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PREVIEW: Let it Snow – Actually Gay Men’s Chorus

Don’t let the cold bother you this Christmas time!

Brighton and Hove’s ‘Actually’ Gay Men’s Chorus will present their annual Christmas concert Let it Snow! at St Andrew’s Church, Hove on Friday, December 22 at 8pm.

The men from Actually look forward to warming you up with their festive version of chorus favourites such as The Spirit of Christmas and O Holy Night as well as some lesser well-known but equally beautiful and atmospheric musical moments.

Sit back, relax and kick off your Christmas holiday in style enjoying classic tunes such as White Christmas and modern classics such as Let it Go!.

No Christmas concert is complete without a sing along. Join in with the chorus and sing audience favourites like O Come all ye Faithful and God rest ye Merry Gentlemen.

‘Actually’ will be joined on stage for the evening by the talented local soprano Karen Orchin.

The concert will be conducted by Musical Director Samuel Cousins, accompanied by Simon Gray on piano and supported by a festive Brass Ensemble throughout.

Proceeds from ticket and programme sales will be going to the chorus’ two chosen charities – The Sussex Beacon, who provide specialist care and support for those living with HIV and Inclusion for All (IFA), a national award-winning charity working across the UK to help prevent homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic bullying in schools.


Event:  Let it Snow with Brighton and Hove’s Actually Gay Men’s Chorus

Where: St Andrew’s Church, Waterloo Street, Hove

When: Friday December 22

Time: 8pm

Cost: £14 / £12 concessions

To book tickets online, click here:

Or available in person at Prowler Store, St James Street, Brighton

 

REVIEW: The Real Thing @Theatre Royal

The Real Thing

By Tom Stoppard

Theatre Royal

A warm and comfy opening promised much, good music, a well-balanced cast, glossy set, a fun opening scene, a rug-pull, such potential; but then a miasma seemed to come over me and the play receded into cynicism.

I wasn’t gripped and although folk rave about this play I found it trite and unengaging, the characters are unpleasant, the humour mean and the laughter snobbish. I’ve been a fan of Stoppard for most of my life but this play, thirty years old now and certainly showing its age, has made me reassess him.  This is a play all about the heart, but without one of its own.

The set was as interesting as the acting, there was some pretty good Gplan furniture on show, well sourced by designer Jonathan Fensom including a simply perfect Halo Groucho sofa in faded Aniline leather, a fetching teak Danish style sideboard and a Charles E. style Swivel Chair with its ottoman that I coveted but I failed to engage with the actors. The ‘twist’ was more of a slight curve to the right and more of the same continued. It must be hard work to act so dismissively for so long and although the detachment of the characters and the dichotomy between what they say and what they do is part of the narrative engine of this play, I wasn’t convinced.

Stoppard’s words fly around, they are funny and caustic, the actors obviously enjoy speaking them, even if the sentences are often more than a mouthful, the set piece speeches are entertaining and irritating, clever, deep and shallow and it’s all very showy and apparently entertaining on one level, out came that cricket bat, but I was stumped.

The second half brought more laughter from the audience than the first and the cast seemed more settled, I sustained an interest in the sentences as they flew by but I didn’t care about any of the people on stage, the subplot of the solider/prisoner just another excuse for implausible grubbiness.  I wondered if a middle class intellectual so obsessed with taste would have prominent forearm tattoos’ in the early 1980’s , but that was it. At its core this is a depressing piece of theatre with far too much clowning around dressed up as meaning.

This play is all about honesty, I didn’t enjoy this play, honestly.

Plays until Saturday, November 4, 2017.

David Essex guest stars on video in Brighton family panto

Producers behind the new family pantomime, Cinderella, which opens on December 22 at The Hilton Brighton Metropole, have announced their cast for the show.

The line-up, which will see David Essex appear on-screen as Baron Hardup, includes West End performers, Jon Robyns as Prince Charming: Joseph Peters as Dandini and Alasdair Buchan playing one half of the repugnant ugly sisters Donaldina and Melania.

Completing the disgusting duo is none other than Cinderella co-producer and career pantomime dame David Hill.

