Latest news with #Elinor
Ottawa Citizen
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Ottawa Citizen
St. Joseph presents an inspiring, entertaining production of Sense & Sensibility
Article content Zoe Whitlock, Lead Critic Colonel By Secondary School Article content There's no better friend than a sister and St. Joseph High School's performance of Sense & Sensibility told a heartwarming tale of gossip, scandal, romance, and most importantly, sisterly love. Article content Sense & Sensibility, based on the novel written by Jane Austen in 1811 and adapted for the stage by Kate Hamill, is a play that follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, two sisters who move to a cottage in the English countryside with their newly widowed mother. Elinor Dashwood, practical and reserved, falls for Edward Ferrars, an awkwardly charming gentleman who is engaged to someone else. Marianne Dashwood, romantic and free, falls headfirst for John Willoughby, an irresistible man with a mysterious past. Through heartbreak and happiness, scandal and sickness, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood navigate the societal pressures of Regency era England and are tested in ways they would have never imagined. Sense & Sensibility tells the story of the bond between two sisters brought closer together by love, life, and loss. Article content Article content In the spotlight was the dynamic duo Anna Mansfield and Talia Daigle, playing Elinor and Marianne Dashwood. Together they worked in harmony, beautifully portraying the strong relationship between the two sisters, while expertly bringing out their differences. Anna Mansfield as Elinor moved across the stage in a deliberate and cautious manner that matched the reserved nature of the character. When Elinor reveals to Marianne that she knew of Edward's engagement, Mansfield effectively portrayed emotional turmoil that had been building up after months of staying silent. Talia Daigle brought whimsy and life to the role of Marianne. Daigle was a ray of sunlight on the stage, from playing the character with an infectious energy that showed Marianne's unbreakable spirit to demonstrating impressive range by sobbing in panicked hysterics. Article content Article content Article content In the role of Edward Ferrars, Finley Henderson moved in an awkward yet endearing manner and spoke in stilted speech that showed how nervous the character was around Elinor. As Robert Ferrars, Henderson snorted and sniffled across the stage, repulsing everyone along the way. Sammy O'Connor played John Willoughby with exorbitant bravado, demonstrating the arrogance of the character through comedic body language such as exaggerated hand gestures, dramatically flipped coattails, and smoldering looks. The Gossips represented the ever increasing pressure of society with high pitched, overlapping voices, and birdlike laughter. Article content Four ornate windows looked out onto a beautifully painted backdrop of the rolling hills and cloudy skies of the English countryside. The windows were painted pink and white on the inside and draped with green vines on the outside, smoothly depicting the change in settings. Sense & Sensibility employed a wide variety of lighting techniques, including striking red lighting during scenes of romance, fading blue lights when Marianne is ill, and the flash of lightning across the thunder filled sky. Social status of the characters was reflected through colourful costumes, hair and makeup.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC townhouse dating back to 19th century — and with ties to the Gimbels department store family — asks $13.5M
There's the old New York — and then there's the really old New York. A Civil War-era Upper East Side mansion is back on the market for $13.5 million. That's a dramatic drop from the landmarked home's first ask of $18.45 million in 2018. The stately, 36-foot-wide property stands at 163 E. 78th St. It was once home to Elinor S. Gimbel, who married a grandson of Adam Gimbel, founder of the now defunct department store chain. Elinor was also a brewery heiress, according to reports. The Italianite-style red brick, four-story residence is 6,157 square feet and comes with five bedrooms, four baths and two powder rooms. Inside, it features a chef's kitchen, a formal dining room with a fireplace, a 36-foot wide living room and multiple outdoor spaces — including a rear, gated garden. It was built in 1861, according to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission and Friends of the Upper East Side, although the Sotheby's listing states the home was built in 1899. The brokerage did not respond to requests for comment. It was built by Henry Armstrong in a style popular from the 1860s to 1890s. The current owner purchased the home, known as the Elinor S. Gimbel House, back in 1997. The townhouse boasts both a gated front garden and an enchanting rear garden — with trees, plantings and brick walls — plus a parlor-level terrace. From the garden entry, the home opens to a gallery that leads to a formal dining room with a woodburning fireplace, plus a sitting room and a black marbled chef's kitchen that both have garden views and terrace access. This floor also has a mudroom. Next up is the parlor floor with six sets of south-facing French doors, and a light-filled living room with a woodburning fireplace, as well as a library with another woodburning fireplace and views overlooking the terrace and garden. This level also features a formal dining room and a wet bar. Design details include 10-foot ceilings, custom millwork and herringbone floors. The main bedroom suite is on the third floor and features another woodburning fireplace, floor-to-ceiling French doors with views of East 78th Street and a grey marbled bath. Additional bedrooms occupy the fourth floor. A finished basement comes with wine storage, a laundry room, mechanicals and storage. The listing broker is Serena Boardman, of Sotheby's International Realty.
