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Reviewed: Penguin Cafe Mixed Programme
The Autumn season of the Birmingham Royal Ballet at the Birmingham Hippodrome began last night with the Penguin Cafe mixed programme, an eclectic collection of three short ballets headlined by the sublime ‘Still Life’ at the Penguin Cafe. The triple hander showed the diversity of ballet, from the Ragtime dancing of Elite Syncopations, to the Morris dancing of ‘Penguin Cafe’, right through to the paired back, beautiful simplicity of Concerto. Concerto A bare stage, plain rehearsal style costumes and the stirring music of Shostakovich, Concerto is a ballet that definitely has two moods. The first and third act are upbeat and lively, but it is the second act dance that…
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Birmingham Hippodrome Launch Cinderella at Villa Park
Wednesday saw Villa Park turned into a pantomime wonderland (not for the first time this season it has to be said – Baggies fan Joke!). The Birmingham Hippodrome were launching this year’s panto, Cinderella, with an all star cast. Beverly Knight, Suzanne Shaw, Matt Slack, Ceri Dupree and Phil Randall were all there, in their best panto finery, talking to this year’s panto producer and director Michael Harrison. It was a funny, happy occasion and certainly wet the appetite for what looks set to be another astounding success for the Hippodrome. Suzanne Shaw,Ceri Dupree and Phil Randall For Suzanne, this is the third time playing Cinderella, although the first time…
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Coppelia – Shimmering, Sparkling and Super Fun
The Birmingham Royal Ballet summer season began in Birmingham on Tuesday evening with the opening at the Hippodrome of the ever charming Coppelia. Once again, the BRB showed why they are one of the world’s greatest ballet company’s with a production that showed that ballet can be funny as well as graceful. The story of Coppelia is one full of humour and deception, featuring the aged old love triangle between a boy,a girl and a wooden doll. Of course, the village Lothario Franz doesn’t realise that the new object of his lust, the beautiful lady who sits on the balcony of Dr Coppelius, quietly reading her book, is a wooden…
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La Cage Aux Folles – Sequins, Feathers and Laughs Galore
La Cage Aux Folles is one of the classic modern musicals and it was in barnstorming force at the Birmingham Hippodrome last night, receiving a glorious standing ovation for an audience that had laughed, cried and been charmed by John Partridge and Adrian Zmed in the lead roles. The story of love and acceptance seems more apt than ever in our modern society where politicians like Dindon seem to becoming more and more prevalent. La Cage Aux Folles is the most glitziest, glamorous nightclub/revue on the French Riviera, and Albin, as Zsa Zsa is it’s most famous (drag) star. In a happy relationship with club owner Georges for over 20…
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Behind the Scenes at Billy Elliot
Last Friday I was invited to go behind the scenes at the Birmingham Hippodrome to have a look at what goes on backstage at the musical Billy Elliot. Actor Scott Garnham, who plays Tony in the stage production, took us on a tour of the set and backstage areas so we could really get a feel of the hustle and bustle that goes into making a hit musical. The props, the wigs, the sets and the ballet tutus and riot shields were all there, making it a very exciting experience. Billy Elliot is a big musical in more ways than one. It has a large cast, and large production set…