Finally, the cast boasts a host of local celebrities in Lou Nash and Alex Baker from Juice 107.2, playing The Lord and Lady Chamberlain, Keris Lea from The Sundaes playing The Fairy Godmother and Dean Kilford from Latest TV, 1 Brighton FM and BBC Sussex, as Cinderella’s happy-go-lucky best friend, Buttons.

Co-producer David Hill, said: “The reaction to Cinderella has been overwhelming and we’ve already added an extra date due to the demand for tickets. We have secured a first class cast for this production and I’m very proud to be part of it”. 

A county-wide ‘Search for Cinders’ was mounted just over a month ago which resulted in over three hundred applications from actresses hoping to play Cinderella.

Co-producer and writer of the new show, Tim Newman, said: “Hannah Bailey who will be playing Cinderella offers us everything we were hoping for in this part and I know that every young girl in the audience will fall in love with her. I’m not sure what Hannah is more excited about, playing Cinders or having David Essex as her father in the show!”

Cinderella is being produced by Brighton Premiere, a collaboration of two Brighton based companies, E3 and The Brighton Academy of Performing Arts.

The creative team is also composed of West End stars, and has two cast members from 2015’s Disney’s live action version of Cinderella within its ranks!

It will be directed by Stuart Dawes with choreography from Emma Green and musical direction by Alex Turney.

This new production, which features a huge LED video wall and one of the largest pantomime casts in the country is only half of the experience. Ticket holders to the 750-seated auditorium, will also enjoy free entrance to a magical Christmas Fayre including delicious food options, dodgems and a chance to meet Santa himself!

Each performance will also be raising money for the three biggest children’s charities in Sussex, Chailey Heritage Foundation, Chestnut Tree House and Rockinghorse.

To purchase tickets online, click here:

REVIEW: Rodelinda @ENO

Rodelinda

Handel

English National Opera

Caught in a power play that could break a marriage and steal a throne, can Rodelinda stay true to love?

Rodelinda is a dramatic tale of power, anguish and love. When Grimoaldo takes Bertarido’s throne, Bertarido flees abroad, leaving behind his grieving wife Rodelinda. The usurper tries to force Rodelinda to love him, but when the exiled king returns in disguise, everyone is put to the test.

One of Handel’s finest operas, Rodelinda is filled with intense drama told through ravishingly beautiful music. Director Richard Jones brings his distinctive theatrical imagination to this production, which sets Handel’s bitter political drama in a scuffed up Fascist Italy, panoptic, suspicious, intense and claustrophobic, this is a dark setting but illuminated with supreme performances and some delicious tongue in cheek moments of deconstructive humour.

Tattoo’s, honour, spying, scheming it’s all acted out with fun a lot of it from returner Matt Casey in the wordless  role as Rodelinda’s (adult) son Flavio.  There are moments when the funny po’mo  touches get in the way of the sublime music, but I suspect many folk would welcome the extra action during some of the more exquisite long arias. I just closed my eyes.

Rebecca Evans returns to the role and if anything is even better than she was in the 2014 production giving us conviction, power, vulnerability and that wonderful full toned voice of hers, effortlessly coping with some complex choreography while singing, also returning for this first revival is Susan Bickley’s who’s touch perfect performance of Eduige is superb all scheming beguiling charm along the with a slimy slippery Garibaldo from Neal Davies, what a deliciously wicked pair they make.  Then mean and horrible Grimoaldo, the debut performance from Juan Sancho delighted the audience and he showed the exacting brilliance of his voice as it rolled around the huge spaces of the coliseum.

Read the synopsis here.

Baroque-specialist conductor Christian Curnyn kept the orchestra under his control although without any fuss or bother, he kept the narrative tension bumping along well, and the music was fresh and engaging.

Tim Mead one of the UK’s finest countertenors, adding  Bertarido to his roster of ENO roles and brought us a smooth and ultra-refined performance which charmed me  and the youthful and utterly thrilling Christopher Lowrey gave us a heart-breakingly perfect  Unulfo, he transfixed me, gave this role real presence, engaging humor and I had a perfect Handel moment during his second aria.

