Posted in Uncategorized on 26/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
At Around and Around, the latest label is Portrait (follow link) CBS introduced Portrait as a sub-label of Epic. Its first incarnation with Heart and Joan Baez fizzled out, but it was revived and Cyndi Lauper and Toyah were the discoveries, while Sade was licensed for the USA. The Portrait label throws light on the workings of CBS / Sony.
Posted in Uncategorized on 25/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
THE WINTER’S TALE currently playing in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre is directed by Yaël Farber. (FOLLOW LINK TO THE REVIEW). It was one of the hardest to assess since I started doing these reviews fourteen years ago. It veers from five star to one star and back again. It is challenging. It is different. Read the review.
Posted in Uncategorized on 25/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
Review of THE CONSTANT WIFE at the Royal Shakespeare Company. (Follow link) Laura Wade has adapted Somerset Maugham’s 1926 play, rewriting large sections. Costume, set, performances are at the highest level, and the 1920s and 1930s is an era the RSC usually avoids. This one, directed by Tamara Harvey and starring Rose Leslie is such a triumph that I hope we’ll see more of the same era in future. Here Rose Leslie with Luke Norris and Emma McDonald.
Posted in Uncategorized on 21/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
George Brant’s 2016 play about Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Marie Knight MARIE AND ROSETTA (follow link to review) comes to the UK. The singing is phenomenal, both from Beverley Knight (Rosetta) and co-star Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight. The play impressed me more than other critics, lifted by Chichester Festival Theatre’s direction and set design, I feel. It’s touring. Beverley Knight joins my list of all-time great female singers!
Posted in Uncategorized on 15/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
Epic – 45 sleeves and centres (follow link) The second part of the Epic story. This is one for collectors, but also for general interest it features several artists not covered in the main article.
Posted in Uncategorized on 14/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
Over at AROUND & AROUND the latest addition on UK record labels is Epic (follow the link), probably the most successful label since the 1970s in singles chart terms. It’s a massive label, and I had to be selective, but hopefully the visuals, the anecdotes and lists should be interesting.
Posted in Uncategorized on 13/07/2025| 2 Comments »
Bath Theatre Royal opens its 2025 ‘Ralph Fiennes Season’ with a new play by David Hare, GRACE PERVADES (link to the review). This is the story of the two most famous actors of the late 19th Century, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry, and of Ellen’s theatrical offspring, Edward Gordon Craig and Edith Craig. It’s an intriguing tale, beautifully told. Ralph Fiennes is Henry Irving, Miranda Raison is Ellen Terry.
Posted in Uncategorized on 11/07/2025| Leave a Comment »
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