twilightdawning

A writer's thoughts – mainly about music, sport and theatre. Shakespeare, Bob Dylan, live shows, New York Yankees

Valli Scales the Heights

Posted on April 28, 2017 by twilightdawning

Who: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

What: Greatest Hits Tour 2017

Where: Bournemouth International Centre

When: 21st April 2017

A few years ago if you’d asked the average man on the street in the UK to name the legends of rock’n’roll, he would have begun with Elvis Presley and the Beatles but he might not have ever got to Frankie Valli or the Four Seasons. Since then a musical called “Jersey Boys” has become a phenomenon on Broadway and in the West End.

Now people’s awareness of how many great songs Valli and Seasons’ writer, Bob Gaudio are responsible for, has increased beyond recognition. And Valli and his current band, who were once reduced to playing medium-sized venues, are now back in the big leagues as a live draw.

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“a …piece of work; which … to have been blest withal would have discredited your travel.”

Posted on April 2, 2017 by twilightdawning

Who: Royal Shakespeare Company

What: Antony and Cleopatra

Where: Royal Shakespeare Theatre

When: 23rd March 2017

This is the first of four reviews that I will deliver over the coming months on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) Rome season. We begin with Antony and Cleopatra and then head through Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus and Coriolanus. The comfort of this is that it gives the RSC three attempts to improve upon this woeful Antony and Cleopatra.

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The A1111 and Other Songs

Posted on March 1, 2017 by twilightdawning

What: My Last Will and Tasty Mint

Who: John Shuttleworth

When: 21st February 2017

Where: Leicester Square Theatre, London

What could be better than a John Shuttleworth concert? Well, perhaps a John Shuttleworth concert with lots of recently written songs and an invigorated artist.

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A Strange Fish!

Posted on November 30, 2016 by twilightdawning

Holy Gonzalo (Act V Scene 1), Batman! The RSC may have a hit on their hands.

What: The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company

When: 24th November 2016

This production of the Tempest attempts to break new boundaries in theatre-making with the very first use of “live motion capture” in a major stage production … and it succeeds… just…

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An ongoing Honaloochie boogie…

Posted on November 19, 2016 by twilightdawning

Who: Ian Hunter and the Rant Band

Who Else: Graham Parker and Brinsley Schwarz; Sitting Pretty

Where: Shepherd’s Bush Empire, London

When: 11th November 2016

Well, who thought we would still be here? The ongoing wonder of Ian Hunter’s career and the dedication of his fans enters a new era. After the rave reviews of his new album “Fingers Crossed” in the music press, Mr Hunter has a new impetus (not that he seems to have needed any) to reach fresh mountain peaks in his career.

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“Nobility enforce a freedom out of Bondage, making misery their Mirth”

Posted on October 21, 2016 by twilightdawning

What: The Two Noble Kinsmen by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare

Where: The Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Who: The Royal Shakespeare Company

When: October 2016

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) performances are oh-so-relevant. Or at least they think they are.

But are they trying a little too hard?

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Ahead …by some distance

Posted on July 7, 2016 by twilightdawning

Who: Steps Ahead

What: Reunion tour 2016

When: July 4th, 2016

Where: Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London

Hey, kill me, but I’m one of those irritating fools that likes to take a few photos at a concert but one of the downsides of Ronnie Scott’s is that they have an absolutely no snapshots rule. Now I wouldn’t want to be snapping away on a smart phone or with something that flashes in the artists’ eyes but a few memories enhances the experience for me.

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Like A River That Don’t Know Where It’s Flowing

Posted on June 21, 2016 by twilightdawning

Who: Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band

What: The River Tour 2016

Where: Wembley Stadium, London

When: 5th June 2016

My track record with the music of Bruce Springsteen has been a little chequered. I discovered his music early in his career and love the first four albums – “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.”, “The Wild, The Innocent and the E-Street Shuffle”, “Born to Run” and “Darkness on the Edge of the Town”. “The River” was an interesting album. Bruce felt it needed to be a double record. Listening to it in Yorkshire in England, I always felt it would have been better as a single album. Loved “Point Blank” but couldn’t get excited about what Mr Springsteen refers to as his “bar-room songs” especially pieces of fluff like “Crush on You”. But there was some real meat in there and I remember listening to that album a lot.

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The pleasure of poetry with Paul Cookson

Posted on May 31, 2016 by twilightdawning

I first met Paul Cookson in the early 1980s at an Arts Festival called Greenbelt. Back then he was writing poems for adults and selling them in self-published booklets on the “fringe” area of the festival.

A couple of years later he had found his true vocation and graduated to writing poems for children. We started doing schools presentations of his work about 15 years ago and when I opened the theatre “Ravenscourt Arts@ Ravenscourt Baptist Church”, his performances became a regular if occasional part of our repertoire at the theatre as we have invited Paul to work with local schools groups.

This tradition continued in March 2016 as over 800 young people joined Paul over 6 events and laughed, worked with words, invented rhymes, and wrote their own poetry.

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…Our Whole Kingdom to be Contracted in One Brow of Woe…

Posted on April 6, 2016 by twilightdawning

What: Hamlet

Where: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon

Who: Royal Shakespeare Company

When: March 31st 2016

The RSC’s new production of Hamlet has some excellent actors – and has the first black Hamlet and the RSC’s first predominately black cast for Hamlet in its history. It is brave and lively and interesting.

But something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

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