Amanda Holden’s translation is lively and fun and the clear diction from the entire cast is supported splendidly by the concise choices of Holden’s word which gives a brevity and subtlety to Rodelinda which has lacked in other productions.    The staging is slightly changed from the 2014 and this gives it a slightly less claustrophobic air and allows some breathing space to the rather static action and there’s some fun stagecraft on display.

This is one of the best productions of Rodelinda I’ve seen and the strong Welsh contingent gives it a real Celtic flavour and strength, it’s a three and half hour thumper of a piece and might run over, but for me it could have gone on twice as long and got me all the way home to Brighton in state of Handelian Bliss.

Recommended.

ENO

London Collesium, St Martins Lane

Until November 15, 2017

For more info or to book tickets see the ENO website here: 

Brighton couple receive community orders following homophobic abuse

Man and a woman sentenced to 12 month community orders, after yelling homophobic abuse in an ongoing neighbour dispute in Brighton.

Lacey Lee (24) and her boyfriend Gary Corness (32) from Hadlow Close, Brighton were both convicted of public order offences, after the victim was subjected to the abuse in the communal garden in Warbleton Close by the pair. Lee is the daughter of his neighbour. As well as the abuse, Lee threatened to smash the victim’s CCTV cameras.

Crimes which are motivated ‘wholly or partly’ by hostility based on perceived religion, race, sexual orientation or disability are eligible for an uplifted sentence.

In this case, Lee was given a six-week curfew order, which was increased from four weeks, while Corness was ordered to undertake 110 hours of unpaid work, which was increased from 90 hours. They were both also ordered to pay costs.

Lee Crozier, from the CPS, said: “The victim in this case was met with a barrage of abuse from the two defendants, including homophobic comments, after saying hello to his neighbours. This is not something anyone should expect to have to encounter.

“The CPS is committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms, as this sort of abuse is completely unacceptable. To do this though, we first need victims to come forward and report what has happened to them.

“In this case, the homophobic language was heard, not only by the victim, but was witnessed by other neighbours, who came forward to help with statements. Information like this can often be valuable in bringing those who perpetrate hate crime to justice.”

Tackling hate crime is one of the priorities for CPS South East, which serves Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

For more information about the work CPS are doing to tackle hate crime, including other convictions, click here:

If you have been the victim of a hate crime and need support, click here:

Or telephone: 01273 855 620

 

REVIEW: An Audience with Armistead Maupin @Theatre Royal

An Audience with Armistead Maupin

In Conversation with Damian Barr.

Theatre Royal, Brighton

Saturday, October 28

This was an unforgettable evening with the Tales of the City author celebrating the launch of his long-awaited memoir Logical Family. From his early life in the conservative South to liberal San Francisco, from his palm-reading Grannie to an awkward chat about girls with President Nixon, Armistead Maupin revealed the extraordinary people and places that helped him become one of the world’s best-loved writers.  Funny, poignant and unflinchingly honest, this was a unique opportunity to listen to the man from Barbary Lane.

Armistead was talking to Damian Barr, writer and Literary Salon host; there was some unintended delight as the pick up on the mic of Damien Burr was set to some extraordinary forensic level of sensitivity,  amplifying each scraping back of the hair, and loud chink chink and glug glug of a glass of water, it was sorted out after a while but was an unintentionally hilarious distraction from some of the answers.

Maupin shared some splendid memories with us, about his own biological family in all their public displays of white entitlement and ugly grand southern racism but also gave us insight into them as people, with some laugh out loud reminiscing about his father getting stoned and his mother cuddling up to a bisexual swinger friend of Maupin the first time they visited him in San Fransicso, which happened to be the weekend of Harvey Milk’s assassination.

This was a real peek into history as it was lived.  He talked about his own personal journey from right wing closeted conservative to out and proud emboldened gay man and how important sex, sensuality and the sensual gentleness of random strangers in the dark was to him in the early days of his sexual expression.

Always a delight to see and a warm engaging speaker this was an entertaining evening with one of our legendary authors whose books taught many of us, of a certain generation, how to live, love and accept the extended families we built (and found) around us and still teaches us today – to call it out for what it is, no matter where it comes from, to question and challenge our biological families and try and teach them to understand us and to embrace – fully – and celebrate our loving logical families, that wonderful phrase first spoken by the delightful landlady of Barbary Lane, Anna Magdrigal.

