Drylaw Parish Church will celebrate Burns Day with haggis, neeps, tatties and traditional entertainment in the main hall on Saturday 25 January from 12.30 – 4pm. Tickets (£7.50) on sale soon. Braw!
Tag: Entertainment
Can Broughton’s Anna be The Voice?
Talented Broughton High School pupil Anna McLuckie will be flying the flag for Edinburgh when the new series of The Voice starts tonight on BBC1.
It’s already been an epic journey for the Stockbridge girl, who has secretly been travelling south for sessions with the programme’s production team since she was invited to take part last autumn. Anna has been accompanied throughout the process by her mum Fiona, who is an advice worker in West Granton, so the reason for their mysterious disappearances can now at last be revealed!
Seventeen year old Anna is a gifted musician, specialising in playing the harp, but tonight’s viewers will hear that Anna has a stunning singing voice too when she performs Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’.
Tudor Morris, Director of The City of Edinburgh Music School based at Broughton, said: “We all wish Anna all the best for The Voice and are confident that she will do us proud. Anna has always been an exceptional student and will get tremendous support from all her friends and teachers at the music school and Broughton.”
Will Anna wow judges Will.I.Am, Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue and Kaiser Chief singer Ricky Wilson? You’ll have to tune in at 7pm to find out!
Good Luck Anna!
It’s A Wonderful Life tops Christmas poll
Timeless classic It’s A Wonderful Life has been voted the best Christmas film of all time. The 1946 movie, starring James Stewart as suicidal George Bailey, beat the likes of Home Alone and The Muppet Christmas Carol in the Radio Times poll.
It pushed Richard Curtis’s romantic comedy Love Actually, starring Colin Firth, Martine McCutcheon and Hugh Grant, into second place, followed by Will Ferrell movie Elf.
Family favourites The Muppet Christmas Carol and Home Alone took fourth and fifth place in the poll, carried out on RadioTimes.com.
Miracle On 34th Street and traditional Christmas films The Snowman and Scrooge also finished in the top 10.
Writing in the Radio Times, film critic Barry Norman said of It’s A Wonderful Life: “Frank Capra’s wonderful, life-enhancing film should be shown every Christmas preferably after the Queen’s Speech. Yes, it verges on the sentimental but never too much so. Far more it’s simply heart-warming – the grandaddy of all feel-good movies.”
:: RadioTimes.com top 10 Christmas films of all time
1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
2. Love Actually (2003)
3. Elf (2003)
4. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
5. Home Alone (1990)
6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)
7. Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
8. Miracle On 34th Street (1994)
9. The Snowman (1982)
10. Scrooge (1951)
What’s your favourite festive season film? Let us know!
Citadel Arts to stage free panto
Citadel Arts Group, a Leith-based theatre and living memory company, are to perform ‘McScrooge’, a free family panto, at the Kirkgate Community Centre later this month …
We’re performing a pantomime, ‘McScrooge’on 20th December at 1.30pm in the Kirkgate Community Centre. It’s a free show for all the community and to mark the launch of a book of living memories, ‘You Never Forget the Stories’ – reminiscences of Leith and beyond’.
All the participants live locally or have strong Leith connections. The group includes a Newhaven celebrity, Ron Cattell, who directed the Gang Show and the ‘Children’s Hour’ shows in the Ross Bandstand for years. Some of his fascinating stories are in the book.
We’re also inviting members of the Leith Drama Team, our youth drama group, to the show to lead the shouts of ‘He’s behind you!’ – it’s a traditional panto lasting just half an hour.
It would be great to see you!
Liz Hare
Friday is North Edinburgh’s Big Night Out
Join North Edinburgh community activists – and special guest Scotland’s national poet Liz Lochhead – for a night of poetry, protest, music and laughter at North Edinburgh Arts this Friday …
No love game as tennis row festers
‘You cannot be serious …’
Tennis fans have reacted with fury on hearing that they will not receive a refund despite play at June’s Champions of Tennis event in Stockbridge being a wash out.
Hundreds of spectators were left drookit – and seriously out of pocket – as the heavens opened and torrential rain poured through a temporary £100, 000 ‘roof’ at Edinburgh Accies’ Raeburn Place stadium. Four hours play was lost as staff tried in vain to mop up the court with towels, and instead of seeing three top quality matches, fans – some of whom paid £100 for the day’s ‘entertainment’ – were served up a shambles.
Play, such as it was, started at 6pm, with match durations slashed to just one set as light deteriorated.
Before the tournament tennis lovers had been promised big names, but in the event they were sorely let down. Fans favourite John McEnroe played one just set, Ivanisevic never even started his game and the third match featuring Mark Philippoussis was also scrapped.
However furious fans have now learned that there will be no refund.
NEN reader Sarah Fox was there. She writes …
‘I’m sure you heard about the disaster that was Brodies Champions of Tennis on the Saturday, you may have even been there yourselves. After nearly two months they have finally some back to ticket holders offering no refund.
