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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
Description: The company performs Gershwin's contemporary opera based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy.
Trains: Tube: Waterloo 
Phone: 0871663 2500
Website: www.southbankcentre.co.uk
Extra info: Air Conditioning, Pub, Food, Telephones
Multi-racial opera: Porgy and Bess
In the judgment of many, George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess stands accused of trading in the stereotypes of segregationist America. Transplant the action from 1930s Carolina to apartheid South Africa, and the stereotypes don’t magically fade away, but the resonances shift and the opera once again packs the punch that Gershwin intended.
Post-apartheid South Africa has had more pressing concerns than fostering a multi-racial opera company, so Cape Town Opera, founded 10 years ago, has needed to fight hard to survive. To judge from its production of Porgy and Bess, it’s in good health and well placed to benefit from the cultural capital that will presumably accrue when football’s World Cup finals arrive in South Africa next year.
This performance, part of a short UK tour, marked the company’s London debut, and while the staging has some rough edges, it also has an irresistible vibrancy. Unfortunately the Royal Festival Hall is nobody’s idea of the perfect opera house, and Christine Crouse’s production is necessarily down-graded to semi-concert status. With the orchestra positioned between the singers and the audience, there is a loss of immediacy that undermines some of the more elaborate routines.
Not all the singers get the text across the orchestral chasm, but at least there is no trace of the plumminess that so often afflicts opera in English, for which many thanks.
In any case, several performances are on a scale to transcend the imperfect circumstances. The company has inducted guest artists for some of the key roles, and American soprano Lisa Daltirus fits in perfectly, singing Bess with an ideal combination of soaring finesse and hard-edged passion. The other stand-out performers are all home-grown, including the sonorously named Voice of the Nation Ensemble, singing and dancing with a sometimes frightening intensity that puts the chorus at the very heart of the action.
As the crippled Porgy, Xolela Sixaba doesn’t quite catch the character’s blend of rage and vulnerability, but in the small role of Maria, Miranda Tini is larger than life in every way, while Pretty Yende all but steals the show with her reading of Summertime. David Charles Abell (another US import) conducts with obvious love for the score, but doesn’t let his affection get in the way of the pulsating momentum. Even if occasional longueurs remain, the never-ending sequence of tunes makes Puccini and Verdi seem melodically parsimonious.
Repeated tonight. Information: 0844 875 0073.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
This tedious, poorly staged production highlights just how magnificent Trevor Nunn's version at the Savoy Theater was. The positioning of the orchestra created a barrier between the performers and the audience. Most of the soloist perfomers were totally inaudible making it virtually impossible to follow the plot. Was this due to poor performance or a lack of microphones!? Whatever it lerft the sudience isolated from the "action". After a relativelly short period of time, those who knew the story had no sympathy or feeling for any of the characters and those that didnt know the story were simply lost. The chorus was magnificent and stole the show by deliverng and exhuberant performance. An incredibly disappointing production.
- Cjc, London UK
