Author: Richard Young

Have I mentioned that I have gotten involved with long-time London thespian and educator Art Fidler’s brainchild, Silver Spotlight Theatre, a theatre group featuring and produced by senior-aged performers and staff 55+ with a mission of presenting full-scale Broadway musicals?

Well I have, and I could not be more pleased!

The company’s inaugural show, Babes In Arms by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart, is being produced by Kelly Holbrough and co-directed by Art and longtime Musical Theatre Productions director Rick Smith, with musical direction by Janis Wallace. It opens March 24 on the Auburn Stage at the Grand Theatre and runs to April 2.

“I think it’s a great idea,” says co-director Rick Smith. “I know a lot of people have an interest in doing something in theatre, but the opportunities just aren’t there. The older people often feel like they’ve been put to pasture and this opportunity will be an important outlet for them. It helps keep people young and it’ll be a lot of fun for them.”

Originally written and produced in 1937, Babes In Arms is the story of young people during the Great Depression of the 1930s looking to raise money to stay off the work farm after their parents leave them unattended to seek their own success on the dying vaudeville stage. Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland starred in the 1939 “I’ve got a barn! Let’s put on a show!!” movie version. The show received a further adaptation in 1978. Silver Spotlight Theatre’s version will see tables turned by having the show’s cast and crew made up of the talents of those 55+ playing these great young roles, and singing some of Rodgers & Hart’s most successful songs that have been performed by a multitude of crooners and chanteuses ever since. 

Auditions have been held, thirty roles have been cast and full rehearsals are now in progress, while the Production Crew is hard at work behind the scenes preparing for the March 24th opening.

I have been charged with the responsibility of putting together the play’s Program, a task that I am looking forward to with relish.

Watch my Blog for more news about the play and how you can purchase tickets.

As Silver Spotlight Theatre’s founder Art Fidler is wont to say: “Musical comedy, the two most glorious words in the English language.”

In the meantime, check out Musical Theatre Productions Facebook page for posts about the play https://www.facebook.com/mtplondon

You can read Joe Belanger’s story about the launch of Silver Spotlight Theatre here https://lfpress.com/entertainment/local-arts/new-musical-theatre-company-for-older-actors-crews-opens-in-london

Well, for better or worse, it’s that time of year when many people make a list of New Year’s Resolutions.

As I have gotten older, I have all but stopped making New Year’s Resolutions. Not because I think it is a useless, futile exercise, but rather because I have chosen to continue doing the things that work for me in my daily life and reject those that do not.

The meme above pretty well captures how I feel about the coming year. I would add to the list to keep my mind active by continuing to be a life-long learner, something I have aspired to do throughout my life.

To be sure, given that I have never smoked, don’t drink or eat to excess and exercise regularly as time permits, I don’t see the need to make a list of transformative lifestyle changes in the New Year.

One thing I will commit myself to was prompted by a recent opinion piece in The Atlantic Magazine in which Abdullah Shihipar extolled the benefits of sending handwritten Notes of Thanks at years end to those individuals who had made his year better.

“I recap my interactions with the recipient that year, put my finger on what I appreciated, and say I’m grateful,” writes Shihipar.

You can access the article here: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2022/12/new-years-resolutions-gratitude-thank-you-notes/672599/

I will let you know how I did in a future Blog.

If writing down some changes you would like to make in your life over the next twelve months is a cathartic exercise for you, soldier on. Just be realistic about what you can successfully accomplish.

Happy New Year! See you in 2023.

Want to start off the New Year with some challenging, thought-provoking bedside reading? Consider historian Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens series. You won’t be disappointed.

#TBT – We go all the way back to the January 2010 issue of The Beat Magazine (then known as The Beat: Arts in London). On our cover, we featured Marc Bell’s Hot Potatoe. Inside, Donald D’Haene did a Q&A with Passionfool Theatre’s co-founder and co-artistic director, Eva Blahut, Beth Stewart profiled London artist, Steve Tracy, Darin J. Addison previewed the launch of the 2010 L.O.L.A. Festival, Mary Ann Colihan previewed UWOpera’s production of Don Giovanni, Robert Pegg (Sonny Drysdale) ruminated about London’s Coolest Song and more.

A good issue to kick off the New Year.

During the pandemic of the last 2 1/2 years, like many people my movie-going was curtailed by off-and-on shutdowns, and I got into the habit of getting my cinema fix from streaming platforms like Netflix.

Strictly speaking, I don’t recognize watching a movie on Netflix as the same as watching it in a movie theatre in the company of other moviegoers. It’s just not the same, IMHO. So, I will restrict my picks to movies I saw in cinemas.

Not being a fan of comic book adventure movies like Thor, Black Adam, Spiderman or remakes like Top Gun, my choices lean towards quirky independent productions and the like.

First on my list is the German remake of Erich Maria Remarque’s anti-war novel All Quiet On The Western Front, a gripping story of a young German soldier and his comrades on the Western Front of World War I. The film’s gritty realism and outstanding cinematography capture the horrors of First World War trenches, where its sterling ensemble cast, especially Felix Kammerer as the doe-eyed Paul Bäumer, learn firsthand the futility of war.

View the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/hf8EYbVxtCY

Another film I enjoyed in 2022 was director Olivia Newman’s Where The Crawdads Sing, based on the 2018 novel by Delia Owens and produced by Reese Witherspoon. While panned by many critics and theatre-goers, I suspect that in many cases, they had not read the novel first before seeing the movie adaptation.

It’s often been said that some novels are impossible to bring to the screen. While that might be a bit of an exaggeration in this case, IMHO, an understanding of the novel is absolutely essential to appreciating this movie.

Daisy Edgar-Jones turns in an admirable performance as Catherine “Kya” Clark, the Swamp Girl, who is accused of murder in the North Carolina marsh.

Don’t believe me? Read the novel and catch the film afterwards. See for yourself.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/ZRXAYFfRs4M

Another film I enjoyed was the highly stylized and excessive Elvis biopic starring Austin Butler as the King of Rock and Roll. Tom Hanks puts in a bizarre performance as his greedy manager Col. Tom Parker who shifted Elvis out of playing the devil’s music and into formula movies and grueling Vegas gigs that sped to his tragic physical decline. The musical scenes are mesmerizing.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/Gp2BNHwbwvI

And finally, one of my other favourite films is Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, a dark tragicomedy about two lifelong friends played by Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship. The cinematography which depicts the lushness of the island is beautiful and haunting. It is a film that will have you laughing one minute and crying the next.

Watch the Trailer here: https://youtu.be/uRu3zLOJN2c

In my next Best of 2022 segment, I will identify the Live Theatre performances I enjoyed most in 2022.