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16 May 2012
Last updated at 04:04 GMT

Actress Julie Goodyear reprised her role as the larger-than-life barmaid Bet Lynch

An official Coronation Street stage musical, which has been performed just twice, has had its future dates postponed so the show can be reworked.

Street of Dreams featured comedian Paul O’Grady and stars of the soap including Julie Goodyear and Kym Marsh.

It opened in Manchester to mixed reviews last week and was due to tour to Dublin, Belfast and Newcastle.

But producers said they were “now keen to revisit the production and further develop ideas for the UK tour”.

Street of Dreams was an all-singing, all-dancing arena show with West End-style musical numbers about iconic characters such as Elsie Tanner and Hilda Ogden.

It featured appearances from Goodyear, who played Bet Lynch, plus Kevin Kennedy, better known as Curly Watts, as well as O’Grady as the narrator and a cast of 30 dancers.

The Guardian newspaper praised its “wonderful” dialogue but The Daily Telegraph gave it two stars out of five and criticised “the lameness of the script”.

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The Daily Mirror said it had “a script that seemed more cobbled together than constructed”.

Production company Reckless Entertainment said the dates would be rescheduled “very soon”, adding: “The producers would like to apologise to those who have already bought a ticket for the original tour dates and ask that they contact the venue directly.”

Theatre industry website The Stage said it had seen an e-mail to cast and crew from co-producer John Ward saying the production team were “far from happy with the show artistically and we are not prepared to take it out again in its present form”.

The musical was written by Ward’s composer sister Trisha and co-produced by ITV Studios.

Before the show opened in Manchester, Coronation Street executive producer Kieran Roberts told BBC News it was an “amazing” show, which he hoped would provide a new source of income for ITV.

“We’ve had to be very careful and not get caught up in a purely commercial argument because there’s a danger that the show wouldn’t work,” he said.

“Hopefully, when this show’s established, it will also [work] commercially and provide an interesting new revenue stream for ITV.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18081607#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 09:20 GMT

The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints about the Paddy Power advert

Complaints over an advert for bookmaker Paddy Power featuring transgender people have been upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The TV advert shown in February ahead of Ladies’ Day at the Cheltenham Festival invited viewers to spot the “stallions” from the “mares”.

The ASA investigated 92 complaints that the advert was offensive and condoned harmful discriminatory behaviour.

It ruled that it must not be shown again in its current form.

The advert stated: “…we’re going to make Ladies’ Day even more exciting by sending in some beautiful transgendered ladies. Spot the stallions from the mares”.

The advert showed a series of brief shots of people at the event while the voice-over tried to guess their gender.

In one scene, a woman was shown holding a dog while the voice-over said “woman” then hesitated while the shot changed to show a woman walking out of a men’s toilet, then said “dog, I mean man”.

‘Almost 600,000 views’

The ASA said it received about 470 complaints, but only 92 of those fell under their remit to investigate because the majority followed the advert being watched online rather than on television.

Upholding the complaints, the ASA said: “We considered that the ad trivialised a highly complex issue and depicted a number of common negative stereotypes about trans people.

“We considered that by suggesting that trans women would look like men in drag, and that their gender could be speculated on as part of a game, the ad irresponsibly reinforced those negative stereotypes.

“And, particularly by framing the game in a way that involved a member of the public who had commented on Paddy Power’s Facebook page, the ad condoned and encouraged harmful discriminatory behaviour and treatment.”

Paddy Power said it had cast members of the transgender community in the advert

Paddy Power said that it did not intend to cause harm or offence and was “saddened” to learn that some viewers were offended.

It said it believed that the complaints had come from an organised campaign.

A Paddy Power spokesman said the company was disappointed with the ASA’s ruling.

He added: “This decision is especially frustrating given that the commercial was pre-approved by British television advertising clearance body Clearcast, who then considered the humour in the advert, while not to everyone’s taste, fell short of causing offence.

“Additionally, we reached out to leading UK transgender group, The Beaumont Society, for feedback on the script.

“Furthermore, we exclusively cast members of the trans community in the various transgender roles in the commercial.

“Finally, it is worth pointing out that the commercial has almost 600,000 views with twice as many ‘likes’ than ‘dislikes.”

The Beaumont Society told the ASA the script it was given did not include the scene in which a woman left a men’s toilet and was referred to as a dog.

It also said that it was not happy with the manner in which the terms “stallions” and “mares” were used in the finished advert.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-18075633#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 15:42 GMT

Artist Pietro Annigoni’s 1954-5 portrait of the Queen (left) will go on show with his portrait from 1969

A pair of Royal portraits are to be seen together for the first time in more than a quarter of a century to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

The works by Italian portrait painter Pietro Annigoni will go on display in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The Queen: Art and Image will showcase 60 portraits from across 60 years.

The exhibition includes works by artists Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol and Annie Leibovitz.

One Annigoni work, from 1954-5, is being seen for the first time in 28 years and will be displayed on the same wall as Annigoni’s full-length portrait of the Queen from 1969.

It is only the second time the paintings have been shown together.

Annigoni’s Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Regent painting was first shown at the Royal Academy in 1955 and has only been loaned twice, in 1958 and 1986, by its owners The Fishmongers’ Company.

The oil painting shows the then recently-crowned, 28-year-old Elizabeth wearing Garter robes seen against a pastoral landscape.

“The Queen is the most represented individual in history – but she remains an enigma,” said exhibition curator Paul Moorhouse.

“All we really have are images,” he added.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh sat for Thomas Struth in 2011

“This exhibition explores the creation of the Queen’s public persona and the way such images reveals a world of changing ideas and values.”

Other artists whose work will be on show include Gilbert and George and Lord Snowdon.

The display is a combination of traditional portraits and contemporary images with newspaper photographs, film footage, postage stamps and satirical material.

It features for the first time in London the photographic portrait taken in 2011 of The Queen and Prince Philip seated together at Windsor Castle.

The photograph, taken in the castle’s green drawing room by the German photographer Thomas Struth, was commissioned by the NPG to mark the Jubilee and to launch the exhibition.

The exhibition has been on a UK tour visiting Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff and opens in London on 17 May. It will run until 21 October 2012.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18086136#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 16:07 GMT

By Kev Geoghegan
Entertainment reporter, BBC News, in Cannes

Actor Ewan McGregor and director Andrea Arnold are part of the Palme d’Or jury

The jury for the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or has spoken out over claims of sexism prompted by the lack of female filmmakers in the running.

Critics have complained that all 22 films in the contest have been directed by men, many past winners of the award.

But jury member British director Andrea Arnold said: “I would absolutely hate it if my film was selected because I was a woman.

“I would only want my film to be selected for the right reasons.”

The festival opens with the film Moonrise Kingdom later.

Starring Bruce Willis and Ed Norton it was directed by Wes Anderson and is one of the films screening in the competition.

Others who have made the cut include Brit Ken Loach, Michael Haneke and Jacques Audiard – all previous winners of the prize.

In an open letter to the media, a group of French filmmakers have accused the organisers of failing to recognise the achievements of female directors.

Last year, four women were included on the list, including Scotland’s Lynne Ramsay, director of We Need to Talk About Kevin.

But speaking at a press conference earlier, Arnold said the lack of women in competition reflected the industry as a whole.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

In the world of film there are just not many woman film directors. ”

End Quote
Andrea Arnold
Film director

“Last year was obviously a good year,” she said. “I was asked this earlier and it’s true the world over, in the world of film there are just not many woman film directors.

“I guess Cannes is a small pocket that represents how it is out there in the world and that’s a great pity, a great disappointment.”

Led by Italian director Nanni Moretti and including fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, Oscar-winning writer and filmmaker Alexander Payne and Scots actor Ewan McGregor – the jury will watch all the nominated films and announce a winner on 27 May.

German actress Diane Kruger, known for films including Inglourious Basterds and Troy, is one of four women on the jury.

She starred in the film Lily Sometimes, which closed the Cannes director’s fortnight – a special section of the festival which shows features, documentaries and short films – in 2010.

