Category Archives: BH Live

Fairfield Halls pipes up with series of lunchtime organ recitals

Posted on May 24, 2023 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Our readers set to enjoy a brief encounter at Fairfield concert

Posted on May 19, 2023 by insidecroydon

Three Inside Croydon readers, each accompanied by a guest, will be going to next week’s gala concert at the Fairfield Halls by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. Paul Romain, Ethel Corduff and John Chandler have each won a pair of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Fairfield Halls, Inside Croydon, Jonathan Higgins, Music | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

WIN!!! Tickets for Estonian orchestra’s Fairfield Halls concert

Posted on May 2, 2023 by insidecroydon

Inside Croydon subscribers can win a pair of tickets – worth almost £90 – for the next big international concert being staged at the Fairfield Halls’ world-renowned Concert Hall, by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra on Thursday, May 25. The … Continue reading →

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Music school pupils to learn from the masters at Fairfield Halls

Posted on April 28, 2023 by insidecroydon

Pupils at the Fairfield Halls’ pioneering Yamaha Music School will get to play along with some of the world’s best musical talent with an exclusive pre-show event on Thursday May 25, ahead of the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra concert. The … Continue reading →

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Fairfield Halls struggling to sell tickets for Culture opener

Posted on March 27, 2023 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Save £££s with Fairfield ticket offers for Swedish Philharmonia

Posted on March 6, 2023 by insidecroydon

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 →

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Lucky reader wins tickets for a gala concert at Fairfield Halls

Posted on February 6, 2023 by insidecroydon

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 , | 1 Comment

Turmoil at Fairfield Halls as operating company suffers exodus

Posted on November 1, 2022 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Two Days At The Opera: Fairfield’s match with Glyndebourne

Posted on August 28, 2022 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

ENO’s revolutionary £5 tickets for La Bohème at Fairfield

Posted on July 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

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 →

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Mayor has weeks to save Fairfield Halls and Borough of Culture

Posted on June 2, 2022 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Bafta-winner Scanlan joins calls for new bosses at arts centre

Posted on April 26, 2022 by insidecroydon

‘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 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Council ignored £5m offer to revive Fairfield’s reputation

Posted on April 22, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Moves to take the management of the troubled arts centre out of the hands of Bournemouth-based BHLive are being resisted by Labour politicians. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Senior officials and the Labour cabinet member in charge of … Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Music, Neil Chandler, Oliver Lewis, Paula Murray, Shifa Mustafa, Theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Choir demands compensation over BHLive’s Fairfield shambles

Posted on April 20, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: BHLive, the under-fire operators of the council-owned arts complex, have been accused of costing one of the borough’s top arts groups thousands of pounds because of their poor management of the prestige venue. By our arts correspondent, … Continue reading →

Posted in Andrew Pelling, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Fairfield Halls, Music, Oliver Lewis, Theatre, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A night at the comic opera: from sublime to the ridiculous

Posted on April 5, 2022 by insidecroydon

Box office closed, bar closed, bistro closed and toilets closed… KEN TOWL went along to see what the Fairfield Halls experience is like these days, and with a box seat (pictured left) he managed to last longer than the Mayor … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Fairfield Halls, Ken Towl, Music | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

The grand scandal at the centre of Fairfield’s absurd saga

Posted on April 3, 2022 by insidecroydon

Arts correspondent BELLA BARTOCK solves the mystery of the vanishing grand pianos, and discovers more scandal at the council-owned arts venue The Fairfield Halls, following its shambolic and costly refurbishment, is now an arts centre without an art gallery, with … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Fairfield Halls, Music, The Wreck | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

£67m arts centre – with no art gallery and few performances

Posted on March 31, 2022 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: The Fairfield Halls fiasco gets worse by the day, with Bournemouth-based venue operators BHLive staging shows on just 24% of available dates. Croydon is supposed to be London’s ‘Borough of Culture’ in 2023… By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon is London’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Arnhem Gallery, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Mayor of London, Neil Chandler, Oliver Lewis, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Sadiq Khan, Talawa Theatre Company, The Wreck, Theatre, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Lewis is given another £1.3m to spend on Fairfield Halls

Posted on January 31, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Somehow, our cash-strapped council has managed to find a spare million to hand to the under-performing operators of the town centre’s arts venue, thanks to the recommendation of a new employee of The Campaign Company. EXCLUSIVE By … Continue reading →

Posted in BH Live, Croydon Council, David Evans, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Purley, Purley Pool, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, Sadiq Khan, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Croydon 2021: Macarnage, Fairfield fiasco and dropped Bricks

Posted on December 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

DID WE HAVE NEWS FOR YOU: Summer in south London’s rottenest borough saw simmering scandals over Brick by Brick and the Fairfield Halls fiasco grab national notoriety, and someone at the council finally admitted that the misconceived Westfield scheme was … Continue reading →

Posted in "Hammersfield", BH Live, Brick by Brick, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Jo Negrini, Neil Chandler, Paul Scott, Planning, Tony Newman, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

BHLive’s business losses hit Fairfield Halls’ arts programme

Posted on October 22, 2021 by insidecroydon

The lack of activity in and around the Fairfield Halls and the return to the “bad old days” of tired programming dominated by derivative tribute acts and all-star wrestling is all because not enough people in Dorset are paying for … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

‘The damage to the Fairfield Halls reputation is severe’

Posted on September 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: While the cash-strapped council remains preoccupied with its finances, the once prestigious arts centre on the other side of Park Lane risks sliding towards cultural oblivion. By our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK There are growing concerns that … Continue reading →

Posted in Arnhem Gallery, Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, GLL - Better, Mayor of London, Neil Chandler, Oliver Lewis, Paula Murray, Sadiq Khan, The Wreck, Theatre, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Cultural hopes are raised as Talawa and Nick Cave take a bow

Posted on September 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Two shows staged at the borough’s major arts centre over the weekend helped to underline how precious the Fairfield Halls should be for Croydon. If only the artistic programme on offer more generally could rise to the local public’s expectations, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, Music, Talawa Theatre Company, The Wreck | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

It’s time to put back the Sparks into Croydon’s Fairfield Halls

Posted on August 13, 2021 by insidecroydon

For £70m, the Fairfield Halls should be offering a lot more for the community, says KEN TOWL If the Fairfield Halls disappoint, and they do, over and over, it is because they have a lot to live up to. Through … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Borough of Culture 2023, Fairfield Halls, Music, Savvy Theatre Company, Talawa Theatre Company | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

The Fairfield Halls Community Choir is seeking a new home

Posted on August 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

By VERONA CHARD Prior to Lockdown, I ran the Fairfield Halls Community Choir “plus sessions”, I had created for toddlers and babies called “Donkey Dots For Tots”, plus a monthly musical balloon band prom for families. But I’ve been told … Continue reading →

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Millions of questions for BHLive over Fairfield grant aid

Posted on July 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

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 , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments