We love X Factor at Frost and have been enjoying the performances. We have also been getting major property envy at the beautiful house the contestants are living in. We can reveal that it is located in one of Barnet’s most sought-after streets, According to Zoopla the property was previously put on the market for £7million when it was last up for sale in 2013.
The remaining XFactor hopefuls can kick back in the lap of luxury in a seven-bedroom mansion in leafy North London ahead of the finals.
Zoopla.co.uk can offer a sneak peek inside the detached new-build residence – which features an indoor swimming pool, a cinema room, and even a state-of-the-art car lift – where the finalists will be living until the winner is chosen in December. Can we move in now please?
Reunited after seven years, consummate crowd pleasers, G4, know how to put on a show.
Having reformed in November 2014 for a ‘One Night Only’ show in London, G4 quickly realised that a public appetite for more G4 was definitely still there.
With the occasional prom feel and doo-wop backbone, their harmonious blends had the Norwich Cathedral spire in a spin and the roof bosses twitching, with the handsome wooden arches and stained glass acting as the perfect backdrop for this sell-out performance, the first of their Christmas By Candlelight tour.
G4 made good on their promise to fill the set full of G4 classics as well as tracks from the ‘Christmas By Candlelight’ album, offering up ‘Danny Boy’ and ‘You Raise Me Up’, backed up by accompanying guitarist and pianist, combining in acoustical heaven.
In their younger years, churches and choir singing played a huge role in group’s Christmas experiences.
With that in mind, G4 were inspired to run a singing competition called Christmas Star Search, designed to identify talented young singers under the age of 16. The winner (to open the tour in Norwich and close the tour in Brighton), was Toby Peters, who joined the group onstage to sing the first verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’.
The Cathedral fell silent, a pitch-perfect performance.
With their truly immersive and harmonious blends, they were joined by the Norwich Rock Choir for ‘Oh Come All Ye Faithful’ – a haunting performance, synonymous with the reputation of this exuberant collection of beautiful singers who went on to accompany with exceptional harmonies.
This was the 21st time the Rock Choir have performed with G4, celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with a fantastic collaboration with the reunited group.
Throughout the tour, a member of the audience is invited on stage to be serenaded by the group, a genuine touching indication of the passion G4 feel towards their loyal audience.
This was the 21st time the Rock Choir have performed with G4, celebrating their 10th anniversary this year with a fantastic collaboration with the reunited group.
Opening the second half with ‘Silent Night’ from the back of the Cathedral, the quartet respectfully stepped down the main aisle to the haunting pipes of Norwich Cathedral organ.
Since reuniting, G4 have played to over 15,000 this year alone and dedicated their last song, ‘Bring Him Home’ (Les Misérables), to all people with missing friends and family.
Ending the show with a medley of Christmas favourites, the sing-along audience were left in no doubt that Christmas was just around the corner and G4 were back for good… which suggests that niceness really does go a long way.
With a series of eight shows in beautiful churches and cathedrals nationwide, these intimate shows see Jonathan, Ben, Mike and Nick share the songs from their eagerly-awaited new album, “G4 Christmas” including Christmas classics and carols, all delivered up-close and personal in some of the UK’s most iconic historic venues. “G4 Christmas”, G4’s fourth album, created with Pledge Music, released on 16th November.
Due to the overwhelming demand for G4, they are delighted to return to the stage in 2016 with their new and exciting ‘Back For Good’ tour, which is set to further showcase their flawless vocals in even more towns and cities nationwide.
