A thread to put stuff about any upcoming concerts, gigs, free events, for anywhere in our area!

Not sure if it's entertainment as such: ;)

Crufts at the NEC, 6th – 9th March.

I'm hoping to go for the first time this year despite having wanted to go to it since I was a child. :D

http://www.crufts.org.uk/

Not sure if it's entertainment as such: ;)

Crufts at the NEC, 6th – 9th March.

I'm hoping to go for the first time this year despite having wanted to go to it since I was a child. :D

http://www.crufts.org.uk/

Nah, you don't wanna go there, it's full of dogs. ;)


How many years has the NEC had it now?

According to the website:

"2008 will be the eighteenth year that the show has been staged at the NEC."

Brum gets top show
Andrew Powell
11 April 2008

BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome has been chosen as the only venue outside London to present the hit musical The Harder They Come, on at the Hurst Street theatre from Friday to Sunday, April 11-13.

The musical is based on the groundbreaking 1972 eponymous film starring reggae giant Jimmy Cliff, and introduced reggae to a worldwide audience.

Young singer Ivan Martin heads to Kingston with dreams of becoming a reggae star, but the harsh reality of the Jamaican music scene drives him to a fast and furious life as an outlaw.

He is robbed, beaten and forced into crime to survive, but his salvation is his music and soon his name is found in the pop charts as well as the most wanted lists.

The cast, including Rolan Bell and Joanna Francis, both of whom performed in the original stagings, perform all the classic songs from the film soundtrack including You Can Get It If You Really Want, By The Rivers of Babylon, Pressure Drop and Many Rivers to Cross, all accompanied by a live reggae band.

Tickets priced from £10-£25 are available on 0870 730 1234 or online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com.

Please note as there is some strong language in the show it is not recommended for those under 12

http://www.bromsgrovestandard.co.uk/ents40946.html

French and Saunders at Hippodrome


Review: French and Saunders at Birmingham Hippodrome
Apr 23 2008 By Terry Grimley

All good things come to an end, and on this tour Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are bidding farewell to a comedy partnership which has lasted for 30 years.

It's some time since I've seen their work and the critical consensus may be that they are well past their peak, but the enthusiasm of the devoted fans who packed the opening night of this week-long run was undiminished, and they were certainly not disappointed.

Although somewhat hit-and-miss, the show contains enough highlights to keep everyone happy. It is also cleverly planned, with video sequences seamlessly masking costume changes, so that the two women's command of this barn of a theatre for more than two hours seems effortless.

True, you don't really need to come to a theatre to enjoy their take-off of the Collins sisters or Catherine Zeta Jones on video, but they're funny anyway.

As with all successful comedy duos, the sum is greater than the parts, but it's probably Dawn French's peculiarly English gym-mistress brand of surrealism that is most engaging.

One of the funniest sequences, coming right at the start of the show, is also the most childish [2014] Jennifer giving Dawn a ridiculous medical which includes giving her a whack with a enormous plank: a delirious bit of anarchic, Marx Sisters slapstick.

http://www.birminghampost.net/life-leisure-birmingham-guide/birmingham-culture/theatre-in-birmingham/2008/04/23/review-french-and-saunders-at-birmingham-hippodrome-65233-20807950/