Van Gogh: Painted with Words Click here to watch Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Vincent Van Gogh in this captivating blend of theater and documentary. A seamless blend of theatrical storytelling and historical insight, ''Van Gogh: Painted with Words'' reveals the tumultuous life of the Dutch painter with fascinating detail. Cumberbatch is a Van Gogh of clarity and understanding, exploring the dimensions of the painter's complex psyche. ​Based on years of research, every word he speaks in this programme was meticulously sourced from Van Gogh's extensive writings and correspondence ..read more

Miscast ‘24 – Broadway Unlocked   Click here for tickets Regular readers know that this annual cabaret is one of my favourite shows of the year and I never fail to recommend it to you. The Miscast gala is a one-night-only musical spectacular featuring Broadway’s hottest stars performing songs from roles in which they would not traditionally be cast.   This is always fun and frequently spectacular as singers who would be too tall, too short, too fat, too unsuitable for the roles they long to play, render songs they will never have the opportunity to sing in the show for which they w ..read more

Laufey Click here to watch This keeps happening to me. I keep coming across artists I’ve never heard of who have become famous and highly successful while my attention was elsewhere. One is Laufey, half Icelandic, half Chinese, brought to my attention by my friend Harvey who says she is the hot new thing, playing three sold-out concerts at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco and gaining traction as a major attraction. Laufey's music bridges the gap between jazz and cabaret, aiming at younger, mainstream audiences. Her sophomore album, Bewitched, broke Spotify's all-time streaming recor ..read more

Sarah Vaughan Centennial – Jazz at Lincoln Center Click here to join Click here to hear Misty When I make my list for Desert Island Discs, which I revise at least once a week in the hope that one day I'll be invited onto the long-running BBC radio programme, there’s one entry that never changes. It’s Sarah Vaughan’s Misty. Here’s a 1964 live video of it from Sweden. Irresistible. The power, range, and flexibility of her voice made Sarah Vaughan one of the greatest singers in jazz. With her rich, controlled tone and vibrato, she could create astounding performances on jazz standards, often ..read more

Dead Man Walking - Met Opera On Demand    Click here to watch ​ One of the the Met Opera ‘s most surprising hits in recent seasons has been Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s searing Dead Man Walking. The Met has just made it available online via their invaluable MetOperaOnDemand platform.   The Met Opera has been suffering since Covid from the same ills as most other opera companies, smaller audiences, higher prices, the need to dip into their previously enormous reserve fund, and the public’s apparent ennui with the great 19th century warhorses which have been their bread and ..read more

Frederick Ashton’s Tales of Beatrix Potter – Royal Ballet Click here for tickets Want to see a bunny dance? Of course you do. It’s Easter and here’s the bunny. This is Frederick Ashton’s adorable ballet which he made for a film in 1971, here in a 1992 stage production for the Royal Ballet by Anthony Dowell. Tales of Beatrix Potter brings alive, with rich characterisation and invention, the famous images and stories of Beatrix Potter. Swept up in the ballet's childlike exuberance, the entire cast delivers outstanding portrayals of such colourful figures as Jemima Puddle-Duck, Mr Jeremy Fish ..read more

Annie - 1977 ​Click here to watch My first goddaughter (I have lots but she was the first) is now a grown up professional, a partner in a big firm, but she’s always been an actor manque. At the age of three she was taken to her first musical. Annie. All the little girls on the stage, singing, looked like somewhere she should be, so she ran down the aisle to join them, with her father in hot but distant pursuit. She did not take kindly to being thwarted in her quest for stardom. In fairness, Annie has that effect on many little girls and many big girls too. Its score, by Strouse and Charnin ..read more

Sea of Troubles – Yorke Dance Project Click here for tix Yorke Dance Project's made-for-film production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Sea of Troubles breathes new life into an acclaimed classic. In 1988, choreographer Kenneth MacMillan captivated audiences with his emotionally charged interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet In 2017, the Yorke Dance Project revived the work, creating an atmospheric film adaptation that tastefully enhances MacMillan's vision of Hamlet's turbulent world. Directed by the documentary director David Stewart, this visually stunning production brings MacMil ..read more

The Father and the Assassin – National Theatre Click here for tickets This brilliantly entertaining historical drama has just become available online from the National Theatre. Its two protagonists are Mahatma Gandhi: lawyer, champion of non-violence, beloved leader of millions, father of his country, and the man who killed him,  Nathuram Godse who, except for that one act of violent protest, might have disappeared from history without trace. It traces Godse’s life over 30 years during India’s fight for independence when he went from being a devout follower of Gandhi, until his radica ..read more

Yayoi Kusama – Infiniti Click here to watch This is one of the best documentaries about an artist that I’ve seen. Now 94, Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, and is also active in painting, performance, video art, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Although she’s very famous in the modern art world, I wasn’t familiar with her work – except for her obsession with polkadots – but quickly became absorbed by this film’s ability to recreate the atmosphere in which she struggled and then flourished. Kusama wasn't always th ..read more