St James Theatre

Robert Mitchell’s Panacea Podcast

vivienne — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:18:09 +0000

Pianist to pianist, Dorian Ford and Robert Mitchell discuss approaches to the piano, its heritage, Robert’s music, and his recent Leftitude festival of piano music for the left hand.

Music extracts, all compositions of Robert’s, performed at the St James Theatre Studio on 22nd March.

Cumulus
Lucid Dreamt
Essence

Robert Mitchell (piano), Tom Farmer (bass), Laurie Lowe (drums)

Gig recorded at the St James Theatre Studio and podcast mixed by Pav Kucharski

The Political Party Podcast with Matt Forde and Lembit Opik

vivienne — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:01:49 +0000

For the forth show, recorded on the day of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, Matt is joined by former Liberal Democrat Lembit Öpik. Recorded live at the St James Theatre.

Tonight’s guest is the maverick Lembit Opik. A former Liberal Democrat MP, Lembit is as famous for his antics outside of Parliament as his achievements inside. As seen on Have I Got News For You, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and more recently inside a wrestling wring, Lembit is one of politics’ true eccentrics. He is currently campaigning for a rule change to make it easier for the Liberal Democrats to change their leader, a move seen as a campaign against Nick Clegg.

An unashamed political fan, Matt had a career in politics before becoming a stand-up comedian, radio presenter and writer. As well as hosting his own show on talkSPORT he has appeared on The Now Show and The News Quiz. He also writes for 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Stand Up For The Week and Russell Howard’s Good News.

Matt’s Twitter

Listen to Matt’s other Political Party Podcasts

The Drama of Theatre Tattoos

vivienne — Thu, 09 May 2013 12:40:04 +0000

Ill-advised tattoos are nothing new. I think we all have memories of lying to that friend about their new body art: “No, Jonny, I really had no idea that you liked Pac-Man so much.” Any of us acquainted with the Internet (and I’m going to presume that’s all of you) will be familiar with the countless Tmblr feeds paying homage to the embarrassing misspellings that going under the needle under the influence can result in. And while there are many tattoo trends out there (Disney seemingly being the most popular of these) it is the theatre connoisseur who, in my estimation, consistently tops the shame-o-meter when it comes to ink.

Now, we have all seen the traditional Comedy and Tragedy theatre masks, and in theory they aren’t an entirely bad idea for a tattoo. But, in practice there can be something a little… creepy about it. No? Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself. Point of interest: I am told by a certain unnamed Stage Manager of my acquaintance, that the masks are a particular favourite of London theatres’ behind the scenes staff.

But above all it is those fans of the West End musical that really take home the prize for tattoo dedication. Les Miserables, as the most successful musical of all time, with it’s hulking following you would expect a certain amount of tattoos. Indeed, the amount of Cosette tattoos is kind of staggering (some good. And some… let’s say, not so good). But I did find it rather odd when I discovered the sheer amount of people who have decided to tattoo this on their bodies. And despite our internal giggle upon seeing Jean Valjean’s prison number sprawled across the chest of smiling fans, we can still understand how this towering adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel can invoke this kind of dedication in people. However, I have one question for you: When to picking your tattoo, can you really, and I mean REALLY, think of any reason why someone would do this?

See, now this makes me wonder: What would we have to do for you to get a St. James Theatre logo tattoo?

By Matthew Keeler

So Viva’s not forever

vivienne — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:15:27 +0000

Popular theatre reviewer West End Wilma wonders ‘Who Do You Think you Are’ for allowing Viva Forever to end

I think I am one of the few people in London who have championed Viva Forever since it opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in December 2012. Mark Shenton labelled it “a phoney, manufactured musical about a phoney, manufactured band, marooned by a structurally inept, unfunny script” and Time Out simply called it “awful”. 15 years ago when Mamma Mia opened in the West End (another jukebox musical directed by Judy Cramer), both the public and press were slightly more forgiving and allowed this fun musical (that doesn’t claim to be anything other fun) to thrive and is still going from strength to strength today. Viva Forever has however not received such an open minded response.

Viva Forever tells the story of four young girls who enter a talent show ‘Starmaker’ and are then split up when the judges only take one of the girls through to the live finals. It is the most current show we have in the west end today, about reality television and Twitter. With a book written by Jennifer Saunders it is like watching an episode of Absolutely Fabulous. How can people therefore call it ‘unfunny’? Has Jennifer Saunders suddenly become unfunny? I doubt that somehow and so what is the truth? People just don’t want to like it. Mix all of that together with the amazingly cheesy pop songs that the Spice Girls created during the 90′s and you have the show. Incomparable to shows like Les Miserables and Wicked, but if we can accept fun, lighthearted shows like Spamalot, Mamma Mia and Thriller Live then why the back lash toward Viva Forever?

Sadly, I feel we have gone back to the days of school playground bullying here. The press never wanted to like Viva Forever and made it their mission to destroy it from day one. The general public, followed suit and decided to jump on the band wagon to help destroy it and no amount of Girl Power could help keep it alive. I for one, fail to see what is so awful about it when you compare it to other musicals of the same calibre.

