June 2007

LENNY BEIGE, THE SELF-STYLED KING OF CABARET, RETURNS TO LONDON’S WEST END

ONCE IN A LIFETIME
A TRIBUTE TO ANTHONY NEWLEY – THE MAN & THE MUSIC

Cabaret legend, Lenny Beige revives his hit show Once in a Lifetime. A Tribute to Anthony Newley – The Man & The Music on 10 July at The Pigalle Club in London’s West End. Lenny will be joined on stage by The Malcolm Edmonstone Band and special guests.

‘Once in a Lifetime’ is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of Lenny’s mentor and friend, the legendary actor, singer/songwriter Anthony Newley. The show is a collection of stories, anecdotes and classic Newley songs such as Goldfinger, Feeling Good and What Kind of Fool Am I.

‘Lenny Beige makes love to the Newley memory in his fabulous parody of his Vegas hey-day. There is nobody I would rather see turn a comedy hand to the Newley genius!’ – Tara Newley

‘Dynamite!!’ An exhilarating resurrection of Britian’s one man rat pack. Lenny Beige stops the world and Newley gets back on…’ – Danny Baker

Listings

Dates - Tuesday 10th July
Show starts at 8.30pm
Venue - The Pigalle Club, Piccadilly, W1.
Tickets - £20 seats, £15 balcony standing
Booking - SEE Tickets – 0870 166 0424
The Pigalle Supper Club Reservations on 0845 345 6053

For further press information please contact: Giles Cooper
at BORKOWSKI on 020 7492 0643/ 07917 167 809
giles@borkowski.co.uk

Notes to Editors
ANTHONY NEWLEY’ s career spanned more than 50 years.
He went from child star, most notably as the Artful Dodger in David Lean's 1948 film OLIVER TWIST to pop idol, composer, author, director and leading man. He is best remembered for his number one hits in 1960: Why? and Do You Mind? and his 1963 Grammy Award winning song of the year for What Kind of Fool Am I.

He was responsible for writing classic hits such as Goldfinger and Feeling Good, made famous by Nina Simone. He also wrote the musical Stop the World - I Want to Get Off, in which he performed, and was nominated for a Tony Award. His other musicals included The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd (1965) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), based on the children's book by Roald Dahl.

LENNY BEIGE first rose to the attention of British public as the comic tour de force behind the legendary club The Regency Rooms in the West End during the mid nineties. From there he became a favourite with such household names as Robbie Williams, All Saints, Gail Porter, Davina McCall, Leo Sayer, Lionel Blair, Right Said Fred, Terry Wogan, Adam Ant and Jamie Theakston to name but a small fraction.

In 1997 he began the first of his one-man shows One Man and His Talent which sold out at the Edinburgh Festival for three years, as well as his Lunch with Lenny live chat show. He became a regular on Channel 5’s NightFever and numerous TV chatshows.

He also hosted and wrote two series of Lenny Beige's Variety Pack for BBC Choice.

JUDY CRAYMER HONOURED WITH AN MBE

Judy Craymer, Global Producer of the smash hit musical MAMMA MIA!, has come a long way since first presenting the concept of a new musical to ABBA’s famous song writing team, Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus, and now her success has been recognised with the award of an MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. She said “This is one of the most exciting things to have happened to me in my professional life.”

In an industry dominated by men, Judy Craymer has served as a role model for young people, worked her way up through the ranks to her position as one of the most highly respected theatre and film producers working in the world today. Her commitment to the entertainment industry and the people in it saw her nominated by her peers.

‘Obviously I'm delighted. You never think you will be chosen and it is just wonderful to receive such recognition. It’s a real honour. ‘she said.

She added, “I adore my work and the joy that theatre brings to audiences. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by the most amazingly talented team who believed in MAMMA MIA! from the beginning. None of us, least of all me, would have assumed the extraordinary impact this musical has had on the music and entertainment industry worldwide.’

From West End smash to global phenomenon, MAMMA MIA! has already been seen by more than 30 million people in over 160 cities across North America, Australia, Europe and Asia. It has celebrated its 8th year in London, has just had its 5th birthday on Broadway and with 11 global productions now on the go, 18,000 people see the show every day. Productions of MAMMA MIA! employ more than 1000 people around the world, on stage and off and it has already grossed over $2 billion at the box office worldwide.

Judy Craymer is now producing the film MAMMA MIA! starring Meryl Streep, this is currently in production at Pinewood Studio’s. She is delighted that both writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd who she collaborated with on the stage hit have joined her in bringing MAMMA MIA! to the big screen. It will be released Summer 2008.

DIAL 07758 225 698 TO HEAR EUROPE’S LARGEST GLACIER MELTING

Virgin Mobile has announced a partnership with Slade Art School graduate, Katie Paterson, who is creating unique sound work that uses mobile phone technology to enable people to listen live to the sound of Vatnajokull, Europe’s largest glacier, melting in Iceland.

The work, entitled ‘Vatnajokull (the sound of)’, will be on display at the Slade Gallery and will feature a large white neon sign of a mobile phone number (07758225698) which is linked to a microphone with mobile phone interface embedded in a polar ice cap in the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon.

The number can be dialled and listened to live from any phone in the world and only one person can be ‘connected’ to the glacier at anyone time. This offers the listener a beautiful and intimate moment.

As Katie describes it, “Listening live is integral to my work, listening to the glacier melting, as it actually happens; there’s an immediacy, a directness…I could provide access to the temporal nature of its decay…the vanishing away of the world”.

Katie has spent much of the last few years in Iceland and was inspired by stories from people who talked about Europe’s largest glacier “breaking off” and being able to “watch it melt”.

Commenting on the project, Simon Dornan, Head of Consumer PR at Virgin Mobile said: “When Katie first approached us, I absolutely loved the idea. While mobile technology is at the heart of it, it’s great to get people thinking and talking about the mobile phone in a cultural, rather than functional context”.

‘Vatnajokull (the sound of)’ is showing at the Slade School of Fine Art, Gower Street, London. Open to the public: 7-13 June, 10am-8pm (Mon-Fri) and 10am-6pm (Sat-Sun). Private viewing (for press) 5 June, 6-9pm. Admittance is free; calls to the glacier are at standard international rates.

Media enquiries please contact:

Emeka Njodi or Alex WIlkinson at Borkowski
on 020 7404 3000,

meka@borkowski.co.uk 07920 092 013
alex@borkowski.co.uk 07917 167 783

Examples of press coverage:

The Guardian

View image

View image

The Times

View image