A Christmas Carol - Review Diary

20/12:
         The audience was all fully booked at every seat was filled to the prim.  Scrooge had forgotten to place his nightgown and dressing gown by his bed on a six-foot raised platform before the show's first act began, we found them in the gents' changing room so we gave them to Scrooge and he put it for the second act.  There was a moment when Mrs Cratchit forgot her lines and, after some promoting from nearly everyone possible, she managed to say her lines, and got a applaud from the audience.  During the show, we sang the first verse of carol songs.  However, we sang Angels from the Realms of Glory instead of O Come, O Come Emmanuel, so we sang the Angels twice.  We, the cast, were happy that we survived the first night.
         Two more nights.

21/12:
         We came close to cancelling the show - Young Scrooge was ill in hospital! Thankfully, John or director altered the Young Scrooge scenes so that Scrooge "relives" his past is a dream like manner, and had been working on the scenes all afternoon.  And I must say, he and the cast did a good job.  We got the carols correct, and Mrs Cratchit did her lines no problem.
         One more night.

22/12:
         It's all over - and it was fantastic! I agree with the phrase that last nights are the best nights.  We thanked John for directing us and we enjoyed the audience applauding us at the end.

I hope that you will come to Eden Court to see and enjoy its many shows that are coming in 2017 (I wonder what we're doing next December).

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

A Christmas Carol - Dickens's Christmas Story

From the drama group who brought Fawlty Towers, Maria Marten, Sweeney Todd, and, last year, The Golden Nugget of Bad Crow, comes a performance of Charles Dickens's 1843 A Christmas Carol.

Perhaps Dickens's most famous story beside Oliver Twist, the story follows the infamous character of Ebenezer Scrooge.  It's Christmas Eve, and Scrooge is a greedy man who refuses to celebrate Christmas and is visited by the ghost of his long dead partner, Jacob Marley, who drags heavy chains for not helping people, the poor ones most of all.  Marley tells Scrooge that he's about to suffer the same fate, but with more chains, unless he learns the meaning of life from three spirits who will visit him in the night.

The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, shows Scrooge his childhood and how he become he greedy man is he and what it has done to the people around him.  The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows Scrooge how Christmas is celebrated around the world, first by the poor Cratchit family, where Scrooge notices Bob Cratchit's ill child, Tiny Tim, who says the famous line "God bless us, everyone."  The final spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Future, shows Scrooge a terrifying future for Scrooge, scaring him out of his wits, causing Scrooge to beg for a second chance and promises to change his ways.

Scrooge wakes up on Christmas Morning a changed man, surprising everyone he meets, and helps Tiny Tim get better.

A Christmas Carol is a wonderful story that touches everyone's hearts who have read, heard or seen the story.  I hope that still will touch everyone's hearts.

As mentioned in a previous post, Dramalab is using a traverse stage, a stage with the audience on two sides of the stage.

A link to the Eden Court website for more information and tickets.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy this timeless Christmas story that has never gone out of print.

A Merry Christmas!

Inverness Music Festival 2017

Inverness and Eden Court is going to be full of music between the 25th of February and the 8th of March for the Inverness Music Festival is coming, run by the Inverness Festival Association.

Here's a link for tickets.

Here's a link to the Inverness Music Festival website.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy a range of music.

Royal Ballet:Jewels

I must admit, I have never heard of Jewels before, and I don't know the story at all, so I can't say that much of what the story is about.  Only that sounds like it will dazzle you, and if it's the Royal Ballet, then I'm sure that the performance will dazzle all who sees it.

Running time: 150 minutes.

Here's a link for the Live version. on the 11th of April.

Here's a link for the Encore version on the 16th of April.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy.

55th Eden Court Blog - Royal Opera House: Madame Butterfly

One of the most popular operas in the world, Madame Butterfly is a heart-breaking story based on the time when Japan first opened it's ports to the outside world and changed from a medieval-like era to a modern country over night.  The follows the American sailor B.F. Pinkerton and his marriage to Cio-Cio-San in a Western romanticised version of Japan, set in the town of Nagasaki.

Running time: 165 minutes.

Here's a link to the live version on the 30th of March.

Here's a link to the encore version on the 2nd of April.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy.

The Royal Ballet of Sleeping Beauty is coming to Eden Court

The Royal Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty is coming to Eden Court.

First choreographed by Tchaikovsky in 1890, Sleeping Beauty has stunned all who's seen it with its classical ballet, music and dancers.

We know the fairytale, thanks to Disney, who used Tchaikovsky's score for the soundtrack of the classic animated film.  Princess Aurora is cursed as a baby by an evil witch to die when she pricks her finger on a spinal on the 16th birthday, but is saved by fairies who alter the cursed so Aurora won't die, but all asleep with only the kiss of her true love with the power to break the spell.

Running time: 180 minutes.

Here's a link for the live version on the 28th of February in the Cinema.  

Here's a link for the Encore version on the 5th of March in the Cinema.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy The Royal Ballet's version of the legendary Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty.

The Steamie is returning to Eden Court

Do please come to Eden Court for the 30th anniversary of one of Scotland's beloved plays.

