Category Archives: Musicals

#MadeInDagenham – vote for @SophieLDannFans [b4 TODAY 3pm!!], see @GemmaArterton’s film @SomersetHouse (August)

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1. Vote: Best performance of a song 2015
Voting closes today (27 May) at 3pm. You can vote for Sophie Louise Dann singing ‘Ideal world’ from the musical Made in Dagenham (music by David Arnold) at the West End Frame awards page: http://www.westendframe.com/2015/05/vote-best-performance-of-song-2015.html

The original cast recording of Made in Dagenham is available to download from Amazon and iTunes and it’s absolutely fantastic 🙂

2. Book tickets: Gemma Bovery at Somerset House open air Summer Screen in London
Opening Night Premiere:
Gemma Bovery
Thursday, 6 August 2015
£24.00 + booking fees
“Gemma Arterton lights up the first night of Summer Screen in this smart, sly romantic-comedy that is not without a darker side. Writer Posy Simmonds’ beloved title-character arrives in a rural French village, looking for an idyllic fresh start with her husband. However, this charming, sexy premiere has plenty of twists in its tale.”
Tickets and info at the Film4 Summer Screen page: http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/film/film4-summer-screen-2015

David Arnold’s concerts in 2015
Dublin | Manchester | London | Birmingham | Nottingham | Lucerne
22 Jan |     14 April     | 18 June |     26 June     |     28 June    | 23 October

This is an unofficial fan website but you can sign up for updates and follow this website on Twitter @DGAUnofficial.
David Arnold’s on Twitter at @DavidGArnold

‘Not So Silent Movies’ screening silent films @electriccinema Notting Hill, w special guest @DavidGArnold

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Edit 4 June – Neil Alcock (@IncredibleSuit) will be interviewing David Arnold before a screening of Casino Royale at the Prince Charles Cinema in London on Sunday 14 June, 8.10pm. Tickets and info. This is part of the PCC’s 007 Retrospective (screening all the Bond films).

*TODAY Monday 18 May 2015* – the cast album for Made in Dagenham the musical is released and #Sherlock S1E3 (The Great Game) is showing on BBC Three at 8.30pm tonight.

Not So Silent Movies – special guest David Arnold
Sunday 7 June 2015, 2.30pm
Electric Cinema, 191 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11 2ED,
020 7908 9696
Info and tickets
 20130609 Not So Silent Movies 16 DSC_2835

On Sunday 7 June, at 2.30pm in the Electric Cinema Notting Hill, David Arnold and a group of musicians will improvise a live score for some silent films they’ve not seen before – “Utterly great when it all clicks, and unintentionally hilarious when it goes awry!”

“Devised by cellist and film composer Philip Sheppard, Not So Silent Movies… combines an exciting mix of great music, extraordinary silent movies, comedy and risk, sheer entertainment for all the family. When it comes to creating split-second comic mayhem, Sheppard takes his inspiration from such masters of the silent screen as Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. In the old movie houses a lone pianist improvised along to the on-screen antics; but this afternoon at the Electric, we’re hosting what Sheppard calls “Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets chamber music”, as he and a crack line-up of players spontaneously generate a soundtrack for silent comedy classics.”

Tickets at £25, £15 child ticket (under 14 years old), £60 for a family ticket on the Front Row Sofa (2 adults and 2 children)

Later that same day…
As part of its 007 Retrospective the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square is screening all of the James Bond films in the order in which they were released. David has scored five James Bond films and the screening of his first one will happen next Sunday 24 May (Tomorrow Never Dies) but on Sun 7 June the film will be Die Another Day. More info and tickets from the link above.

Later that same month… June is a particularly good month for fans of David Arnold and of film music concerts as he’s got three orchestral concerts coming up. The first is at the Barbican in London on 18 June and the next two are the following week in Birmingham and Nottingham. More details and tickets in the links below. Also see the details in the edit at the top of this page about his interview at the Prince Charles Cinema on Sunday 14 June.

Dublin | Manchester | London | Birmingham | Nottingham | Lucerne
22 Jan |     14 April     | 18 June |     26 June     |     28 June    | 23 October

This is an unofficial fan website but you can sign up for updates and follow on this website on Twitter @DGAUnofficial. David Arnold’s on Twitter at @DavidGArnold 

This weekend: Shirley Bassey on TV, #Sherlock Holmes prom, Made in Dagenham (film & musical cast recording)

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There’s quite a lot going on over the next few days…

Friday 15 May (this evening)
Imagine: Dame Shirley Bassey: the girl from Tiger Bay – 11pm, BBC Four, 15 May
“Alan Yentob celebrates Shirley Bassey’s 2009 album The Performance, the David Arnold–produced record that was her first studio release in two decades, by examining a selection of her greatest archive performances. He also meets songwriters who contributed to the album, including Gary Barlow, Pet Shop Boys, Manic Street Preachers, KT Tunstall and frequent James Bond composer John Barry.”

