A once-buzzing Scottish nightclub that hosted the likes of Kylie Minogue and other music legends is now nothing more than an empty shell.
23.04.2024 - 08:47 / variety.com
Frank Rizzo When a character in the new musical “The Heart of Rock and Roll” tries to convince his ex to leave her job at a factory that makes shipping materials, he is stunned: “Oh, my god. It’s cardboard!” But there can be real appeal to the humblest of materials — and the same can be said of this unpretentious, silly and, in the end, rather fun show. For all the familiar jukebox musical templates of thin characters, unsurprising plot developments and oldie pop/rock songs shoehorned into the narrative, there’s something to be said for simple packaging that knows what it is and does it well.
The show, which premiered in 2018 at The Old Globe, features Jonathan A. Abrams’ original script (story by Tyler Mitchell and Abrams), which is “inspired by the songs of Huey Lewis and the News,” the mainstream ‘80s group known for hook-filled pop/rock songs sung by its raspy-voiced, likable-guy lead singer. But many of the News’ infectious, throbbing tunes — penned by various writers including Lewis — sort of merge into a continuous, corrugated whole.
That makes it a challenge to craft a show that doesn’t sound like it’s on a loop, at least for dramatic purposes. But here the musical’s clever creators, led by director Gordon Greenberg and choreographer Lorin Latarro, decide to just go for the pleasant middle which neither offends nor inspires, just entertains. It also reflects the broad, easy-going appeal of the music — at least for certain generations — which makes this show’s future promising, if not in this Broadway run then certainly for the road.
A once-buzzing Scottish nightclub that hosted the likes of Kylie Minogue and other music legends is now nothing more than an empty shell.
Love Islander Anton Danyluk has revealed the real reason why he and his villa girlfriend, Georgia Harrison called it quits.The former couple got together on the first ever series of Love Island: All Stars, which saw ex islanders return to the villa for a second chance at love. Back in February, Anton and Georgia came fifth on All Stars - being pipped to the post by winners Molly Smith and Tom Clare - but they split last month.The couple reportedly broke up due to being unable to make their long distance relationship work.
Niamh Algar (Mary & George) and Tom Hollander (White Lotus) are leading a Sky thriller series about a code-breaking genius from Luther creator Neil Cross.
Anitta didn’t think much about her death. Despite growing up in the notorious favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian multi-hyphenate just knew that her life would be as glamorous as she always imagined: she would sing, dance and act her way to global stardom.
EXCLUSIVE: Garret Dillahunt (Where the Crawdads Sing), Elizabeth Mitchell (The Purge: Election Year), Shawn Ashmore (ABC’s The Rookie) and Jessy Schram (Unstoppable) have been tapped to star in The Hunstman, a psychological thriller from director Kyle Kauwika Harris (Out of Exile) that’s going into production in Oklahoma next month.
The Wolfe Tones‘ frontman Brian Warfield has spoken to NME about their upcoming final shows and long-lasting legacy. Check out footage from the show above and our interview with the band below.The legendary Irish rebel band have chosen to commemorate their 60th anniversary as a band by formally calling an end to their career with a run of final concerts.Their final ever shows will take place in Dublin’s sold out 3Arena on October 11 and 12, and before that they will play to their biggest ever audience at London’s Finsbury Park on July 5 – you can get your tickets for that here.They warmed up for those huge shows with a surprise intimate performance in Finsbury Park pub The Faltering Fullback last night, when NME caught up with frontman Brian Warfield to discuss coming to terms with the end of the band, their legacy to “the Irish diaspora” and their impact on the current boom in Irish guitar music.NME: Hello Brian – 60 years of the band you formed as a teenager are coming to an end. Have you come to terms with it?Brian Warfield: “Yeah, we more or less have.
As soap favourite Heather Trott actress Cheryl Fergison was part of the Albert Square family, forming strong bonds with a number of her co-stars. But it was the late and much loved Barbara Windsor to whom she will forever be particularly grateful after the actress helped keep her financially afloat. Battling Stage 2 cancer of the womb Cheryl had confided in Barbara and her husband Scott - and they immediately dipped into their own coffers to ease her worries.
Vanderpump Rules has given us some big stars and major drama over the years!
Michele Amabile Angermiller Moments after being honored at the American Music Honors of the Bruce Springsteen Archives, John Mellencamp took a moment to talk about its namesake at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theater in West Long Branch on Wednesday night (April 24). “I know you all love him,” he said of Springsteen. “He put down a big footprint — him and [Bob] Dylan, for me.
EastEnders star Bobby Brazier has been filming a role in a new TV series, it has been announced.The actor, who has won a National Television Award for his role as Freddie Slater in the soap, has joined the cast of Paramount+ drama Curfew, a six-part series that began filming in London earlier this year. Curfew is based on Jayne Cowie’s novel After Dark, and is set in a society governed by ‘The Women’s Safety Act’, where men are all tracked by ankle tags and are confined to their homes by a strict 7pm curfew every night.
Lady Gaga cemented her status as one of music’s biggest voices and Hollywood’s brightest stars with her role in 2018′s A Star is Born.
Manchester United and Chelsea are reportedly battling it out to sign RB Leipzig centre-back Castello Lukeba.
Alex Ritman Al Pacino and Dan Stevens have teamed up for exorcism horror film “The Ritual” from director David Midell. XYZ Films has acquired worldwide rights to the feature, with plans to release it theatrically in 2025 and arrange international distribution at the upcoming Cannes market. “The Ritual” was written by Midell and Enrico Natale and produced by Andrew Stevens, Mitchell Welch and Natale.
The other, “Back to the Future: The Musical,” did not.)Rolled out modestly, little “Heart” is also a lot more fun and proudly frivolous than any of its sober-minded neighbors. It’s perhaps the first time in my life that I’ve been happy to see a confetti cannon at curtain call.The show is hilarious, too.
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has revealed the names of 16 artists or other musical figures who will be inducted in 2024. It’s a diverse list that stretches from R&B/rock pioneer Big Mama Thornton to pop superstars Cher and Dionne Warwick, and from ’70s-rooted rockers like Peter Frampton, Foreigner and Ozzy Osbourne to ’90s icons the Dave Matthews Band, Mary J.
A small piece of contemporary cinema history was written last night in St Andrews, Scotland when Steven Soderbergh sat down with Joe and Anthony Russo on stage at the Sands International Film Festival to discuss their 2002 collaboration Welcome to Collinwood.
The new Broadway musical The Heart of Rock and Roll celebrated its upcoming opening night with a special gala performance!
Debi Mazar has regrets. But none bigger than turning down a role in the 1998 rom-com classic The Wedding Singer.
Lise Pedersen “The Landscape and the Fury” by Switzerland’s Nicole Vögele took the Grand Jury Prize in the International Feature Film Competition at Swiss doc festival Visions du Réel on Friday. Shot on the Bosnian-Croatian border, which is also the European Union border, the film unveils the struggle of refugees being chased away by police and navigating a terrain still contaminated with mines from the Bosnian War.
Hunter Ingram SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “Warsaw,” the sixth episode of “We Were the Lucky Ones,” now streaming on Hulu. For the first time since World War II started on their doorstep in Poland in 1939, Nechuma and Sol Kurc are not living under the same roof. At the start of Episode 6 of Hulu’s Holocaust drama “We Were the Lucky Ones,” based on Georgia Hunter’s novel, the Polish couple says goodbye to their eldest daughter Mila (Hadas Yaron) and young granddaughter Felice, who make a daring escape from the Radom ghetto by blending in as German citizens thanks, in part, to a coat made by Nechuma that’s deemed so stylish it couldn’t possibly be worn by a Jew.