HEADS UP!
During the summer, when
Buckingham Palace – one of the few working Royal palaces in the world today –
is not being used in its official capacity, visitors are invited to tour the
magnificent State Rooms for a Royal Day Out. These are lavishly furnished rooms
with some of the greatest treasures from the Royal Collection – paintings by
Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin and Canaletto, sculpture by Canova and fine English
and French furniture. This year’s special exhibition is The Queen’s Year which
brings together examples of Her Majesty’s ceremonial dress with day and evening
wear to reflect the full range of events in the royal diary. Historic
ceremonial objects are shown alongside gifts presented to her. The centrepiece
of the exhibition is The Queen’s magnificent Robe of State, on public display
for the first time, alongside the uniforms of officials and attendants at the
State Opening of Parliament. Until 1 October. Open daily from 9:45am. Tickets: £17-£9.75
(children free). Tel: 0207 766 7300. Visit: www.royalcollection.org.uk
3 SEPTEMBER – The award-winning musical Five Guys Named Moe returns to
Theatre Royal Stratford East tonight starring The Wire’s Clarke Peters as
Nomax. Peters, who wrote the book of Five Guys Named Moe, plays the pivotal
role in this revival of a show that originated here in 1990. This 20th
anniversary production of the smash hit West End and Broadway musical follows
broke and newly single Nomax as five guys named Moe (Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe,
Eat Moe, No Moe, and Little Moe) emerge from his 1930s-style radio in an
attempt to cajole and comfort him. Blasting out hit songs from Jazz legend
Louis Jordan, this great 1930s composer and saxophonist paved the way for the
rock-and-roll of the 1950s. Gerry Raffles Square, London, E15. At 7:30pm until 2
October. Tickets: £27-£10. Box office: 020 8534 0310 or visit: www.stratfordeast.com
8 SEPTEMBER – This autumn the V&A will display four
tapestries designed by Raphael in honour of Pope Benedict’s visit. In a new
display titled Raphael:
Cartoons and Tapestries for the Sistine Chapel are the original
tapestries from the only series designed by Raphael of which examples survive,
and will be displayed alongside the full-size designs for them – the famous
Raphael Cartoons, which have been on display in the V&A since 1865. This
will be the first time that the designs and tapestries have been displayed
together, something Raphael himself never witnessed. The tapestries have not
been shown before in the UK. Until 17 October. Free ticketed admission; www.vam.ac.uk/tickets
10 SEPTEMBER – One of the biggest film events of the century,
Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi epic Metropolis can finally be seen on screen – for the
first time in 83 years – as the director originally intended and as seen by
German cinema-goers in 1927. Shortly after that original release, an entire
quarter of Lang’s original version was cut by Paramount for the US release, and
by Ufa in Germany, an act of butchery very much against the director’s wishes.
The excised footage was believed lost, that is, until one of the most
remarkable finds in all of cinema history, as several dusty reels were
discovered in a small museum in Buenos Aires in 2008. Since then, an expert
team of highly respected film archivists has been working at the
Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung in Germany to painstakingly reconstruct and
restore Lang’s film. The results, as premiered at the prestigious Berlin
International Film Festival in February 2010, are spectacular. And now this
reconstructed and restored film opens across the UK today; visit: www.metropolis1927.com/#screenings
12, 18 SEPTEMBER – Inspired by recent stories that during World
War II, Winston Churchill was so convinced of the existence of UFOs – based on
a documented encounter of an RAF reconnaissance plane being shadowed by a
metallic disc off the shores of Cumbria – that he ordered a cover-up to prevent
public panic, it’s time to revisit Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Special Edition.
The 1977 hit film surrounds the experiences of Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) who
witnesses UFO activity so compelling it changes his life forever. With evidence
that firmly points to the existence of visitors from other worlds after
numerous UFO sightings, he joins forces with government agents as they find
themselves drawn to a location where a third encounter – first contact – seems
inevitable. The result is Steven Spielberg’s modern classic. At the NFT3 at 6pm
tonight and at 1pm at the NFT3 on 18 September. Southbank, London E1. Box
Office: 020 7928 3232. Tickets: £9.00-£6.65. Visit: www.bfi.org.uk/southbank
14 SEPTEMBER – A brand new 25th anniversary production of
Boublil & Schönberg's legendary musical, Les Misérables, comes to the
Barbican Theatre with glorious new staging and spectacular new designs inspired
by the paintings of Victor Hugo. Cameron Mackintosh is now ‘Bringing her Home’
to the theatre where the show originally premiered in 1985. As part of the
anniversary celebrations, this is the first time anywhere in the world that two
different productions of the same musical play in the same city, giving London
theatre-goers the only chance of seeing this acclaimed new production. Until 2
October. At 7:30pm and also 2.30pm on Thursdays and Saturdays. Silk Street,
London EC2. Tickets: £85-£15. Tel: 020 7638 8891.
24 SEPTEMBER – The Academy of Ancient Music begins its
year-long homage to history’s greatest musical dynasty with music by JS Bach’s
forbears. The
Bach Dynasty: Bach’s Forbears concert opens with music by Heinrich
Bach (1615-1692) – great-uncle of Johann Sebastian – before exploring the music
of Heinrich’s sons Johann Christoph (1642-1703) and Johann Michael (1648-1694).
At Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1. At 7:30pm. Tickets: £32-£18.
Tel: 020 7935 2141.
29 SEPTEMBER – A brand new production of the Broadway musical
Bells Are
Ringing opens at the Union Theatre tonight. This warm and witty
musical tells the story of Ella Peterson who works at Susanswerphone, her
cousin’s answering service for the celebrities on New York’s smart East Side.
With plenty of opportunities to indulge her gift for “helping” others, events
begin to spiral out of control as Ella falls for hard-drinking playwright Jeff
Moss and her little white lies come back to haunt her. With an evergreen score
by Jule Styne and Book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, this is the first
major revival since 1957 of this vintage musical comedy. Until 23 October. 204
Union Street, London SE1 at 7:30pm. Tickets: £19-50-£17.50. Box Office: 020
7261 9876 or visit: www.uniontheatre.biz