Powys County Times
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Powys County Times
Renowned Powys harpist comes out of retirement for shows
AN INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed harpist from Powys is coming out of self-imposed retirement to give a series of performances featuring two historical harps. The recitals by Elinor Bennett, who hails from Llanidloes, will give music lovers an opportunity to listen to music from the 18th and early 19th centuries played on two wonderful old harps, made in the same period. The first performance will be at Theatr Twm o'r Nant, Denbigh at 7.30pm on Wednesday, June 18. The bilingual concert, Llais Hen Delynau/Voice of Old Harps, will feature music by Handel, blind harpist John Parry, Edward Jones (The King's Bard), Rosetti, Spohr and contemporaries. It's being made possible thanks to the generosity of the main sponsor, the arts-loving Pendine Park care organisation through the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT). The trust was set up to support arts and community events by Pendine Park proprietors, Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, who live in Denbigh. The performance will be a special occasion for them because Pendine - which has nine award-winning care homes in Wrexham and Caernarfon - is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Mario said: 'Elinor is truly a national treasure, a supremely gifted harpist who has made an unforgettable mark on the world stage. We're incredibly lucky that she is Welsh. 'She has also found time to teach and inspire generations of young harpists following in her illustrious footsteps. 'This year is special for us at Pendine and we were delighted to have the opportunity to support this wonderful concert. 'It chimes perfectly with our ethos because music and the arts in general are the golden thread running through daily life at Pendine, helping to enrich the lives of our residents and staff alike.' Help support trusted local news Sign up for a digital subscription now: As a digital subscriber you will get Unlimited access to the County Times website Advert-light access Reader rewards Full access to our app Elinor, who lives near Caernarfon, said: I have owned these harps for many years and have long wanted to do something with them. They were made to be played and not placed in a corner somewhere. "So I've decided to come out of my self-imposed retirement to perform a selection of music from the same period as when these harps were made. "Having played the modern concert harp professionally for many years, I wish to share the joy of playing music on authentic, original instruments and discussing aspects of playing two historic harps from my collection. "I relied on the old harps - and music from their time - to guide me. It has been a revelation - as the sound and playing techniques are very different to the modern harp. I am grateful for the help that I have received from distinguished early music experts and try to follow their advice." Elinor said the story begins with the triple harp, which was developed in Italy during the Baroque period and was played at the Royal Court in London at the time of George Frederic Handel. The recitals are being presented as part of the Noson Allan/Night Out scheme run by the Arts Council of Wales. In addition to the performance in Denbigh Elinor will appear at Eglwys Dewi Sant, Cardiff on June 20 and at a venue in Pembrokeshire in July.
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Grand Designs star Kevin McCloud reveals fate of show's 'most ambitious' project ever
Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud has revealed the fate of one of the show's most ambitious projects. In tonight's episode of the Channel 4 show, Kevin revisited Elinor and Born Barikor in Richmond, south west London. Seven years ago, the parents had come to the show with the idea with an innovative idea - to build an allergy-proof 'healthy house' to help their sons avoid potentially fatal attacks and reactions. The couple share three children - Avery, then aged seven, Pascal, five and a daughter Blakely, aged three. The boys have severe, potentially life threatening allergies to dairy, wheat, egg, gluten, soya, oats, pulses, beans and fruits, and nuts, as well as dust, pollen and animal fur. It meant that the family had devoted their lives to hospital trips and cautionary measures as certain exposures could mean the boys could go into anaphylactic shock, which could potentially be fatal. When Kevin last visited the Barikors in June 2018, the family had moved into their new home - but, with no medical precedent before them, nothing was guaranteed. Flash forward to 2025, and Kevin visited the family once again - to see if the home truly had transformed their lives to create the 'safe haven' they'd longed for. The crisp and modern design had certainly aged with, as the couple had added a glamorous terraced garden, which had become lush with plants over the years. But the main question was whether the home - with its advanced technology and non-toxic materials - had really made a difference to the boys' health. Though they weren't sure 'exactly why', both Elinor and Born said the home had 'absolutely' improved things health wise. Elinor, who owns an art gallery, said: 'We can't claim it's one thing or another, it's a combination of many factors. We just feel lucky every day, it just completes our family.' Meanwhile the family's doctor, Helen Cox, revealed the number of hospital visits had reduced significantly. She said: 'Both boys are doing really well. There has been a definite reduction in hospital visits. 