Latest news with #DustySpringfield
The Guardian
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Cricket matches, New York parties and dazzling stagecraft: jazz star Cleo Laine's life in pictures
Dame Cleo Laine attends the Jazz FM awards at Shoreditch town hall, London, in 2018 Photograph:The singer photographed at her home in Wavendon, near Milton Keynes, in 2009 Photograph: Richard Saker/The Guardian Laine and her husband, John Dankworth, perform at the BBC Jazz awards in 2008 Photograph: Paul Mitchell/Rex Features On stage at the Brecon jazz festival in Wales in August 1995 Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns The singer on stage in 1995 Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns Photograph: Mick Hutson/Redferns Laine appeared on a televised concert of winners of the Lifetime Achievement award of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, on Broadway in 1987 Photograph: CBS Photo Archive/CBS/Getty Images Performing at a gala at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1987 Photograph: RonLaine's 55th birthday party at Jacqueline's Restaurant, New York City, in 1982 Photograph: RonPhotograph: TV Times/On the variety programme Bonkers, with a trio of backing singers in drag, in 1979 Photograph: TV Times/Performing with the Australian classical guitarist John Williams at BBC Television Centre in 1977 Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns Playing cricket with Dusty Springfield in a celebrity match at the Bel-Air Hotel in Los Angeles, 1976 Photograph: Ken Abbinante/WWD/On stage in London in 1976 Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns The star with an orchestra in 1974 Photograph:Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns Photograph: Gilles Petard/Redferns Photograph:The star photographed in 1972 Photograph:Laine at home in the UK in 1971 Photograph:Dankworth and Laine in June 1970 Photograph:Photograph: David Farrell/Redferns Laine and Dankworth performing together on the BBC in 1963 Photograph: David Redfern/Redferns Laine, seated centre, in the musical Cindy-Ella, or I Gotta Shoe (with fellow cast members George Browne, Elizabeth Welch and Cy Grant) at the Garrick theatre in the West End in 1962 Photograph: Bryan Wharton/Performing at the Beaulieu jazz festival in 1959 Photograph: Barham/Mirrorpix/Getty Images
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Leo Sayer leads the tributes after shock death of legendary New Zealand musician who performed with Dusty Springfield and The Temptations
Legendary New Zealand musician Frank Gibson Jr. died on Wednesday aged 79. The Auckland-based drummer was born in 1946 to popular NZ musician Frank Gibson Sr. and was one of the country's most celebrated performers. His death was confirmed on social media by singer Leo Sayer, a close friend. 'A marvellous man, an incredible player. The years we worked and toured together, gigs played all over the world, come back to me now in wonderful flashbacks,' Leo began. 'We talked jazz endlessly, boring the pants off most of the other guys in the band. My sincerest condolences.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. The beloved musician performed with some of the world's most renowned artists, including Sayer, Elton John, Dusty Springfield and The Temptations. He moved to the UK in 1977 to advance his musical career and became a sought-after session and touring musician who shared the stage with world-famous names. Gibson also performed with many esteemed NZ musicians, including John Hanlon, Malcolm McNeill, Alan Broadbent and Dave MacRae. His daughter Becky shared a heartfelt tribute to her father on social media. 'Yesterday I lost my incredible father. A drumming virtuoso, he had an incredible near 70 year career,' she began. 'He is featured on over 250 records, playing alongside Elton John, Brian May, Rick Wakeman of Yes, the Walker Brothers and even David Hasselhoff. 'But more than a list of names and accomplishments, he leaves behind a legacy of art and kindness. 'He overcame so much in his life to be the sweet, sensitive man I will always remember him as.' Other career highlights include performing at the opening ceremony of the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland. His musical journey began at the age of eight with a drum duet at the Auckland Town Hall alongside his renowned father. He played in local NZ jazz bands as a teenager, paving the way for a lifelong career in music. Gibson co-founded a jazz-fusion band called Dr Tree in 1971, and later formed Space Case in the early 80s, focusing on jazz funk across three studio albums. The energetic performer also played drums for the soundtrack of the 1982 NZ action movie Battletruck, starring Police Rescue actor Marshall Napier. He is survived by his two children Becky and Frank III.
