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The Mayflower reveals an incomparable late summer and early autumn lineup that involves large shows of Oklahoma, Les Misérables, and also the Magic of Motown, along with two runs of Faulty Towers the dining experience, and a whole host of other shows and especially themed evenings. The Mayflower is unique in being the initial successful theatre organization in Southampton. The reasons for this no doubt to do with its incredible and really advanced range of shows which are continuously on. This year is no exception, since the Mayflower boasts a great number and range of thrilling productions, running from big budget musicals and plays, to intimate comedic one man or woman acts to specifically themed events. In the interesting category of major name, big budget musicals and plays, the Mayflower offers a variety of classics and newly well-known offerings. Included in these are Oklahoma, Les Misérables, and also the Magic of Motown. Oklahoma, that stars Marti Webb and Mark Evans, is playing Tuesday the seventeenth via to Saturday the twenty-first of August. This particular touring version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical is produced through the creators of the massive hits Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, South Pacific, and Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Everybody in the family is sure to love the story famously set within the Western Frontier of America taking place in the time of conflict between the cattlemen and farmers. The Mayflower is also very pleased to welcome the twenty-fifth anniversary production of Les Misérables, which is the world’s longest running musical of all time. It will be at the Mayflower for just three weeks, from Tuesday, August 24th via Saturday, September 11th. The brilliant all new cast is led by London’s West End and Broadway star John Owen Jones, who has been commended by the New York Post since the really finest Jean Valjean since the days of Colm Wilkinson, and also graced through the West End stars such as Gareth Gates who plays Marius and Earl Carpenter who plays Javert. Lastly within the category of large spending budget stage musicals is the Magic of Motown, presenting the greatest Motown live tribute concert ever. In this stunning production, music of Diana Ross and also the Supremes, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, Lionel Richie, Marvin Gaye, Martha Reeves and scores of others is featured. This show features literally dozens of stunning costumes, a gorgeously choreographed cast, and fully thirty-six memorable hits from the sixties, seventies, and eighties. It will play 1 night only, on Tuesday, September 14th. For one man comedians and acts, the Mayflower outperforms once again. Jethro will carry out his Too Late To Grow Up show on Thursday, September 16th. Sean Lock will carry out his signature Lockipedia on Saturday, September 18th. Lisa Williams, the globally known psychic and clairvoyant, will appear on Sunday, September 19th. A special gift in the coming months is Faulty Towers, the Dining Experience. This well-known and long running television display turned touring musical makes two stops since the first appearance quickly sold out. It goes at the Mayflower from Tuesday October 12th through Thursday October14, too as from Thursday October 21st through Tuesday October 26th. Finally, two seasonal themed events will be presented in the coming months. The Ghost Hunt and Buffet Evening will take location on Friday, September 24th, although the murder mystery Better by Nun happens on Saturday, October 30th. Once once again, the Mayflower displays its uncanny capability to keep the crowds in Southampton coming back for much more. Discover much more information about what’s going on at the Mayflower Theatre

Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which topped in the top 10 of the Poster advertisement 2 hundred chart and features the Poster advertisement hot hundred hit single “Pon de Replay”. Less than a year later on she released her 2nd studio album, A Girl Like Me ( 2006 ), which topped in the top 5 of the Poster advertisement albums chart. In a controversial move, Rihanna also poses with what looks like a heavy metal rifle, pointing it upward in the pictures. ‘Everything is trapped round the concept of something army. We have tanks, we have troops, we have got ‘copters, we have got explosions. We have got masses of lovable outfits, lots of bullets. It’s crazy.’ Rihanna established her dance-pop testimonials in summer 2005 with her debut top hit, “Pon de Replay,” and continued to show such hit potential in successive years ( e.g, “S.O.S.” in 2006 ; “Umbrella” in 2007 ; “Disturbia” in 2008 ). Police were called following her savage aatack by C Brown and Rihanna was given treatment for her wounds. But just weeks later on Rihanna made the choice to take Chris back while they worked on their issues. Fans around the planet were less than impressed with that selection. The majority worried for her safety. Just click here if you’d like to get see her video called ‘Hard’ ( questionable ).

Following jam bands is a blast because of the music, places you see and cool people you meet. Jam band journals are great ways to keep track of your shows.

