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It was a great opportunity for performance at the highest level and the talented young music students from Varndean College and Blatchington Mill School rose to the occasion. Their interludes and lyrics produced an enchanting variation on Handel’s baroque opera Rinaldo. Most daring was the dialogue between trumpets, horn and voice. The soloists from Glyndebourne, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the BREMF players were magnificent – so were the students. A mixture of music styles, scholarship and fun, this very satisfying and successful concert deserves more than one hearing – Bravo! More like this please.

Central United Reformed Church, Hove, 6 October
Rating:
Andrew Connal

Once in a while an indie band will crop up and blow the competition away, and that is exactly what BBC have done. And it’s very little to do with their stage presence – there was next-to-nothing in the way of audience interaction: in the case of BBC it’s (nearly) all about the music, man… Their third, and best album to date, ‘A Different Kind of Fix’, showcases the sublime talents of songwriter Jack Steadman to the full, veering from the New Orderesque to classic balladry via some off-beat offerings such as Shuffle, and made complete by the addition of Lucy Rose on vocals and an electronics/effects man, transporting the fully rounded production of the album to the live stage.

Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 30 September
Rating:
Jeff Hemmings

Margaret Cho has been causing a sensation since she was first spotted by Bob Hope. A gay rights activist, actress, writer, performer… and fan of Waitrose. She spills all to Victoria Nangle

Victoria Nangle: Hi Margaret, how are you doing today?
Margaret Cho: I’m good thanks. I’m eating…

VN: Do you want us to call back in ten minutes?
MC: No, no it’s fine. I should have been quieter, but I just discovered Waitrose today so I’m really excited. [laughs]

VN: Did you find the deli counter?
MC: Yeah. They sell the weirdest s*** like these boxes of mangos and pineapple and coconut… which is really good, so I’m just eating it. It’s a really amazing store. Read the rest of this article »

A slow first half, in which the script seemed to have been gathered from public records, failed to engage. The cast had little to do, and despite having one of the most striking sets I have seen in years, it was visually drab. But after an interval the cast came back with a totally compelling performance, gripping, moving stuff, not perhaps the thriller that the poster promises but good stuff all the same. Warren Clarke’s return to the boards shows that he is indeed a very fine actor and his Churchill a compelling and moving portrayal.

Theatre Royal Brighton, 27 September
Rating:
Andrew Kay