Join G4 in what promises to be yet another spellbinding performance. Tickets now on sale! Available direct from the venues below: 3rd April 2016, 7.30pm POOLE The Lighthouse 0844 406 8666 Buy Tickets 4th April 2016, 7.30pm IPSWICH Regent Theatre 01473 433100 Buy Tickets 5th April 2016, 7.30pm – CROYDON Fairfield Halls 020 8688 9291 Buy Tickets 6th April 2016, 7.30pm SKEGNESS Embassy Theatre 01507 613100 Buy Tickets 7th April 2016, 7.30pm DORKING Halls 01306 881717 Buy Tickets 8th April 2016, 7.30pm LONDON Cadogan Hall 020 7730 4500 Buy Tickets 10th April 2016, 7.30pm AYLESBURY The Waterside 0844 871 7607 Buy Tickets 11th April 2016, 7.30pm BIRMINGHAM Town Hall 0121 345 0600 Buy Tickets 12th April 2016, 7.30pm LEEDS City Varieties 0113 243 0808 Buy Tickets 13th April 2016, 7.30pm PORTSMOUTH Guildhall 0844 847 2362 Buy Tickets 17th April 2016, 9.00pm EASTLEIGH Concorde Club 023 8065 1478 Buy Tickets 18th April 2016, 7.30pm TORQUAY Princess Theatre 0844 871 3023 Buy Tickets 19th April 2016, 7.30pm STOKE Victoria Hall 0844 871 7649 Buy Tickets 20th April 2016, 7.30pm GRIMSBY Auditorium 0300 300 0035 Buy Tickets 21st April 2016, 7.30pm – FOLKESTONE Leas Cliff Hall – 0844 871 3015 Buy Tickets
About G4…
G4 are a four-piece British vocal troupe who first came to prominence when they finished second in Series 1 of The X Factor in 2004, and are known for their operatic delivery of modern pop songs. Originally a barbershop quartet,[1] the members met at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, from which the name G4, standing for “Guildhall 4”, derives.
Rock Choir is the UK’s largest and most popular contemporary choir, with nearly 20,000 members in over 320 local communities nationwide. It offers adults and teenagers the chance to sing and perform popular contemporary songs, with no auditions and no requirements to read music or have any previous singing experience. Rock Choir is for anyone who just loves to sing! The choir’s popularity is phenomenal and its achievements are extraordinary. It has released two top twenty albums and performed en-masse at the 02 Arena (London), the Liverpool Echo Arena, Wembley Arena, Hammersmith Apollo, NEC and the Royal Albert Hall. In 2011, Rock Choir was the subject of a popular 3-part ITV1 documentary ‘The Choir That Rocks’ and has made numerous other TV appearances, including BBC Breakfast, The One Show, Good Morning Britain, The Paul O’Grady Show and The Alan Titchmarsh Show. Rock Choir’s uplifting ethos of fun, friendship and community spirit is a huge part of its attraction. At an individual level, it helps improve people’s self-confidence, enables them to develop new singing skills and enjoy a dynamic new social life. Singing together and achieving such a great sound gives members a huge sense of fulfilment. Added to this is the glamour and excitement of performing in public, which, for many, is a truly liberating experience!
Jo Youle, Chief Executive of the charity Missing People says “We’re thrilled to have been chosen by the wonderful G4 boys as their charity partner for the Christmas album and tour. Not only will their powerful and inspirational voices uplift and inspire us, they are also supporting our Home for Christmas Appeal which will help us to offer a lifeline to missing people and their families at what can be an incredibly lonely and heartbreaking time of year.” Every two minutes, someone goes missing in the UK. For their families the thought of Christmas without them is heartbreaking. The charity Missing People offers a lifeline when someone disappears, bringing missing adults and children home to their loved ones and supporting the families left behind. Missing People’s Home for Christmas Appeal is aiming to raise £20,000 to help the charity provide their vital helpline at the most difficult time of the year. G4 will be supporting the Home for Christmas Appeal by holding a series of collections at their Christmas By Candlelight tour.
Norwich Cathedral is an English cathedral located in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of EnglandDiocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites.
The cathedral was begun in 1096 and constructed out of flint and mortar and faced with a cream-coloured Caen limestone. A Saxon settlement and two churches were demolished to make room for the buildings. The cathedral was completed in 1145 with the Norman tower still seen today topped with a wooden spire covered with lead. Several episodes of damage necessitated rebuilding of the east end and spire but since the final erection of the stone spire in 1480 there have been few fundamental alterations to the fabric.
