Solidarity - All remaining performances of the Russian State Ballet of Siberia in the UK have been cancelled following the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, venues began to cancel planned performances by the company, with the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, the Royal and Derngate in Northampton and the New Theatre Peterborough, run by Selladoor, all pulling planned appearances by the company. Ambassador Theatre Group also cancelled performances planned at the Edinburgh Playhouse and the Bristol Hippodrome.
Now, Raymond Gubbay, which was producing the tour, has cancelled all remaining dates. “In view of the current shocking circumstances unfolding in Ukraine, the remaining performances by the Russian State Ballet of Siberia of their 2021/2022 tour will not be taking place,” it said.
English National Opera performed the Ukrainian national anthem before its show on Sunday in support of the people of Ukraine. The opera company’s orchestra performed the anthem at the London Coliseum ahead of its final performance of La Bohème. ENO said it wanted to perform the piece "in solidarity with the people of Ukraine".
Russia will no longer be allowed to participate in this year's Eurovision Song Contest, the European Broadcasting Union has said. The EBU, which produces the event, said Russia's inclusion could bring the competition into disrepute "in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine".
Going Green - Members of Equity have pledged to campaign for arts institutions to cut ties with the fossil fuel industry as part of a

Reconnected - The organisers of the T in the Park and TRNSMT festivals have announced their newest event will be held in Edinburgh. The Connect Music Festival will take place at the Royal Highland Centre near Edinburgh Airport from 26 to 28 August. Promoters DF Concerts said the line-up for the weekend-long event will be announced this Wednesday. There have been two Connect festivals before, in 2007 and 2008, both at Inveraray Castle in Argyll.
Announcing the festival's revival, Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts and Events, said: “During initial planning discussions around the relaunch of Connect, we realised that we had to make some changes and to remaster the original festival proposition for today's audiences. One of the biggest considerations we had was around public transport and ensuring the event was accessible to festival goers from across the country. The Royal Highland Centre provides a purpose-built event site that is readily accessible by public transport for each of the three days. This not only makes it easy for festivalgoers to attend but hugely supports our ambition to deliver a more sustainable festival now and into the future.”
Bristol Fashion - The biggest music festival to ever take place in Bristol has been announced for this summer. Forwards, a new event on the city's Downs green space, will have a capacity of 60,000 over two days. The festival in September will be headlined by The Chemical Brothers and feature artists such as Little Simz, Jamie xx and Sleaford Mods.
COVID Concern - Theatres are bein

Massive Losses - Commercial theatre companies including Ambassador Theatre Group and HQ Theatres have revealed losses they incurred to March 2021, with theatre closures leading to 90% falls in revenue in some instances. Cameron Mackintosh Limited suffered pre-tax losses of £16.2m to the end of March last year, with the company’s turnover tumbling to just £20.8m. This is down from £206.7m in 2020.
The organisation, which operates eight West End theatres blamed the “disappointing trading results” entirely on the pandemic and warned that conditions remained “challenging”. It said a “consistent return to pre-pandemic audience attendance levels will take time to rebuild”, as domestic visitors, workers and international tourists return to London.
According to the accounts for International Entertainment Holdings Ltd, the parent company of ATG, the group saw revenue fall to £41.6m in the year to March 2021, compared with £476.7m in 2020 - a drop of 91%.
The organisation said this was the result of COVID forcing “the closure of all the group’s venues for the full year”. It made a pre-tax loss of £147.1m in 2021, compared with a £33.9m loss in 2020. After tax, its loss was £138.9 million in 2021, compared with £25.9m the year before.
Vegas Calling - Adele has said the Las Vegas residency she recently postponed will "absolutely 100%" happen later this year". Last month, the singer posted a tearful video the day before her first show, saying it wasn't ready. She has now told TV host Graham Norton she and her team are