It was directed by a woman, Fabienne Berthaud and Kruger insisted: “My impression is that women are made welcome in Cannes.”

Other female filmmakers who are showing at Cannes include the first female Saudi director Haiffa al Mansour and France’s Catherine Corsini and Sylvie Verheyde – who are competing in the Un Certain Regard category.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18094997#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 14:15 GMT

Blue Peter presenters Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood with the show’s editor Tim Levell (centre)

Children’s programmes will no longer be shown on BBC One and Two following the digital switchover, the BBC Trust has confirmed.

Award-winning shows such as Horrible Histories and Blue Peter will move permanently to CBBC and CBeebies.

No date has been set for the change, but the final analogue transmitters will be switched off in Northern Ireland between 10-24 October.

The confirmation came in a report approving the BBC’s cost-cutting plans.

Spending on children’s programmes will not be affected, and the move is unlikely to be detrimental to viewing figures.

In recent months, the number of young people watching children’s programmes on the BBC’s main terrestrial channels has occasionally dropped as low as 1,000.

Figures on digital have steadily increased since its introduction of CBBC and CBeebies in 2002.

Blue Peter, for example, is now seen by an average audience of 123,000 6-12 year olds when it is shown on CBBC.

BBC One repeats of the show are watched by an average of 30,000 children in the same age range.

A Trust spokesperson said: “Children’s programmes are absolutely fundamental to the BBC and that is why we have protected investment in them in the light of cuts elsewhere.

“Only a very small percentage of children still solely watch these programmes on BBC One and BBC Two alone, so moving them to digital channels is merely following current viewing patterns and reflects the fact that CBeebies and CBBC will be universally available on digital TV from the end of this year.”

Local radio cuts ‘halved’

The BBC Trust document was its final report into cost-saving plans known internally as “Delivering Quality First”.

Local radio changes were approved a day after Radio Humberside’s Beryl and Betty won a Sony award

It confirmed that cuts to local radio and TV services would be halved – with savings now in the region of £8m, compared to the original proposal of £15m.

As a result, reductions in local news teams will be lower, and coverage of local sport will be “more protected”, the Trust said.

A plan for local radio stations to share programmes in the afternoon will now be limited to a “very small number” of stations.

However, on weekday evenings between 19:00 and 22:00, all of the BBC’s regional stations in England will join together for a new all-England programme, although stations will have the flexibility to opt for local sports coverage.

Across the BBC, some of the main points noted by the BBC Trust were:

• BBC One and Two will “largely be protected from making significant cuts”.
• Repeats on BBC One will increase, but remain under 10% of all output (the current rate is 8.4%).
• Expenditure on sports rights will be cut by 15%. This has largely been achieved already by sharing rights to Formula 1 coverage.
• Regional music programmes on Radio 1 will be replaced with a single programme “that offers a UK-wide platform for undiscovered, unsigned” bands.
• Radio 3 will have “25 per cent fewer live and specially recorded lunchtime concerts”.
• Plans to drop 5 live’s weekly one hour current affairs programme have been dropped.
• Asian Network will increase its music content, and cease to broadcast between midnight and 06:00.

The BBC Trust, which is the governing body of the BBC, drew up its report in consultation with listeners, viewers and other broadcasters.

BBC management responded to the report, saying: “We welcome the BBC Trust’s full approval of our Delivering Quality First proposals.

“The coming years will involve a significant effort from people at every level of the BBC to deliver the savings while we continue to provide the quality programmes and services that audiences expect from us.”

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18083178#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 10:57 GMT

George Wyllie was one of Scotland’s most celebrated artists

Glasgow-born sculptor George Wyllie has died at the age of 90 following a short illness.

He was best known for his giant public works including The Paper Boat and The Straw Locomotive.

The Paper Boat sailed along the Clyde on a journey to New York via Liverpool and London.

In 1987, Wyllie dangled The Straw Locomotive – a full-sized straw steam engine – from the Finnieston crane in Glasgow.

The artwork was eventually set alight in what the artist described as a Viking-style funeral to symbolise Glasgow’s industrial decline.

He was made an MBE in 2005 for services to the arts.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Many artists prefer to let their art do the talking – but not George Wyllie.

