twilightdawning

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

It wearies me; you say it wearies you

Posted on May 26, 2015 by twilightdawning

What: The Merchant of Venice

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

When: 21st May 2015

A writer in the UK newspaper “The Telegraph” pointed out how far short of the production at the Globe in London, the current RSC version of “The Merchant of Venice” falls. It is indeed unusual for two parallel productions to be running like this. It is, if you will, a surfeit of Merchants.

I cover only the RSC’s productions so I do not have the benefit or disadvantage of comparison. I, therefore, can only point out how the RSC’s production fails on its own merits. The audience were enthusiastic. The cast were spirited but bad directorial and staging decisions doomed it from the start.

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The New York Yankees – The Pitchers in April (2015)

Posted on May 4, 2015 by twilightdawning

The starting rotation has, probably, been less than the Yankees wanted it to be in April. And it has lost one very notable player through injury. However, it has been bolstered by a stellar bullpen which has done very little wrong.

Let’s look over the pros and cons in the second half of our monthly survey…

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The Shakespearience Too at Ravenscourt Arts

Posted on April 7, 2015 by twilightdawning

Presenting Shakespeare for ages 10-14 (i.e. the ages before they start formally studying the writer for exams in school) is not an easy task but it is a challenge that I have set myself over these last six years and I have to say with some degree of success.

This year was our largest project to date. With 1600-1700 young people signed up to attend and with our troupe now firmly esconced in our own theatre at Ravenscourt Arts, we decided to strip back to basics and bring in a new cast to work with a new script. Time to take some risks.

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The Strangest Living Boy You Could Ever Wish To See

Posted on March 22, 2015 by twilightdawning

Who: Gary Numan

What: Convergence 2015

Where: Royal Festival Hall, South Bank, London

When: 20th March 2015

In 1981, after an exhausting two years, two number one singles and three number one albums, Gary Numan retired from touring with a lavish set of final shows at Wembley Arena in London. On Friday night, at Convergence in the Royal Festival Hall, London, for Numan it is now thirty-four years since he returned from retiring from live shows and he has a one-off special concert to mark his influence as a pioneer of electronica. The poster outside the venue doors described him as having “a ever-growing fanbase”. Apparently despite this, his records no longer trouble the top of the charts. Numan’s career has been a regular conundrum and a game of snakes-and-ladders and tonight was just the latest twist.

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Redfearn and Leeds

Posted on March 21, 2015 by twilightdawning

The last time I wrote an article about Leeds United was after Neil Redfearn’s last game in charge as caretaker manager (see https://twilightdawning.com/2014/09/25/ch-ch-changes-2) before Darko Milanic took over the reins for a brief period in charge – which matched the length of appointment at Elland Road previously only associated with the dark days of David Hockaday, Brian Clough and Jock Stein.

Now Redfearn is back in permanent charge (whatever that means under Massimo Cellino – oh, sorry we’re meant to believe that he has no current involvement in the club’s decision-making process as he is an unfit person), I decided it was time to give another survey of how the team has changed and so I will do so concentrating my energies on the two recent home games against Watford (3-2 loss) and Ipswich (2-1 win). Let’s see what we can learn…

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Songs and Stories

Posted on March 13, 2015 by twilightdawning

Who: Judie Tzuke

What: Songs and Stories

Where: Ravenscourt Arts, Hammersmith

When: 20th February 2015

Ravenscourt Arts is a delightful little venue. Seating 160 with immaculate sound reproduction, great lights, an engaging atmosphere and well-thought-out design, it is a great place to host a concert. Consequently, it is the ideal place for the kind of tasty dish that was served up on Friday night.

Tonight is the “secret” launch night for Judie Tzuke’s first ever full acoustic tour in a long and successful career. There’s some joke about the “pineapple gig” that the all-invited audience seem to be in on but we don’t need to dwell on that. What we have is an acoustic set which spans the bases from the debut album “Welcome to the Cruise” right up to the as-yet-unreleased “Woman Overboard”.

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Down To The Waters’ Edge

Posted on February 20, 2015 by twilightdawning

Who: The Daughters of Davis

Where: Eventim Apollo, Hammersmith

When: 18th February 2015

Being piggy-in-the-middle on a three act bill is never an enviable task but when even the opening act is allowed access to the higher ranges on the volume sliders of the mixing desk that you’re not and the top act’s target audience is very different from your own then it’s somewhat more problematic.

But having said that Daughters of Davis blew everyone else off stage when it came to artistic integrity and provided a great set for an audience who entered not really caring who they were and exited won over in some numbers.

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It’s Cheaper Than Paintings ….. And Doesn’t Need Explaining

Posted on December 23, 2014 by twilightdawning

Who: Sparks & the Heritage Orchestra (conducted by Jules Buckley)

What: Kimono My House (40th Anniversary Performance)

Where: Barbican Hall. The Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London

When: 19th December 2014

There have been various rock bands down the years who have performed albums and other projects with an orchestra (Deep Purple and Emerson, Lake and Palmer have done whole shows, Eagles used an orchestra on certain sections of their “Hotel California” tour, for example) but for a band like Sparks who are regarded as more of a pop outfit a show like tonight was quite unusual.

Sparks, of course, are an underestimated outfit amongst large sections of the general public and could be said to only really understood by their dedicated band of followers.

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Chasing that Goose!

Posted on December 22, 2014 by twilightdawning

What: Goose Chase

Who: Riding Lights Theatre Company

Where: Ravenscourt Arts

When: 9th December 2014

This was Ravenscourt Arts’ (a new venue in Hammersmith) first attempt to stage a play / pantomime for families with young children. This reviewer attended two performances on this date – a free daytime one for local school children which was packed and a evening one which carried a ticket price for which there was a good number of spare seats.

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A Monday Night to Remember

Posted on December 7, 2014 by twilightdawning

Who: John Shuttleworth

What: A Wee Ken to Remember

Where: Bloomsbury Theatre, London

When: 1st December 2014

Few artists have had a book published of their collected lyrics. Bob Dylan has had three (don’t try lifting the most recent one, you’ll do yourself a mischief), Paul Simon has had one, Sting has one (his Mum might have bought a copy) and so has John Shuttleworth. The difference between the first three and Shuttleworth is that John’s is self-published.

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