... Me and My Friend SOHO POLY THIS IS a beautifully balanced play, interestingly enough, since it deals with people who have lost their balance in life. Gillian Plowman chooses not to include any unnecessary social or political criticism of the rights and wrongs of care in the community, but states her concerns bv showing us the weaving lives of four people who are helping themselves and each ...

... Galaxy of Welsh talent PREPARATIONS are well under way for Llandrindod Wells' tenth Victorian Festival, which takes place throughout the spa town between August 18 and 26. A galaxy of events to suit all tastes will include a carnival procession, (Caribbean Evening, bandstand con certs, Old Tyme Music Hall, puppet theatre, jugglers, lire caters, a Gilbert and Sullivan night, Viennese gala ball ...

... Cottle shrugs off petition By Stage Reporter A PETITION signed by 5,000 local people opposed to the use of live animals in circuses was handed into Cardiff Qty Council to coincide with the arrival of Gerry Cottle's Circus in the city's Sophia Gardens. Leading the delegation of concerned residents was Labour Councillor Ian Brown, accompa nied by representatives of the newly-formed Animal ...

... Fifties singing star pulls out after one song FIFTIES singing star Ruby Murray was forced to pull out from her current tour three weeks early after collapsing onstage at Ayr's Gaiety Theatre writes Brian Attwood. She broke off after completing her first song in the production, the Fabu lous Fifties Show and told a shocked audience, I'm sorry, I can't sing any more. Murray staggered ...

... Playing it safe PAULINE LORIGGIO sees Lloyd Webber consolidate his position SHAFTESBURY Song and Dance WITH his tried and trusted knack of capturing the heart, rather than the mind of an audience, Andrew Lloyd Webber guarantees another safety in numbers night out as eight year old Song and Dance returns to the West End. As he already has four other musicals running in London and three on ...

... Empire's in the cash wars By HELEN GOULD LEADING London variety venue the Hackney Empire has been forced to make heavy cutbacks to its 1990 programme after being crippled by a run of financial disasters since the New Year. The East End venue says it has been left struggling to survive, while its expansion plans have had to be shelved because of a succession of cash blows. The Empire started ...

... Festival ousts Sussex Aids appeal SINGER Hazel Dean's bid to raise thousands of pounds for an AIDS charity with a gala concert at a leading south coast venue ended in failure this week. Dean, who had a chart hit with the Stock, Aitken and Waterman pro duced song Who's Loving Who, agreed to headline the May 25 show on behalf of the Sussex Aids Trust. Proceeds from the event would have been ...

... Proposal for Welsh leisure DETAILS OF a proposed £4m leisure centre for Welshpool have been unveiled by Montgomery shire District Council. General purposes committee chair man John Corfield said he hoped Common Market money would be available to help get the scheme off the ground. The council expects to hear within a month if its application for a 50 per cent grant from the European ...

... Get street-wise WHERE can you catch a glimpse of jugglers on seven foot unicycles; caged Frenchmen buried in foam; Arctic explorers bivouacked in the streets; green, blue, orange and purple and pitched battles be tween insects on stilts and fire people? Not surprisingly this year, the answer is Glasgow to which the tag European City of Culture has meant a vast invasion by many of the wierder ...

... In search of the King sized entertainer AUDITIONS are now under way to find the 1990 Entertainer of the Year, which is staged annually at the New Kings Cabaret Theatre in Birmingham. 1 he last three years tne snows were flown under the banner of the Daily News Talent Contest, but this year the management have decided to stage the competition under their own steam. Since the talent shows were ...

... Palladium gets star treatment for hospital CAROL CHANNING, the ori ginal and most enduring of all the Dolly Levis, is coming to London again to appear in Barry J. Mis- hon's concert presentation of Hel lo Dolly at the London Palladium on June 10, in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hos pital. Other American visitors taking part are the composer, Jerry Herman, Kaye Ballard, Lee Roy Reams, ...

... Cheaper, but cheerful new opera set-up DESPERATE young musicians, forced out of work by arts cuts, are dodging the dole queue by forming their own professional opera company, writes Helen Gould. New London Opera, set up by nine music school graduates aged between 24 and 30, aims to provide the capital with low budget versions of the most popular shows, for less than £5 a seat. Among the cast ...