For more from West End Wilma make sure to visit www.westendwilma.com

Picture source here

Moats and Thrones/Bird Radio double bill 8th May

vivienne — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:38:18 +0000

I first heard Alice Grant (one half of Moats and Thrones) sing in her a cappella duo Normal Gimbel with Ruth Goller. They delivered an inventive, fearless and honest musical performance of original songs.

The other half of Moats and Thrones is bassist Tom Herbert, somebody who I’ve known for a very long time – a good friend and a great bass player. In fact I’ve known Tom so long, that when we first met, I would’ve had a beard, and Tom did not. Tom’s wide ranging career takes in The Invisible, Mara Carlyle, Acoustic Ladyland, Polar Bear, Andrew McCormack, Dorian Ford, The Catford Devils, Martin Speake, Jade Fox and much more.

Mikey Kirkpatrick is Bird Radio. And my first musical encounter with Bird Radio, I found to be equally inventive, fearless and honest. Although in this case we are looking at a solo performer using a combination of found and acoustic material with a deft and judicious use of technology, which enhances the organic and folk based vibe, not the other way around. Or for want of a better phrase, Mikey’s use of electronics and loops don’t smother the music.

Bird Radio “A mix of old testament preacher and Captain Beefheart. There’s a touch of Tom Waits and Nick Cave in there too…” **** Jazzman

From the vault: An email from a wardrobe assistant who worked at Westminster Theatre in 1968

vivienne — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:20:29 +0000

We received this lovely email from a lady named Jill who worked as a wardrobe assistant in 1968 at the Westminster Theatre (now the St. James Theatre).

“Thanks so much to the girl in the box office who took me and my husband down to see the studio after I told her I had been the wardrobe mistress at the Westminster in the 1970s. By the time I started as a wardrobe assistant in 1968, the new arts centre had opened and the dressing rooms and green room were upstairs in the new building. But the wardrobe was still in the vaults and I enclose a photo of part of the making wardobe, showing half the arch above us. The room was about as long again to the right of the photo and the sewing machines were behind in the other half of the arch. The maintainance wardobe was a similar size next door and we also had a shelved store for shoes and wigs etc in another vault! In fact, there was a whole series of vaults with staff room, usherettes changing room, kitchen staff rest rooms, toilets etc running under the stage and auditorium. In this rather posed photo we are preparing the costumes for the Westminster’s annual pantomime, ‘Give a Dog a Bone’, which ran every Christmas for about 10 years and I am the one at the end with the tape measure round my neck.

Incidentally, I never saw our friendly ghost – the white lady – but every theatre needs one, so maybe she’ll rise up out of the mud under your beautiful new building and one of you’ll see her and be lucky!”

Thank you Jill for sending us this lovely email.

Kate Williams Quartet – Wednesday 1st May 2013

vivienne — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 11:49:16 +0000

Kate Williams Quartet features the remarkable flute playing of Gareth Lockrane. I’ve had the pleasure of playing with Gareth on many occasions and know him to be a strong and supple player who is constantly searching to develop his sound. Needless to say this makes him very busy, and I remember being on the tube with him after one gig, where he was running with his amp and flutes up to The Oxford in Kentish Town to play with Kate’s quartet.

I also happen to know that Pat Levett, a drummer with whom I’ve worked with regularly, rates Kate’s playing very highly.

Looking forward to hearing Kate’s Quartet play a mixture of original compositions and standards at the first of our Wednesday gigs.

Kate Williams (piano), Gareth Lockrane (flutes), Oli Hayhurst (double bass), Tristan Mailliot (drums)

http://www.kate-williams-quartet.com/index.html

http://www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/events/kate-williams-quartet/

Win tickets to The School of Night!

vivienne — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:01:13 +0000

Award-winning disciples of theatre maverick Ken Campbell, members of the School use their unique blend of literary and Shakespearean extemporisation to make up poems, songs and dramas on the spot inspired by audience suggestions.

We have two pairs of tickets to The School of Night to give away, and we want you to get creative!

Send us a short poem, limerick, joke or anything else you can think of, and we will choose our favourite. Or enter on our facebook and twitter pages, by Monday 29th April.

Please specify which date you would like tickets for, Saturday 4th or Sunday 5th May.
[contact-form-7]

Or if you can’t wait until Monday to find out if you’ve won, you can buy tickets here!

T’s & C’s: Tickets are valid on May 4th and 5th only, for two people. Tickets cannot be exchanged for another event. The competition will close on Monday 29th April, and winners will be contacted shortly after. By entering this competition, you are agreeing to be included on our mailing list.

Interview with David Braid

vivienne — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 13:55:05 +0000

On April 21st Welsh composer David Braid will be bringing an evening of musical opulence to the theatre alongside Sergei Podobedov, as amongst other works they perform the First Piano Sonato, Op. 14. Before then we sat down to have a chat about a few things.

