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Category Archives: BH Live
Dara Ó Briain is a BIG act. Fairfield Halls needs more like him
It was a big night at the Fairfield Halls on Saturday, with Dara Ó Briain, one of the biggest stand-up acts around, performing in front of a full house. KEN TOWL fills in the venue’s audience feedback form The minute … Continue reading
Eagles glory, Mozart magic and Ó Briain’s gags at Fairfield Halls
Fairfield Halls, south London’s sleeping giant of the arts, is waking up to the first half of 2026 with “a vibrant programme” of music, theatre, comedy and culture. Highlights include The Real Thing’s 50th anniversary tour, stand-up from Dara Ó … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Comedy, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players, Music
Tagged Crystal Palace FC, Dara Ó Briain, Fairfield Halls, London Mozart Players
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Government panel wants Croydon to flog off the Fairfield Halls
CROYDON IN CRISIS: With the council’s annual overspend reaching £100m, Whitehall-appointed commissioners could force the sale of the arts centre, which the C20 Society describes as an ‘underappreciated South Bank Centre of the suburbs’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon could … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Music, Report in the Public Interest, Section 114 notice, Theatre
Tagged 20th Century Society, Alison Butler, BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Panel, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, Tony Newman, Tory
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Fairfield Halls to close down borough’s biggest music school
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The council-owned arts centre, refurbished at a cost of £70m, is closing its doors to 200 fee-paying pupils in what one councillor describes as ‘a loss to the community’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Croydon, London’s “Borough of … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Croydon School of Art, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Music, Neil Chandler, Ruskin Square, Theatre
Tagged BH Live, BHLive, Borough of Culture, Cllr Esther Sutton, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, London Borough of Croydon, Neil Chandler, Tory, Yamaha Music School
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Kendo Nagasaki’s return bout could be knock-out for Fairfield
Our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on how a geriatric grappler is the latest sign of a declining reputation at the council-owned arts venue The “jewel in the crown” of Croydon Council’s arts offering, the Fairfield Halls, will be used to … Continue reading
Mia Overfield to star as Snow White in Fairfield Halls’ panto
Mia Overfield, most recently seen on stage as Rosa in Cable Street at Southwark Playhouse, will play Snow White in this year’s Croydon panto in the Ashcroft Theatre at the Fairfield Halls from December 13 to January 5. With a … Continue reading
Organisers pull plug on beer festival after only 127 buy tickets
Dozens of beer- and cider-lovers have been left disappointed and out-of-pocket (for now at least) by the last-minute cancellation of a two-day festival due to have been staged at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls. But anyone booking in advance for the South … Continue reading
Councillor’s complaint sees Fairfield Halls drop mix-sex loos
Within a week of a Conservative councillor grumbling on social media about the “awful misogyny” of having mixed-sex signs on toilet doors at the Fairfield Halls, the management at the arts venue has abandoned the idea and removed the offending … Continue reading
Posted in Alasdair Stewart, BH Live, Fairfield Halls, Restaurants
Tagged Alasdair Stewart, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, The Cube, Toilets, Tory, Whitgift Foundation
16 Comments
Tik-Tok organ player named as Fairfield’s first Associate Artist
Matt Walters, a 23-year-old organ-playing Tik-Tok star, will headline at Fairfield Halls as the first Associate Artist in the 2023-2024 season. Walters, a Cambridge graduate, has been announced under the Fairfield Halls’ Associate Artists scheme, which aims to support the … Continue reading
Posted in Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Music
Tagged Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Matt Walters, Reductio, Tik-Tok
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Fairfield Halls rocked as Higgins leaves artistic director role
The Fairfield Halls, Croydon’s cultural centre, is seeking its fourth artistic director in little more than three years, after it was announced today that Jonathan Higgins is leaving to take a position at another venue in Newcastle. Higgins moved to … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Fairfield Halls, Jon Workman, Jonathan Higgins
Tagged BH Live, BHLive, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins
4 Comments
75th anniversary sees Mozart orchestra celebrate Fair Field
The London Mozart Players will be celebrating their 75th anniversary through the 2023-2024 concert season, with performances by the Croydon-based ensemble at the Fairfield Halls, in Upper Norwood and in Sussex to celebrate their history and development. LMP’s season opens … Continue reading
Budapest virtuoso latest to enthrall Fairfield music school
The Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Fairfield Halls next month, the latest highlight in the Croydon venue’s International Orchestral Series. The orchestra will be performing a programme of rich, virtuoso music including Lizst’s Rhapsody No2 and … Continue reading
