Category: entertainment and leisure news

THE Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company’S production of The Fats Waller Musical Show, ‘Ain?t Misbehavin? will be showing at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, on Wednesday and Thursday 19th and 20th March at 7.45pm.
Performers from The Lion King, Carmen Jones and The Wizard of Oz, will be joining OTTC for the show which is a co-production with Pegasus Theatre.

Set in Harlem?s famous Cotton Club the show plays tribute to the black musicians of the 1920s and 30s. With a live jazz trio and 5 fabulous vocalists the theatre will be alive with the sound of swing. Director Brendan Murray said ?Ain?t Misbehavin? is an exciting departure for OTTC as we have never programmed a musical revue before. It will be a night to remember as the theatre is transformed into a Manhattan nightclub?

Composed in 1978 by Thomas Wright ?Fats? Waller and written by Murray Horwitz and Richard Maltby, with standards like Honeysuckle Rose, I Can?t Give You Anything But Love, The Joint is Jumpin? and It?s a Sin to Tell a Lie, Ain?t Misbehavin? is two hours of jam jive and everything.

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OVER the last few years, the British folk scene has seen an ever-increasing number of bands pushing the boundaries of folk by fusing a variety of styles and genres to create fresh and exciting new sounds. Celtic and traditional English styles have been infused with influences ranging from Bluegrass to Jazz, Latin to Old Time Americana and all sorts in-between. This year, Towersey Village Festival welcomes a healthy slice of these exciting fusion bands and projects to its stages.
Eleven-piece folk big band Bellowhead mix folk, rock, jazz, soul and world music influences with more than a hint of English Music Hall and a dash of cabaret, producing a thrilling and heady brew that simply defies easy categorisation. Irish quintet Lunasa create a sound which is rooted in Irish tradition whilst touching on jazz and other improvisational music forms. Meanwhile, Salsa Celtica fuse Latin and Celtic flavours to create a high-energy mix of unforgettable musical explorations which has made them festival favourites all over the world.

Towersey Village Festival also welcomes some of the newest folk fusion bands to be breaking onto the scene. Park Bench Social Club?s eclectic blend of Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional folk bluegrass, gypsy jazz, bhangra and old time Americana is scoring rave reviews with audiences and critics alike, up and down the country. In addition, The Glorystrokes are possibly the world?s only traditional English metalcore dance band, infusing traditional and self penned English folk tunes with Metalcore, Industrial Metal, Electronica and Post-Rock. Performing with dual melodeons, heavy drums, detuned guitars, programmed beats, samples and rumbling bass the band produce a truly unique interpretation of traditional music.

What unites these bands is their desire to blast away the boundaries where one style ends and another begins, electing instead to blend a colourful array of genres, creating sounds that are new and inspiring. This is an exciting time for the folk music scene and Towersey Village Festival provides a great space and atmosphere in which to experience this exciting line-up.

AS part of this year’s Thame Festival, an outdoor music event for young people is being planned, to be staged in the Upper High Street car park.
There will be live music from local bands between 4-9.30pm, from a trailer used as a stage, on Saturday, June 14.

Photo: Flash back to the Festival outdoor event of 2004, featuring Alex Pether, of the, now sadly disbanded Thame band, Hedroom.

THAME Players will be presenting ‘ARE THERE MORE OF YOU?’ written and performed by actress, Alison Skilbeck, on Sunday, March 16, at 7.45pm.
Alison’s powerful piece is about Claire, Sophia, Sara and Sam ? four women on the verge of a nervous breakthrough; four women who rub shoulders ? linked only by a postcode. She has performed the piece all over the country to great acclaim. Playwright Alan Ayckbourn described it as ?Brilliantly observed, nicely comic characters all played to painful perfection. A wonderful evening.?
TV and theatre Director, David Tucker said: ?This is the best solo writing since Talking Heads.?

Alison Skilbeck?s long and busy career has included London?s West End and fringe, theatres all over the UK as well as many tours of Europe, the US and beyond. She began acting while at Oxford University. There she met Thame Players? patron, local actor Bruce Alexander, best known as Superintendent Mullett in Frost, and their enduring friendship ? both professional and personal ? began. They were in the Oxford revue at Edinburgh 40 years ago and their career paths have often crossed since then. In the cult TV series Head Over Heels in the early 90s they played husband and wife. Alison spent five years with Alan Ayckbourn in Scarborough where she created roles in Ayckbourn classics such as Just Between Ourselves, Joking Apart and Sisterly Feelings. She has played Pinter in Morocco, Havel in Hong Kong and Dryden (her own show with husband, Tim Hardy) in Spain. Her television parts includes leads in The Beiderbecke Affair, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple, Head Over Heels and Soldier Soldier. She recently featured in He Knew He Was Right and New Tricks.

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OXFORDSHIRE County Council?s libraries and schools will be hosting a series of events to encourage reading on World Book Day on Thursday, March 6.
Across the county, children in primary schools and libraries will take part in a ?Reading Wave? at 11.30am, when everyone will sit down and read or listen to a favourite book.
Activities will range from fancy dress at schools based on favourite book characters to book fairs and library events.

World Book Day will launch the 2008 Year of Reading in Oxfordshire, with events continuing throughout the year on the theme of encouraging reading.