He loved to talk – about his work, about what people thought of the work, about everything and anything really.

He liked to describe himself as a scul?tor – the question mark, he suggested, was too important to leave to the end – and most of his work questioned the world, and art itself.

He was fun – and funny.

Musical as well as artistic, you were often as not treated to a song as well as a work of art.

• The life and legacy of George Wyllie

George Wyllie’s trademark was the question mark, his works intended to provoke thought and discussion rather than provide answers.

He described himself as a “scul?tor” because he said the punctuation was too important to be left to the end.

His death comes in a year when his artistic legacy is being celebrated through The Whysman Festival and an archive exhibition, A Life Less Ordinary.

“I am so glad now that he saw the start of what is a year of celebration,” said his daughter, Louise Wyllie.

“He really did live a life less ordinary. There was no-one else like him and I suspect there never will be.”

Jan Patience, chair of the Friends of George Wyllie group, described him as “a remarkable artist”.

“He reached out beyond the confines of the art gallery scene and connected with real people all over the world through his thought-provoking art.

“He had the knack of making you ask questions, of not accepting the status quo. His mind was constantly enquiring and his art was constantly pushing out barriers. That is his legacy.”

George Ralston Wyllie was born in Shettleston in Glasgow’s east end on Hogmanay 1921.

As a young engineer with the Royal Navy, he walked the streets of Hiroshima two months after it was bombed, an experience which he said shaped his philosophy on life.

After the war he worked as a customs and excise officer, settling in Gourock, Inverclyde. He then embarked on a late career as an artist, which lasted four decades.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-18086638#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 10:40 GMT

Globally Marvel Avengers Assemble looks set to cross the $1bn threshold

Superhero movie The Avengers has topped the UK box office for the third week in a row, taking over £40m to date in UK and Ireland.

The film has also crossed the $1bn threshold at the global box office.

It has grossed more than superhero predecessors Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America.

The film shattered records with a $207.4m opening weekend in the US, the biggest domestic debut of all time.

The blockbuster sees a team of Marvel comic-book heroes team up to fight an extra-terrestrial threat.

Among the cast are Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth – who have appeared in previous Marvel movies as Iron Man, Black Widow and Thor, respectively.

The film took £4.17m in UK box offices to stay at the top this week.

‘Super-dope’

The Avengers was directed and co-written by Joss Whedon, creator of the TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

An Oscar-winner for his work on Toy Story, Whedon has had a notoriously rough decade – with TV series Firefly and Dollhouse cancelled, and his horror film Cabin In The Woods delayed by three years due to financial trouble at MGM.

After The Avengers took $207.4m in the US last week – the biggest opening weekend on record – Whedon posted a public letter on his website, thanking his supporters.

“Topping a box office record is super-dope,” he wrote.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company was planning an Avengers sequel sometime after the release of Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 next year, and Captain America 2 in 2014.

Elsewhere in the UK box office, American Pie: Reunion stayed in the number two slot in the second week of its release.

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp’s Dark Shadows, was a new entry at number three, taking £2.4m.

And action film The Hunger Games is now at the number 10 slot after eight weeks in the charts.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18086133#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 09:16 GMT

Travolta (left) will be seen this year in Oliver Stone film Savages

One of the two male masseurs who have accused actor John Travolta of sexual assault has withdrawn his legal action.

The unidentified man had claimed that the star groped him during a massage session in Beverly Hills in January.

A second masseur who claims Travolta made similar advances later that month in Atlanta is to press ahead with his case, according to his lawyer.

The actor’s lawyer said the 58-year-old had been “completely vindicated” by the dismissal of the first complaint.

In a statement, Marty Singer said he expected his client to “similarly be vindicated” with regards to the second claimant, referred to in documents as John Doe No 2.

Okorie Okorocha, the attorney for both claimants, attributed the first masseur’s decision not to proceed to disagreements over how to handle the case.

“Let’s just say we had differences in opinion of how to handle the case and decided to part ways,” he told People magazine.

The notice of dismissal was filed on Tuesday at the US District Court in Los Angeles.