Brit Awards - The 2022 Brit Awards take place at the O2 Arena tonight, with Adele, Ed Sheeran, Dave and Little Simz leading the nominations. All four artists are up for the night's biggest prizes - artist and album of the year - alongside Sam Fender. It will be broadcast live on ITV, and on YouTube for viewers outside the UK.
Last year's Brit Awards took place as part of the government's pilot scheme for the return of live events. COVID restrictions necessitated a mixture of live and virtual performances, with artists like Coldplay, The Weekend and Elton John appearing on tape.
This year, organisers have vowed to "keep everything in the room" - even when that meant scrapping a planned performance from US star Doja Cat, after members of her team tested positive for COVID. As a result, tonight's performances are exclusively coming from British artists - including all five artist of the year nominees: Adele, Dave, Ed Sheeran, Little Simz and Sam Fender.
TikTok Tickets - The Royal Shakespeare Company has announced a partnership with social media platform TikTok in a bid to attract more young people to theatre. In a scheme dubbed ‘TikTok tickets’, people aged 14 to 25 will be offered subsidised travel and entry to shows. The Stratford-upon-Avon group will also create more content with the platform, including TikTok takeovers and behind-the-scenes films.
Launching in June, young people will be offered £10 tickets for performances. The RSC said the move aimed to "inspire the next generation of theatre audiences" and would particularly tar

On The Beach - The BBC Concert Orchestra will take up a three-year residency in a seaside town to "raise aspirations". Its arrival in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, is due to a collaboration with the charity Orchestras Live and arts organisations in the county. The aim was to "provide learning pathways and improve people's wellbeing", the charity said. It will run workshops in every primary school in the town and hold a free schools concert.
Part of the Create Yarmouth strategy, it hopes to encourage students to get creative with music. “The programme aims to raise aspiration, provide learning pathways and improve people's wellbeing through collaborations with world-class musicians, digital artists, producers and arts managers”, an Orchestras Live spokeswoman said. Pop-up performances in public spaces, as part of a Heritage Action Zone, will also be held.
Pride Restored - Paloma Faith is the first main stage headline act to be announced for this year's Brighton Pride. The Brit Award winner will appear this summer after the event was cancelled two years running due to Covid-19. The three-day festival will run from 5 to 7 August and it has previously attracted crowds of about 250,000.
Park Life - Parklife's return to a summer slot has led to a "huge demand" for tickets, its co-founder has said. The festival at Heaton Park will take place on 11 and 12 June after it was cancelled in 2020 and moved in 2021 to September due to the pandemic. Its line-up will include rappers 50 Cent, Megan Thee Stallion and Tyler, the Creator, singers Lewis Capa

Cover Up - Theatres across England have indicated they will continue to ask audiences to wear masks for the safety of their staff and other theatregoers, despite restrictions being lifted later this week.
Prime minister Boris Johnson announced last week that Plan B measures - including mandatory mask wearing in theatres - would be lifted this week. Following his announcement, numerous theatres have said that they plan to continue requesting face coverings inside their venues.
Sheffield Theatres said it had taken the decision to continue with mandatory face coverings beyond 27 January, with this decision reviewed every two weeks in light of the number of cases locally.
“Since the theatres reopened last summer we have been encouraging audiences to wear masks during their visit. We took the decision to introduce mandatory face coverings before Plan B in early December and this remains an important part of our measures to protect staff, cast and audiences,” it said, adding there would be exceptions for those who are exempt from wearing face coverings, those under 12 years of age, and when people are eating or drinking in the building.
The Mayflower in Southampton also said it would be continuing to ask audience members to wear masks. “As the wearing of face coverings is not mandatory, our staff will not confront members of the audience who do not comply. The government guidance is clear that people are advised to wear face coverings in enclosed or crowded spaces," it said.
Not Ready - Adele postponed her entire Las Vegas residen