The large cloister has over 1,000 bosses including several hundred carved and ornately painted ones.
Norwich Cathedral has the second largest cloisters, only outsized by Salisbury Cathedral. The cathedral close is one of the largest in England and one of the largest in Europe and has more people living within it than any other close. The cathedral spire, measuring at 315 ft or 96 m, is the second tallest in England despite being partly rebuilt after being struck by lightning in 1169, just 23 months after its completion, which led to the building being set on fire. Measuring 461 ft or 140.5 m long and, with the transepts, 177 ft or 54 m wide at completion, Norwich Cathedral was the largest building in East Anglia.
The Mousetrap on Tour Chichester Festival Theatre Until 28 November www.cft.org.uk
Photograph by Liza Maria Dawson
It is almost inconceivable that after 63 years there is anyone who hasn’t seen the world’s longest running play, and yet the Festival Theatre was full of wannabe sleuths last night.
Opening with an eerie whistling of the nursery rhyme Three Blind Mice, the killer doesn’t faff about – the first murder of the night takes place almost before the house lights have gone out.
Cut to Monkswell Manor, a guest house being run by a young couple whose enthusiasm is offset by their complete inexperience of running such a business.
As the snow falls and guests arrive at Monkswell, swiftly becoming stranded there by the wintery deluge, it becomes clear that among their number is someone with murder in mind – but who?
The mistress of suspense, Christie’s script certainly cranks up the tension beautifully. Everyone could be linked to the murderer and could therefore be a target. Menace and anticipation transcend the stage and the audience, as a man, quivers with anticipation.
There are a few laughs to relieve the apprehension, mainly born of Christie’s superb observations of character and human nature, but in the main the evening is more inclined to baited breath than belly laughs.
A bit more ham than cheese in places (some of the cast are guilty as charged when it comes to occasional overacting), the intrigue and enticement to find out who the killer is makes forgiveness of such over-the-top moments easy to grant.
Particularly strong performances come from Anne Kavanagh as the magnificent battle-axe Mrs Boyle, and also Luke Jenkins as a suitably authoritative Sgt. Trotter. Edward Elgood also convinces as the immature and borderline-bonkers Christopher Wren, who could just as easily wield a machete as he could a feather duster.
Is The Mousetrap dated? Truthfully, yes. But it is also a British classic; a splendid piece of ripe Stilton that should be embraced and enjoyed absolutely in its original form.
Having hosted several events, Nuraya Kokos (Baby Kokos PR) certainly knows how to draw a crowd…
On Tuesday 10 November, Baby Kokos PR hosted the launch of hip-hop/urban pop singer aLonestar – aka Jethro Sheeran’s new album CORNERSTONE at SW10’s swankiest club, Embargo Republica, sponsored by the premier beauty brand LA Skincare,Wolf Media, H and N Solutions, Catering Heaven, Little Eden, Julie’s Scrumptious Cakes, Wolf security, Celeb FC and hosted by international supermodel Harriadnie Beau.
When I arrived, the entire building was buzzing, an electric conglomeration of sights and sounds, flashing lights and thudding speakers, establishing a constant sense of breathless anticipation.
In other words: With over 480 invited and VIP guests, it was accomplishing the exact goal of a launch event.
“Vibrant sound, Alonestar’s vocals run deep” Venue Magazine
Rapper and producer Jethro Sheeran, who performs under the name ‘aLonestar’ grew up in Bristol, gaining a big following with his style of hip hop music fused with urban pop, written very much from the heart.
He has also collaborated with a number of other artists including his cousin Ed Sheeran.
This album, CORNERSTONE, features ten tracks, five of which are available to download now with the entire album release set for 6 December 2015.
Preview, buy and download songs from the album, including ‘Bristol Pill’, ‘In This Lie’, ‘My Child Master’ (ft Josh Rhys Owen) and many more.
