![]() ![]() We’re building something special at Magic Radio and our new brand set-up is stretching our appeal across a widespread demographic for consumers and commercial partners alike. Tony Moorey, group content director of Magic Radio, said: “Magic of the Musicals is the first of its kind as the official casts of the biggest and best West End shows come together for one night only and our subsequent partnership with the Olivier’s offers the perfect content to launch Mellow Magic to the nation. Meanwhile, the Magic Radio Network has been asking its listeners to vote for their favourite West End Show for a special Olivier’s Magic Radio Audience Award which will be revealed on the night of the awards. Mellow Magic will exclusively broadcast live from the awards, which take place on 3 May from The Royal Opera House in London. The partnership with the Olivier Awards 2016 with MasterCard will see it run a series of special programming, live coverage and joint activity. ![]() There will be contributions from Elaine Paige, Sheila Hancock, Julia McKenzie, Sir Matthew Bourne, Ruthie Henshall, Zoë Wanamaker and Michael Ball. People will always compare these adaptations to the BBC's, I did myself, but try to enjoy them without the comparisons, there'd have been no point making them identically, so plaudits for trying something different, sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.In the build up to ‘Magic of the Musicals’ event on 23 May, the Mellow Magic station will mark the 40th year of the Oliver’s with a four-part documentary series, set to be narrated by actress Imelda Staunton. She also starred in the original London productions of the Sondheim musicals Follies and Into the Woods. The acting throughout the series was excellent, it was the writers and producers that made the episodes great or poor. A six-time Olivier Award nominee, she has twice won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the 1982 revival of Guys and Dolls and the 1993 revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. You need to watch these adaptations with an open mind, purists of Christie's work are likely to watch with unease. The music was a little overdone at times, more so in Series 1, but a lot of the time it was enjoyable and melodic, The Body in the Library and Murder is Easy being better examples. The period detail was spot on so many times, in terms of outfits and styling they nailed it, Bertram's wasn't my favourite adaptation but it's a beautiful looking episode, the sets and clothes are sumptuous. Glorious scenery throughout, I loved the house that was used as Miss Marple's residence, such a pretty place. The only time I felt the acting was in question was during 'Evans,' for that one I blame the script and poor direction. The performance highlights came from Zoe Wannamaker, Sharon Small, Shirley Henderson and Fiona Shaw. ![]() They seemed to take a few risks when it came to casting, we had Elaine Page, Griff Rhys Jones, Harry Enfield, Lisa Stansfield, all actually worked brilliantly, cast against type. McKenzie was more accurate to the character in my opinion, and when the writing was good, she shone, wonderful in both The Pale Horse and Blue Geranium. McEwan was unable to return for series 4, so Julia McKenzie was cast to take over. Initially we had Geraldine McEwan, pretty different to the character from the book, but cheeky with a sparkle, and a spry sense of humour. They weren't afraid to add Jane Marple to Christie books where she hadn't appeared, in some cases it worked brilliantly, The Pale Horse and Greenshaw's Folly being about the best. Adaptations ranged from fairly accurate, A Pocket full of Rye and A Murder is announced, to wildly re written, Nemesis perhaps being the most altered. Why didn't they ask Evans and The Sittaford Mystery being the low points, with brilliance coming from the likes of The Blue Geranium, A Murder is announced and The Moving Finger. It's a very difficult series to rate, because the productions ranged from awful to wonderful. Julia McKenzie played the Witch, and Jacqueline. I was absolutely gutted when the BBC regained the rights of Agatha Christie from ITV, there were still a few stories that could have been done to feature Miss M, The Seven dials mystery being one. The show won Olivier Awards for Jones's direction and Imelda Staunton's performance as the Baker's Wife. ![]()
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