Culture July 2008

Jun 24 2008

THE region goes festival mad in July and we can be thankful for that.

It brings a wealth of exciting entertainment to our doorstep - whether it be the Americana stars of SummerTyne, the street theatre at Stockton International Riverside Festival, or the jazzers bound for Whitley Bay and Durham.

There are festivals within festivals and festivals overlapping and feeding off each other - all signs of a healthy cultural infrastructure.

We will see a new bridge over the Tyne and thousands of you will see Kylie as she performs four times at Metro Radio Arena.

And speaking of things being linked and related, how many of you remember Kylie opening the Warner Bros. cinema complex at Manors, Newcastle, in the late 1980s when multiplexes where the in thing and Kylie was still best known as Charlene in Aussie soap Neighbours?

If any pub quizmaster ever asks the connection between Kylie and the Little Theatre in Gateshead, we can provide the answer.

When the Warner Bros. complex was demolished a couple of years ago, the doughty Little Theatre amateurs drove a van over and took their pick of the comfy blue seats.

This and even more fascinating stuff inside...