CORNERSTONE album – £6.99 with songs starting at 0.79p:
Rough Copy, Bupsi (aka Nicola Brown). Paddy Doherty (Celebrity Big Brother), Rashelle, Samantha Kay, Karl Negus, Miss Supranational Wales and England 2015, Miss London Town Supranational, Simone Myers (TOWIE),
Naomi Isted (British fashion and beauty presenter), Alex Reid, Simon Gross, Colin Chapman (author), Melody Munday and James Lewis (ITV’s Deals, Wheels and Steals).
Guests enjoyed performances including Lydia Lucy who appeared as the main supporting act for Jethro Sheeran,
Gak Jonze, Sean Magee and Jason Sharpey Pearce and entertained with the sharp magic talent of Carl Charlesworth.
Catering Heaven (and the clue is in the name), provided elegant canapes and sandwiches, with Julie Matthews (Julie’s Scrumptious Cakes) working her magic providing adorable cupcakes and a celebration cake creation tailored to the event.
Winner of two Exposure Music Awards for Best Male Artist and Best Urban Song, Jethro Sheeran, Alonestar, is an artist fusing both hip hop and urban pop that has seen his live performances described as ”mind blowing – his headline performance at the EMA’s was electrifying!” by Dean Hill of tourdates.co.uk and the Exposure Music Awards.
His 6 track EP, “Warrior”, featuring collaborations with Ed Sheeran, Rosie Ribbons, Ja Ja Soze and Lifford, is available on iTunes with the title track recently performed on TV2 fight night live in Denmark with a live audience of 10,000 and more than three million watching on pay per view. Playing songs from this EP on the summer festival circuit, he has had enthusiastic responses from audiences across the UK.
International club and festival performances have earned him a reputation as a consummate showman, drawing enthusiastic crowd responses from London, Morocco, Spain and Denmark (free-styling with The Game and Black Wall Streets, Clyde Carson) to Port of Spain in Trinidad, as well as radio and TV coverage with his music also being described as having a “dark Bristol sound, a class production” by the Evening Post and as “being reminiscent of our early work” by Massive Attack.
For more information email info@alonestar.co.uk or visit: http://www.myspace.com/alonestarmusic
Grit and glamour fuse together to create Embargo República’s cool and contemporary Cuban backdrop: enter the club through our cigar shop to an interior shaped by exposed brickwork and timber, graffiti splashed on whitewashed walls, jazz club ceiling fans and eclectic vintage furniture.
If it’s a chilled out vibe you’re seeking, relax under the stars on the open air terrace, the largest rooftop bar in SW10 and a tropical haven that emanates Cuban al-fresco living. Boasting arguably the finest choice of cocktails and rum’s in town!
Music is at the beating heart of Cuban culture and we take pride in the range of live bands, DJs and acoustic acts that take to our stage each week – Victor Hugo & the Mambo Boys, The Cuban Brothers and Salsa Fuego Trio, amongst others, keep Embargo República buzzing from early evening until late with infectious Cuban and Latin rhythms.
A Doll’s House, written by Henrick Ibsen, was first performed in 1879, and today the same discussions are still whirling about: the right of individuals to discover themselves, presumably at whatever the cost to others, especially the children.
This complex and multi layered play, and its premise, has always vexed me. Would the New Dreams Theatre Company’s production stir my depths again?
Oh yes, indeed. Dick and I not only had the great pleasure of seeing this controversial but popular play passionately performed at Baron’s Court Theatre, but argued all the way home about just these ‘rights’.
Paul Vates (Torvald Helmer) has been writing in Frost Magazine over the last few months, highlighting the processes involved in putting on a stage play. It was good, therefore, to join the audience in the intimate theatre below The Curtains Up pub on 10th November. Good, but slightly nerve wracking – would it work, would it move me, make me laugh, make me cross, make me re-join the argument?
Kevin Russell’s production of Bryony Lavery’s pared adaptation is confident and modern, but nonetheless steeped in the essence of the period. Ibsen writes of lives lived behind closed doors, and I believe he hints at the accommodations needed in order to hold everything together, though others see only the ‘rights’ within the play.
