Dick Whittington is a show which gets better and better as the story unfolds, from the brilliant cast to the amazing set designs, the show combines the latest in chart music, theatrics to of course the expected classical panto silliness and gags.

The cast this year features a whole load of stars, including American star and former singer of Three Degrees, Sheila Ferguson playing the graceful Fairy Oatcakes. Gracing the stage in a sparkly silver and purple dress she brings wit and humour to this much loved panto character. A high point of the whole night has to be her effortless musical rendition of When Will I See You Again.

But that’s if the audience could possibly forget the hilarious performance of The Good Ship Lollipop by comedian Christian Patterson playing Dick’s mother, Sarah the Cook.

He steals the show with not only his flamboyant and oversized costumes but creates the funniest jokes that have the audience in stitches.

 The relationship between Patterson and Wilkes on stage is truly magical and throughout the show the pair breaks out in uncontrollable spontaneous laughter.

Pete Conway, the father of none other than Stokes’ former Take That member, Robbie, plays the character of Alderman FitzWilliams and model Amy Diamond plays his sweet and innocent daughter, Alice FitzWilliams who falls in love with our hero Dick.

Of course no panto is complete without a villain, someone who the crowd love to hate and boo on and off stage. This year’s lovable villain King Rat is played by the extremely talented Steven Serlin accompanied by cousins Aaron and Andrew Corden as his break dancing henchmen.

Stokes’ top talent winner Su Annagib plays the sultry and demanding sultana of Morocco and Kayleigh McIntyre plays Whittington’s best friend, the loveable Tommy the Cat.

Dick Whittington is a must see, it will have you laughing from start to finish and will take you back to your childhood days and what you loved so much about the spirit of pantomime. Suitable for all the family it makes a great night out. You can catch Dick Whittington at the Regent Theatre, Hanley, from now until the 10th January 2010.

Twilight: New Moon

Starting last Sunday night at midnight, hundreds of fans flocked to cinemas nationwide to catch the eagerly anticipated New Moon, the latest instalment to the Twilight saga.

Countless adolescent and young women packed film theatres up and down the country desperate to discover the next chapter in Bella and Edwards epic love story. It was also a nice surprise to see a large turnout in male audience who had come to enjoy the action scenes and superb visual effects.

Six minutes longer, it’s hard to decide on a favourite scene, from the heartbreak of Bella and Edward to the visually stunning fight scenes or the countless shirtless moments of vampire and werewolf. 

Twilight is a series of four-vampire based fantasy love novels written by American author Stephanie Meyer. It charts the ups and downs of lead character Isabella “Bella” Swan played by actress Kristen Stewart  as she falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen played by the gorgeous Robert Pattinson. At a family meal to celebrate Bella’s birthday, a member of Edward’s family tries to attack Bella, unable to deal with the guilt Edward decides Bella would be safer if he left her forever.

Devastated by Edwards decision to leave, the film scenes become darker and slower, Bella is tormented by the absence of her lover experiencing nightmares, going through months of solitude and locking herself away from society. To pull her from her solace she turns to her best friend Jacob Black played by actor Jake Lautner.

However, instead of friendship a new relationship begins to blossom between the two of them. The film again picks up pace like it did before and the film keeps interest as Bella becomes an adrenaline junkie and Jacob too seems to be guarding a secret.

When Jacob tells Bella he would never leave her and then the following day completely disappears obviously Bella is left feeling confused and abandoned the story begins to speed up extremely quickly and almost feels as though the ending has been rushed to fit the two hour time frame.

Bella quickly learns of Jacobs werewolf secret after he defends her from the rest of the pack in a spectacular fight scene. But it’s not long before Edward returns to the story, Edwards’s sister returns to tell Bella they thought she was dead and to inform her that Edward was in trouble.

From here the film adapts the Romeo and Juliet love story, with Edward wanting to kill himself unable to deal with the loss of Bella, and Bella being 100% alive races to Italy to try to save Edwards life before it’s too late.

