SouthseaScene

Chris Ramsey has just embarked on his biggest tour to date, Is That Chris Ramsey?, culminating in a massive homecoming gig at Newcastle’s Metro Arena. The Geordie star of Comedy Central’s The Chris Ramsey Show tells Mark Wareham about life on the road and how adjusting to first-time fatherhood hasn’t stopped him from being arrested in his underpants… Hi, is that Chris Ramsey? I see what you did there. How’s the tour going? Amazing. I’ve got a big set that I love and it’s my first time with a headset mic. It’s so free. It’s the best show I’ve done yet. And it’s your biggest tour to date? Yeah. The scary thing about touring is that the venues are booked before I’ve written the show, so I’ve got the title, I’ve got the poster… You’re a bit last minute then? It’s the only way I can do it man. I was the kid at school where if you got your homework on a Thursday, I would do it on the Sunday night. I’d have it hanging over us all weekend. It’s just who I am. B...

In 1966, Southampton-born PC Anthony Gledhill of the Metropolitan police received the highest award for a civilian – the George Cross. Tony Gledhill will give a talk at The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre on Thursday 13 April at 7.45pm, in which he will explain how that award for bravery came about.   Born in 1938 in Doncaster, Tony Gledhill became a police constable with the ‘Met’. On 25 August 1966 he was out on patrol in Deptford with fellow officer PC Terence McFall, when they received instructions to check a suspicious car. The vehicle was indeed stolen, and contained five men preparing for to carry out an armed robbery.     The police gave chase, with PC Gledhill driving, as the car sped recklessly through the streets of South London on the wrong side of the road in a one-way system. The pursuit continued for five miles, with the offenders firing repeatedly at the police vehicle. When the escaping car crashed into a lorry, the occupants l...

Here's a lovely guest blog by Sally Callow It’s our 10th anniversary year and yet many readers of this blog will probably have never heard of us! The Royal Marines Association Concert Band (RMACB) is based in Portsmouth and rehearses weekly at the Royal Marines Museum. RMACB was formed in June 2006 by Chairman, Major (retd) Paddy Dunn RM and Director of Music, Captain (retd) Ted Whealing RM. The band started with 35 musicians - most being former members of the Royal Marines Band Service; a diverse mix of highly talented men and women of all ages. The band grew quickly and soon had a membership that exceeded 50 players. RMACB musicians all have a deep passion for music and that enthusiasm comes across in fantastic performances. The band performs locally at the Portsmouth Guildhall, around the south of England and London. We play around 15 concerts a year to raise funds for Royal Marines Charities. As our name suggests, we are associated with the Royal Marines Associati...

I still remember the first time I watched the Pirates of Penzance and I think it was on the stage of the New Theatre Royal in the year 2001. It was the very first production under the music direction of Colin Jagger. Larry Cunningham played the part of the Major General so memorably that I still call him Major General whenever I see him. Hopefully we will see him in the audience this week for the University of Portsmouth Dramatic and Musical Society is performing Pirates of Penzance at the New Theatre Royal from 9th to 11th March. The story goes like this...Frederic reaches his 21st birthday and tries to release himself from the life of piracy to which he was mistakenly apprenticed as a boy. Having met the girl of his dreams however, a terrible revelation is made which throws his life into confusion. Chaos ensues in the following battle between the pirates and the police in one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s most popular comedies. This production by the University of Portsmo...

Come along to this free public lecture by Dr George Burrows, Principal Lecturer for Performing Arts, University of Portsmouth, exploring a fascinating history of Portsmouth. The discovery of a programme to a performance of Handel's Messiah held in Portsmouth in 1812 opens up some important questions about recreating performances of the past.    This lecture presents that discovery and the context for a forthcoming practice-as-research concert. It frames how recreating the 1812 'Pompey' Messiah represents an opportunity to explore a vital tension between being true to the letter and to the spirit of the 1812 performance.    It also tells the story of our expanding city, a diva disguised as a nun and the evolution of a national culture of massed participation in music that continues to this day . Wednesday 1 March, 2017 4.00pm Eldon Building, Room W1.11 Admission is free but booking from Eventbrite is reco...

It was a hectic day and quite rightly so. Author Polly Morland was in town for BookFest. Speaking at the University of Portsmouth in the afternoon, Polly addressed a room full of students, academics, aspiring authors and book fans. Polly animatedly discussed her fascination with changes and what she discovered in her writing journey with her latest book, Metamorphosis. Between reading and elaborating on some of the chapters in the book, Polly was philosophical about how people are affected by changes in their lives. Big or small she was advocating for us to embrace change. We as humans are always changing, like the cells in our body. Change is built into our lives. Change can happen at any time and the interplay between internal and external agency might create the stimulus for change. This brought to mind the writing exercises I did with the Southsea Writing Group I joined last month. I wasn't expecting anything other than I thought it would be fun to meet new peop...

As appeared in Portsmouth View, 13 January 2017    According to Google, Carmentalia was the two feast days of the Roman goddess Carmenta celebrated on 11 th and 15 th January. She was celebrated for her power of looking back into the past and forward into the future. Looking back there are many events in 2016 that people would rather forget. However, there is a lot of hope pinned to a better year ahead. Let us start with a little bit of Stargazing Live and celebrate Stephen Hawking’s 75 th birthday. The man is responsible for the public fascination with the universe. A team of scientists from the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth are going to show the public their research into the universe at the event to be held in the Historic Dockyard on 31st January. Cosmologist Professor Claudia Maraston will be leading the Café Scientifique session on Tuesday 24 th January at Le Café Parisien. The free event sta...