Maupin wasn’t just here to delight however, but to encourage us to read (and buy) his new book and memoir Logical Family.

He took questions afterwards and displayed some of his trademark warm but devastating  wit; a young lady standing up in a sequined jacket,  and apologising profusely for the heteronormality of her question was reassured by Maupin that “her jacket more than made up for it”.

Charming, engaging and somehow deeply comforting as well, Maupin shines like a hard bright light in the darkness of the modern American twilight.

Full details here:

REVIEW: PLAINSONG TO POLYPHONY: BREMF

PLAINSONG TO POLYPHONY

 St Bartholomew’s Church

BREMF Consort of Voices and The Lacock Scholars
Deborah Roberts director 
Greg Skidmore director 

Sat 28 Oct

St Bart’s rang to music from the 12th to the 16th centuries culminating in the ultimate polyphonic work, Tallis’s 40-part motet Spem in alium. This large gathering of voice had some gentle choreography added to explore  the roots of polyphony in ancient chant melodies.

Starting with a processional chant A solis ortus cardine, which set the tone and atomphere there was a superb rendition of Jacob Obrecht’s Salve Regina full of subtlety and soaring charming notes. After the interval – where we all drifted around in a slow and meditative daze – we had an excellent  Kyrie from Jean Richafort Requiem, powerful and distinct and then ambled  though some English sacred music including an astoundingly beautiful  Robert Fayrfax’s  Magnificat Regale with all voices combined and a trio of elevated sopranos who took this relatively unknown superb piece of Tudor music and sent it impressively up into the high ethereal vaults, then if this magnificence wasn’t enough all the singers progressed to the back of St Bart’s to rejoice in  Talli’s Spem in Alium which was note perfect, filling the space with its rolling suggestive waves of polyphonic bliss.

See the full programme here:

Another superb evening taking advantage of the unique atmosphere and acoustic properties of St Barts, not the easiest venue to produce in, but this combination of passionate and spiritual music directed with a light but forceful touch by Deborah Roberts who kept the discipline needed to make this music feel so effortless, on occasion Roberts was working in tandem with Greg Skidmore, the director of the Lacock  I’m always impressed by the BREMF consort, they continue to improve and excel in productions, some of these works are not the usual fare of a non-professional group of singers,  but with  The Lacock scholars adding their own fine resonances to the evening and bringing a wide texture to the polyphonic magic unfolded that evening.

There were a few moments of unevenness but once the voices had warmed up and relaxed the evening flowed with a boundless enthusiasm.

For more info about the BREMF or to book tickets see their website here:

DVD REVIEW: Teenage Kicks

Teenage Kicks (Matchbox DVD) certainly starts off in an arresting way with incestuous desire leading directly to death within about two minutes. Yet Miklós Varga (Miles Szanto) doesn’t seem to learn from this as he sets out to prove Homer Simpson’s adage about the brain being ‘a subsidiary of the penis’. Miklós has problems at home, is in love with his best friend Dan (Daniel Webber) and is openly hostile to Dan’s girlfriend Phaedra (Charlotte Best). Yet he tries to cope with these problems through violence, random sex with men and women, and hanging out in a crack den.

There’s very little subtlety or depth in any of the film’s characters. Szanto is competent but doesn’t have the screen presence to carry the film. The script, in terms of dialogue and themes, never rises above soap opera. It’s never boring – which in my book is a huge plus – but it’s never engaging or compelling. Webber, as the best friend, has the charisma and acting ability the lead lacks, but as he’s not got that much to work with he’s limited in what he can do. And it’s also possible that what I really liked about him is his dirty-blond hair.

If you want to see some gay teen angst then I’d urge you in the strongest possible terms to watch Presque Rien. With its story of a young man having to negotiate a melodramatic concoction of love, sex and family, Teenage Kicks plays out pretty much like an Australian version of the superior French one. Kicks is not in any way a bad film. It’s competent, but competence – like beautiful photography – never put bums on seats.

Click here for trailer.

PREVIEW: Keith Vaughan: On Pagham Beach, photographs and collages from the 1930’s

Keith Vaughan: On Pagham Beach, photographs and collages from the 1930’s will feature rare vintage photographs and collages by the British artist Keith Vaughan (1912-1977).

