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Category Archives: Art
Millions of questions for BHLive over Fairfield grant aid
CROYDON IN CRISIS: It’s like nothing has ever changed at the borough’s prestigious arts centre, where tribute acts still dominate its sparse programme, while the venue operators are staying schtum about how they’re spending public money. By our arts correspondent, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Neil Chandler, The Wreck
Tagged Arts Council England, Ashcroft Theatre, BHLive, Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Labour, The Wreck
5 Comments
Fairfield Halls’ £70m fiasco: ‘BxB didn’t know what it was doing’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Trade newspaper The Stage has described the five-year saga of the Fairfield Halls refurbishment as a ‘catastrophic mess’ and a ‘£70m fiasco’. Now, the centre’s former artistic director has broken his silence over the bungling of Brick … Continue reading
Posted in Arnhem Gallery, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, Neil Chandler, Oliver Lewis, Sadiq Khan, Tony Newman
Tagged BHLive, Croydon, Croydon Council, Dame Judi Dench, Fairfield Halls, Neil Chandler, Oliver Lewis, Sadiq Khan, The Stage, Tony Newman
17 Comments
Comedian Perkins is put in charge of her ‘favourite game’
By SANJANA IDNANI Sue Perkins, the Croydon-born broadcaster and comedian, will be the new host of BBC Radio 4’s long-running panel show Just a Minute. Perkins succeeds Nicholas Parsons, who hosted the programme from its first broadcast in 1967 until … Continue reading
Mystery of the ‘lost’ £600,000 expert report into Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Suspicions mount over the business of Brick by Brick and the scandal surrounding the Fairfield Halls refurbishment. But even members of the Town Hall’s scrutiny committee are being denied vital information by council directors. By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in Asmat Hussain, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Robert Ward, Sarah Hayward, Sean Fitzsimons
Tagged Asmat Hussain, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Labour, Robert Ward, Sarah Hayward, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Sean Fitzsimons, Tony Newman, Tory
23 Comments
The show must go on: theatre groups prepare for reopening
SANJANA IDNANI reports on how local theatrical venues and amdram groups have been dealing with the covid lockdown as they prepare to put on their summer shows Theatre companies and performers across the borough have faced their fair share of … Continue reading
Share your thoughts on national Windrush Memorial designs
The government is commissioning a permanent national monument to the Windrush Generation to recognise how they have enriched our nation’s history. The monument will be positioned at Waterloo Station, the point of arrival in London for many, as a permanent … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Black History Month, Education, History
Tagged Windrush Generation, Windrush Memorial
1 Comment
Public outcry as council off-loads historic Heathfield House
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The future of a long-established ecology charity has been placed under threat, as well as hundreds of school visits conducted annually, by a council plan to lease out a publicly-owned listed building. By our environment correspondent, PAUL … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Charity, Croydon Council, Croydon Friends of the Earth, Croydon parks, Environment, Heathfield, Heathfield House, History, Property, Riesco Collection, Sarah Hayward, Schools, Selsdon & Ballards, Wildlife
Tagged Addington Hills, Croydon Ecology Centre, Heathfield House, Lorraine Chatfield, Lucia Briault, Sarah Hayward, STUART KING
13 Comments
How Grand Tour to Italy ended tragically for Croydon artist
MARVELS OF THE MINSTER: Four paintings in the Museum of Croydon’s collection show the town 250 years ago as a rural idyll. They are by a talented watercolourist whose career was marred by politics and professional jealousies, as DAVID MORGAN … Continue reading
Reports on Fairfield Halls and BxB missing from audit meeting
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Tonight’s meeting of the council’s GPAC – General Purposes and Audit Committee – will mark the end of a error, as Labour councillors risk handing even more control to council executives. By STEVEN DOWNES Karen Jewitt, the … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Chris Buss, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman
Tagged Chris Buss, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, General Purposes and Audit Committee, GPAC, Hamida Ali, Karen Jewitt, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Rapid Review, Report in the Public Interest, RIPI, Scrutiny and Overview Committee, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Tory
6 Comments
Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Jul 31-Aug 7
Posted in Coulsdon, Theatre, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon
Tagged Coulsdon, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon
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Trinity sixth-former lands role in Netflix’s latest teen series
Will Hardy, a sixth-former at Trinity School, has been cast in Heartstopper, an adaptation of Alice Oseman’s graphic novels which is to be screened by Netflix. Hardy was selected after an open audition in which 10,000 young actors took part, … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Cinema, Trinity School
Tagged Alice Oseman, Heartstopper, Netflix, Trinity School, Will Hardy
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Late covid guidance change causes chaos to choir rehearsals
Late changes to government covid-19 restrictions saw the last-minute cancellation of a major choir’s first in-person rehearsal for 14 months. Now there are genuine fears for the future of amateur music-making and choral singing, reports PETER GILLMAN After more than … Continue reading
Locals concerned over ‘mini Glastonbury’ in Addington Park
Residents in Addington Village are filing lengthy objections to a licence application which, if the council allows, could see more than 11,000 festival-goers descend on a Croydon conservation area for a “mini Glastonbury” over a single weekend in August. But … Continue reading
David Lean Cinema postpones reopening until the autumn
It’s been a tough 15 months for the movie enthusiasts and volunteers at the David Lean Cinema, which has been closed since the first covid-19 lockdown was announced in March 2020. For the arthouse cinema in the Croydon Clocktower, with … Continue reading
Crystal Palace Festival appeals to provide creative futures
The Crystal Palace Festival has launched an appeal to help mitigate the impact of the pandemic on young people from local housing estates. Festival director Noreen Meehan said “It has become very obvious that the pandemic is having a disproportionately … Continue reading
Brick by Brick and the 18 documents officers want kept secret
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Not for the first time, elected councillors have been denied vital information about Town Hall deals. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Conservatives have “called in” for extra scrutiny three multi-million-pound deals intended to off-load the council’s loss-making … Continue reading
Stanley Halls receives £99,750 grant for High Street arts
South Norwood is one of four London high streets announced today as receiving tens of thousands of pounds in grants from Historic England to help create High Street Heritage Action Zones – or the snazzily abbreviated HSHAZ. Historic England say … Continue reading
Posted in Art, History, South Norwood, Stanley Halls
Tagged Historic England, South Norwood, Stanley Halls, William Stanley
1 Comment
Virtuoso cello star Kanneh-Mason to reopen Fairfield Halls
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, one of the fastest rising stars of classical music, will be playing at the Fairfield Halls next month, in the Croydon art centre’s first live performances since covid lockdown began in March 2020. Kanneh-Mason is so good, he’s … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Music
Tagged Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Sheku Kanneh-Mason
2 Comments
Council to pick up £69.2m costs of failed Fairfield Halls refurb
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall correspondent, KEN LEE, on the latest council bail-out for Brick by Brick over the bungled and unfinished refurbishment of the borough’s major arts centre Croydon’s cash-strapped council is to step in and pick up another … Continue reading
Mayor Khan takes the stage to launch city’s tourist drive
Sadiq Khan used his formal signing-in ceremony for his second term as London Mayor this morning to reveal his cunning plan to revive the capital’s economy post-covid: tourism. Mayor Khan announced a £6million advertising campaign to encourage tourists back to … Continue reading
Posted in Art, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Theatre
Tagged David Hockney, Labour, London, Mayor, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan
5 Comments
Going to the lowest, only bidder: council finds buyer for BxB
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon Council could have to pay at least another £40million in order to sell off Brick by Brick, the Labour-controlled local authority’s failed housing developer which bankrupted the Town Hall. And the multi-million-pound spending on the … Continue reading
