... PURCELL ROOM Julyen Hamilton IN his Song In Two Sets, the British choreographer and dancer Julyen Hamilton, who lives in Amsterdam and operates as a European peripatetic, provided one of the most thought provoking programmes of the entire Dance Umbrella. Working as a lone dancer he set up an exchange of ideas with Becke Hinnerson, a Swedish musician that was free-flowing and imbued with a ...

... Cadbury banks on sweet panto rewards PANTOMIME dames could find themselves the centre of the great chocolate sales war as rival confectioners turn to the pantomime stage to plug their products. Cadbury Ltd is backing a series of 41 shows up and down the country, offering free sweets for the atres to sell or raffle, and for dames to hand out to kiddies as pan of the action. It is the fourth ...

... Sleeping Beauty's lips are sealed over soap KATHY Pitkin, 17, who was plucked from obscurity to play child bride Fizz in Eldorado--and quickly written out of the soap--is now a Sleeping Beauty who refuses to dish the dirt. She won't talk about her sacking following disastrous reviews, or criticise the produc ers or anyone connected with Eldorado who created a dream that went sour. This week ...

... Firms under threat from slow payers By BRIAN ATTWOOD SLOW paying showbusiness firms are threatening to send trade creditors into extinction says a leading theatrical print firm. Kent based company Peter Griffiths Associates claims it is owed £25,000 in unpaid bills from three collapsed firms and Minstrel touring producer John Redgrave. Spokeswoman for the family firm, Vanessa Griffiths says ...

... Merger means job cuts MUSICIANS at Scottish Opera and the BBC's Scottish Symphony Orchestra are to suffer job cuts as a result of a proposed merger of the two ensembles. Scottish Arts Council director, Seona Reid, has outlined plans which will create a new National Orchestra of Scotland of 94 players to serve Scottish Opera and give around 50 public concerts and broadcasts a year. If approved, ...

... Oh, yes it is a competition! TRADITIONAL East London venue. Brick Lane Music Hall, is offering readers of The Stage the opportunity to win a night of festive fun at its first-ever Christmas pantomime. The music hall is offering a pair of tickets for its adults-only version of Dick Whittington. including full Christmas dinner. Catherine Digges (pictured) stars as Dick Whittington, with venue ...

... Club faces showdown TROUBLED Luton club Caesar's Palace is facing a courtroom showdown over its licence next week with its ex-manager, variety entertainers and local police. Town magistrates have called a special session on December 23 to hear objections from Barbara Dickson's manager, Bernard Theobald, the club's former general manager, Tom Kenneally and Luton police. It is the latest episode ...

... Equity calls for new circus contract By BRIAN ATTWOOD BIG TOP managements have been asked by Equity to discuss the possibility of creating a new contract for circus performers Union number three Eddie Saville says the recently reformed circus subcommittee has app roached employers requesting nego tiations on a possible draft agree ment. Early indications from the power ful Association of ...

... Der Vampyr WEXFORD FESTIVAL OPERA THH VICTORIANS thrilled to Vampires as they did to ghosts and witches and many opera composers including Wagner and Verdi obliged. However, todays audiences, familiar with Count Dracula, may just take it all as a bit of High Camp. Vampires certainly terrified the characters in Marschner's opera first given in 1827 in Leipzig yet two out of the three victims ...

... Teorema QUEEN ELIZABETH SCHOOL BATTISTELLI'S musical parable, Teorema, is based upon Pasolini's film, Theorem, in which a prosperous bourgeois family plays host to a young man whose charismatic charms prove altogether too seductive for the peace of mind and body. Having devastated their psyches, he leaves. Battistelli provides a lean, taut score, iridescent in its orchestration, which moves ...

... La Colombe (Gounod)/L'Heure Espagnole (Ravel) GUILDHALL THE GUILDHALL has provided a veritable feast for lovers of French opera by staging a double bill of Gounod's La Colombe and Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole. While the latter is comparatively well-known and much loved, Gounod's one-acter is a rarity. Composed tor audiences frequent ing the spa town of Baden Baden, where it was first performed in ...

... Rival plans row hits Spitalfields relaunch By HELEN GOULD AN internal split among developers over two rival plans has marred the relaunch of the historic Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market in East London as a venue. Eric Reynolds, the man responsi ble for transforming Camden Lock into a trendy cultural mecca, wants to build a new 450-seat perfor mance space at the market for small scale ...