The film overall I feel lacked in pace and was often slow and difficult to follow the storyline, especially for those who had not read the previous novels.

The actors gave strong performances, and were convincing in the characters they were bringing to the big screen. If you are not careful it’s difficult not to get caught up in the fantasy of the film and to completely forget about the incredible visual effects combined with the dark and dramatic lighting used.

The first movie Twilight raked in $250million at the Box office and if Twilight fans have anything to do with it the sequel will smash that, with many diehard fans vowing to see it more than five times despite what any critique has to say.

Armed with their carnage t-shirts, glasses and knee high socks students from Staffordshire, Keele and Manchester Metropolitan Universities braved the rain to enjoy the event.

The event organised by Carnage UK has been hailed as one of the UK’s number one students night out, but the event has been criticised in the past by numerous student unions and has been condemned by the National Union of Students.

A call for a crackdown on Carnage came after student, Philip Laing, was filmed urinating on a war memorial in Sheffield.  

However despite these concerns last night’s event was hailed as a success and trouble free, with no incidents or arrests made.

Revellers were in high spirits and made the most of the student only event.

 Nicola Smith aged 20 a student from MMU said: “Carnage is a great event, I have attended two of this year’s events, it’s a great idea for students from all different universities to meet and basically have a good night.”

The sold out event charges £8 for the iconic Carnage t-shirt which gained clubbers entry into several of the town’s bars including Walkabout, Revolution and Liquid nightclub.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Fish out those fishnets, buff up your basque and sharpen those stilettos as the raunchiest musical around opened its doors for the first time last night, yes the Rocky Horror Picture Show is back at Hanley’s Regent theatre this week.

The Rocky Horror has been delighting audiences for more than three decades offering people the chance to escape the 9-5 grind and dress up extravagantly, and I’m pleased to say that Stoke-on-Trent did just that, from French maids to squeaky clean sweethearts Brad and Janet. At least half the audience hand turned out in costume, and most had gone to some considerable effort.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan or completely new to the whole experience you will be guaranteed to be entertained.

From the moment the stage curtain rose the audience were on their feet and it pretty much stayed that way throughout the whole performance, singing along to Damn it Janet and of course the pelvic thrusting  Time Warp.

The Rocky Horror Show plotline needs little introduction. If you’re a fan you probably know the script inside out but if you’re not you don’t know what you are missing.

David Bedella returned to the regent theatre once again to play the role of the extravagant Frank ‘n’ Furter. Bedella made the role his own and often broke into uncontrollable laughter alongside the energetic audience.

The role of innocent sweet heart Janet was played by ex-Emmerdale actress Haley Flaherty. Despite her well known character on the soap she managed to persuade audiences that she could capture the character of Janet with her strong vocal ability.

But it was Christopher Biggins who received the loudest cheers of the evening in his role as the narrator.

One diehard fan who had already previously seen the show twice, and that was this week alone told me:
“I have come to see previous performances in previous years of Rocky Horror, and this years performance is the best, they have got it spot on with the choice cast, they all bring the magic of this classic musical to life in such a way i have never seen before.”

Rocky Horror runs until the 3rd October at the Regent Theatre, Hanley.

A chip pan fire, image from Flickr

FIRE safety in student accomodation has been in the spotlight this week after Stafford Fire crew was called out to two seperate incidents at Stafford and Keele University campus.

Staffordshire Fire and rescue service is holding a fire demonstration day at Staffordshire University’s Stafford campus at Beaconside today (4th December).

The day long event, outside the university halls of residence aimed to highlight fire safety within halls of residence and private rentals.

The event included simulations of chip pan fires.

Latest fire statistics reveal that the number of people aged 17 to 24 killed in accidental house fires in England increased by 14% in 2006 to 2007.

Jonathan Wilkes

THE streets of Stoke-on-Trent were paved with gold for Dick Whittington fans when the panto stars came to town.

Jonathan Wilkes, Sheila Ferguson, Christian Patterson and Stoke’s Top Talent winner Su Annagib were signing autographs at the Potteries Centre last night (December 3).

