Friday 5 July Royal Ballet Triple Bill

Thursday 11 July Broadchurch Series 3 – 1

Friday 12 July The King and I

Tuesday 16 July Recital: Emma Price (cello), Jeanette Micklem (piano)

Thursday 18 July Broadchurch Series 3 – 2

Friday 19 July From the Proms: music by Beethoven, Nielsen, Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov

Thursday 25 July Broadchurch Series 3 – 3

Friday 26 July Verdi: La Traviata

Saturday 27 July Academy Student Concert

THURSDAY 4 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. SIDEWAYS

Carriages: 8.45 p.m.

An all-American film for Independence Day!

Struggling writer and wine enthusiast Miles (Paul Giamatti) takes his engaged friend, Jack (Thomas Haden Church), on a trip to wine country for a last single-guy bonding experience. While Miles wants to relax and enjoy the wine, Jack is in search of a fling before his wedding. Soon Jack is sleeping with Stephanie (Sandra Oh), while her friend Maya (Virginia Madsen) connects with Miles. When Miles lets slip that Jack is getting married, both women are furious, sending the trip into disarray.

From its first minutes, maybe even from the credits, you know you are seeing something very special. [Detroit Free Press]
Charming, thoughtful, and often funny, Sideways is a decidedly mature road trip comedy full of excellent performances. [Rotten Tomatoes]
At the end of the movie we feel like seeing it again. [Chicago Sun-Times]
The performances here are uniformly terrific. This is wonderful, original stuff. [Empire Magazine]
Both charming and sexy, uproariously funny and touchingly human. [Chicago Tribune]
The sweetest, funniest, most humane movie I’ve seen all year. [New York Magazine]
A wonderful film, so accomplished that it looks effortless. [Variety]
By far the year’s best American movie. [TIME Magazine]
If film critics employed a 0 to 100 rating scale such as some wine critics do, then Sideways would rate about a 98. [Hollywood Reporter]

Admission: US$2.50 [free to Film Members]

FRIDAY 5 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. ROYAL BALLET TRIPLE BILL

Carriages: 8.45 p.m.

From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III as revised by Rudolf Nureyev is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Sir Frederick Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, Kenneth MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the company’s heritage.

A sunlit and sparkling triple bill with a touch of autumnal warmth. [The Independent]
The Royal Ballet is at the top of its game in a new triple bill of MacMillan, Ashton and a pinch of Petipa [The Guardian]
The Royal Ballet honours its heritage with a varied triple bill that illustrates the range of its repertoire and gives both corps and soloists ample opportunities to shine. [Culture Whisper]
O’Sullivan dances with a sunbeam brightness and zest to match her tangerine-coloured costume… The ‘Nimrod’ variation is a memorable evocation of mature friendship; catching at the shifting currents of conversation and companionship with a fine-spun physicality… Princely Vadim Muntagirov follows suit with pantherine leaps and there’s strong support from the soloists and fluffy-hatted corps. [The Stage]
An excellent triple bill that shows the company at its best. Enigma Variations displays the magic that Ashton could achieve by creating a work with so much imagination, and Raymonda Act III by Nureyev is brilliantly danced. [Amazon]
My DVD release of the year has to be the Royal Ballet’s performance of Frederick Ashton’s Enigma Variations. This genuine ensemble piece offers the company an opportunity to demonstrate its strength in depth on a well-populated Covent Garden stage. Meanwhile, Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto and Rudolf Nureyev’s choreography to the third Act of Glazunov’s Raymonda offer further nods to the Royal Ballet’s rich history while simultaneously showcasing its currently high standards. [MusicWeb International]

Admission: US$2.50 [free to Red Carpet Members]

THURSDAY 11 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. BROADCHURCH – SERIES 3

Carriages: 9.00 p.m.

It’s quietly brilliant. [Radio Times]
I’m going to stick my neck out and predict another serious case of national Broadchurch fever. [Independent]
It’s brilliant by both Colman and Tennant again, a portrait of a close working relationship that is at times tetchy, at others bordering on close friendship, but always convincing and so very human. [Guardian]

DI Alec Hardy has returned to Broadchurch CID, after some time away. When a local woman is sexually assaulted, he makes it his mission to find out who is responsible – but will it be at a cost to his relationship with his daughter?

