This Is London 16 May 2019

10
Photos: Crown Copyright.
THE HOUSEHOLD DIVISION BEATING
RETREAT ON HORSE GUARDS PARADE
The Household Division Beating
Retreat is a traditional musical
extravaganza which showcases the very
best of British military music, ceremonial
and pageantry in the heart of London.
These annual concerts are performed on
Horse Guards Parade in front of the
beautiful backdrop of St James’s Park
each year on the Wednesday and
Thursday evenings preceding the Queen’s
Birthday Parade, or ‘Trooping The Colour’
as it is often called.
Military Beating Retreat concerts have a
long tradition dating back to the 1690s.
Originally the beating of the drum was
used to order troops to break off fighting
and withdraw to the safety of camp as
darkness fell, later it signalled the closing
of the camp gates at the end of the day
and called troops back to base for the
night. Today, a Beating Retreat is an
evening military concert with a marching
display and usually marks the lowering of
the Regimental flag at sunset. Soldiers of
the Household Division are instantly
recognisable through their distinctive
uniforms and headdress and have a
history spanning over three centuries.
Invariably described as London at its
finest, the Household Division Beating
Retreat cannot be seen anywhere else in
the world and is a not to be missed event.
Beating Retreat 2019 is on 5 & 6 June at
20.00. tickets.householddivision.org.uk
TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL
MAN OF LA MANCHA
Performances of the first West End
production of the multi-Tony awardwinning
Broadway musical Man of La
Mancha for 50 years continue at the
London Coliseum until Saturday 8 June.
Man of La Mancha stars Kelsey
Grammer, Danielle de Niese, Nicholas
Lyndhurst, Peter Polycarpou and
Cassidy Janson. Featuring the iconic
song ‘Dream the Impossible Dream’,
Man of La Mancha is inspired by Miguel
de Cervantes’s masterpiece Don Quixote.
It is produced by Michael Linnit and
Michael Grade, the same team who
brought to the Coliseum the smash hit
productions of Sweeney Todd, Sunset
Boulevard, Carousel and Chess.
Man of La Mancha is directed by
Lonny Price, who directed Linnit and
Grade’s acclaimed production of Sunset
Boulevard at the Coliseum, as well as its
hugely successful Broadway transfer.
Emmy award winning and Tony
nominated actor Kelsey Grammer makes
his West End debut playing Miguel de
Cervantes and Don Quixote, and
international opera star Danielle de
Niese shares the role of Aldonza and
Dulcinea with Cassidy Jonson.
Photo: Manuel Harlan.
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