A Doll’s House touches on many things, fraud, debt, loneliness, unrequited love, death, the roles people play, the responsibility borne by bread winners, the sense of patronising male ownership of wife and children, and ultimately, the choice made by Nora to pursue her happiness and personal development whatever the cost. This attitude has never sat well with me, and never will.
The pace was crisp, the set utilized, Nora (Alexa Matthews) is compelling, beautiful and frenetic, Torvald (Paul Vates) a cypher of the age, and is as emotionally repressed as Nora, conforming to the norms of society and business as he does.
Just as circumstances strip Nora of her ability to role-play as a doll within a doll’s house, so too, they strip Torvald of his role as perceived by society. Vates’ confusion and desperation reveals a humanity that moved me, brought me to tears, in fact, and more than balanced Nora’s implacable decision to strive to find herself, to grasp her ‘rights’ heedless of the contextual responsibilities.
The whole production is thoughtful, subtle, and all the players more than fulfilled their roles: Julia Florimo as Mrs Linde is a good foil to Nora, as she exposes her controlling personality to bring about all that she wants. Ramzi Dehani’s Krogstad is ready to wreak his revenge, and is taken by surprise at the happy harbour into which he is being led by Ms Linde, by the nose one thinks. Brian Merry’s Dr Rank is painful and lost in love for Nora, but determined to wrest control back and terminate his illness at a time of his choosing.
I thought Nora’s interior monologue worked well, and the brief by-play with the maid Helene, was supposed to reassure us that as she’d brought up Nora, she would bring up the three children and all would be well. Tosh.
I loved it. A bravura production. It is with me still. And let me tell you, Dick was engrossed throughout and he so often isn’t.
Don’t miss it, grab the chance while you can.
A Doll’s House (Bryony Lavery)
Baron’s Court Theatre, (below The Curtains Up pub)
3rd Nov – 22nd Nov, 2015
7:30pm
PRODUCTION TEAM
Set designer: Katie Unsworth Murrey. Lighting design: Harry Amatage, Sound Design: Ben Cowen.
Adult colouring books are not just a trend, they are a phenomenon. They were everywhere in 2015 and the trend to de-stress by colouring in shows no sign of abating. Here are our suggestions for a colouring Christmas.
Winter Wonderland Patterns. Creative Colouring For Grown-Ups
Crap Colouring In: Mindless Art Therapy For Modern Life Joe Sumner.
A hilarious parody on the trend. This age-appropriate book has all of life’s little annoyances to brighten yourself up. From speed bumps to shopping trolleys. Brighten them up and vent with your pencil. Smart with classic British humour. Crap Colouring In: Mindless Art Therapy for Modern Life is available here.
The Gold Collection. The Gift of Colouring For Grown-ups.
Lost Ocean. An Inky Adventure & Colouring Book Johanna Basford.
This is a stunning book from the creator of Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest, Johanna Basford. Johanna has sold millions of copies of her colouring books and lives in Dundee. Lost Ocean has over 60 hand-inked, black-lined illustrations. This gorgeous marine-themed colouring book is the perfect gift for the colouring fan. Lost Ocean: An Inky Adventure & Colouring Book is available here.
Elf the Musical The Dominion Theatre, until 2 January Box office: 0845 200 7982 www.elfthemusical.co.uk
Photo credit: Alastair Muir
Even strolling beneath the over-sized illuminated baubles of Oxford Street, on a mild November evening it still felt far too soon to embrace Christmas. Fast-forward three hours and I was positively exuding seasonal cheer – this is a show that would transform even Scrooge from selfish to elfish.
Based on the 2003 film starring Will Ferrell, the plot is fairy tale daft. A baby crawls into Santa’s sack one Christmas Eve and is raised by Elves in the North Pole. Being a fairy tale nobody mentions the fact that Buddy can place the star on top of the Christmas tree without the aid of a cherry picker, but eventually Santa ‘fesses up: Buddy is actually human and has a father in New York. As it turns out, a father who isn’t too keen on welcoming an oversized elf to the family.