Travolta was Oscar-nominated for his roles in Saturday Night Fever and Pulp Fiction and has been married to actress Kelly Preston since 1991.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18083855#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 08:13 GMT

Sorkin (right) previously wrote The Social Network, about Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is to write the script for Sony Pictures’ upcoming biopic of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

The film is based on Walter Isaacson’s authorised biography and is unconnected to another proposed screen biopic, to which Ashton Kutcher has been linked.

West Wing creator Sorkin won an Oscar in 2011 for writing The Social Network.

Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal said there was “no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life”.

“In his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining and polarising,” she continued.

It was reported last month that Two and a Half Men actor Kutcher would play Jobs in a film directed by Joshua Michael Stern.

Production is scheduled to begin this month on the film said to follow Jobs’ progression from “wayward hippie to revered creative entrepreneur”.

Sorkin is the creator of upcoming HBO series The Newsroom, a behind the scenes look at a fictional cable news channel starring Jeff Daniels and Britain’s Emily Mortimer.

He is also writing a new stage musical about the illusionist Harry Houdini, to open in Broadway in 2013 or 2014 with Hugh Jackman in the lead.

Jobs, the former chief executive of and driving force behind US technology giant Apple, died last October aged 56.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18083849#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

16 May 2012
Last updated at 08:56 GMT

The Palme d’Or will be awarded on 27 May

The Cannes Film Festival opens later with US director Wes Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom.

His movie, which stars Bill Murray, is one of the 22 movies selected to compete for the festival’s biggest prize, the Palme d’Or.

However, the celebrations have been marred by criticism that no female directors will be in competition.

The only woman to have won the prestigious award was Jane Campion in 1993, with The Piano.

The festival is set to see a fair share of big Hollywood names arriving in town – including Moonrise Kingdom stars Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis and Tilda Swinton.

“It’s a really fine script,” said Murray, who also appeared in Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited.

“There is an electricity that moves through it,” he added.

The film tells the story of two 12-year-olds who fall in love before making a secret pact and running away together.

Set in New England in 1965 it sees Willis playing the local sheriff and Murray appearing alongside Frances McDormand as the young girl’s parents.

Stars such as Twilight actors Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will go head-to-head for the prestigious prize with their films Cosmopolis and On The Road.

Also competing is The Paper Boy, which stars John Cusack, Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman; and Killing Them Softly, starring Brad Pitt.

Pitt and his fiancee Angelina Jolie are both expected on the red carpet this year.

This year’s Palme d’Or judges are led by Italian Nanni Moretti and include Britain’s Ewan McGregor and Andrea Arnold, acclaimed for directing the 2009 film Fish Tank.

The panel also includes actress Diane Kruger and fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier.

The red carpet is rolled out for the stars at the entrance of the Palais des Festivals

The sexism row broke out after a group of prominent female filmmakers wrote an open letter to the French newspaper Le Monde criticising the lack of women being showcased.

Ripe with sarcasm, the letter was signed by directors Fanny Cottencon and Virginie Despentes – who made the sexually explicit Baise Moi in 2000 – among others.

It said: “Men love their women to have depth, but only when it comes to their cleavages.

Fish Tank director Andrea Arnold was also behind a recent adaptation of Wuthering Heights

“All 22 films in the official selection were written, happy coincidence, by 22 men.”

However, festival director Thierry Fremaux has supported the longlist of nominees, insisting the judges “would never select a film that doesn’t deserve it just because it is directed by a woman”.

Also in competition this year is Ken Loach with his Glasgow-set comedy-drama The Angel’s Share.

He has been nominated 11 times, last winning the Palme d’Or in 2006 for the IRA drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley.

Past winners Michael Haneke and Jacque Audiard – who won the jury’s Grand Prize for his film A Prophet in 2009 – are also in the running.

Canadian David Cronenberg is in competition with his film Cosmopolis, starring actor Pattinson, while Cronenberg’s son Brendan is competing in the Un Certain Regard category – which awards new talent – with his film Antiviral.

Two female film-makers join him in that category: France’s Catherine Corsini and Sylvie Verheyde.

Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18079080#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa