Bridge Over Troubled Water - Artists including Emeli Sande, Pixie Lott, and Stormzy gathered at London’s Sarm Studios to record a Grenfell Tower charity single. The cover of Simon and Garfunkel's hit Bridge Over Troubled Water was organised by Simon Cowell, a Kensington resident. Sande said: "It's really inspiring to see people come together. It gives you hope in humanity."
Live Streaming Tommy - A production with inclusive theatre consortium Ramps on the Moon will be live-streamed to care homes across the UK. Rock musical The Who’s Tommy will be broadcast from London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East on 17 June. Residents at adult social care homes across the UK will be able to watch the production, which is being streamed as part of Ramps on the Moon’s initiative to make theatre accessible to all.
Ramps on the Moon work with disabled and non-disabled performers and practitioners with the aim of increasing employment opportunities for disabled performers and creative teams. The live stream will be captioned and there will also be an option to listen to the show’s audio description. Tommy runs at Theatre Royal Stratford East until June 17 and continues to the Crucible in Sheffield where it runs from 22 June to 1 July.
Courtroom Drama - A site-specific version of Agatha Christie's Witness for the Prosecution will run in London later this year. It is the first major London production of a Christie play to open in 50 years. It will be staged in the chamber of County Hall on the South Bank, providing a courtroom setting for the thriller. It will run from October 6 to 11 March, 2018. Directed by Lucy Bailey, the production is designed by William Dudley, with lighting by Chris Davey and sound by Mic Pool.
The new production has been developed with the support of the Christie family and comes as a wave of new Christie adaptations on stage and screen are being created. The BBC has commissioned seven new adaptations for television, while a feature film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express – directed by Kenneth Branagh – will be released in November.
James Prichard, executive chair of Agatha Christie Ltd and Christie's great grandson said: "The amazing setting of County Hall will help raise the production to great heights, and with Lucy Bailey directing it will be a must-see theatre event. This show will help demonstrate that Christie’s works are as relevant today as they have ever been, and 21st century London is in for a treat.”
Convention News - Fairport's Cropredy Convention, the annual three-day festival staged by Fairport Convention, will celebrate the band’s golden anniversary with an on-stage reunion of the current line-up and virtually all the ex-members still living. The band’s extended evening performance on Saturday 12 August will close the festival and feature a host of musical guests playing a repertoire selected from Fairport’s huge back catalogue - the best from half a century of music-making. And among the festival’s other headliners is Petula Clark.
Singer of the World - Mezzo soprano Catriona Morison has been crowned the winner of this year's BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. The 31-year-old from Scotland was the judge's wildcard and one of five finalists who performed with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at St David's Hall, Cardiff.
(Jim Evans)
20 June 2017

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