Coachella Returns - Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Kanye West - known as Ye - will headline this year's Coachella festival. It's being held for the first time since 2019 after the 2020 festival was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival runs across two weekends in April in Indio, California, with the same line-up appearing on them both. Swedish House Mafia, Flume, Megan Thee Stallion, Disclosure, Doja Cat and Run the Jewels will also perform. Billie Eilish will become the festival's youngest ever headliner.
Celtic Connections - The organisers of Celtic Connections have launched a ‘hybrid’ online version of the musical festival after shows had to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions on crowds. Performances will now be shown online with some screened to smaller audiences at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. A small number of larger-scale shows will be rescheduled for later in the year.
Last year's festival was also forced to go ahead online due to the pandemic. Covid restrictions in Scotland currently mean that no more than 200 people are allowed at indoor seated events. That rule is expected to be lifted in the weeks ahead, but would not come in time for the start of the 18-day programme on Thursday 20 January. More than 1,000 musicians were due to take part in the event, which spans traditional folk, roots, Americana, jazz, soul and world music.
Music in Schools - Andrew Lloyd Webber’s foundation has pledged a further £1m to support a programme that gives disadvantaged children access to classical musical tuition

Overwhelming Loss - Bring It On the Musical has cancelled its planned UK tour dates after suffering an "overwhelming loss of income" due to omicron disruption. The show was forced to cancel 13 performances during its six-week run at the Southbank Centre in London due to self-isolation requirements, losing hundreds of thousands of pounds, producers said. It continues at the Queen Elizabeth Hall until 22 January, however producer Selladoor Worldwide has now announced that the touring dates that followed will not go ahead. It had been due to visit locations across the UK until 30 July.
A statement from Selladoor said: "Cancelling 13 performances has resulted in an overwhelming loss of income for the production during a peak period that would otherwise have provided a vital financial backbone of the tour. This lost income, amounting to hundreds of thousands of pounds, has sadly rendered the remainder of the tour financially unsustainable. It would be irresponsible for us to continue, and we therefore have no option but to cancel the remainder of the tour."
Hard Times - Welsh arts organisations have warned of further income losses and threats to their recovery, as the government confirms heightened Covid-19 restrictions will continue. At present, theatres and cinemas in Wales have capacity limits of 200 people and social distancing must be in place between groups. These measures have been in place since 26 December, and will now remain for at least another week because of the continuing rise in omicron cases.
Big Night Out - The Nat

Further Action - Labour is calling on the government to urgently take further action to support the arts sector - including widening eligibility for the Culture Recovery Fund - warning many “treasured theatres” face collapse without support. The call on the government follows an announcement from chancellor Rishi Sunak that £30m has been added to the CRF.
However, Labour said more needs to be done to ensure the “support is effective” and reaches “those most in need”. The party’s demands include: widening the scope of the Culture Recovery Fund Emergency Resource Grant so that previous recipients, commercial productions, and individuals can apply; speeding up payment through the Culture Recovery Fund so that the self-employed, and freelancers in the culture sector can have their contracts honoured, and an urgent review of the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, which sector leaders have previously warned does not meet theatre’s needs.
Freelance Aid - Creative Scotland has released details of an £8m fund for creative freelancers as part of a £21m package of emergency COVID relief. The fund is the £20m that was announced in Holyrood last week, as part of a wider £100m package, with an additional £1m from existing events sector funds. Creative Scotland will administer the £8m Cancellation Fund for Creative Freelancers and a £10.2m fund for organisations and venues. The remaining funds will go towards the wider events supply chain and will be administered by EventScotland.
Creative freelancers will be able to apply for between

More Cancellations - Almost half of London's major theatres were forced to cancel performances last weekend because of Covid infections, as Omicron plays havoc with live events. Of the 46 full members of the Society of London Theatre that had shows running, 22 scrapped performances.They included Hamilton, Matilda, Wicked, The Lion King, Cinderella, Cabaret and Come From Away.
Producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh said it was "hugely disruptive" and the industry was in a "dreadful state". He told BBC News: "It's literally day-to-day. We spend all morning trying to work out if we can do the show or not. The important thing is, when we do it, it is safe, and the public have been remarkable in that they are, in our experience, turning up mostly to the shows."
Bookings for the first part of 2022 are well below expectations, which is "really worrying for almost everybody across the business", he said. "It's understandable why, but this is why we desperately need the government to step in and help the commercial theatre, because by and large the commercial theatre hasn't had any help at all across the pandemic.
"We've all used our reserves to get the shows back up. At the point that we're trying to recoup some of our losses, we are in a dreadful state at the moment and desperately need the government to help commercial theatre going through the next few weeks."
Most commercial theatres, which covers the mainstream West End and big regional venues that host hit shows, were not eligible for the government's Cu