Saturday 16 May
Sherlock Holmes Prom 41: a musical mind (event is on Sunday 16 August 2015)
– tickets go on sale at 9am on Saturday 16 May 2015 via bbc.co.uk/proms or 0845 401 5040 and in person at the Royal Albert Hall.
The Royal Albert Hall have written a post explaining how to book tickets online – good luck!

In this recording made 85 years ago on 14 May 1930 you can hear Arthur Conan Doyle talking briefly about the origins of Sherlock Holmes before discussing his own (ACD’s) enthusiasm for spiritualism. He died a few weeks after this recording was made and, according to this article, following his death “… a séance was conducted at the Royal Albert Hall. Thousands attended, including his wife and children. A row of chairs were arranged on the stage for the family, with one left empty for Sir Arthur. Even though he did not appear, there were many people in the audience who claimed they had felt his presence among them.”

Sunday 17 May
Made in Dagenham (film) – 10pm, BBC 2, 17 May
“There seems to be a fail-safe formula for creating successful British films: take some plucky working-class Brits, mix with a situation that tests their mettle, sprinkle in some gritty social history, and, hey presto, you have a sure-fire hit on your hands. Just like The Full Monty, Billy Elliot and Calendar Girls (also directed by Nigel Cole) before it, Made in Dagenham follows that recipe to a T, and is entertaining and touching in equal measure. Set in 1968, it focuses on the struggle of the women machinists at Dagenham’s Ford factory to convince management that they deserved the same pay as their “skilled” male colleagues, a breakthrough moment of the 1960s that gave momentum to the campaign for equal pay for women. Cole’s film is paced for smiles, not political punches, but the performances and production values are superb. Sally Hawkins is wonderful as the strike’s energetic yet reluctant leader, while Miranda Richardson steals every scene as cabinet minister Barbara Castle.” – music composed by David Arnold.

Monday 18 May
Made in Dagenham the musical (original cast recording) released – woohoo 🙂 Music composed by David Arnold.

 

David Arnold’s concerts

Dublin | Manchester | London | Birmingham | Nottingham | Lucerne
22 Jan |     14 April     | 18 June |     26 June     |     28 June    | 23 October

This is an unofficial fan website but you can sign up for updates and follow on this website on Twitter @DGAUnofficial. David Arnold’s on Twitter at @DavidGArnold 🙂

 

 

If you’re near London, go & see @MadeInDagenham the musical (music by David Arnold)

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Made in Dagenham the musical is quite remarkable and thoroughly lovely, and I highly recommend it.

If you can get a seat in the stalls I recommend that too (or make sure you bring a pound coin for the wee opera glasses because the set is really clever (by Bunny Christie – she’s nominated for a What’s On Stage award, more on that later)) and worth a good gawp just for itself, and the story is true, dramatic, touching and extremely funny – perhaps surprisingly so, given that it’s a story of inequality in the workplace.

And there’s loads of great music in it from David Arnold. Plenty of the sort of catchy tunes that people hum in the interval and on the way out. There was a lot of humming and la-la-la-ing of the rousing ‘Everybody Out’ during the interval when I was there (you can hear some of the songs on Made In Dagenham’s YouTube channel).

My favourite song in the musical (the beautiful ‘We nearly had it all’) is also one which David Arnold sang at his recent concert in Dublin and which Gemma Arterton sings (as Rita O’Grady) in the show.

Ah, it’s properly lovely 🙂

Another song I particularly like is a cleverly layered song which had the line ‘storm clouds on the horizon in it’ (I don’t know the names of the songs), also a light-hearted song in the first half which is sung by one of the factory women who can never seem to find quite the right word. That one made me laugh a lot but the whole show is great fun and extremely witty.

But it’s only on until 11 April 2015 (at the Adelphi, on the Strand) … so don’t miss it and, a few days after Made In Dagenham ends, David will be performing his next concert, in Manchester (14 April).

What’s On Stage awards

Made in Dagenham is nominated for four awards:

  • Best New Musical – Made in Dagenham
  • Best Actress in a Musical – Gemma Arterton
  • Best Set Design – Bunny Christie
  • Best Lighting Design – Jon Clark

You can cast your vote (it’s free) here: http://vote.whatsonstage.com/

Getting to Made in Dagenham / Adelphi theatre

Well obviously I am going to recommend you arrive at the Adelphi by ferry (closest piers for Thames Clippers ferries are either Embankment (closest) or London Eye) although the RV1 bus (Tower Hill to Aldwych / Covent Garden) is also good for seeing the sights. Basically head for the Waterloo / Covent Garden / Charing Cross area, the theatre’s opposite the Savoy Hotel.

And if you’re in the market for a non-fancy pre-show cheese sandwich I also recommend the Crown Cafe (136 Strand, on the same side as Somerset House / King’s College London). Other sandwich solutions also available.

See Adelphi Theatre on Google Maps.

Book tickets: http://www.madeindagenhamthemusical.com/

This is an unofficial website.