Popular culture
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As Opera North say, La Traviata is perfect for opera newbies as well as diehard opera fans. And I would wholly support this. I guess I would be placed in the middle lane in that I really do enjoy opera, have seen a respectable number of different productions but have yet to reach double figures.…
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I enjoy a ‘reimagining’, especially of a classic text or narrative with strong themes. It might not always ‘hit the mark’ or runs the risk of negative comparison to what an original that some might consider sacred. But it can also be enjoyed in its own right as a separate piece and do a service…
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My partner and I moved recently. From suburbia to ‘urbia’. From a house to an apartment. I think like a lot of people about a lot of life choices, a penny dropped, at some point, over the pandemic. I won’t speak for my partner, Actual Manc, but have sought his blessing to light-touch invade his…
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Did I mention that it’s 40 years since the Hacienda and all it entails was realised? Oh yes here’s where I mentioned it…Happy big 4-0 Hacienda! The night I entered Manc Mecca… Well here’s its sister from the same mister and if you haven’t heard, been or listened to Hacienda Classical, you don’t know what…
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…. Fringe.Is.Back. And not just any old Fringe. Greater Manchester Fringe. All that creativity, talent and in all those exciting and unique spaces around Manchester. The Greater Manchester Fringe Festival returns for its 11th year, in its original summer slot from Friday 1st until Sunday 31st July. Over…
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Straightaway, my takeaway on this play is how there are some incredibly talented actors in this country and there is largely a huge disconnect between talent and plaudits. Much of this, of course, as in life, is to do with how commercially viable a vehicle is. And I get that. Not everything is for consumption…
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1982 was a very special year. My brother was born in the January, the Hacienda was born in May. And the rest is history. That said, history came alive Saturday night when the shutters flew up on what is now the Hacienda apartments car park, and 1000 of us flooded in (note a last minute…
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In its UK debut at HOME, Claudia Rankine’s first published play, The White Card poses the question: can society progress when whiteness remains invisible? Written against a backdrop of an increasingly racially divided American and shortly before the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests, The White Card is as tense and…
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Me: fancy coming to see beatboxers perform Frankenstein? Him: (without missing a …beat) yeah And this reader is why I married him. On Tuesday I found myself part of a beatbox symphony. This is the same week that I got my first pair of prescription reading glasses. Balance redressed.. Contact theatre played host (and continues…
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I didn’t know what to do expect from this production. I mean I was aware of the story – it’s all love and hate and death and windy moors. But the description of this production told me it was… Shot through with music, dance, passion and hope… and I was admittedly reticent. This could be…
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So we’re all about 50 stone heavier having thrown ourselves while-heartedly into the apparent food festival that is Easter. A blur of hot cross buns, simnel cake and chocolate, we’re tired and all need something a little more…stationary. A little less feeding frenzy, a little more ‘feet up (oi metaphorically, not on the seats), lights…
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Friendship is a funny thing. I think the Covid panny-d has caused a lot of reflection on this matter. Who did we miss, who did we not miss, who did we keep in contact with, who did we not. Who did we keep in contact with but then not once we re-entered the world again.…
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I’m a misery when it comes to children’s literature, films, television (although my wonderful young whirlwind of a niece is changing that – Hey Duggie is my ride or die. I’m ageing myself but I’ve never read or watched a Harry Potter. I’ve not watched a Disney film that wasn’t made post 80s and I…
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As a child I used to marvel at the concept and sheer artistry of those who could transform balloon into beast (ridiculous but alliteration, I can’t not). Even more so when I tried to do it myself not realising that a special type of balloon can only be used, and concluding that only those touched…
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There’s a rich history of films centred around the ‘stranger visits town’ trope. Sometimes that trope is literal; a mainstay for many a Western. Sometimes, that stranger is coming from somewhat further afield, swapping out a small town for Earth itself. Starman, Superman, E.T. Close Encounters of the Third Kind – the list is pretty…
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This week was monumental. After what felt like a long, long dark winter, the sun set AFTER 6pm. Today is also monumental as Manchester Film Festival 2022 throws open its literal and metaphorical doors to us Mancs, honorary and actual, and all those visiting our fine city. From 12 – 20 March, over 130 films…
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Having visited this year’s Manchester Open Exhibition and seen for myself the breadth of artistic talent on display, I can only imagine what a difficult job it would have been. But someone had to do it! The judging has taken place and last night, HOME announced the 5 winners of the Manchester Open Awards 2022!…
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Can it be two years since the inaugural exhibition? And what a two years it’s been. Well let’s not go into that, but the first Manchester Open Exhibition was so super, I even walked away with a purchased piece. A piece that soon began to take on layered and multiple meetings in the 12 months…
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Last Friday 10 December saw the first of two Christmas concerts that day, given by the Northern Chamber Orchestra in Knutsford, And I was excited. But it won’t be the first time I’ve misjudged an entrance and it surely won’t be the last. It actually wasn’t even the first time I misjudged the entrance to…
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Who knew murder could be so fabulous? It’s 1991, it’s Tuck Island (because of course), it’s Charlie and Di’s 10th wedding anniversary, a storm’s brewing (oh how apt) and the scene is set for a murder mystery so dramatic, so devastating, so…drag. Starring Ru-Paul US drag legends Willam and Ra’Jah O’Hara, Drag Race UK Star Vinegar…
honorary manc 