Record Spend - A record £4bn was spent making TV shows in the UK in the past year - almost double the figure before the pandemic. TV production slumped during lockdown but rebounded to a new high between October 2020 and September 2021, the British Film Institute (BFI) has said.
Some £4.14bn was spent filming British and foreign shows like Bridgerton and Peaky Blinders in the UK in that time. That compares with the £2.3bn spent in the same period in 2018-19 and is 10 times more than was spent in 2013. The latest figure includes money spent by British TV channels on home-made series like Doctor Who, The Bay, Shetland and Ghosts.
It also includes forthcoming streaming shows like The Essex Serpent from Apple TV+, Andor from Disney+ and Netflix productions like The Sandman and the new series of Bridgerton.
Netflix alone spent £740m making 60 TV shows and films in the UK in 2020, the BFI said, and has recently announced plans to double the size of its base at Shepperton Studios in Surrey.
Seaside Sounds - Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Stereophonics and Sugababes are among the first acts to be confirmed for next year's Victorious Festival in Portsmouth. Liverpudlian three-piece The Wombats and Mancunian indie group James are also set to feature at the event in Southsea between 26 and 28 August. Andy Marsh, the festival's director, said it was "nice to get excited about Victorious this side of Christmas". He said the acts confirmed so far were a "little taste of what to expect".
COVID

Freelancers in the Dark - The coronavirus lockdowns have had a major impact on theatre freelancers, leaving them pessimistic for the future, says the leader of a study. Dr Holly Maples, of the University of Essex. said the "stops and starts" of the lockdown prevented freelancers from being able to plan ahead. She said many did not know whether they would be able to carry on in their profession.
The first part of the report, called Freelancers in the Dark, found 72.4% of respondents felt more pessimistic about their future as a theatre freelancers. Dr Maples, a senior lecturer at the East 15 Acting School at the Colchester university, said: "The closures of theatres greatly affected people's ability to plan and to carry on with the work they had been doing. A lot of people were kind of left high and dry, both by the organizations they were working with [that] couldn't pay them with the lack of ticket sales, obviously, and a large proportion, perhaps 60% to 70%, didn't get the government protection [of furlough payments]."
She said the project, which will produce a final report in 2022, had also found that many freelancers had found new skills. "Freelancers have also been networking and organising and built up a sense of solidarity as they felt the government and the public were not necessarily valuing what they do."
Mask Plea - Audiences visiting venues across the country are being urged to wear face coverings when seeing shows, in a push by the Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre to limit the spread of Covid-19 among theatregoers

Sondheim Remembered - The lights in London's West End were dimmed on Monday night as theatres payed tribute to US composer and songwriter Stephen Sondheim who has died aged 91. The composer and lyricist, famous for creating the musical Sweeney Todd, was described as one of theatre's "greatest geniuses" after his death on Friday.
Sir Cameron Mackintosh said the world had "lost one of its greatest and most original writers". The theatrical producer renamed his Queen's Theatre venue after the composer in 2019. During his illustrious career, he wrote the scores of some of Broadway's best-known shows including Company, Follies and A Little Night Music. He also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story.
In The Courts - Two ticket touts who made millions of pounds reselling tickets to theatre shows and gigs including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child have had appeals against their conviction rejected. The decision is being hailed a "major milestone" in the fight to clean up the secondary ticketing market and could have "far-reaching ramifications" for other online touts, experts have said.
Peter Hunter and David Thomas Smith were convicted on multiple counts of fraud in 2020, after reselling hundreds of sought-after tickets at inflated prices for events including Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the West End, as well as Ed Sheeran and Madness gigs.
They used nearly 100 different names, 88 postal addresses and more than 290 email addresses to evade restrictions set up on primary ticketing platforms that