In the Spotlight

3rd February 2012

Another busy week at Sun Fm (I'm not just saying that to impress the boss).

It wasn't all work though, we had a  bit of a night out at the Sunderland Empire to see Blood Brothers. I've seen some great shows over the years but this was amazing. I vaguely remembered the story from doing the book at school, but had never seen the stage show. Marti Pellow is playing the narrator and of course gets a lot of publicity for this but the whole cast are fabulous. In particular Sean Jones who plays Mickey is brilliant. It's a role which provides humour, drama and so much emotion and he manages to do this to great effect. Not forgetting he plays the character from a young 7 year old up to around the age of 26 and manages to portray each stage inbetween was very impressive. They say that the mark of a good production is when you forget that you are watching actors on a stage and are just taken along with the story and this is excatly what happens, people around me were quite literally on the edge of their seat leaning forward. I know I have singled out Sean, but there is not a weak link in the cast and do feel that a special mention should go to Kelly Anne Gower, not only for a great portrayal of Linda but for also for having a cracking pair of legs!! You can catch Blood Brothers at the Sunderland Empire until 11th February and I strongly urge you to go and see it even if you've seen it before, you will not be disapointed.

When we weren't at the Theatre we were working hard and I was continuing to highlight community groups through our Spotlight On Sunderland. This week we had St Aidans Drama Group. This is a group set up by and completley run by the students, which impressed me as I know what I was like at 17 and wouldn't have had a clue where to start. There is some real talent in the group and their production of Buggsy Malone will be a massive success I'm sure. If you'd like to go along to see it they are performing from 25th to 27th April at St Aidans school. I must also mention, as lots of people have pointed this out , yes the group of 17 year olds are all taller than me!! Check out the picture for yourself.

So it's the weekend anyway which is good. I'm going to a 1st birthday party on Sunday as my friends daughter turns 1. I remember when my weekends involved getting in late and nursing a hangover, how things change!!

Speak to you next week.

Posted by Mark Black at 3:35pm