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 Broken Wings – Stream Theatre Click here for tickets Based on the best-selling novelist Khalil Gibran's poetic book, and with an 'unabashedly romantic' (The Guardian) original score from Middle Eastern duo Nadim Naaman and Dana Al Fardan, this moving production lit up the West End in 2022, directed by Bronagh Lagan. New York City, 1923. Through exquisite poetry and enchanting music, an ageing Gibran narrates our tale, transporting us back two decades and across continents, to turn-of-the-century Beirut. Gibran meets Selma; their connection is instant and their love affair, fated. However, their journey to happiness is soon thrown off course, as the pair face obstacles that shake the delicate foundation of their partnership. Will their love win out or will their dream of a life together be torn apart? Performed in-the-round, Broken Wings takes us on a musical voyage that is 'pleasingly evocative of an old Beirut' (The Stage). Over a century later, and the themes and debates raised in Gibran's story, remain increasingly relevant today; exploring issues of gender equality, immigration, the freedom to love who we love, and what 'home' really means to us. Until Jan 1.  National Gallery Christmas Quiz Click here to watch This is fun. Test your knowledge of the art in the National Gallery in London. If you like puzzles and paintings, you’ll enjoy it. I did it and got 10 out of 14 right. Can you do better?  Manchester Collective: A Little Requiem - Wigmore Hall Click here to watch Artists have always been obsessed by endings. Whether it’s nightfall, a broken heart, fire or frost – there’s a savage beauty to impermanence. In A Little Requiem, two composers venture into the darkness to explore the end of life, while a third voice rejoices in the beauty, vitality and innocence of Spring. From the softly rocking lullaby of Busoni’s ‘Berceuse’ to the grimly tolling bell of Górecki’s ‘Kleines Requiem’, these overcast bookends conjure up vivid and haunting musical worlds. It’s all very soft and unsettling stuff… until it isn’t. The stillness of Górecki’s first movement soon explodes into the thrilling mania of his furious Allegros. This is a music of total extremes. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Standing steadfast between these two meditations on mortality, Copland’s evergreen ‘Appalachian Spring’ is a long, cool drink. It’s special (and rare!) for us to perform this kind of music – pure, beautiful, and almost childlike. Listening to ‘Appalachian Spring’ feels like a return to a more innocent time. The Manchester Collective describe themselves as “a new kind of arts organisation, built for a fresh and diverse musical world. We create intimate and intense human experiences inspired by the music that we love, for everyone.”“We are the true believers. We passionately believe in the power of music to move us and to excite us. It doesn't matter to us if you're a seasoned concert-goer, or if it's your first time. All are welcome.” Manchester Collective were invited to Wigmore Hall to explore the sound of the empty auditorium as an instrument itself. This concert is the result.  The Lost Happy Endings – balletLorent Click here for tickets What happens when the fairytale Happy Endings are stolen? Deep in the forest lives Jub, a magical girl with six fingers on each hand. Her job is to guard the Happy Endings to stories and fairytales. But one day an otherworldly Witch steals them, and at bedtime, the stories are destroyed. Written by the Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, and narrated by Joanna Lumley, this is a film adaptation of The Lost Happy Endings, directed for the screen by Vilte Bacliunaite and Ben Crompton at Newcastle Theatre Royal. This is a fairytale fantasy ballet for children. It’s packed with spirit, adventure and surprises, and features everyone’s favourite fairytale characters (Snow White; Pinocchio; Goldilocks; Cinderella and more), and is suitable for family viewing for all ages. Original score composed and performed by Murray Gold (Doctor Who) with set design by Neil Murray, costume design by Nasir Mazhar. It was directed for the stage by balletLORENT’s Artistic Director Liv Lorent.  Marilyn Maye – I Love Being Here With You Click here to watch Ella Fitzgerald called her “"the greatest white female singer in the world". That was back in the 1950s and, many cabaret lovers will tell you that she still is. I’m reluctant to tell you how old Marilyn Maye is until you’ve heard her sing. So click on the link now. This song, Peggy Lee’s I Love Being Here With You, was recorded in May, 2021, when she was celebrating her 93rd birthday at 54 Below in New York with a concert called Broadway, The Maye Way. That’s not a typo. The top cabaret singer in the world, still performing at full strength, was born in 1928. A mid-Westerner by birth and inclination, she ventures out to perform all over the US, notably in New York, where she performs a birthday show every year. She’s phenomenal, not because she’s now 94 but because she’s one of the best cabaret singers who ever lived. For those of you who can get to New York over the New Year break she’s performing at the Birdland Theater with Billy Stritch at the piano from Dec 29 through Jan 2. For the rest of us, there’s this song and same spectacularly good recordings.  Greetings from the dancers of the English National Ballet.
Click here to watch These hard-working English National Ballet dancers are performing all through the holiday season, the busiest of their year. They still have to do what every ballet dancer does, every morning, without fail. But it’s Christmas, so this is Company Class with a difference. As a result their practice clothes are a little different today and their pianist has got into the holiday spirit.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
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