been whittled down from 172 contenders, to take the award in the north west.
Projected Column, as those of you who read my feature last week will know, is a spinning column of cloud which will rise a mile high from the Mersey and will be able to be seen 100km (about 60 miles) away.
It's certainly ambitious, as the Arts Council said when it announced the awards a few minutes ago.
Anthony is London-born and New York based but has chosen the Mersey to realise this art work.
He's backed by FACT and Liverpool Biennial and today they were also celebrating.
Mike Stubbs, Director/CEO, of FACT, said: "Today's announcement is absolutely wonderful news. Projected Column is an ambitious, exciting piece of public art by one of Britain's most significant artists.
"It will form a sculptural landmark for the north west, reflecting the dynamism of a city that has undergone major cultural and economic development as Capital of Culture in 2008."
I asked Anthony McCall what would happen if he didn't get the commission and he said the idea would eventually be realised, if somewhere else.
Thankfully that is not going to be the case.

claire mccolgan gets her MBE from the queen

2009-10-21T12:24:20Z

Good for Claire McColgan the head of Liverpool's culture department who went to Buckingham Palace yesterday to receive her MBE.
Claire, and co-artistic director Fiona Gasper who was also awarded the gong in the Queen's Birthday Honours, were rewarded for their work in pulling together the 2008 Capital of Culture programme.

]]> While Phil Redmond may have been the figurehead and ultimately the driving force for the year itself, Claire and Fiona worked tirelessly in the background over several years to bring the culture dream to fruition.
They had to contend with the sudden departure of their boss Robyn Archer and all number of trials and tribulations, both political, financial and artistic, in the run up to 2008, but they still managed to deliver a great 12 months of activities. And they never lost their enthusiasm along the way.
Fiona has gone on to pastures new while Claire won the job of leading Liverpool into a post-2008 cultural world.
That role has had to be put on hold a little this year as she was pregnant at the time, but now the mum-of-two is about to return to the cultural fray.
She tells me the Queen said to her as she presented her MBE: "It must have been very hard work."
I swore to Claire I wouldn't divulge her rather tongue-in-cheek response, but the hard work goes on of course.

jane russell, the temptations and david gest at liverpool cathedral

2009-10-20T08:31:07Z

With Hollywood legend Jane Russell providing the pre-dinner entertainment and The Temptations and Ben E King popping up to finish the evening in fine fashion, it was quite a night at Liverpool Cathedral last week.
I've been remiss - although I've got a good excuse as I only got back from Hamburg last night (more of that later) - in recouting the incredible evening organised by cathedral supporter Margaret Harry and by David Gest on Thursday evening.

]]> I've heard plenty of performances in the cathedral, but I've never heard people like Deniece Williams, Kim Weston and Dorothy Moore opening up their vocal chords and filling the "great space" with the most amazing gospel.
Then there was William Bell (whose piano player accompanist was apparently from Massive Attack) who performed a unique version of the Beatles' Yesterday, followed by Freda Payne (who with Deniece Williams had been at the Everyman to see The Caretaker the other week) who went back to her first love of jazz and big bands to bring us a cracking version of Ella Fitzgerald's first hit Mr Paganini.
Billy Paul, who was singing with Charlie Parker at 16, wandered down the steps of the Well to sing within feet of we diners, and Peabo Bryson - who had been sitting behind me urging Dorothy Moore on with "come on, come on, that's it" as she sang a capella in her rich, velvety voice - actually waded into the midst of us to perform Missing You.
With Candy Staton, Percy Sledge and the Stylistics also leaping up to entertain us, it was as you can imagine quite an evening.
I was sitting on a table with, among others, Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown, Tom Lang and Connie Lush and Neil Campbell, the latter two of whom performed between the starter and main course.
And they more then held their own against the American stars, with an exquisitely slow and heartfelt Eternal Flame which was a tribute to the Hillsborough victims, and then a great gospel number.
They were followed by Liverpool singer/pianist Victoria Sharpe who was also brilliant and kept us all entertained throughout the meal.
The evening was organised to highlight the cathedral as a venue for events and the fact it takes a staggering £4,000 a day just to keep the building open.

richard o'brien and the rocky horror show

2009-10-16T10:00:00Z

Where and when did you do your first Time Warp? In the theatre? At a party? In the privacy of your own front room after a couple of glasses?
I remember (as the song goes) buying the Rocky Horror Picture Show LP when I was in Oxford on a snowy December day trying (unsuccessfully as it turned out) to win a place at university there.

]]> Alas, St John's College wasn't meant to be, but I still have that old 33rpm somewhere.
So I was delighted, if a little apprehensive, to have the chance to interview Rocky Horror creator Richard "Riff Raff" O'Brien for today's Echo arts pages.
Delighted because he is something of a cult legend, apprehensive because, well, pretty much for the same reason.
But he was utterly delightful and I hope you get a sense of that from the interview, published today, and enjoy reading about him as much as I enjoyed talking to him.
Oh, and if you have the urge to Time Warp again, the Rocky Horror Show comes to the Empire on November 9.

nowhere boy and KICKS up for London Film Festival awards

2009-10-15T10:57:00Z

Good news that not one but TWO Liverpool based films are up for accolades at the London Film Festival this month.
Nowhere Boy, the John Lennon teen biopic, and KICKS, which was one of the three Digital Departures winners during Capital of Culture year, are both in the running for awards.

]]> Nowhere Boy is up against movies like The Fantastic Mr Fox for best film at the ceremony on October. John Lennon (well, not really, Aaron Johnson but you know what I mean) verses George Clooney. THAT should be interesting.
That's obviously great news for Liverpool, but in a way I'm even more pleased about KICKS whose Halewood-based writer Leigh Campbell is up for best newcomer.
It was made in Liverpool on a teeny tiny budget with Merseyside actors (including the very sweet Kerrie Hayes who, incidently, also has a small role in Nowhere Boy) and as part of 2008 celebrations.
Good luck to both of them.