Category: Entertainment

Community News, Entertainment, News

Youngsters get a chance to shine at Genetik Academy in Sharston

For young people who want to learn some skills for getting on Britain’s Got Talent, or just have some fun getting active with their mates – check out Genetik Sessions & Workshops in Wythenshawe and Bowdon.

From world-class breakers to professional vocal coaches, the sessions tutors bring true excellence to teenagers in a friendly workshop environment.

Tuesdays: Genetik Academy (Sharston)

4.15–5pm: Beginners Breakdance

Age 7-10 | £4.50 each

Genetik Academy (behind The Message Trust), Harper Road, Sharston, Manchester, M22 4RG

Wednesdays: Bowdon Street Academy (Bowdon)

4.30–5.30pm: Music Production | Pop Vocals | Drumming | Electric Guitar | Street Dance

Age 11-18+ | £6 each

Come straight from school to hang out with free snacks.

Bowdon Parish Centre, Stamford Road, Bowdon, WA14 2TR

Wednesdays: Genetik Academy (Sharston)

6.15–7.15pm: Breakdance – Juggernaut Beginners | Drums
7.15–7.45pm: Youth Club
7.45–8.45pm: Breakdance – Juggernaut Intermediate | Pop Vocals | Street Dance | Drums | Music Production | Acoustic and Electric Guitar

Age 11-18+ | £6 each

Genetik Academy (behind The Message Trust), Harper Road, Sharston, Manchester, M22 4RG

All sessions are taught by top professionals with industry experience including Tim Owen (The Tribe), Joel Whitewood (BrightLine) and more.

This is a fantastic opportunity for young people to develop new skills in their chosen area and also builds up teamwork, personal confidence and self-esteem.

Entertainment, News

Craig Charles Funks up Christmas at the Lowry

IMG_1692Legendary  Red Dwarf, Coronation Street star and DJ, Craig Charles, will be “funking up Christmas” this week with fantastic bill of special guest performances this week at the Lowry in Salford.

 The BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music presenter brings two very different nights of live music, DJ sets and entertainment to The Lowry in Salford on 4 & 5 December.

The ultimate funk and soul party, Craig Charles Funks Up Christmas commences the two-night residency on Tue 4 December featuring an exclusive Craig Charles DJ set and a fantastic bill of special guest performances.

Then on Wed 5 December he joins the BBC Philharmonic and acclaimed singer Curtis Stigers for BBC Philharmonic Christmas.The concert & performance is being recorded for BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night show.

Craig Charles 1Craig Charles Funks Up Christmas celebrates the 10-year anniversary of his successful funk and soul club that has seen him perform DJ sets around the globe at some of the world’s biggest festivals and events.

In what promises to be the funkiest party of the year, the evening will include performances from soul legends The Real Thing performing their multi-million selling number one singles: You To Me Are Everything, Can’t Get By Without You and Feel the Force.

Plus, direct from the USA, disco stars Odyssey will play a hit filled set including: Use it Up and Wear It Out, Native New Yorker, Inside Out and the iconic disco anthem Going Back to My Roots.

Also on the bill, original Northern Soul singer Lorraine Silver, who shot to fame performing in the iconic Soul Clubs like Wigan Casino and the Twisted Wheel, will be performing her northern soul classics: Long After Tonight Is All Over and Lost Summer Love.

Following rousing performances in front of thousands of festival goers in London’s Hyde Park, Glastonbury and The Big Chill Festival, The Craig Charles Fantasy Funk Band complete the special guest line up.

The following evening on 5 Dec audiences can enjoy the highly anticipated world premiere of Scary Fairy Saves Christmas – the latest instalment in Craig Charles’ series of fairy tales as part of the line-up for BBC Philharmonic Christmas.

In conjunction with composer Iain Farrington, (Horrible Histories, Wallace and Gromit, 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony) Scary Fairy features a larger than life cinematic score as Craig presents the third instalment of his modern-day series of fables.

This ingenious fable in rhyme takes audiences on a whirlwind adventure full of humour and childhood nostalgia with many twists and turns, reflecting the world in which we live in today and tackling modern day taboos with Craig Charles’ customary razor-sharp wit.

Craig Charles with BBC Phil - CopyThe evening, hosted by Angelica Bell, will also include BBC Philharmonic, conductor Clark Rundell and special guest Curtis Stigers perform a select programme featuring wintry delights including Stigers hits: I Wonder Why and Never Saw A Miracle, combined with the festive groove of seasonal classics such as Let It Snow and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

The concert will be recorded for future broadcast in BBC Radio 2’s Friday Night Is Music Night on Friday 7 December at 8pm.

Entertainment

REVIEW: Kinky Boots @ The Opera House, Manchester

Callum Francis as Lola in Kinky Boots_Photo Helen Maybanks.Get ready be razzle-dazzled and well and truly cheered up – these boots are made for entertaining.

Kinky Boots is in town and with music from the fabulous Cindy Lauper this glitterfest certainly gets us in the festive mood.