Jam Band Journals

Undoubtedly, the Grateful Dead was the greatest jam band in history, but others such as String Cheese Incident have carried on the tradition. Whatever your favorite band is, think back to the last show you saw. What sticks out in your mind? Now think about the first time you ever saw the band. Do you remember the set, people you met and so on? Probably not. The experiences you’ve forgotten are lost to time. If you had kept a jam band journal, this wouldn’t be the case.

There are famous instances of people keeping journals throughout time. Of course, Anne Frank’s Diary is the best example. In her diary, Anne kept a running commentary of the two years her family spent hiding from the Nazis. While your show experiences better be more lighthearted, keeping a journal will let you remember them as the years pass.

A good jam band journal combines a number of characteristics. First, it should be compact so you don’t have to take up unnecessary space for other things. Second, it should have a case to protect it from the elements. Third, the journal should contain blank areas to write email address, phone numbers and set lists. Fourth, the journal should contain cue spaces to remind you to keep notes on specific things. Cues should include:

1. Set list,

2. Location and directions,

3. Accommodations and camping information, if any,

4. People you met, email addresses and phone numbers,

5. Grub and grog,

6. High points of the show, and

7. Any unique things that occurred.

As the shows add up, you’ll be able to look back through your journal to past shows, find information to locate people and generally laugh yourself silly about things that happened. Don’t lose your experiences to time.

Rick Chapo is with www.nomadjournals.com - makers of writing journals. Visit www.nomadjournaltrips.com/festival.cfm to see festival and music journals.

Although they’re quite popular in their native England, electropop group La Roux are still trying to make a name for themselves on this side of the pond. They are well aware that it’s going to take a lot of work if they want to enjoy the same level of fame they’ve found in the U.K. the level of fame that allows them to book shows as big as the Glastonbury Festival.

“You come to America and you start from scratch again it’s not like you come over here and you’re the same that you are in the U.K.; you can’t expect that,” frontwoman Elly Jackson told MTV News. “So you come over here and you start again, and you start doing the same kind of press that you did six months ago in the U.K. You have to work it again.”

But they aren’t looking for overnight success and fame in any country like many bands before them, they have been the subject of what Jackson calls “overhype.”

“There’s a lot of hype involved, for sure this year has been the year of overhype. We’ve been overhyped … and I think everyone gets overhyped,” she explained. “People express this, like, massive fascination in something when they’ve heard, like, half a demo, or been to one show. And it’s like, ‘Hang on a minute, let’s see how the year goes and then hype them.’ “

And while the band wear their ’80s dance-pop influences on their sleeves, they don’t want you to start throwing around Lady Gaga comparisons just yet. Jackson thinks that’s “really lazy.”

“Obviously we knew that dance music was coming more into the pop arena, but I didn’t know about acts like Lady Gaga, or Little Boots, or Ladyhawke when we were making the record, so it’s not like we were aware that we were going to be part of this ‘new wave,’ ” she said. “But it is frustrating it is lazy when they go, ‘Oh, it’s got a synth, it’s ’80s’ … we’re not trying to deny it, but you don’t want to talk about it over and over again.

“We’ve taken a lot of influence from the ’80s,” she said. “But hopefully we’ve made something new out of that.”

CD and a href=”http://toronto-cd-duplication.com/”>DVD Duplication

Duplication is the process of burning data from a master copy onto a blank CD-r or DVD-r exactly the same way one would do in your PC but instead of doing them one by one bulk copiers are used. As this process is a lot simpler the run lengths can be a lot shorter. Also, the lead-time will be a lot quicker. In many instances the CD or DVD duplication can be done on the same day depending on how many burners the company has available. In fact some companies can burn up to thousands in a day. An extra advantage is if the artwork to be printed on the disc is ready before the data and the disc can be burnt when the data becomes available, this is difficult with replicated discs. The only disadvantage with this process is that you can tell it is a CD-R or DVD-R as the recording surface has a hue to it this is an organic dye that the laser burns the data into and some people take a dislike to this even though it plays the same. You can get around this with CD-Rs by choosing diamond discs which used a silver dye and is nearly impossible to tell the difference unless you know what you are looking for.

Disadvantage of duplication.

Not cost effective on larger runs

People might think it is unprofessional compared to replicated disc.

