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ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS A COVERED IN TWO MINUTES C Channel HOPPER
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AROUND TOWN We start our Briefing in uncharacteristically sporty style, with news that following his Olympic gold and US Open win, Andy Murray has been offered the freedom of Stirling. The announcement came hot on Hoy the heels of the news that Chris Hoy ador will be the first Official Ambassador alth for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth fans Games. In other AT news, Porty fans ing have reason to be cheerful following on news that Portobello Park Action ty Group’s appeal to stop the City on of Edinburgh Council building on d, Portobello Park has been heard, g with the Court of Session ruling that the green space should be preserved. CLUBS To those who knew it well, La a Belle Angele was a much loved gig and arts venue before a fire swept a the Cowgate ten years ago; now, a o decade on, plans have emerged to g rebuild on the original site, creating ue a hotel and a new La Belle venue 00. underneath, with a capacity for 500. for See facebook.com/LaBelleAngele for more.
DANCE It’s all go at Scottish Ballet. Under new new artistic director Christopher Hampson (see page 8), the troupe will present Matthew Bourne’s Highland Fling next year, while in the autumn SB will launch Hansel & Gretel and Me, a new project working with schools and colleges, as well as partners including the National Galleries of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland,
author Louise Welsh and the Forestry Commission Scotland, to create ideas for a new production of Hansel and Gretel. We can’t wait. MUSIC Three cheers: Jack White has announced his first Three cheers: Ja ful full UK tour hooked around his album Blunderbuss. Look out for the White Stripe in Edinburgh this November.
THEATRE T The National Theatre of Scotland T w will tour Asia for the first time thi this autumn. Black Watch will be pre presented by the National Theater of Kor Korea, while David Greig’s Monster i in in the Hall will head to China next mo month. th on
VISUAL ART VIS It’s with a heavy heart that we report It’s the the news that professor Seona Reid CB CBE is retiring as director of the G Glasgow School of Art after 14 y years. She’ll be missed. Finally, f following their EIF Speed of L Light success, NVA are sharing their ‘vision’ for Kilmahew Woodlands and St Peter’s Seminary as part of an exhibition at T at The Lighthouse in Glasgow. The t exhibition features Murray Grigor’s Space and Light Revisited film, as well as the Masterplan by ERZ Landscape Architects and Avanti Architects; wall drawing of the site; found objects from the site; access to the Invisible College’s online hub and related publications. Look out for it in Gallery 2 until 17 Oct. (AM) hibiti
f
Scottish Ballet’s new artistic director launches his 2013 plans. See above, and page 8
DISPATCHES FROM THE SOFA, WITH BRIAN DONALDSON
■ So he has the same hair as Silvio Dante, talks and pouts like Silvio
Dante, and struts about with more or less the identical fashion sense
as Silvio Dante, so why are they calling this Mafioso type ‘Frank
Tagliano’? Well, because this is not The Sopranos, more’s the pity, but
Lilyhammer (BBC Four, Tue, 10pm), the latest attempt to culturally cash
in on all things Scandic. The twist here is that Silvio, sorry, Frank
(Steven Van Zandt) is an ex-gangster
who’s been spirited away into the
Witness Protection Programme, choosing to be holed up in the
snowbound Norwegian woods of
Lillehammer (Frank’s murdered dog was called Lily, hence the comedy-
drama’s slight name shift). But it’s not just the appearances
that are deceptively similar:
Frank shares Silvio’s distaste for immigrants (despite being one in
the US and now Norway), takes ownership of a sleazy bar, and
isn’t afraid to smash someone up against a wall if the urge takes him.
Comparisons with the legendary New
Jersey mob drama were inevitable, but Lilyhammer is closer in spirit to
the oddball frost-fest of Northern
Exposure, while Fargo is clearly referenced thanks to the quirky
female police chief.
Ultimately, Lilyhammer pales in every comparison to each of
those screen affairs: it’s not up to the same par on funny, dramatic,
inventive or silly, only the humorous subplot with the Elvis-impersonating
cop believing Frank to be an Al Qaeda operative having any kind of
humorous wiggle room.
10 THE LIST 20 Sep–18 Oct 2012 Norway redefined