The Guardian
27-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘A sight to behold!' Soho Theatre Walthamstow brings live performance back to historic venue
It opened as a Victorian music hall, had various incarnations as a picture house and hosted concerts by the Beatles, Dusty Springfield and James Brown. But for most of the 21st century, the site of the former Granada cinema in Walthamstow, east London, has remained shuttered. Now, after a major restoration in partnership with the local council, the Grade II* listed building in Hoe Street is set to reopen as Soho Theatre Walthamstow, with a 960-seat main auditorium, three studio spaces and a generous four bars. It will be operated by Soho theatre, which has run a lively venue in Dean Street, central London, for 25 years. The sister site will present a similar mix of comedy, cabaret and theatre from May onwards. The opening programme, announced on Tuesday, includes a monthly comedy lineup show, Neon Nights, with guests including Sara Pascoe, Rosie Jones and Sindhu Vee. Acclaimed autobiographical theatre-maker Bryony Kimmings has been commissioned to create a new show, Bog Witch, 'about uncertain times and finding new ways to be happy'. There will also be a pantomime, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, written and directed by Susie McKenna, who has an illustrious track record of creating pantos in Waltham Forest's neighbouring borough at the Hackney Empire. Billed as 'a local theatre with a national profile', it will offer 15,000 tickets priced at £15 in its first year, available to those who live, work or study in Waltham Forest. The rich film history of the borough where Alfred Hitchcock was born (in Leytonstone in 1899) will be celebrated in a festival organised by the local McGuffin Film Society, which ran a lengthy grassroots campaign to save the venue during a period when its heritage as an arts destination (dating back to 1887) looked bleak. In 2003, the building – then operating as a cinema – was purchased by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God which planned to convert it into a place of worship, like Finsbury Park's former Rainbow theatre which it had taken over in the 90s. But the plans stalled when the church was unable to receive planning permission. The disrepair to its interior was then made public after an illegal rave was held at the site in 2011; local MP Stella Creasy arrived and gained entrance, taking photos of the damage inside. Mark Godfrey, Soho theatre's executive director and CEO, has been developing a strategy for the venue since around 2010. Nearby is a small performance and community space, Centre17, and the theatre pub Ye Olde Rose and Crown whose programme includes standup comedy. But the performing arts offering in the neighbourhood has been otherwise 'a bit thin on the ground', said Godfrey. 'At the same time, a tremendous number of artists and creatives live in the borough.' Alessandro Babalola, creative associate and co-chair of Soho theatre, added: 'It was frustrating because there was so much creative energy in the borough and it needed an outlet.' When he was growing up, Babalola was involved with local street dance and youth performing arts organisations but he and Godfrey, who also lives in the borough, said it had needed a better entertainment infrastructure for years. Godfrey remembered attending early meetings about the future of the building which 'overflowed with passion' for its renewal as an arts venue. At one stage, plans had included a performance space and a cinema but there is now a new independent multiplex, operated by Forest Cinemas, around the corner. After a public inquiry in 2012, plans for the site to become an entertainment venue were deemed viable. The building passed from UCKG to the pub chain Antic, temporarily becoming a bar and performance space, before the council invested in its purchase as part of its London Borough of Culture 2019 legacy commitment. The new theatre's USP, said Godfrey, is presenting comedy at a scale unavailable elsewhere. 'London has small venues for comedy like Soho theatre and Leicester Square theatre,' he said. The biggest is Hammersmith Apollo, which holds more than 3,500 people for comedy. 'But there isn't a dedicated space on that midscale level of around 1,000 seats.' The main stage at Dean Street has a capacity of 200. 'We have worked with so many brilliant artists who were once new and emerging and are now really established. We can work with some of those people on a scale that they deserve.' For example, the opening show is the Edinburgh festival hit Weer performed by Natalie Palamides, an American comedian who has been bringing shows to Dean Street for years. Later in May, Ahir Shah will perform his Edinburgh Comedy award-winning show Ends. In the summer, Walthamstow will host the biggest London shows to date for Biswa Kalyan Rath, one of a number of Indian comedians championed by Soho theatre in recent years. The new venue will continue Soho theatre's community engagement programme. 'That's how we have created generations of artists who feel like part of a Soho theatre family,' said Babalola. Enthusiasts will be able to take part in labs – a way, said Babalola, 'to take inspiration from the work they've seen on stage and do something themselves'. The venue will also run the Primary Playwrights programme inviting primary schoolchildren to write plays, some of which will be performed by professionals, and launch a Panto Young Company in partnership with McKenna. In 1930 the site was redeveloped with exteriors designed by Cecil Masey and interiors by Theodore Komisarjevsky. Its Moorish influence has been kept in an 'arrested decay' development by Willmott Dixon Interiors and Bond Bryan Architects. 'We want people to feel a sense of its history,' said Godfrey. The venue will acknowledge its musical history from the 60s, and a stint in the 00s as a Bollywood cinema, while also representing the cutting-edge brand of Soho theatre. 'It's a sight to behold,' said Babalola. 'A lot of people will want to come in just for the beauty of the venue.' Comedy lovers may be used to heading to Hammersmith for a night at the Apollo. How easily will they be wooed to Walthamstow, the last stop on the Victoria line? 'It starts with the programme,' said Godfrey. 'You have to put on work that people want to see and I believe we're doing that.' He stresses that the venue is close to Walthamstow Central, served by overground trains, tubes and buses. 'We'll work hard to put it on the map,' he added, observing that there has been a 'move to the east' in the arts. The Islington dance institution Sadler's Wells, for example, has just opened a new venue in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in nearby Stratford. Walthamstow already has a world-class visual arts reputation thanks to the designer William Morris, whose former family home in Lloyd Park is now a buzzy gallery. Soho theatre will be counting on comedians to pull in crowds just as the craftsman has done.