At the risk of spoiling the story for those who haven’t seen the movie, suffice to say that chaos, comedy, romance and high drama follow, each element taking the narrative towards Happily Ever After as smoothly as champion skier heading down a nursery slope.
Ben Forster as Buddy is a joy. Bouncing around like a particularly nimble and enthusiastic Labrador, he has a terrific rapport with the audience and manages to be both charming and sweetly innocent. He also sings like a dream (Forster was the winner of the TV search for Jesus Christ Superstar), and makes an exceptionally good fist of songs that, while entertaining in the moment, aren’t especially memorable.
Kimberley Walsh as Jovie, the object of Buddy’s affections, is also in fabulous voice, while Joe McGann as Buddy’s dad Walter convinces as the tetchy publisher of children’s books who has been putting work ahead of family for too long.
Offering up plenty of warm and fuzzy feelings from the off, excellent teamwork sees a supporting cast singing, dancing and acting their Christmas socks off, while the design team’s clever set (‘wow’ factors come thick and fast) deserves a curtain call of its own.
Directed and choreographed by Morgan Young, if panto isn’t your cup of eggnog then there are plenty of seasonal sensations to be had here, without all the ‘behind you’ capers. And if you don’t leave the theatre wanting to spread tidings of comfort and joy, frankly you’re a lost cause.
Author and Frost contributor Jane Cable writes her final blog about organising a charity litfest in aid of Words for the Wounded. The big weekend finally arrived… but was it a success?
I am sitting on the floor of my study counting the money. For the second time. My husband, a chartered accountant, has already done it once but I don’t really believe he’s got it right.
In front of me is £793 in cash. We’ve raised £100 from the auction, which leaves us just short of £900. Bugger. But then I remember one of our Chindi Authors giving a cheque directly to Words for the Wounded founder Margaret Graham so I’m claiming that too. What a spectacular result.
Especially as less than a week ago I was wondering if we should cancel the lunch. Was it really worth asking Elizabeth Buchan to travel down from London to speak to twenty people? Could we even ask Woodies to close their doors on a Saturday lunchtime for so few?
Naturally my marvellous Chindi Authors’ partner in crime Christopher Joyce talked me around because within a few days we had bookings for 34 and I had no qualms about making the final arrangements. Books to sell were collected together, Mason & Mason Wines dispatched an appropriate number of bottles and final directions were sent to our guest speakers. We were on our way.
Of course things never do run entirely smoothly and Matt from Woodies Brasserie was left to cope alone when his waitress phoned in sick. He made coffees and teas, set out the wonderful buffet, poured wine and collected dirty plates and bowls; just one of the people who finished the weekend deserving a medal.
Another was Elizabeth Buchan who spoke with such passion about the history and characters behind ‘I Can’t Begin to Tell You’ that we sold every copy within minutes of her sitting down. And then there was W4W trustee Jan Speedie, a quiet yet reassuring presence throughout Saturday. Not to forget various burly rugby types in the Park Tavern on Saturday night who pushed notes rather than coins into our collecting buckets. Or the waitress at breakfast in Carluccios on Sunday morning who looked after us so well and took her tip in books left on the swap table.
The main reason we raised so much money though, was Margaret Graham. Both at Woodies and the Park Tavern she spoke eloquently about how the money raised by W4W is used. We felt we came to know the family of the tetraplegic who now has a dog to increase his independence. We understood the importance of providing a garden for the mother of a soldier who was brutally murdered by extremists. It hit home how lucky we are, our lives having been unaffected by massive injuries capable of stripping away every hope and dream. Or at the very least forcing a radical rethink.
For these wounded service personnel giving up isn’t an option. However hard it felt at the time, what we did to raise funds to help them was tiny compared to the mountains they will have to climb every day for the rest of their lives. I think that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learnt from organising a charity event: start it because you can; finish it because you have to.