Jonathan, the singer and TV presenter who plays the lead role of Dick Whittington, said: “My favourite thing is coming back home to Stoke-on-Trent and seeing my friends and family and getting on stage to make people laugh.”

This will be his fifth consecutive pantomime after appearing in Mother Goose, Aladdin, Cinderella and last year playing the character of Muddles in Snow White.

“This year we have upped the stakes and tried to make sure we have the best show in the country, I have thrown my heart and soul into it,” he added.

Performances of Dick Whittington start on December 10 and run until January 10 at the Regent Theatre, Hanley.

You can check out my interview with Jonathan Wilkes at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/schools/art_and_design/journalism/staffslive/wordpress/2009/12/04/fans-meet-stoke-on-trent-panto-stars/

RAIL passengers across Staffordshire are to face yet another increase to fare prices when travelling across the west-midlands in the new-year.

Rail Company London Midlands has annouced plans to increase fare prices by an average of 1.2% across all tickets on the London Midland network.

In addition to the annual fare increase, rail firm London Midland is to charge its passengers more for travelling during the afternoon rush hour.

Ticket prices are cheaper for travel after 9.30am.

Under the new plans rail passengers will pay peak prices if travelling between 16.35 and 18.00.

The changes are due to come into force on 2 January 2010.

London Midlands operates in 12 stations across Staffordshire including Stoke station and Stafford, providing a service from Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston stations.

Business man Philip Tillman, 42 said: “No i definitly do not think that the prices should increase, I think this is a national issue, train prices are either a, to expensive or b, to complicated to save money.”

Sarne Rushton, 45, from Tunstall told Staffslive: “I don’t think people will use London Midland trains if the prices do increase, simply because London Midland does take longer.”

The price increase is another blow to rail passengers as yesterday Virgin Trains were accused of trying to sneak in fare rises by cutting off-peak travel and chaarging more for prime-time journeys.

Virgin Trains refused to comment.

Beth Tweddle

WORLD Champion gymnast Beth Tweddle will make an appearance at an annual Gymnastics show this weekend (November 21st).

Beth will be guest of honour tomorrow at Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Fenton to present the club’s Gym Mark Award and give a speech about her career to other gymnasts from across the city.
“I’m really looking forward to being involved with the gymnastics show, and if there’s any advice I can offer to help young athletes take the next step in the sport then I’m only to happy to help,” said Beth.
“Sometimes the best way to learn is through experience and I think it’s important the lessons  I’ve learned in my career I should pass on.”
Beth  has had an impressive career in Gymnastics becoming the 2009 World Champion in floor; she also was the first gymnast from Britain ever to win a medal at the World and European Championships.
Councillor Derek Capey, cabinet member for sport and leisure, added: “Beth is a tremendous athlete and an excellent ambassador for British gymnastics.
“Stoke-on-Trent is home to one of the most successful gymnastic centre in the region, and our instructors are enthusiastic, professional and of high standard.
“We’re really happy to have Beth here and I hope she enjoys the day as much as the young people taking part do.”

image from naturenet.net / Matthew Chatfield

FUEL prices are set to cause misery for motorists during the festive season by soaring to almost £5 a gallon.

The average price of unleaded across Staffordshire is 108.5p per litre – 22p more than it was at the start of the year.
And for the price of diesel, motorists are likely to see fuel creep up to around 110p per litre, or £4.95 a gallon.
The increase is the third hike in fuel duty since December last year.
According to figures released by petrolprices.com, the cheapest petrol in North Staffordshire is found at Shell’s garage in Cobridge Road, Hanley, where unleaded is 105p per litre.
A shell worker, who did not want to be named, said: “We have noticed a change in the volume of customers using our garage, but the prices change nearly every morning so they could be different again tomorrow.”
Some stations are already forecasting a decrease in trade as people try to preserve fuel.
Student motorist Stephen Stringer said: “I am probably still going to pay for it because I hate waiting for the bus. The government need to sort it out.”