... The Queen of Spades Cardiff/Touring Imaginative, innovative, determined to be controversial -- that is this new Welsh National Opera production. The suicidal Liza, rather than jumping into the river, asphyxi ates herself with a plastic bag. The Countess is frightened to death, literally, while taking a bath. Herman's nightmare occurs in a vertical bed from which a huge skeleton emerges to ...

... Angels and Exiles Clore Studio Upstairs: Royal Opera House This piece is presented as part of the Back Garden Project, brainchild of executive director Michael Kaiser, which provides non-Opera House artists with access to the fabulous new facilities, as well as giving Royal Ballet staffers the chance to flex their administrative muscles. The Royal Ballet-trained, independent ...

... LSI Wakefield In the spacious and comfortable surroundings of the Alverthorpe Club was an act that has become a firm favourite with northern clubland audiences over the past couple of years. LSI, which apparently stands for Love, Sex and Intelligence, is a two-boy, all-singing, all-dancing act based in Derby. The most obvious and striking aspect of their performance is the sheer quality of the ...

... Leader of the Pack Bromley The true-life tale of Elite Greenwich, one of the great songwriters and producers of the sixties, this musical is the story of the sound she helped to create. i-rom numrjie Degmnings Greenwich landed a job as a staff writer at New York's Brill Building, where she teamed up with Jeff Barry, whom she subsequently married, and collaborated with Phil Specter. A score ...

... Voice of Musical Theatre 2000 Cardiff Before a packed audience at the New Theatre, a 19-year-old from the Isle of Wight, Laura-Michelle Kelly, beat off the challenge of young professional singers from all over the world to become BBC Radio 2's first Voice of Musical Theatre. Kelly, currently starring in the West End production of Whistle Down the Wind, charmed audi ence and judges alike in ...

... Chaucer comes of age BY JOHN MARTLAND Last week marked the 600th anniversary of the death of poet Geoffrey Chaucer, and Radio 4 launched its contribution to the BBC's Chaucer Season with The Archive Hour: Tales from the Archive (R4, Saturday, October 21). Presented by Barrie Rutter, artistic director of the Northern Broadsides Theatre Company, it traced the special relationship between Chaucer ...

... Work's red letter day London Coliseum Nixon in China Doubts might be expressed as to whether John Adams' opera about the historic visit in 1972 of President Nixon to meet Mao Tse-tung in China is still of relevance or interest to present-day audiences. The first London staging of Peter Sellars' production, almost as significant in operatic terms as the meeting itself, proves that it is. Times ...

... National Opera Studio: Showcase 2000 Queen Elizabeth Hall Stephen Medcalf staged this year's NOS event, with its thirties- style costumes including male characters in a variety of Nazi- looking uniforms. Designer Jamie Vartan had created a well with steps to one side which ascended to an upper battlement walk on the other two. The stage ambience was singularly sinister and curious, producing ...

... Night at the Music Hall Scarborough A mixture of young talent and seasoned performers come together to provide an excellent combination at the Spa where British Stage Productions is again presenting this summer's run. Dave Peters of City Varieties fame shines in his various solo spots and in the comedy routines with cast members. He is particu larly good in character as an old woman working ...

... The Coronation of Poppea London Coliseum ENO's second Italian offering is Monteverdi's penetrating exposition of love burgeoning between two monsters, the one devious, the other psychologically unstable. Never has music of such sen sual urgency and beauty been lavished upon the likes of Poppea and Nerone, whose cruelty chills the heart even as one melts to their ecstatic duet 'Pur ti miro'. ...

... Cabaret 2000 Blackpool Any given night sees a different show in The Viking Hotel's Talk of the Coast cabaret room. Typical of what is in store for residents and holidaymakers alike is the Tuesday night show. Opening with the three Sweet Sensation dancers, the night starts with a science fiction medley which introduces compere Buddy Lee into a much more vocal role than previous years. Once that ...

... Danny Brown Edinburgh/Touring On a dreary Tuesday, the news that several venues on Danny Brown's tour had already cancelled him was not promising. But the Stand Comedy Club has not survived in the city without building a strong reputation for itself, and there was a good turn out for the host of Channel 4's cooking and dating show, Dishes. With a main course promis ing to be hot and spicy, ...