After a bit of a slow start as the scene is set, it doesn’t take long before the audience is plunged into one of the the most entertaining shows of the season so far at the Opera House.

The story is basically mirrors that of the film of the same name – the reluctant inheritor of down at heel shoe factory Charlie Price (Joel Harper-Jackson) striking an unlikely partnership with the flamboyant and outrageous drag artist Lola (Callum Francis) coming up with a plan to save the factory by making high heel boots for men.

It has a touch of the Billy Elliot, Pride and Fully Monty about it with the coming together of very different worlds, in this case the working class world of the factory floor and the outrageously camp world of drag artists. The drama is in the clash and the predictable overcoming of prejudice and difference.

The poignancy expressed in the film is not lost in the transition to the stage. Apart from the music the only difference between the storyline in the film and in the play is the boxing match between Lola and factory worker Don which replaces the wrestling match in the film – a wise move.

The songs are not that memorable it I’m honest but they do inject a huge dose of energy into the proceedings.

Francis is sensational in the role of Lola and is ably complemented by Harper Jackson’s Charlie and Lola’s fabulous angels.

Paula Lane (Lauren) and Joel Harper-Jackson (Charlie) in Kinky Boots_Photo Helen Maybanks 2But for me the real surprise in former Corrie star Paula Lane who is a revelation as love-lorn Lauren who falls for the factory boss.

This is a great show and if you’re fed up with hearing about Brexit, Brexit, Brexit it is the perfect antidote

Runs to December 1

 

Entertainment, News

Corrie star Beverley Callard to star as Narrator in Rocky Horror Show

Beverly Callard - Narrator, Rocky Horror ShowCoronation Street legend, Beverley Callard has been announced as The Narrator in the The Rocky Horror Show when the hit show returns the Opera House in Manchester from 9-26 January.

Beverley, who plays Liz Macdonald in the ITV soap, said: “Wow! I’m really looking forward to joining the Rocky Horror family. I’ve been Time Warping for years as you all know, and I can’t wait to be back on stage at my favourite theatre, the Manchester Opera House. Get ready all you Rocky Horror fans, let’s make this strange journey together.”

The legendary musical extravaganza will also star West End star Stephen Webb as Frank, Strictly Come Dancing Champion Joanne Clifton as Janet, a1’s Ben Adams as Brad and Kristian Lavercombe will be reprising his role as Riff Raff, following more than 1300 performances around the world.

Directed by Christopher Luscombe, the smash hit show features all of the famous musical numbers which have made The Rocky Horror Show such a huge hit for over four decades, including “Sweet Transvestite”, “Science Fiction/Double Feature”, “Dammit Janet” and, of course, the timeless floor-filler, “The Time-Warp”.

The Rocky Horror Show tells the story of Brad and his fiancée Janet, two squeaky clean college kids who meet Dr Frank’n’Furter by chance when their car breaks down outside his house whilst on their way to visit their favourite college professor. It’s an adventure they’ll never forget, with fun, frolics, frocks and frivolity, bursting with timeless songs and outrageous outfits.  The Rocky Horror Show is a guaranteed party, which famously combines science-fiction, horror, comedy and music while encouraging audience participation meaning, of course, getting dressed in the most outrageous fancy dress.

Entertainment

REVIEW: Let it Be @ The Opera House, Manchester

Peppers 1-3224 (Photo Paul Coltas)I know Let it Be, which celebrates the incredible music of the Beatles, has a strong and loyal following, but when it was last in Manchester I wasn’t overly impressed.

So it was a very pleasant surprise to see the show return with a much improved production, giving a very appreciative audience a glimpse of what might have been had the fab four got back together.

This revamped production which closes its UK and Ireland tour at the Opera House this week is brimming with energy which has the audience calling for more.

Act One takes audiences through the early days of the band as they embarked on their musical journey and onwards to the heights of Beatlemania. We see the historic Royal Variety Performance,  Shea Stadium concert when the band broke America, the iconic Sergeant Pepper period and their famous final public performance on the roof of the Apple building.

But a brand new Act Two slips the audience into a parallel universe where the band put their differences aside after the  break-up for a reunion concert to celebrate John Lennon’s 40th birthday in October 1980, just a couple of months before the star’s untimely death.

Abbey 1-5615 (Photo Paul Coltas)It is the ultimate concert that never was, giving audiences a chance to experience what it would have been like to hear Beatles songs that were never performed in public as well as the hits by John, Paul, George and Ringo, such as Band on the Run, Live and Let Die, My Sweet Lord, Starting Over and Imagine.

The Let It Be cast –  Michael Gagliano from Woking (John Lennon); Emanuele Angeletti from Italy (Paul McCartney); Irish/AustralianJohn Brosnan (George Harrison); and Ben Cullingworth, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire (Ringo Starr) –  did the songs justice with some outstanding performance.

Vocals were on-point. There was  some expert instrumental work, with Brosnan’s guitar solo in My Guitar Gently Weeps providing the biggest highlight.

And the biggest ring of endorsement must surely come from the crowd who lapped it all up, singing and dancing to those timeless classics

Runs till Saturday October 27