With all the profits that a firm like Brodies makes and they take it out on the tennis lovers who were unable to see the tennis due to the completely unsuitable ‘roof’. Please see pathetic response below from the tournament director…..
Dear Ticket Holder
Thank you for supporting Brodies Champions of Tennis and for your patience while we have carried out a thorough review of the inaugural tournament.
We share your frustration at the disruption caused by bad weather on Saturday, June 22, and your disappointment that more tennis was not played within the original match timings. We believed that the purpose-built canopy would allow play to continue in the event of rain. Unfortunately, due to the squally conditions on the day, water did get on to the court and we were advised by the umpire to suspend play to ensure the players’ safety.
Under the terms and conditions of our ticket refund policy, refunds would only be issued if less than 40 minutes of play took place. Despite the adverse weather conditions on Saturday we made every effort to minimise disruption so that fans could see as much tennis as possible. As a result, we were able to put on just under two hours of play on Saturday.
Whist it was disappointing only two hours of tennis were played, disruption due to bad weather is a risk at any outdoor event. No matches were cancelled on Saturday 22 or any of the other days so refunds are not eligible .
We assure you that lessons have been learnt.
Viki Mendelssohn, Tournament Director
Sarah goes on: ‘Anything you can do to help us Saturday ticket holders have a voice and ensuring the tournament feel some consequences from this disaster and therefore making sure this incidence doesn’t happen again would be very much appreciated.’
Chris Ross received the same letter, and he too was less than impressed. He has since responded to the organisers, and told NEN:
“I’m very disappointed with the organisers’ response, both in the inconsistencies and the disingenuous statements it contains. Yes, they can say that no matches were cancelled on Saturday but the McEnroe match was reduced to a set, although it was advertised as the best of three. The Enqvist Ivanisevic match – originally scheduled for the Saturday night – did not take place until the Sunday morning, so presumably Saturday ticket holders would therefore not have been able to get in to watch this match so, from our perspective, it might as well have been cancelled.”
He added: “Somebody made a mistake in relation to the roof, and It may be that the thinking behind the ‘no refunds’ approach is that the negative publicity will blow over and that it will all be forgotten by the time of next year’s tournament. However, there are a lot of very unhappy people and I don’t think they will forget in a hurry. If the organisers really have learned lessons I hope that they will reconsider their current stance and try to achieve a middle ground.”
Chris is still awaiting a reply.
Tournament organisers are understood to be considering a ‘goodwill gesture’, although they have not specified what this might be – perhaps reduced price or even free tickets to next year’s event. Dissatisfied fans, however, are now considering legal action.
And the way it was …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6LHq6W0lzY
Arise, Sir Baldrick!
![images[3]](https://i0.wp.com/nen.press/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/images31.jpg?ssl=1)
At last, a ‘cunning plan’ has come together – and in British honours system hierarchy Baldrick now outranks his master Blackadder! Blackadder actor Tony Robinson has been knighted while his co-star Rowan Atkinson receives a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Among the other well-known names to receive honours are Adele, Rob Brydon, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber, Clare Balding, golfer Paul Lawrie and former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell, but the majority of recipients are unsung heroes – of the 1,180 people who appear on the Birthday Honours list, almost three-quarters are people who are actively engaged in charitable or voluntary work within their local communities.
Murder in Blackhall!
Blackhall St Columba’s Parish Church is the place to be for murder mystery fans this month when the St Columba’s Dramatic Society performs ‘Curtain Up On Murder’ from 21 – 23 November.
Tickets are now on sale for the comedy murder mystery, which is set in a theatre at the end of a pier.
Performances are on Wednesday 21, Thursday 22 and Friday 23 November at 7.30pm, doors open at 7pm.
Tickets, which cost £6, are available from the Church Office, cast and Drama group members and also on the internet from their website www.scds.co.uk
Free movies in Muirhouse
Looking for something to do with the kids on Saturdays?
Well look no further, North Edinburgh Arts and Link Up Muirhouse are to host free family film days. Starting Saturday 3 November from 12.30 you’re welcome to come along and enjoy the film of the day in North Edinburgh Arts Centre’s fantastic cinema!
Films will be shown from 1pm, but children are more than welcome to arrive early and purchase goodies for the film from the tuck-shop. When the film finishes everyone is welcome to head into the library as they staff will be holding a film relevant fun session.
Sat 3rd November – 1pm Top Cat
Sat 10th November – 1pm The Muppets
Sat 17th November – 1pm Shrek 4
Sat 24th November – 1pm Brave
These films are totally free and we hope to see many families enjoying them, Parents and carers are more than welcome to come to the Arts centre if they wish and sit in the modern café area whilst younger children watch the film.
So rather than spend time on the streets when it’s cold and miserable why not come to the centre and enjoy the film?
More information please call in to the Arts centre or telephone: 0131 315 2151 or visit www.muirhouseresidents.org.uk/
Robert Pearson
