This Is London 25 October 2019

10
Wimbledon Choral Society.
GOLDILOCKS & THE THREE BEARS
LONDON PALLADIUM PANTOMIME
Qdos Entertainment’s London
Palladium Pantomime 2019 will be
Goldilocks and the Three Bears, with
Janine Duvitski playing Mummy Bear,
Sophie Isaacs in the title role of
Goldilocks and Lauren Stroud as Baby
Bear. Performances begin at the London
Palladium on Saturday 7 December for
a 5-week run until Sunday 12 January.
They join Paul O’Grady as Baron Von
Savage, Matt Baker as Joey the Clown,
season regulars Julian Clary as The
Ringmaster, Paul Zerdin as Silly Billy,
Nigel Havers as Daddy Bear and Gary
Wilmot as Dame Betty Barnum and a
series of speciality acts.
WIMBLEDON CHORAL SOCIETY
PERFORM CARMINA BURANA
The latest spectacular concert from
Wimbledon Choral Society, ‘one of the
most substantial and formidable choirs in
London’, will take place in the elegant
surroundings of Cadogan Hall in Sloane
Square on Saturday 2 November (19.30).
Top of the bill is Carmina Burana, by
20th century German composer Carl
Orff, a rumbustious, rollercoaster ride
through the pleasures and pitfalls of life
in all its glory and misery. From love
and rejection to drinking, gluttony and
gambling, the texts may be medieval but
the themes are universal and thoroughly
up to date. From the monumental
opening chorus ‘O Fortuna’, the wheel of
Fortune spins dizzily towards the
inevitable climax.
Wimbledon Choral Society has a
well-deserved reputation as a top
London choir, under its inspirational
music director, Neil Ferris. It won
widespread critical acclaim earlier this
year for its performance at the Royal
Festival Hall of the world premiere of top
British choral composer Cecilia
McDowall’s Da Vinci Requiem, marking
the 500th anniversary of the death of
Leonardo da Vinci.
‘The Wimbledon Choral Society were
magnificent. Nothing seemed out of
place – the women angelic, the men
monastic – the intonation and timing
exquisite. Neil Ferris controlled the
chorus, soloists and Philharmonia
impeccably.’ – Opera Today.
Ferris is much in demand as a
professional choral conductor, at home
and internationally. He made his
Proms conducting debut in August,
with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and
BBC Symphony Chorus, of which he is
Chorus Master. On Saturday he joins the
choir fresh from his latest series of
conducting masterclasses in Singapore
and China.
Wimbledon Choral Society are joined
for Carmina Burana by one of the top
youth choirs in the world, Farnham Youth
Choir. FYC and their conductor Joanna
Tomlinson triumphed at the European
Choir Games in Gothenburg, Sweden
earlier this year, taking two gold medals.
They will also perform highlights from
their medal-winning repertoire.
The stellar artistic line-up also
includes Australian soprano Helena Dix,
who took Melbourne by storm in
September in the role of Norma at
Melbourne Opera House, as well as the
celebrated award-winning ensemble,
Backbeat Percussion.
Tickets from the Box Office telephone
020 7730 4500.
Sophie Isaacs as Goldilocks.
Dame Betty Barnum and her daughter
Goldilocks’ circus is under threat from
an evil rival circus owner and, with the
help of their madcap circus friends,
they’re battling to rescue their Big Top
from ruin. Will they succeed? All seems
lost, until three brilliant Bears join the
gang... Roll up, roll up to see panto join
the circus, and be swept away by a
London Palladium spectacular that’s just
right, at the home of pantomime!
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is
produced by Nick Thomas and Michael
Harrison for Qdos Entertainment. For
tickets telephone 020 7087 7747.
Photo: Image 1st.
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