1.What are in your pockets right now?

What an unusual question! – thus: The phone numbers of some accordion teachers for my son (none of which seem to work), 4 plectra/ums, an asthma inhaler, a copy of this week’s New Scientist (30 March), my work pass, £1.85, my house keys, and my ancient and hated telephone (somewhere in one of them probably)

2.What are your musical influences?

Dowland, Sibelius, Shostakovich, the big 3 composers obviously (Bach, Beethoven and Mozart); performers such as Glenn Gould, Django Reinhardt, Julian Bream and Segovia; Science-fiction – especially that concerning the ideas of human evolution yet to come; theories of narrative in literature, archetypal structures in other arts that may/may not be translatable into music, especially things concerning rhetoric and the universality – or not – of all these; folk music, the powerful immediacy of some popular music, (although most of it one cannot take seriously anymore because of the commercial aspect) and the physical factors involved in playing an instrument or singing.

3.If you could give a piece of advice to any budding composers what would it be?

Ask yourself what you are prepared to give up for it – if the answer is less than ‘everything’ then give up immediately, being a composer is not a choice or a job, it is state of existence, anything less than that is not acceptable.

If you survive that one (most won’t if they’re truly honest with themselves) then learn to copy the styles of the great composers and ask yourself (not some professor or boffin) why the great pieces work so well – you should be able to work this out for yourself. Study fugue and counterpoint (this is actually best done with a prof) to a level that you can do it intuitively.

Fugue/counterpoint is not about style or pastiche at all, it’s a musically-universal thought process that is stylistically neutral and applies to all aspects of composition and enables you to marry the ‘vertical’ (harmonic) and horizontal (rhythmic, melodic, formal) aspects of all music – the lack of this being taught properly in the major music colleges now may explain the flatness and one-dimensionality of most modern classical music.
Perhaps most importantly – do NOT give in to any fashion or trend – such as Atonality, the New Tonality, Serialism, Minimalism – they’re all just futile fads – BUT some good and even great music has been written in these styles – however, that is despite them not because of them. Also I’d say keep in mind always “craft above all” if you can master your craft (which I’m still working on) and become a craftsman, then perhaps one day you may become an artist – there is no shortcut – as the experimentalists clearly demonstrate so wearily often.

4.What inspires you to keep making music?

I want to hear (and play) music that I can imagine but does not exist – in order to to hear this I have to write it- it’s really that simple. Inspiration is just a Hollywood myth – there is no such thing at all. One has imagination, which is always active – or one does not – that’s it. One either has to time to compose and develop this, or one does not, and therefore has to engineer one’s life so that can happen.

5.How did your collaboration with Sergei Podobedov come about?

We met on our first day the Royal College of Music in 1990 – he could barely speak English – however we both played a bit of jazz so we did that a lot and sort of communicated like that – and become v close mates and have been since – some 23 years! – he’s like a brother to me – and is easily the greatest musician I’ve ever worked with, without question. He is the only musician I know who is as obsessed with it as I am. He’s played and recorded a lot of music of mine and we also sometimes do some mad improvising together for pleasure.

6.If you could’ve composed any piece of music other than your own what would it be?

The theme tune to Paddington Bear- it’s so evocative – I love it!

7.If you could have a dinner party with anyone alive or dead who would you invite over?

A ‘normal’ citizen born in a million years’time – yes I really strongly believe we will still be around then – someone who has a great knowledge of history and the current scientific and musical achievements of his/her/its time, while making sure that he/she/it has some form of translation machine however he/she/it would have it already imbedded most likely

8.The studio is known for its intimate feel does your performance change according to the crowd you perform to at all?

I find small crowds quite intense but kind of ok, also if I have friends in the crowd that can sway things nicely a bit- however these are quite small effects – to perform properly one has to forget anyone is there at all really.

9.What else does the year have in store for you?

Well, we’re returning here July 21st for a concert in which I’m going to play also (electric guitar: Sweelinck organ music transcriptions), we’re taking this programme to other venues also and will post these on our websites shortly. I’m writing some new things too – some songs for soprano and lute (I play lute also) and also expanding our e.guitar/piano repertoire by writing more things, adding clarinet also and possibly double bass to make a small ensemble.

David Braid and Sergei Podobedev

21st April – Buy Tickets

Byron Wallen Podcast

vivienne — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:42:49 +0000

Interview between Dorian Ford and Byron Wallen about Byron’s musical life. Plus excerpts from his gig on 1st February 2013.
Lineup: Byron Wallen (trumpet, flute, shells), Oren Marshall (Tuba), Neil Charles (bass), Tom Skinner (drums)
Gig recorded by resident sound engineer Andrew Josephs.
Excerpts: Mr Lawrence D. Morris – Byron Wallen, East St Louis Toodaloo – Duke Ellington, For Ravi (Shankar) – Byron Wallen, Humpty – Byron Wallen, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free – Billy Taylor