Keith Vaughan, Boy in Fishing Net, c1939, photographic print
Keith Vaughan, Boy in Fishing Net, c1939, photographic print

Dating from the 1930s, the majority of these images have never been seen or exhibited before.

Recording the visits made by the artist and a close coterie of male friends to Pagham Beach (near Bognor Regis in West Sussex), these works were known to have existed and were often alluded to in published studies on the artist, but their whereabouts have always remained a mystery.

The re-emergence of this remarkable collection will confirm the central role that photography played in Vaughan’s artistic development. A self-taught painter and photographer, many of these vintage photographs are the source material Vaughan used for drawings, gouaches and oils created after the Second World War, and are the foundation that led to the artistic evolution of one of Britain’s most renowned 20th century figurative painters.

2017 marks the fortieth anniversary of Vaughan’s death, which also coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the repeal of the ‘Labouchere amendment’ of 1887 and the passing of the Sexual Offenses Act in 1967, which legalised homosexuality between consenting adults – behaviour which for the previous eighty years had been liable to prosecution and imprisonment with hard labour for up to two years.


Event: Keith Vaughan: On Pagham Beach, Photographs and Collages from the 1930’s

Where: Austin/Desmond Fine Art, Pied Bull Yard, 68/69 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3BN

When: October 25 – December 8

Times: Mon-Fri: 10.30am – 5.30pm, Sat: 11am-2.30pm

Cost: Free entry

Who’s the boss behind the bar? @The Crown

This month Morgan Fabulous popped into Kemptown to chat with Arly and Bego, owners of the newly refurbished pub, The Crown.

The Crown, a freehold venue, offer a variety of spirits and lagers, however Arly and Bego welcome coffee and speciality tea lovers, as they feel that during the day not everybody wants to have an alcoholic drink. The couple have made The Crown into the perfect hub to have a coffee, check emails, socialise with friends and have a refreshing alcoholic beverage.

Open for nearly 100 years, the new owners have been operating this new ethos at the pub for just the last five months.

They both laboured for two months whilst the bar was closed, planned the design and decorated the pub themselves, changing the internal décor; the selection of beer and spirits and the general ‘feel’ of the pub.

Previously they bought and restored a 15th Century cottage in Cambridgeshire, bringing it back to life so that the history and beauty of the house could be restored and enjoyed by the new owners.

They said: “It was challenging but rewarding to see the final product of our hard work, and great experience for when we refurbished the pub”

The Crown has taken over their lives – but in a good way attracting an eclectic mix of individuals including locals and visitors to Brighton including members of the LGBT+ communities. They both work behind the bar six days a week and the pub is closed on Mondays.

Arly says their customers are their biggest assets: “they make us laugh, leave us feeling bemused and often share their wonderful life stories with us…there is never a dull moment.”  

They decided on a whim two years ago that it would be nice to own a bar in Brighton. When the opportunity presented itself for them to buy The Crown, they were able to bring their dream to reality.

Having never worked in a bar they are the first to admit they are learning as they go. With help and advice from their customers, they have educated themselves and attended several courses to be clear on the basics and legal compliance. However, it seems that their lack of experience may be a bonus as they are often told by their knowledgeable real ale drinkers that they sell the best pint of Harveys outside of Lewes!

Bego grew up in Bilbao in the Basque Country in the North of Spain and graduated from San Sebastian School of Film and Video. She later came to England to study multimedia at Birmingham University, finalising her studies with a Masters in Fine Art Photography at London Metropolitan University. She went on to work as a film/video technical adviser at Goldsmiths and University of London. She likes to chill out and enjoys reading. Her favourite books are; The Secret History by Donna Tartt and during spare moments of madness she love a bit of Rumi’s poems.

Arly was born in London but grew up in New Jersey and Philadelphia in the United States. She attended High School in New Jersey, and graduated from University in Philadelphia before returning to the UK where she obtained a Masters in HR and an Employment Legislation qualification. Before buying The Crown she worked in HR for over 15 years on a variety of projects. She enjoys cycling, doing anything sporty and loves listening to her favourite artists, Tori Amos and Sarah Maclachlan.

 

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