The Academy offices re-open at 8.30 a.m. on Monday 6 January.

The Academy’s first term begins on Monday 20 January and ends on Friday 4 April.

Contact the office for details of lessons and charges.

JANUARY 2025

· Thursday 9 January Live and Let Die

Friday 10 January Prokofiev: Cinderella – Royal Ballet
Thursday 16 January The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Friday 17 January Mozart: La finta giardiniera [first performed on 13 January 1775]
Thursday 23 January Galaxy Quest [released on 25 December 1999]
Friday 24 January Concert: Ravel and Shostakovich

[Ravel was born on 7 March 1875 and Shostakovich died on 9 August 1975]

Thursday 30 January The Tunnel: Series 2
Friday 31 January Oklahoma!

Prices at the Academy have to be increased slightly in 2025! – fees, rents, hall hire, concerts… and DVDs which will now be $3.00 per evening.

BUT tickets will continue to be available in blocks of four at $10.00 so in effect there’s little change!

THURSDAY 9 JANUARY AT 6.30 P.M. LIVE AND LET DIE

Carriages: 8.30 p.m.

As usual, the Academy kicks off the new term with James Bond! – this time the first of the series to star Roger Moore as 007. When Bond investigates the murders of three fellow agents, he finds himself a target, evading vicious assassins as he closes in on the powerful drug lord, Mr. Big, who plans to distribute two tons of heroin free to put rival drug barons out of business and then become a monopoly supplier. As Bond tries to unravel the master-mind’s plan, he meets Solitaire (Jane Seymour), a beautiful tarot-card reader, whose magic is crucial to the crime lord.

Roger Moore’s first 007 job is still top entertainment. [Total Film]
A film that ranks with the best Bonds. [BBC.com]
Moore acquits himself in a larger than life adventure peppered with enjoyably rotten gags and lots of playful action. [Film4]

· As fastpaced and snappily entertaining a piece of claptrap as we have a right to expect. [The Spectator]\

· In the longest tenure of any James Bond performer, Roger Moore would certainly have higher highs and lower lows. And while it strays from Bond formula in ways good and bad, it’s a fine introduction to a 007 more prone to crack wise than crack heads. [Midwest Film Journal]

There are some splendid action sequences, notably a speedboat leap that set a new world record, as well as the usual array of hi-tech gadgetry. [Radio Times]

Admission: $3.00 [free to Film Carpet members]

FRIDAY 10 JANUARY AT 6.30 P.M. PROKOFIEV: CINDERELLA

Carriages: 8.45 p.m.

Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov star as Cinderella and The Prince in Frederick Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love.

The Royal Ballet’s new look Cinderella went live at a gala that celebrated 75 years of Sir Frederick Ashton’s 1948 production. It was a glittery and glamorous occasion and it is good to report that there was plenty of sparkle in the dancing too. An undoubted triumph for The Royal Ballet. I’m sure Ashton would have been thrilled. [Bachtrack.com]
This production of Prokofiev’s Cinderella is gorgeous and I’ll be watching it many times with friends. The dancers, the sets are all worthy of five stars. I would rate them higher, if I could. … There large portions of the ballet that are photographed so that the full width of the stage can be seen. Awesome, if you are watching on a large screen. [Amazon]
The real key to Cinderella the ballet is of course the playing of the title role, and there was never any doubt that Marienela Nuñez would take the first-night honours. Ashton would have adored this dancer with her small, neat features, her pliant torso, exceptional musicality and exquisite feet. If there was an audible sigh as she danced I was partly responsible. [The Arts desk]
Vadim Muntagirov somehow combines show-stopping virtuosity with utter self-effacement and Marianela Nuñez, with her quick feet, pliant torso and vari-speed pirouettes, remains dream casting for Ashton’s sweet-natured heroine. Her chains of turns unspool with dizzy inevitability, ever alert to the bittersweet score, strongly played by Koen Kessels and the orchestra. [Financial Times]

Admission: $3.00 [free to Red Carpet members]

THURSDAY 16 JANUARY AT 6.30 P.M. THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL

Carriages: 8.30 p.m.

As his marriage to Sunaina draws near, Sonny sets his eye on opening a second residence for the elderly, but finds the project requires more time than he can spare. Meanwhile, Evelyn and Douglas wonder where their relationship is going, Norman and Carol try to remain exclusive, Madge juggles two rich suitors, the single remaining vacancy poses a problem for two new arrivals – and the demands of Sonny’s traditional Indian wedding threaten to overwhelm them all…

It is smart, funny, and tremendously beautiful to look at. [Cinema76]

· The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is about as original as its title — but with a cast this talented and effortlessly charming, that hardly matters. [Rotten Tomatoes]

· Sequels often shoot themselves in the foot when they retread ground already covered by their predecessors; heightened whimsy, airiness and positivity are what distinguish Second Best from The Best. [Way Too Indie]

FRIDAY 17 JANUARY AT 6.30 P.M. MOZART: LA FINTA GIARDINIERA

Carriages: 9.30 p.m.

Mozart’s La finta giardiniera, the ninth of his 22 operas (!) was first performed 250 years ago on 13 January 1775, days before his 19th birthday. The title translates as ‘The Pretend Garden-Girl’ and the story centres on Count Belfiore and Violante who were formerly lovers before Belfiore stabbed Violante in a lovers’ tiff. Violante is disguised as the gardener Sandrina and confronts Belfiore, who is by this point engaged to Arminda, niece of the town magistrate. In three graceful, gay and virtuoso acts, presenting the unrestrained feelings of several couples who are involved in deceptions and pardons, mistaken feelings and reconciliations before all is resolved, the opera can be seen in many ways as a forerunner of The Marriage of Figaro.

The production is simple, effective, attractive and takes no liberties with the plot. Emanuelle Haim conducts Le Concert d’Astree with great exuberance, keeping the whole thing fizzing along. [Amazon]
Three hours of pure happiness. [La Croix]

Emanuelle Haïm’s conducting captured the sense of dramatic progression in the extended finales of the first two acts, while also allowing the final act a sense of pace and dignity. [Opera]
Enea Scala brilliantly conveyed Belfiore’s journey from a foppish, vainglorious figure of fun to a lover genuinely remorseful for his past mistakes, and displayed a secure, focused line in his singing. Erin Morley was an equally appealing Sandrina, with a voice of limpid clarity allied to a fine dramatic sense of her ability to transform Belfiore after their mutual moments of madness. Marie-Adeline Henry was a gloriously fiery Arminda. [Opera]

Admission: US$3.00 [free to Red Carpet Members]

FEBRUARY

Thursday 6 February The Tunnel: Sabotage – 2
Friday 7 February Johann Strauss II: Aschenbrodel – ballet [Johann Strauss II was born on 25 October 1825]
Thursday 13 February The Tunnel: Sabotage – 3
Friday 14 February Waldbühne Concert for Valentine’s Day!
Thursday 20 February Ladies in Lavender [Maggie Smith and Judy Dench]
Friday 21 February Public Holiday
Thursday 27 February Singin’ in the Rain
Friday 28 February Bizet: Carmen [First performed 3 March 1875]