DS Ellie Miller has rebuilt her life after Joe Miller was found ‘not guilty’ by a jury for the murder of Danny Latimer – a crime of which he is unequivocally. She is bringing up her sons as a single mum, caring for her elderly father and back on the team at Broadchurch CID.

Beth Latimer is attempting to move on with her life, and hopes she has found new purpose, in a job which puts her own harrowing experience to good use. She is trying to help other people, but still struggling to keep her own family on the right track.

Broadchurch still succeeds in using its mystery as way of delving into deeper emotions. [The Times]
After the disappointment of series two, it looks like this superlative drama might bow out on a high. [Daily Telegraph]
Broadchurch, I’m delighted to say, veered back with a welcome clunk on to high good form. [Observer]
Broadchurch gave the genre a much-needed injection of British understatement, stoicism and bleak humour, raising the bar for everything that dared to follow. [The Herald]

Admission: US$2.50 [free to Film Members]

FRIDAY 12 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. THE KING AND I

Carriages: 8.50 p.m.

Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner star in this classic musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein which scarcely needs an introduction! When nineteenth century English schoolteacher Anna Leonowens is employed by the King of Siam to educate his many children, she takes her son, Louis (Rex Thompson), along to live with her in the royal palace. Anna, a strong-willed woman, soon clashes with the king, who is used to having his every wish adhered to without question.

This film, with its infectious score and dynamic performances, is one of the best of its genre. {IMDb]
With beautiful costumes, electrifying performances, and a sweet and powerful story, The King and I succeeds technically as well as it does thematically. [Metacritic]
Every bit of the humour and vibrant humanity that flowed through the tender story of the English school-teacher and the quizzical king is richly preserved in the screen play. [The New York Times]
Even without the music, this well-written story would be a splendid entertainment. But it’s the music, that wonderful score written by Rodgers and Hammerstein, that makes this movie as beloved as it is. [TV Guide]

Admission: US$2.50 [free to Red Carpet Members]

TUESDAY 16 JULY AT 6.30 P.M. EMMA PRICE (CELLO), JEANETTE MICKLEM (PIANO)

Emma Price will be remembered as the Academy’s most promising student in recent years and we’re delighted that she’s able to give a full concert with Zimbabwe’s leading pianist, Jeanette Micklem!

Bach: Cello Suite No.5 – Prelude
Franck: Cello Sonata in A major
Janáček: Pohadka [A Fairy Tale]
Franck: Mélancolie
Judith Weir: Make Me A Garment
Davidov: At the Fountain

Emma’s cello career started as a result of a schools concert given by the Junior Odeion String Quartet in 2011. She started lessons the same year with Cynthia Pretorius which continued until Cynthia passed away, and from 2014 she went to Amy Macy, travelling regularly to Harare and later continuing over Skype. She studied piano and theory at the Zimbabwe Academy of Music with Rose Green as well as working with Adri Botha in between lessons with Amy. After obtaining a distinction for her Grade 8 exam, Emma had on-line lessons with Sally Pendlebury, until her acceptance by the Purcell School for Young Musicians in Watford, UK where she studied under Pal Banda and Richard Jenkinson. In 2021, 2022 and 2023 she attended the Morningside Music Bridge Programme held at the New England Conservatory in Boston USA. This programme was instrumental in cementing Emma’s love of the cello and her determination to make it her career. She has been accepted into the Julliard School in New York where she intends to major in cello performance.

Admission: US$5.00 [free to Red Carpet Members – and students]

AUGUST [PROVISIONAL]

Thursday 1 August Prometheus

Friday 2 August Lusitania School presents ‘Shrek’

Saturday 3 August The Phoenix Choir: ‘Those Good Old Days’

Thursday 8 August A United Kingdom

Friday 9 August La dame aux camélias

Thursday 15 August Woman in Gold

Friday 16 August Smetana: The Bartered Bride

[The visit by Chisipite School has been postponed.]