National Year of Reading

World Book Day will be followed by a series of events throughout the year, including the Oxfordshire Literary Festival in March, events in rural children?s centres over Easter, and the final of the Kids? Lit Quiz, hosted by Keith Mitchell, leader of the county council.

Councillor Jim Couchman, Cabinet Member for social and community services said: ?Reading brings so much enjoyment to so many people, from young children to adults.

?In Oxfordshire we have many famous authors living here, excellent libraries and a fine literary tradition.
?I will be taking a few moments on World Book Day to talk to my colleagues about their favourite books, and look forward to future events which will take place as part of Year of Reading.?

A FREE event for Oxfordshire children aged under five, organised by Oxfordshire County Council?s Early Learning and Childcare Service, is back for its seventh year.
More than 2,000 children aged under five and their parents and carers are expected to attend the Oxfordshire Early Years Fun Day in Cutteslowe Park, Oxford on 26 June between 10am and 3pm.

Tickets for the free event will be available from March 5, by calling 01865 815535. This is a very popular event and places are limited.

Parents are asked to bring their own packed lunch and plenty of drinks. There is no entry without a ticket.

Entertainment

There will be a huge variety of free entertainment on offer including fairground rides, bouncy castles, a reading tent, Oxfordshire play bus, Mini IQ, free smoothies, free water, free fruit from Fresh Direct, free yoghurts from Muller, a fire engine, free car seat checking from Footsteps, Early Learning Centre, a police car and baby massage classes.

Farms 2 Ewe will be bringing its mobile farm along, Cogges Farm will bring rabbits and oversee craft activities and Usborne Books will have a stand selling their books.

Parents and carers can find out about childcare, early education, play and health services that are available for children under five and their families in Oxfordshire.

Councillor Louise Chapman, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families at Oxfordshire County Council, said: ?Oxfordshire Early Years Fun Day is in its seventh year and this is the biggest it has ever been.

?It is the largest free event in the county for children under five.
?The event also gives us a chance to say ?thank you? to all our staff
?We always have wonderful feedback on how much fun the day is and how useful the information is that is given out in the goodie bags the children get.”

COME and watch the skillful art of lace making and talk to the 200 demonstrators, in the beautiful surroundings of St Mary’s church, Thame.
FREE admission – Donations in aid of the St Mary’s Church Restoration Fund.
10am to 3.30pm at St Mary’s Church. Everyone welcome.

THE Orchestra of St John?s and OSJ Voices, under their conductor John Lubbock, return to Dorchester Abbey to perform Bach?s St John Passion, a powerful meditation on the story of the betrayal, arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Performed without an interval, this performance in the beauty and grandeur of Dorchester Abbey promises to be a stunning, moving and inspiring occasion.

The work is being performed in English, in a translation by the Chorus Master of OSJ, Jeremy Jackman, and will begin at 6.30pm Friday March 21.
The part of the Evangelist will be sung by Benjamin Seagal, and Christus by Byron Jackson.
The other performers will be Soprano, Ruby Hughes,
Contralto, Christine Cairns, Tenor, Christopher Lemmings and Bass, Nicholas Garrett.

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DETAILS have been announced of some of the fantastic artists that will be taking to the stages at this year’s Towersey Village Festival. So far the line-up includes Bellowhead, Show of Hands, Lunasa, Martin Simpson & Andy Cutting, Salsa Celtica, Blowzabella, Chris Wood and Whapweasel.
Further details about the line-up of artists can be found at web link

Also appearing will be The Poozies, with a new line-up that includes the amazing young accordionist and piper Mairearad Green.

Full Season tickets are now on sale and booking couldn’t be easier. You can purchase your tickets online (no booking fee) from The Folk Store or by calling the Festival Box Office on 01629 827016. There is a Early Bird discount available on tickets until 31 May inc. Season tickets sold out in 2007 so be sure to secure your tickets early for 2008.

The fabulous Dublin-based soul band The Commitments will be opening Festival Dance House on Thursday night. The band promises to deliver soul classics from The Commitments movie live in concert, and the line-up features original Commitments stars Kenneth McCluskey (Derek “The Meatman” Scully) and Dick Massey (Billy “The Animal” Mooney), plus musicians from their multi-million selling albums. Tickets are available online from The Folk Store or by calling 01629 827016

Photo: Salsa Celtica who will be appearing at this year’s Towersey festival.

A YOUNG Thame actress is currently rehearsing hard for her debut with Thame Players, when they present Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion at the Players Theatre, from Tuesday, March 4 to Saturday, March 8.
Alison Hulett is to play the central role of Eliza Doolittle in this production which will be directed by Simon Baynes.
Colleen Tudway, of Thame Players, says: “All concerned with the play are confident that Alison will make a great success of the part. She hopes to make a career of acting and is trying to get in to drama school, so this performance will be a great step forward in her ambitions.”

Pygmalion is Bernard Shaw’s classic tale of Eliza Doolittle, a girl from the gutter who is tutored by a linguistics expert, Professor Higgins. Higgins has a wager with a friend that he can transform Eliza’s speech and transform her from a common flower girl into one who can pass as a lady of refinement.

The play was, of course, turned into the musical, My Fair Lady but Shaw’s original play is full of eloquent language and great humour.
The performances start at 7.45pm and tickets cost