It's Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) in Glasgow, and in a wash house, washers Dolly, Magrit, Doreen and Mrs Culfeathers hurry to get their workload done before the clock strikes midnight, with help from the not-so helpful Andy.  Join them through all their laughs and cries in the play that has been performed since 1987.

Here's a link for tickets.

I hope that you will book early, come, see and enjoy the 30th anniversary of this beloved play for all.

The 40th Anniversary Rally of the Inverness Fiddlers Rally

The Inverness Fiddlers' Rally is coming to Eden Court for their 40th Anniversary Rally.

The Fiddlers Rally is to be joined by fellow enthusiasts from all over Scotland, making an orchestra of over a 100 players, playing a range of traditional music from Scotland and beyond.  There will be a range of guest artists, such as local Gregor Borland, who, I've heard, makes the playing of the fiddle look easy.

Here's a link for tickets on the 4th of March.  Do hurry, last year was a near sell-out.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy the show.

Spartacus - Eden Court's birthday tribute to legendary Kirk Douglas

On the 9th of December, the American actor Kirk Douglas turns 100!  So on the 11th, Eden Cour is showing one of his classic films, the 1960's Spartacus.

Based on a historical figure, the film Spartacus follows Kirk Douglas as he leads a rebellion against the Roman Republic, who have enslaved and uses him as a gladiator for sport.

Running time: 196 minutes

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Starring:
Kirk Douglas
Laurence Olivier
Jean Simmons

Here's a link to the Eden Court website for tickets.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy Kirk Douglas's classic film.

Happy 100th Birthday Kirk Douglas!

50th Eden Court Blog - It's A Wonderful Life returns to Eden Court

The 1946 classic black and white film is returning to Eden Court, without which Christmas just wouldn't be complete.

Running time: 129 minutes

Director: Frank Capra

Starring:
James Stewart
Donna Reed

Here's a link to the Eden Court website for more information and the tickets.

Here's a link to my previous blog when It's A Wonderful Life came to Eden Court back in 2014.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy this classic Christmas film as it returns to Eden Court Cinema.  Happy Christmas!

Rogue One

Set just before the events of the first of the original 1977 classic Star Wars film, Rogue One follows a band of Rebels who are tasked in stealing the plans for Death Star, which is near being completed.

Director: Gareth Edwards

Cast:
Felicity Jones
Mad Mikkelsen
Riz Ahmed
Ben Mendelsohn
Forest Witaker
and, of course, Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones)

Here's a link for tickets.

For Subtitled Screening, here's a link.

For Autism Friendly Screening, here's a link.

For Dream and Scream Screening, here's a link.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy this spin-off of the Star Wars films.  I wonder what Peter Cushing might of thought of this film.

A United Kingdom - A true story of love

Based on the true story of Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams.  Seretse Khama is the King of Bechuanaland (modern-day Botswana) and Ruth Williams is London office worker who fall in love despite their skin colour (black and white) and the flood of fierce outrage for their marriage in 1947 causes, in Britain and in Africa.

Running time: 111 minutes.

Director: Amma Asante.

Starring:
David Oyelowo
Rosamund Pike
Jack Davenport
Tom Felton

For tickets, follow this link here.

For Subtitled Screening, here's a link.

For Dream and Scream Screening, here's a link.

For Silver Linings Screening, here's link.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy the film.

Passengers flies for Eden Court

Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt star together as passengers on a space ship on its way to a new planet with its passengers in a state of sleep.  However, the two passengers wake up 90 years too early and, as their attraction for each other grows, they must find out what the problem is before the situation grows out of control and find out why.

Here's a link to the Eden Court website for tickets to see the film.

For the silver lining screening, here's a link.

For subtitled screening, follow this link.

Director: Morten Tyldum

Cast:
Jennifer Lawrence
Chris Pratt
Michael Sheen

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy this new science-fiction film.

Moana

From the creators of Frozen, Moana follows a princess on a high-seas journey to complete an unfinished quest of one of her ancestors'.

Here's a link for tickets to see the film.

I hope that you will come, see and enjoy another of Disney's animated films.

45th Eden Court Blog - The Royal Ballet of the Nutcracker (Live)

Here's a chance to see a version of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker on the 8th of December.

Set on Christmas Eve, Carla is given a nutcracker, who comes alive and guides her through on a magical adventures to places such as Land of Snow and the Kingdom of Sweets in search of the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince.

Here's a link to the Eden Court website for more information and tickets.

For the encore version on the 11th of December: here's a link.

The show will be shown in the Cinema.  Perfect for Christmas.

Running time: 135 minutes

Director: Peter Wright

I hope that you will come and enjoy this classic ballet story.

The Panto is here at Eden Court!

From the panto that has brought Aladdin, Mother Goose and Peter Pan to Eden Court.

This year, the panto is the story of Dick Whittington.  Based on an English traditional story, surrounding the real-life story of Richard Whittington who became Lord Mayor of London during the early 1400s and escaping poor background, the panto is putting a Highland twist and lots of fun, music and laughs.

Here's a link for tickets.

I hope that you will come to Eden Court and you will enjoy this year's panto, and have many laughs.