'Could it be that they're breathing cleaner air inside the home? I don't know, but they're doing really well.' The children themselves - Avery, now 14, Pascal, 12, and Blakely, nine - all appeared to love their new home, and had created many happy memories playing in the garden. The boys even revealed they'd just attended a national cross country competition in Leeds - something that would have seemed unthinkable before. 'The house has probably helped a lot, it's helped with my asthma and so I'm capable of doing sports,' Pascal said. The family had been faced with planning restrictions, leading to them digging out 700 cubic metres of soil to build a gigantic basement with three bedrooms and windows looking out onto a sunken garden. Light was still brought in through the huge windows, as well as a glass floor looking down from above. Pivotal to the building's success had been its unique design, which had been painstakingly pored over by the parents in their bid to improve their children's health. The couple discovered, for instance, that many building materials and other household items such as carpets, as well as paints and treated woods, can exacerbate allergies because they're made with materials that produce volatile organic compounds (VOCs), chemicals that are easily inhaled. The most common VOCS are acetone, found in furniture polish and wallpaper; benzene, found in paint, glue and carpeting; ethanol, found in detergents - and formaldehyde, found in floor lacquers and certain plastics. Elinor and Born decided the solution was to build a house where everything from the structure to the interior design was as allergen-free as possible. They sold their home in East London and bought a quarter of an acre plot in Richmond and set a budget of £500,000 and found an architect who shared their vision. The result is a single storey house constructed of walls that are half concrete, half panels (concrete buildings emit fewer VOCs and the panels were the lowest VOC the couple could find). Inside, there are bamboo rather than wool carpets, while the kitchen is made from formaldehyde-free MDF - even the sofa was carefully chosen to be second-hand because brand new furniture can 'off-gas', meaning it releases VOCs potentially for years. The house is also air-tight, with the air filtered through an MVHR unit - a machine that continuously extracts moisture from the air in damp areas such as kitchens and bathrooms while pulling fresh air from outside and filtering out pollution, pollen and dust. But none of this would guarantee that the children would enjoy a better quality of life. Dr Deborah Marriage, lead paediatric allergy and respiratory clinical nurse specialist at Bristol Children's Hospital, told the Daily Mail at the time: 'Some children with the most severe asthma, for example, may be prescribed a laminar flow device which filters the air surrounding their bed to improve their symptoms.' However, as soon they go outside, 'say to school, they are then exposed again', added Dr Mark Rosenthal, a consultant in paediatric respiratory medicine at the Royal Brompton Hospital. After seven years, there was no doubt that something had changed for the family. While their lives had previously been marked out by hospital visits, Born said: 'Now life's marked out by how much fun we have and all the new stuff they can do in the garden.'
Los Angeles Times
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
In the new musical ‘Regency Girls,' young women in trouble discover empowerment on a road trip
'Regency Girls,' a new musical comedy set in the period of Jane Austen's novels, begins on a note that fans of 'Pride and Prejudice' will savor. The fate of the Benton family depends on finding husbands for the two oldest daughters, Elinor (Isabelle McCalla) and Jane (Kate Rockwell), both of whom are being courted by wealthy scions. Distress ensues when these savior suitors, who are bound for a yearlong voyage, fail to show up at the appointed hour to bid the ladies farewell. But at the last minute they not only appear but propose, saving the Benton daughters from a fate worse than spinsterhood: family insolvency. A boisterously vivacious opening number, 'A Happy Ending Beginning,' sets the household into ecstatic motion early on in 'Regency Girls,' which is having its world premiere at San Diego's Old Globe. But happy endings aren't meant to come at the start of romantic tales and the exuberance proves to be premature. Elinor, who seems modeled on Austen's Elizabeth Bennet, does something her lively, intelligent and fiercely independent counterpart from 'Pride and Prejudice' would never do: She gets pregnant before her wedding day. On the night of their engagement, Elinor and Stanton (a winning Nik Walker) apparently succumbed to their passion, and now that Stanton is at sea with Dingley (Gabe Gibbs), Jane's horribly snooty fiancé, there seems little hope that Elinor's situation can be rectified by a rushed wedding. Jane, far more conventional than her older sister, can only think of how Elinor's disgrace will ruin her own future. Haughty, hypocritical Dingley, she fears, won't want anything to do with the family once this scandal goes viral, which in the Regency period translates into a wildfire of whispering throughout polite society. Elinor finds an ally in her quick-thinking maid, Dabney (Krystina Alabado), who has a handbill listing the services of Madame Restell (Janine LaManna), a London-based midwife who helps women in distress. It's not immediately clear why Dabney has this advertisement, but Elinor discovers that she doesn't have to go through this difficulty alone. Petunia (Ryann Redmond), a married family friend exhausted by pregnancy and motherhood, volunteers to accompany Elinor to London. Jane, anxious to see that her sister's awkward matter is discreetly handled, agrees to go too. And Dabney, suspiciously eager, insists that she be included, even if she has 'to ride atop the luggage.' Before you know it, 'Regency Girls' transforms into a rowdy road trip. Try to imagine 'Thelma & Louise' crossed with Austen's romantic comedy of manners, 'Bridgerton' and some naughty sketch comedy, and you'll have an approximation of the melange the creators are attempting. The musical's book, written by Jennifer Crittenden and Gabrielle Allan, TV writers with illustrious comedy credits, trades freely in anachronisms for laughs. The score follows suit, with Curtis Moore's music and Amanda Green's lyrics setting up the period flavor only to bust out in Broadway-style pop, rock and even hip-hop. Regency girls just want to have fun, so why confine them to one particular genre or historical epoch? Put them instead in a slow-trotting carriage and see how far they can go. The show is both genuinely funny and unabashedly silly, and director and choreographer Josh Rhodes has his hands full reining in some of the sitcom dopiness. This 'pre-Broadway engagement' reveals the production's bright potential. Who could resist a musical comedy road trip celebrating girl power? But the humor grows broader and more ridiculous, as though scripted for a laugh track. Crittenden and Allan have lively imaginations, but the wild situations they concoct are treated like joke machines. The introduction of Galloping Dick (Gibbs, energetically doing double duty), a Robin Hood-esque Lothario who excites Jane's romantic interest on the road to London, pushes the zaniness into overdrive. There are early signs of buffoonery involving a maternal wig. And a cartoonish note is struck when Lady Catherine (LaManna, also pulling off a dual role), arrives on the scene. Stanton's dragon aunt is up in arms that her nephew is engaged to Elinor when he's already promised to one of her two daughters, whose names and identities she can't even keep straight. But all hell breaks loose when Elinor and her crew discover a chest of bondage toys and dominatrix accouterments during a particularly challenging moment in their journey. At this point, the show crosses a Rubicon — or should I say jumps the shark? The gag, frantic to get a rise, runs roughshod over character and story. Some might appreciate the slide into burlesque more than I did, but I was drawn to the complexity of the show's protagonist, who, in noble Jane Austen tradition, refuses to compromise her intelligence for the sake of men. In a bright, charismatic performance, McCalla's Elinor brings to life the character's brainy charm and self-possession. She is the radiant center of 'Regency Girls.' But don't underestimate Alabado's Dabney, the nimble-witted maid, who is too dazzlingly resourceful not to make her presence known. Facing class prejudice along with gender oppression, she points out just how unequal English society happens to be. Alabado's stunning portrayal elevates Dabney from servant to second protagonist. Together, all of the women rise above their circumstances. Rockwell's Jane and Redmond's Petunia, while conceived in more flamboyant comic terms, are granted their own moments of self-discovery. Jane comes to understand that marrying for money isn't half as satisfying as marrying for love, while Petunia assumes control over her own sexuality, rejecting the idea that she was born to be a baby machine. 'Regency Girls' is the only musical comedy I can think of that includes an abortionist as a key character. Madame Restell, who operates a clinic offering reproductive services for women, delivers 'How Long (In 1810)?' a powerful anthem decrying 'the holy war' the patriarchy is waging against female autonomy. She can't believe this militant opposition is still happening in 1810, though she might as well be singing about 2025, so persistent are the parallels. LaManna brings down the house in a number that spells out what's at stake in the musical. Marriage might be the all-consuming obsession, but 'Regency Girls' makes clear that self-determination is really what these adventurous young women are fighting for. The production could use some fine-tuning before it heads to New York. The staging, moving from antique to comic kink, accommodates the rapidly shifting story. (Anna Louizos' mobile scenic design and David I. Reynoso's playful costumes conjure Regency refinement without being trapped by it.) But sometimes the cast seems a bit frazzled by the musical's leaps from a more character-based comedy to all-out travesty. The happy ending that begins 'Regency Girls' is eventually earned, though the conventional romantic story lines are rewritten. Elinor and her posse deserve more fulfilling lives, and with the help of canny Madame Restell, they manage to make their dreams come true on their own terms.
