... Cardew dies By BRIAN ATTWOOD CARDEW Robinson, the veteran stage and screen actor and radio comedian, died in hospital this week aged 75. _-- _ _ __ He achieved nationwide fame during the 1940s with his public school caricature Cardew the Cad and remained in demand as a character actor for the next five decades. Robinson's schooldays were spent in the shadow of one of Britain's leading public ...

... Watch your fees or watch the competition --clubs send Yuletide warning to artists By HELEN GOULD CLUB bosses have advised artists to keep their fees down over Christmas and the New Year or find themselves ousted by do-it-yourself entertainment. Many venues, particularly in northern club land, have been forced to tighten their belts this year as the recession eats into takings. Entertainment ...

... Minnelli competition winners STAOli readers sent in one of the largest number of competition entries to this paper in response to our offer of free videos and compact discs of Liza Minnelli's new album, Live At Radio City Hall. Correct entries alone for each of the two categories outnumbered every previous quiz offer for the last three years Some keen fans of Minnelli were so desperate for a ...

... LCDT Sadler's Wells THE ODD thing is that even though LDCT lacks an artistic director, and is run by a team advised by Robert Cohan, the opening programme of the Sadler's Wells season was one of the best the company has presented in ages. It got the juices going! And it wasn't just the youthful cheers excit edly acknowledging the presence of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall in the audience that ...

... 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 ...

... Sony plans to underpin Milton Keynes Bowl MILTON Keynes Bowl is being relaunched as The National Bowl by new owners, music giants Sony and the US entertainment empire Pace. Former West End theatre manager Andy Phipps has been taken on as managing director of the resurrected outdoor concert stadium. John Whit ney, chairman of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Group, has been appointed non ...

... Kicking dancers into shape By HELEN GOULD VINNY Jones could find himself training alongside the likes of Darcy Bussell in a proposed link-up between the dance profession and the Football Association. Dance UK has approached the FA for help in develop ing new training programmes for young performers, which could see them relying more heavily on the regime used by sportsmen to keep in shape. The ...

... Something bigger and better in Store By BRIAN ATTWOOD COMEDY Store owner Don Ward is moving his club from its Leicester Square base to a larger site close, to the Trocadero Centre. The new venue, situated in the basement of restaurant TGI Friday's, will be double the size of the present base and will hold up to 400 people at a time. We've been at our present site for seven years, since we ...

... Players' appeal to save theatre HISTORIC London variety venue, the Players Theatre, has made a desperate appeal for cash support from its members to stave off closure after almost 60 years. The theatre moved back into refur bished premises under the arches at Charing Cross station last April, after being rehoused for three years at the Duchess Theatre. But the upheaval has cost it dearly. ...

... Gig Right UK welcomes stars' support as industry fails to take the initiative By STAGE REPORTER MICK JAGGER is helping to kick-start the careers of new bands and artists by stumping up £1,000 towards the costs of setting up a network of small scale concert venues. Gig Right UK, run jointly by the Musicians Union and Arts Council, is trying to establish a circuit of 40 regional venues of 300 ...

... A Christmas Carol ROYAL TV WHERE Christopher Gable and Northern Ballet Theatre are at their most effective is in letting people gently into the mores of ballet, without any suggestion that it may be high an and off-puttingly elitist. The value of this was brought home to me the other day when I met a friend who is a ten nis coach and who days alter seeing NBT's Swan Lake, was still caught ...

... Pureza Flamenca SADLER'S WELLS AT LAST, some worthwhile flamenco. Pureza Flamenca, a small company formed by internationally-acclaimed English guitarist, Ian Davies, delivers what its name promises: pure flamenco free of the vulgar pretentiousness too often displayed by more grandiose companies in recent yean. Davies, together with famous gypsy guitarist Juan Maya Marote provid ed thrilling ...