Thursday 5 December at 6.30 p.m. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Maggie Smith)

Friday 6 December at 6.30 p.m. Bejazzled! Christine, Tich and friends
Thursday 12 December at 6.30 p.m. The Godfather Part II [released 12 December 1974]
Friday 13 December at 6.30 p.m. Meet Me in St.Louis [released 28 November 1944]
Thursday 19 December at 6.30 p.m. Cinderella
Friday 20 December at 6.30 p.m. Massenet: Cendrillon
Tuesday 24 December at 6.30 p.m. Prokofiev: Cinderella

PIANO TUNING

Please note that Tony McCloskey, the Steinway-trained piano tuner/technician will be in Bulawayo over Christmas and the New Year.

He will be available to tune and service pianos, and bookings should be made through John Barrie who will be co-ordinating Tony’s visit:

E-mail: johnbarrie56@gmail.com Message or whatsapp: 0784 045 694

THURSDAY 5 DECEMBER AT 6.30 P.M. THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Carriages: 8.45 p.m.

The second in the series of films celebrating Dame Maggie Smith. A star-studded cast of British retirees (Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton, Bill Nighy, Ronald Pickup, Tom Wilkinson) decide to enjoy retirement in exotic – and less expensive – India. Lured by advertisements for the newly restored Marigold Hotel and imagining a life of leisure in lush surroundings, they arrive to find that the Marigold is actually a shell of its former self…

A charming, funny and heart-warming movie, a smoothly crafted entertainment that makes good use of seven superb veterans. [Chicago Sun-Times]
A hilarious and touching comedy about growing old disgracefully. [Liverpool Echo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is a true example of an ensemble piece where a group of veteran actors show that they are just as good as they ever were. [We Got This Covered]
I’m not fond of the word, but no other adjective really gets to the heart of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel like delightful. [Tri-City Herald]

Admission: $2.50 [free to Film members]

FRIDAY 6 DECEMBER AT 6.30 P.M. BEJAZZLED! CHRISTINE, TICH AND FRIENDS

Carriages: c.8.15 p.m.

Bejazzled his will be an evening of live music incorporating Jazz, funk and Southern African styles and there will be popular jazz standards, a John Lennon song and some original material.

Tich Makalisa is a seasoned jazz pianist and composer who studied at the Academy under Derek Hudson as well as with Felix Westwood at Plumtree School before taking a degree in jazz at the University of Cape Town. but has been based in South Africa and Europe for the last two decades. Having performed at numerous festivals and jazz clubs worldwide, he has returned home and will be performing in Bulawayo for the first time since his schooldays!

Christine Nyoni, the Academy’s vocal teacher, hails from Kenya and is a very experienced performer who has appeared several times at the Academy as well as in Kenya. Her versatility is her strength and she is comfortable singing a variety of genres. Tich and Christine will be backed by Misheck Ngorima on bass and Erastus Nleya on drums to form a quartet.

Admission: $5.00 [free to Red Carpet members]. Booking at the Academy

THURSDAY 12 DECEMBER AT 6.30 P.M. THE GODFATHER, PART II

Carriages: 9.55 p.m.

The compelling sequel to The Godfather, was released exactly fifty years ago on 12 December 1974. Contrasting the life of Corleone father and son, it traces the problems of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in 1958 and of his father, the young immigrant Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) in 1917. Vito Corleone becomes one of the most respected mafia dons of New York; Michael attempts to expand his business empire into Las Vegas, Florida and pre-revolution Cuba while facing his own personal problems trying to keep his collapsing marriage and relationship with his brother intact.

Francis Coppola’s breathtakingly ambitious prequel-sequel to his first Godfather movie is as gripping as ever. It is even better than the first film, and has the greatest single final scene in Hollywood history, a real coup de cinéma. [The Guardian]
Drawing on strong performances by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola’s continuation of Mario Puzo’s Mafia saga set new standards for sequels that have yet to be matched or broken. [The Times]
Through a compelling dual character study, the sequel explores the intertwined yet distinct paths of its protagonists. The result is a breath-taking display of filmmaking leaving us in awe of its expansive scope, attention to detail, and sheer perfection. [Awards Daily]
Director Francis Ford Coppola furnished a fully-fashioned gangster melodrama in the first film: in this one he stretches his talent to encompass a genuine American tragedy. [London Evening Standard]

Admission: $2.50 [free to Film members]

FRIDAY 13 DECEMBER AT 6.30 P.M. MEET ME IN ST.LOUIS

Carriages: 8.40 p.m.

Meet Me in St. Louis was released eighty years ago in time for Christmas 1944 and the plot hinges on the possibility on the possibility that Alonzo Smith (Leon Ames), the family’s banker father, might uproot the Smiths to New York, scuttling his daughter Esther’s (Judy Garland) romance with boy-next-door John Truett (Tom Drake) and causing similar emotional trauma for the rest of the household. Margaret O’Brien as her youngest sister Tootie won a special Oscar for her remarkable performance, prompting Lionel Barrymore to grumble ‘Two hundred years ago, she would have been burned at the stake!’ The songs are a heady combination of period tunes and newly minted numbers, the best known of which are The Boy Next Door, The Trolley Song and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

Judy Garland has never been more spirited or more poignant. [Observer, 18 December 2011]
An unmissable big-screen experience. [Guardian, 15 December 2011]
One of the great musicals. [Time Out, 24 June 2006]
In the words of one of the gentlemen, it is a ginger-peachy show. [New York Times, 20 May 2003]