Latest news with #showbusiness
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Freddie Mercury's secret daughter revealed: The sensational story of the Queen frontman's last secret
A bombshell new biography of Queen's iconic frontman Freddie Mercury is to stun the world of showbusiness by revealing the existence of a secret daughter. The book, Love, Freddie, tells the story of a child who was conceived accidentally during a fling with the wife of a close friend in 1976, a year after Bohemian Rhapsody was a hit.
BBC News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The 'remarkable' Northern Theatre in Hull where stars were made
The once grand church is a shadow of its former self. Weeds grow around the distinctive yellow brickwork and the doors are boarded up. A huge rose window still looks out on to the main road, but several panes are smashed through years of few clues remain that this dilapidated building in Hull helped launch the careers of some household names in the 1980s and 1990s, hundreds of young people spent their Saturdays here at the Northern for many, it was their first taste of the magic of showbusiness. "I remember the smell of the costume room – what felt like thousands and thousands of rows of costumes," Katie Wilson, who still works in the industry, tells the Hidden East Yorkshire podcast. "You could go in and sift through them."I remember the excitement of Saturday mornings, waking up thinking yes, I've got the whole day at Northern Theatre – starting with drama, then musical theatre, improvisation, then a nip down to Boyes's, then a nip down to the sandwich shop... really fond memories."Built in 1880 as the City Temple – a Methodist chapel – the large building at the junction of Hessle Road and Madeley Street has been partly demolished to keep it safe, following a devastating fire in the interiors are gutted, an old sign for Studio 2 – the name of the theatre space – clings to the was here that Richard Green and Bryan Williams found a home for the theatre company they founded some 50 years ago. Andy Pearson, who is now the artistic director of E52 theatre company in Hull, recalls what it was like at the time."It had a small, 40-seat studio theatre downstairs and then there was a larger space upstairs where the bigger dance classes happened," he says. "And then there were a succession of different rooms where you had private drama lessons."Downstairs there was a scene dock for when they would make the big shows at [Hull] New Theatre and Bryan Williams would make these incredible sets."But the real magic of the place was in the freedom it offered young people to do whatever they wanted to do, Andy says. Richard, who was the principal of the company and theatre school until 2008, remembers it as a "joyous place"."The kids really, really loved it," he says. "I keep getting messages from past students saying how important I was to them and how important the school was to them."When things were rough at home – some of them did come from homes that were rough – they found Northern as a refuge."You don't think at the time that you're doing anything out of the ordinary, but obviously you are."He is proud of the many young people who went on to have successful careers in the industry. They include the musician Roland Gift, comedian Lucy Beaumont, actress Sheridan Smith and Derren Little, who wrote Benidorm and The Catherine Tate Show."With Sheridan, I knew from the moment I met her, the moment I saw her, that she was a star," Richard says. "I knew she was going to make it." Northern also gave budding playwrights a place to start. Among them is Richard Vergette, who says he learned his craft recalls being in a production of Pacific Overtures, by Stephen Sondheim, which went up to the Edinburgh Fringe and got a five-star review. "It opened in that tiny space in Madeley Street," he says. "It was an amazing time. "Those of us who had the privilege to work there and to put on theatre there, we're still around, we're still doing it, and I'll always be grateful to Madeley Street for the opportunities it afforded me."It was a remarkable place – unique I think. And so many people owe Northern Theatre, and Madeley Street, a debt of gratitude. "The physical building may have gone, but the spirit of it very much lives on."Listen to more episodes from the Hidden East Yorkshire podcast series. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Elaine Paige: ‘I could have stolen official documents from the White House'
E laine Paige, 77, is celebrating 60 years in showbusiness. She made her West End debut in 1968 in Hair, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's first productions of Evita and Cats. She also featured in the original cast of Chess and starred in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Paige lives in Chelsea, west London, and presents Elaine Paige on Sunday on Radio 2. When I talk about my travels, it all sounds so ridiculous, but what a wonderful life theatre has given me. I've seen the world and met kings, queens and presidents. Flying to Washington to perform at the White House for Ronald Reagan in 1988 was the first time I'd ever travelled long haul. The performance was going to be at 5pm, just when the jet lag really hit me. We were rehearsing and I started to feel peculiar, so Nancy Reagan offered me her office to lay down on the couch. There wasn't a single security guard and there were filing cabinets and papers everywhere, so I could have stolen official documents. I was far too nervous to sleep and, when it was my turn to step on stage to sing Don't Cry for Me Argentina and Memory, I was so nervous that the saliva in my mouth dried up and my top and my bottom lip stuck together. It was the most dreadful thing. I had to put my hand over my mouth and bite my tongue to get the saliva going, so that I could actually sing.
