Entertainment News

As part of the British Film Institute (BFI) BLACK STAR season, some of the best films starring Black actors is being shown at mac birmingham, showcasing international as well as local talent. Visitors young and older have the opportunity to enjoy comedy, classics, music inspired and issue based screenings alongside events and debates from now to December. 

Starting in 2015, the Stockholm Songwriting Camp has gathered some of the world's top songwriters and producers for a three day writing session in a hotel in Stockholm. Now, the Swedish songwriting initiative is going global, including a ‘Paris Songwriting Camp’ in September and a ‘London Songwriting Camp’ in October. The Songwriting Camps in Stockholm have been well received by writers and producers, resulting in several released songs, including “Awesome” by Nicole Cross and many more on hold and being actively recorded by major acts.  

Birmingham scooped a Gold award in the Champion of Champions category at the prestigious Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Britain in Bloom UK Finals Awards Ceremony, also held in Birmingham.  The event was hosted by TV Gardening Expert Chris Beardshaw. Birmingham, which represented the Heart of England region, was one of only six areas from across the UK chosen to compete in the coveted Champion of Champions category of the awards.

It’s taken 30 years, but former choirboy Aled Jones, who found fame in his early teens when his single Walking in the Air reached No.5 in the charts, finally performed his signature song in the air. To launch his brand new album, One Voice at Christmas (released on 25th November on the Classic FM label), the nation’s favourite chorister treated passengers on FLYBE Flight BE1324 from London City to Cardiff Airport to a totally unique Christmas concert above the clouds where he dueted with his younger self.

Jackie Brown supplements her meager income as a stewardess by smuggling cash into the U.S. for gunrunner Ordell Robbie--until the day an ATF agent and an L.A. cop bust her at the airport. The cops pressure her to help them bring down Ordell, threatening prison if she refuses. With a sympathetic bailbondsman, Jackie arrives at a bold plan to play the opposing forces against each other. Matters are complicated by Ordell's confederates, Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston who have agendas of their own.

Felix Xaba (14), a brilliant young self-taught musician dreams of becoming a saxophonist like his late father, Zweli, (ex famous Bozza Boys). His mother, Lindiwe’s ambitions for Felix exclude jazz, “the devil’s music”, which she bans from her home because of Zweli’s history. Felix’s world is turned upside down when he leaves the comfort of Gugulethu township to take up a scholarship at a prestigious private school. Here three bullyboys led by a handsome jock, Junior Junior, make his life a misery.

Written by Malcolm Stent and Don Maclean, BRUMMEGEM PALS is the story of best mates Jackie Moore and Danny Arrowsmith, seventeen years of age and intent on abandoning their apprenticeships in favour of adventure. With just two performances only at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Tuesday 25 – Wednesday 26 October 2016.

All of Parkdean Holidays' and Park Resorts' 73 holiday parks will be open for October half-term, where those looking to mark the occasion can take part in fancy dress competitions, pumpkin carving, face painting and spooky arts and crafts, as well as fun Halloween games from bobbing for apples to scary eyeball relays. 

Birmingham Hippodrome welcomes Fagin’s Twist, an ambitious reimagining of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist by innovative hip hop / contemporary dance company Avant Garde Dance, led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun this October. Taking the classic piece of literature as its starting point, Fagin’s Twist presents an evocative story of Fagin's youth, corrupted by greed and worn down by poverty. Tony Adigun adds a twist to this to create a poignant, coming-of-age dance drama which draws parallels between Victorian London and the modern society we inhabit.

Tharlo is Tibetan writer-director Pema Tseden’s beguiling tale of one man’s identity and loneliness amidst the changing face of Tibet.  The titular Tharlo is a shepherd who heads to the city to obtain a government-issued ID card. Once there, a chance meeting with Yangchuo, a distinctly modern young Tibetan woman, throws Tharlo into a journey that strips his identity to the core.

Outkast’s André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this revealing biopic from Academy Award-winning writer-director John Ridley (12 Years a Slave). Covering a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966 to 1967 as an unknown back-up guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to making his mark in London’s music scene up until his Monterey Pop triumph, the film presents an intimate portrait of the sensitive young musician on the verge of becoming a rock legend.

Join on a road trip through the heart of Africa extraordinary story of three Rwandan children who walk 3000 miles to the Soccer World Cup in South Africa in this Rhidian Brook written adventure. Using a sack load of ingenuity and sass (and a World Cup wall chart for a map), our pint-sized protagonists set off through the endless horizons of Africa in pursuit of an unlikely dream. And as they walk they gather a tribe - a ragamuffin team - of broken and brilliant characters who help them negotiate a way through a series of glorious, dangerous, hilarious and often bizarre situations.

Captured at the Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester, King Lear played to sell out theatre crowds during its run, winning 4 and 5 star reviews across the board and was described by the Guardian as 'as close to definitive as can be'.
The original 'intelligent and theatrical' (Guardian) stage production was directed by Michael Buffong (A Raisin in the Sun, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, All My Sons) and was a co-production between Talawa Theatre Company and the Royal Exchange Theatre in association with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

Birmingham's first young poetry collective, Bellows will be putting on an immersive theatre style experience touching on themes of identity, compassion and history. Expect poetry, installations and emotive storytelling. A collision of poetic expression, Bellows range from classical page poetry through to poly-vocal performances drawing on influences from as wide as Hip-Hop, baking to Shakespeare.

Talented young artists are being given the chance to have their work on show in Wolverhampton Art Gallery alongside its masterpieces. The gallery has invited students from the City of Wolverhampton College and city schools to submit their best pieces for show in a series of regular exhibitions. Dedicated space in the sculpture gallery and popular café has been made available for the students’ artworks.