Fairfield Halls pipes up with series of lunchtime organ recitals
The Fairfield Halls has taken another step towards fulfilling the vision laid out before its refurbishment, to turn the arts centre into a thriving, all-day community asset, with the announcement of a series of lunchtime organ concerts, where tickets are … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Music
Tagged Andrew Scott, Concert Hall, Croydon, Elgar, Fairfield Halls, Handel, Harrison & Harrison, Sir William Walton
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Fairfield Halls struggling to sell tickets for Culture opener
Our veteran arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on the council-owned arts centre’s struggle to win back its old audiences There’s mounting, and justifiable, concern that the Fairfield Halls, despite the best-efforts of its new-ish operators, are failing to win back audiences … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Improvement Board, Music, Neil Chandler, Tony McArdle
Tagged BHLive, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Improvement and Assurance Panel, Improvement Board, London Mozart Players, Neil Chandler, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Swedish Philharmonia, Tony McArdle
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Save £££s with Fairfield ticket offers for Swedish Philharmonia
Music lovers can save 20per cent on their tickets, get a free glass of wine and take under-18-year-olds along free of charge in the latest big value offer from the Fairfield Halls ahead of the next concert in their international … Continue reading
Lucky reader wins tickets for a gala concert at Fairfield Halls
Congratulations to loyal Inside Croydon patron Lewis White, the lucky winner of a pair of tickets to a gala concert by the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra at the Fairfield Halls later this month. The concert is the first in a … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Fairfield Halls, Inside Croydon, Jonathan Higgins, Music
Tagged Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Fairfield Halls
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Turmoil at Fairfield Halls as operating company suffers exodus
Our culture correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, on changing times at the council-owned arts centre, and a diamond anniversary that has been forgotten by the council There’s yet more turmoil behind the scenes at the Fairfield Halls, where the chief executive and … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jon Workman, Mayor Jason Perry, Music, The Wreck, Theatre
Tagged BHLive, Borough of Culture, Bournemouth, Chris Symons, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jon Workman, Kevin Quilty, Mayor Jason Perry, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Queen Mother, Tory
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Two Days At The Opera: Fairfield’s match with Glyndebourne
It’s been a non-stop summer of social whirl for our veteran arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, who has popped her corks at Glyndebourne one week and found herself sitting in the ‘cheap seats’ at the Fairfield Halls the next… The expensively … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Fairfield Halls, Music
Tagged Alexandra Oomens, Croydon, Croydon Council, English National Opera, ENO, Fairfield Halls, Glyndebourne, La Boheme, Long Long, Trinity Boys' Choir, Yaritza Véliz
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ENO’s revolutionary £5 tickets for La Bohème at Fairfield
The English National Opera chose Bastille Day to announce some revolutionary ticket pricing for a special, one-off performance of La Bohème at the Fairfield Halls next month. Tickets are just £5 (plus a £1 booking fee) for the ENO’s performance … Continue reading
Posted in Art, BH Live, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, Music
Tagged BHLive, English National Opera, ENO, Fairfield, Fairfield Halls, Jonathan Higgins, La Boheme
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Mayor has weeks to save Fairfield Halls and Borough of Culture
It is symptomatic of BHLive’s lack of real connection with the borough in which they are supposed to manage its largest arts venue that they chose the day of the Croydon local election results to make the announcement of the … Continue reading
Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Neil Chandler, Paula Murray, Sadiq Khan, The Wreck, Theatre, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross
Tagged Ashcroft Theatre, BHLive, Bournemouth, Chris Symons, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Fairfield Halls, Jason Perry, Mayor Jason Perry, Tory
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Bafta-winner Scanlan joins calls for new bosses at arts centre
‘Things are far from perfick at the Fairfield ‘Alls’ says the award-winning actress who plays Ma Larkin, as the campaign to sack BHLive gathers momentum. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Joanna Scanlan, the BAFTA award-winning actress, has called on Croydon Council … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, Music, The Wreck, Theatre
Tagged 2022 Mayoral election, Ashcroft Theatre, BAFTA, Borough of Culture, Brick by Brick, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Croydon Mayor, Democratically Elected Mayor of Croydon, Fairfield Halls, Joanna Scanlan, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Oliver Lewis, The Larkins
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