The Play That Goes Wrong lives up to its name: how Tier 3 closed the last big theatre show standing
December 31, 2020
Producer Kenny Wax on how the latest tier change took down the Theatre Royal Bath production of Mischief’s show.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber: ‘Theatres had to close, but the vaccine will make things dramatically better’
December 31, 2020
The Lord is prepared to offer up his theatres for vaccination centres – and still believes he can open Cinderella in May.
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Dull girl power speeches and wild sex do not make Bridgerton a feminist triumph
December 30, 2020
The Nextflix period drama supposedly offer a subversive, female take, but is actually depressingly conventional.
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Manchester theatre head: Easter warnings are ‘frightening’
December 24, 2020
The Royal Exchange’s Roy Alexander Weise on rethinking theatre structures in lockdown – as long as there’s hope for reopening.
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The West End panto forced to move to Easter – if it can survive
December 23, 2020
Producer James Seabright on postponing his Potted Panto following the tier change, and planning a new musical for 2021.
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‘What does ‘Spring’ mean exactly?’: London’s theatre chief on Tier 4 purgatory
December 22, 2020
Producer and new head of SOLT, Eleanor Lloyd, on why it’s urgent that theatres have adequate notice on reopening.
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Edinburgh Fringe faces the future: why a 2021 cancellation would be a ‘national tragedy’
December 22, 2020
Pleasance boss Anthony Alderson says the Festival won’t survive if it’s shelved two years in a row.
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Park Theatre chief Jez Bond brands the Government’s strategy and Tier 4 ‘disastrous’
December 21, 2020
The London theatre head blasts our leaders’ indecision and procrastination.
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The theatre where Christmas is saved – thanks to ‘the Morecambe and Wise of Weston-super-Mare’
December 22, 2020
Artistic director Tom Morris celebrates the reopening of Bristol Old Vic, which can now stage its Beauty and the Beast.
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Mesmerising Bill Bailey has the last laugh as he seals Strictly Come Dancing victory
December 19, 2020
The comedian rose to the challenge and become a Fred Astaire for 2021.
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‘Justin Bieber has been so supportive of the NHS’: the Covid nurse aiming for a Christmas number one
December 18, 2020
Oliver Dowden defends the Government’s plans to a select committee – but there are strange decisions among the grants.
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Will the show go on – or not? How Tier 3 affects London theatres
December 16, 2020
We explain the new tier restrictions and which shows face early closure, pauses, or losing their entire runs.
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How are Britain’s cathedral choirs preparing for a Covid Christmas?
December 16, 2020
Canterbury, Salisbury and York Minster Cathedral choirs on Zoom, socially distanced services, and our love of festive music.
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Why is Oliver Dowden ‘coming to the theatre one week and watching us close the next’?
December 16, 2020
SIX producer Kenny Wax points out that the ‘saved’ theatre buildings will stand empty without commercial shows.
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‘There is no evidence at all of theatres spreading Covid’: fury in London at Tier 3
December 15, 2020
Julian Bird, chief executive of SOLT, is baffled by the Government’s decision.
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The usually indomitable HRVY met his match in the Strictly semi-final
December 14, 2020
Two dances equals double trouble, and HRVY struggles with the exposing rumba.
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Breakin’ Convention, Social DisDancing review
December 12, 2020
Meet our future Olympic champions – though Sadler’s Wells’ annual festival is necessarily muted with Covid restrictions.
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Drag is part of British culture – of course it belongs on Strictly
December 11, 2020
There’s been a handful of complaints about a pro dance for Musicals Week, but men dressing as women is already mainstream.
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‘This is how loss feels’: how a Netflix animation about grief became a global phenomenon
December 10, 2020
If Anything Happens I Love You, about school shootings, has become a TikTok challenge and Oscar hopeful.
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The Strictly ‘trained dancer’ controversy is absurd – without them, the show would die
December 10, 2020
It’s an annual debate, but the BBC’s dance show needs the likes of Maisie Smith.
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The West End is slowly returning – the Government must not kill it with Tier 3
December 9, 2020
London theatreland might struggle to mount yet another comeback if it’s shows are crushed by new restrictions.
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‘A phenomenon for decades’: should the Arts Council fund breakdancing?
December 9, 2020
Breaking is set to join the Olympics, and Britain has great prospects – if it’s supported, explains advocate Jonzi D.
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‘A quarantine exemption means we can attract world-class talent’: the Royal Opera House returns
December 8, 2020
Director of opera Oliver Mears talks Anna Netrebko headlining Tosca, and why the vaccine might not be enough to get audiences back.
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‘Our members saved us’: how Glyndebourne’s loyal patrons helped plug a £7 million hole
December 7, 2020
Glyndebourne boss Sarah Hopwood on losing millions, ruinous quarantine rules, and why 2021 won’t be ‘business as usual’.
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JJ Chalmers’ Chitty Chitty Charleston was a quick-step too far for the Strictly charmer
December 7, 2020
Musicals Week exposed the performance limits of the Scottish contestant.
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‘Galleries are safe, but visitors need to feel that’: Can the Royal Academy survive without funding?
December 4, 2020
The RA is facing an £8 million shortfall, says chief executive Axel Ruger – and we’re not out of the woods yet.
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Can the Tate galleries survive in an era of mass Covid fear?
December 3, 2020
It’s as much about visitor confidence as it as about the vaccine, believes Tate Liverpool’s director Helen Legg.
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Andrew Lloyd Webber’s vaccine joy: ‘Phantom will return in June’
December 2, 2020
The composer is confident about a West End return, as long as the Government doesn’t get in theatres’ way.
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‘The vaccine is a start, but it’s not a magic wand’
December 2, 2020
Britain’s musicians still face a struggle, says Wigmore Hall boss John Gilhooly.
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Grayson Perry’s uplifting lockdown art exhibition cancelled – thanks to lockdown
December 2, 2020
A sad irony for Manchester Art Gallery, explains director Alistair Hudson, which has been placed in the restrictive Tier 3.
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Arts leaders have barely heard from Oliver Dowden – how did he find time to watch The Crown?
December 10, 2020
The Culture Secretary is picking a fight with Netflix instead of advocating for an industry in crisis.
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Maisie Smith’s footwork was this week’s real Strictly triumph
November 30, 2020
The actress impressed with her outstanding quickstep – surely one we’ll see again in the final.
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‘They’re making up the rules as they go along’: the theatre producer trapped between tiers
November 27, 2020
Kenny Wax on the different fates of his SIX West End and Manchester companies.
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Meet the doorstep carollers determined to get the nation wassailing
November 27, 2020
Community choirs and West End stars alike are determined that the show will go on this Christmas.
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‘Online gigs aren’t the same’: one comedian’s journey from stage to supermarket tills
November 26, 2020
One year on from gracing the Sydney Opera House, Lauren Pattison is back home working in her local supermarket.
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‘To call arts freelancers “lazy” is dangerous’: the comedian packing Amazon boxes
November 25, 2020
Instead of gigging, Will Duggan has been building ventilators and working in an Amazon warehouse.
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‘Inappropriate’, ‘grotesque’: why the outrage over Caroline Quentin’s Strictly arm-lick is justified
November 23, 2020
Dance teacher Elizabeth Anderson explains why the much-debated cha cha moment is a bad model for instructors and students.
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‘Diana was a cat – a pampered, domesticated cat’: how Emma Corrin learnt to move like a princess
November 23, 2020
Polly Bennett, movement director for The Crown, on working with the cast to summon Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher.
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Lucky escape for Clara Amfo after viewers’ votes correct injustice on Strictly’s Blackpool special
November 23, 2020
The DJ was marked much more harshly for her samba – the judges need to apply that level of scrutiny across the board.
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‘There’s not much funny about delivering for a supermarket’: the comic taken off stage by lockdown
November 20, 2020
Steve Shanyaski has had to swap comedy for delivering groceries for Sainsbury’s.
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British comedians in lockdown: ‘They’re in Amazon warehouses and Sainsbury’s vans’
November 19, 2020
Kiri Pritchard-McLean has been providing much-needed gigs for her fellow comics via her online “pub”, The Covid Arms.
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Operation Sleeping Beauty meets reality: what hope is there for theatre this Christmas?
November 18, 2020
Theatre is due to return in December, including big West End shows – so how are producers feeling about their prospects?
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The Crown’s greatest insult: why Charles would never have called Mountbatten a ‘quisling’
November 18, 2020
Uncovering the history – and significance – of a fictional exchange defended by creator Peter Morgan.
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Clara Amfo was the clear standout during a dramatic week for Strictly Come Dancing
November 16, 2020
The DJ delivers a fabulous flapper Charleston, while Anton du Beke covers for absent judge Motsi Mabuse.
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Nicola Adams’ ruthless Covid axing is the beginning of the end for Strictly 2020
November 13, 2020
The boxer has been summarily dismissed after pro partner Katya Jones tested positive.
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‘Theatres need timelines based on evidence – you can’t turn it on and off like a tap’
November 10, 2020
Producer and new head of SOLT, Eleanor Lloyd, explains the dilemmas for the commercial sector.
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Strictly’s Movie Week: don’t bet against sharpshooter Bill Bailey being the last celebrity standing
November 9, 2020
The comedian’s Spaghetti Western paso doble is a surprise hit, balancing theme and technique.
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Six’s ruined reopening: ‘The cast moved and got tested – then I had to break the news on Zoom’
November 4, 2020
Producer Kenny Wax discusses yet another shutdown for the hit herstory musical.
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‘No notice, no proper details’: the little bookshop fearing a second lockdown
November 3, 2020
Jonathan Main, owner of independent Bookseller Crow on the Hill in London’s Crystal Palace, talks 2020 hardship.
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Strictly Week 2: Jacqui Smith trotted round the ballroom like a drunk pony
November 2, 2020
As England is plunged back in lockdown, the former politician is locked out of the ballroom.
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Strictly Come Dancing: From a firecracker samba to a belly-dancing Santa
October 25, 2020
Maisie Smith shimmies like the best of them in her opening samba, while Bill Bailey provides glorious entertainment.
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Strictly Come Dancing Launch Show: Who impressed and who was ‘horribly wooden’?
October 18, 2020
Our first chance to assess the Series 18 hopefuls, including comedian Bill Bailey.
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Public cash for billionaires? The questions hanging over the Culture Recovery Fund
October 14, 2020
Oliver Dowden defends the Government’s plans to a select committee – but there are strange decisions among the grants.
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‘British culture is world-beating – why are you leaving us behind?’
September 25, 2020
Sonia Friedman, Vicky Featherstone and more react to the lack of job support for the arts, and comments about ‘viability’.
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UK arts leaders in despair
September 24, 2020
Dismay as new Covid-19 regulations are announced, depressing an already struggling sector: artistic directors weigh in.
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When Caroline Flack shone brightest
February 18, 2020
The touching story behind her Strictly triumph with Pasha Kovalev.
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Strictly Grand Final: Brilliant Kelvin and Oti show power in simplicity
December 14, 2019
The 2019 champions win through great technique and outstanding partnering.
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Time to bring back Strictly’s ‘live TV’ edge
December 13, 2019
The BBC has sucked the spontaneity out of the nation’s favourite dance show.
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Strictly semi-final: Kelvin becomes the technical master
December 8, 2019
The two-dance challenge shows up most of the celebs, but Kelvin Fletcher thrives.
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Strictly Musicals Week: Craig finally locates his 10 paddle
December 1, 2019
Karim Zeroual’s jive stops the show, but others suffer from musical mayhem.
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Strictly Week 10: Karim proves time and again that he’s stronger when dancing solo
November 24, 2019
Karim Zeroual fails to impress in contemporary, and samba gets the better fo Saffron Barker.
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Strictly Week 9: Whose technique helped them conquer Blackpool?
November 17, 2019
A criminally good jive from Kelvin Fletcher, while Michelle Visage’s vogue results in another surprise exit.
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Strictly Week 8: Whose technique failed them in a dramatic dance?
November 10, 2019
Paso doble finally sees off Mike Bushell, while Saffron Barker impresses with a simply beautiful waltz.
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Strictly Week 7: Whose Latin technique got them into trouble?
November 3, 2019
A tough week for the female celebrities, but Karim Zeroual excels in quickstep.
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With its first same-sex dance, is Strictly keeping in step with the modern dance world?
November 2, 2019
Johannes Radebe and Graziano Di Prima edge the show closer to casting a same-sex pairing.
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Strictly Week 6: Who danced it best?
October 27, 2019
Wickedly great Michelle Visage and mean, moody Kelvin Fletcher prop up an otherwise flat Halloween.
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Strictly Week 5: Who danced it best?
October 21, 2019
Alex Scott has her breakthrough, while the dad-dancers land in the dance-off.
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Strictly Week 4: Which celebrities scored too highly for technically mediocre routines?
October 13, 2019
Erratic marking leads to a shocking elimination.
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Strictly Episode Three: Who had the best technical chops?
October 6, 2019
Movie Week’s technical Oscar winners – and box office flops.
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Strictly Episode Two: Whose technique set the dance floor alight?
September 29, 2019
Foxtrot battle, upright Latin, and a dismal paso doble.
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Strictly Episode One: The technicalities of the dances
September 22, 2019
In the first of my new weekly series: assessing the celebs of Series 17, including leaderboard topper Kelvin Fletcher.
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Does Motsi Mabuse get a 10 as Strictly’s new judge?
July 22, 2019
Assessing the latest addition to the panel – and how she might judge sister Oti!
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Who will replace Darcey Bussell on Strictly?
April 10, 2019
Looking at the runners and riders for the now vacant judging spot on the BBC show.
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Pasha Kovalev leaves Strictly
February 13, 2019
The popular pro announces his departure after eight impressive years on the show.
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Why do Strictly viewers hate Ashley Roberts?
December 10, 2018
The talented contestant may be a “ringer” – but we need a balance of abilities and journeys to make the show work.
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Is Strictly’s judging going to pot?
December 9, 2018
The panel seem to have lost their objectivity in an overly scripted series.
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