The Boys from Syracuse is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, and based on the play The Comedy of Errors, as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporary rhythms of the 1930s. The show was the first musical based on a Shakespeare play. The […]
Christine McVie
I am interrupting my present series to celebrate the life and music of Christine McVie, whose death at 79 was announced today. She was one of my musical heroes. Her singing on ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ was seminal in introducing me to the blues. This is my tribute to her. Christine McVie (nee Perfect) was […]
Bard Movies 10
10 Things I Hate About You is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCulla Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is a modernization of The Taming of the Shrew, retold in a late-1990s American high school […]
Bard Movies 8
You Made Me Love You is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Stanley Lupino, Thelma Todd and John Loder. The plot is a modern reworking of The Taming of the Shrew. In London, songwriter Tom Daly falls in love at first sight with a beautiful blonde he spies while at […]
Bard Movies 5
Today we turn our attention to Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night, which legend has it was written specifically for a performance at the court of Queen Elizabeth I. Whilst there a several versions of the play on film, I have been able to identify three that merely use the premise for their storyline. Just One of […]
Ikkokukan Cover Band
I first came across Ikkokukan by accident on YouTube. It proved to be a very serendipidous accident because I feel that I have uncovered a hidden gem. At the moment they only have 27 people following them but I feel that they deserve far more and so I am adding this extra post to my […]
Bard Movies 3
In our third visit to movies inspired by the plays of Shakespeare we continue to look at adaptions of Romeo and Juliet. The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride is a 1998 American animated direct-to-video musical movie. It is the sequel to Disney’s 1994 animated feature film The Lion King, with its plot influenced by Romeo […]
Bard Movies 2
Continuing our new series on movies based on the plays of Shakespeare, we return to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Whilst West Side Story is the most renown, there have been several other adaptions of the play. Today we feature two very different retellings of the story. Romeo Must Die is a 2000 American […]
Bard Movies 1
Today, we begin a new series which follows on from the recent ‘Bard Words’ collection. ‘Bard Movies’ will not be looking at screen adaptions of Shakespeare plays, rather the intention is to highlight movies which can trace their storylines (however indirectly) back to the Bard. For our first offering we turn to the ever popular […]
The Magpies – Undertow
I am delighted to be able to post a review of the latest offering from The Magpies. This is their second album and the first since the departure of Polly Bolton and the welcome addition of Kate Griffin. The album displays the growing maturity of the group and a tighter more balanced sound with the […]