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New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Theatre
A smart, prickly and rewarding view of sexual and emotional confusion
Cock
Restaurants
Kitchen W8 is a bargain for this area, if such sophistication is what you crave
Kitchen W8
Too long and drawn out but very entertaining with excellent special effects
This is a peculiar play and does not work for me. Some of it is very funny but there are real flaws
Alex has a strong powerful voice and was faultless, she is far better now than she was on the X-Factor
London,
Nick Kimberley's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Martin Lloyd Evans (dir), Peter Robinson (cond).
Cast: Amanda Echalaz, Rafael Rojas, Olafur Sigurdarson
Description: Verdi's opera exploring love, political intrigue and assassination. Directed by Martin Lloyd Evans and starring Amanda Echalaz, Rafael Rojas and Olafur Sigurdarson. Sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Trains: Tube: Holland Park, Kensington High Street 
Phone: 0845230 9769
Website: www.rbkc.gov.uk
Low-budget at its best: Un Ballo in Maschera
At its best, low-budget opera punches way above its weight. Opera Holland Park’s financial resources cannot match the Royal Opera’s but where the latter’s recent staging of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball) is merely dutiful, Martin Lloyd‑Evans’s OHP production catches some of the opera’s hallucinatory intensity.
As at Covent Garden, the location is America (the setting censorship forced on Verdi) but here it’s contemporary. Gustavo, the tenor lead, is no longer governor of Massachusetts, but the President. Not quite Obama, more Jack Kennedy, who, like Gustavo, had an eye for other men’s wives.
The sorceress Ulrica becomes a daytime TV palm-reader, while Oscar, originally a trouser-role for soprano, is here a presidential aide in skirt and heels. Not everything coheres but a little narrative delirium suits the opera, although Bugs Bunny’s cameo is one post‑modern gloss too far.
The opening night’s biggest problem was nobody’s fault: the Gustavo, Rafael Rojas, had a chest infection, so David Rendall sang from the pit while Rojas lip-synched onstage. It worked surprisingly well. Rendall was never the most suave of tenors but his powerhouse voice rang out loud and mostly clear.
As Oscar, Gail Pearson lacks the pinpoint precision that the role demands but her acting is a class apart. Vocally she is more than matched by Amanda Echalaz, sometimes wild but always intense as Amelia, the central love interest. Peter Robinson conducts a reduced orchestra (City of London Sinfonia) but not so reduced that it can’t find room for a cembasso, an almost extinct trombone with a rude and earthy rasp quite in keeping with the production.
Until 8 August (0845 230 9769). www.ohp.rbkc.gov.uk.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