The brilliant Need4 Video Converter can convert your best videos in the DV AVI format to AVI. This can let them be played on your computer, along with other mobile devices, cell phones or exhibited on video sharing files. You can convert DV AVI videos to AVI right away. The video conversion software can meet any requirements.If you only wish to convert a samll part of the clip, or the whole video clip or audio extract in one go, Need4 Video can handle it.

Step A. Launch

First of all you will need a video converter program, such as a Need4 Video Converter.

Download it and follow the following steps.

Step B. Add DV AVI Video To Converter

The selected file will be added to the list of opened files.

Step C. Select Output Format

Step D. Specify Folder to Save Video

Step E. Select a Video Segment to Convert

• When opening the window, you can drag the left marker to the start of the video episode you want with the right marker at the end.

Step F. Hit Convert to Save DV AVI Video to AVI

• It is best to be certain that, in the List of opened files, you can check the added video file.
• Then hit Convert to convert it to AVI

Need4 Video offer their customers the finest video convsersion programs to meet any needs.

The history of the theater is a long and illustrious one. We’re not going to bore you with the historical time line of what show came out when and who stared in it. You can get that info just about anywhere. What we’d like to do in this review of one of the most wonderful forms of entertainment is touch on some of the greatest moments and how they have forever changed how we look at the world of entertainment itself. The theater has had a great impact on our lives and the many things we do in our lives. Let’s face it, there is just nothing like seeing performers right up there on stage, live, right before your eyes. If you think that’s an overstatement then you’ve obviously never been to the theater.

You can go all the way back to the mid 1950s when a young girl by the name of Julie Andrews made her debut in the London production of “My Fair Lady”, a play based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Her electrifying performance as Eliza Doolittle, the poor Cockney gal who couldn’t speak proper English if her life depended on it, made her a household name overnight and began a career that would span over 40 years until she sadly lost her voice due to serious throat problems.

Looking for something a little more recent? How about the very first legitimate musical of the 1960s to feature nudity? We are of course talking about the 1969 production of “Hair”. This was a play that literally changed pop music altogether. Never in the history of Broadway has one play had as many hit pop records as “Hair”. This play featured such great hits as “Hair”, “Easy To Be Hard”, “Good Morning Starshine” and the number 1 song of 1969, “Aquarius”. Because of the great music in this play, careers for “Three Dog Night”, “The 5th Dimension”, “The Cowsills” and “Oliver” were launched into orbit. Talk about an impact on the music world.

Then of course there was the amazing rock opera of the Who, “Tommy”. This play was an epic of a musical masterpiece itself and not only put the Who firmly on the map as future rock and roll hall of famers, but also set the stage for a number of recording stars to capitalize on the success of “Tommy” itself. As great as the Who’s version of “Pinball Wizard” was, who could ever forget the late 70s remake by Elton John? Tommy will always be one of the greatest moments in theater history ever.

But if you want a single defining moment in theater history that chilled an entire world and put a single man on the map as a living legend, one need go no farther than Michael Crawford’s haunting rendition of “Music Of The Night” from “Phantom Of The Opera”. This is said to be one of the greatest musical performances of all time. And rightly so. To this day it has been said that nobody played this part like Crawford.

These few examples only scratch the surface of a form of entertainment that has captivated and mesmerized us for many years and will no doubt continue to do so for many more years to come.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Entertainment

Violin was not the instrument of choice when I was a child.

Swing and Jazz violin had expired, country fiddle was twangy, and classical violin was viewed as stuffy. According to popular belief of my classmates, violinists were cloistered away in dusty classical conservatories and doomed to a life of boring music written by “old dead guys with wigs.” Kids who played violin were pitied for an apparent lack of “cool factor” in MTV’s “totally awesome” 1980’s Generation X culture.

With nothing to lose but friends, I joined forces with all the other orchestral revolutionaries of the time and enrolled in “Beginner Orchestra” in middle school. Though our beginnings were humble, young violinists would create a new role for violin in popular music and have essentially brought violin back from the grave!

How did we do that? We practiced and practiced. And we added something new to the mix.

In years past young musicians have taken music to new levels of creativity and popularity. Elvis’ Gospel roots helped him bring 12-bar-blues to 1950’s teen culture, soon to become to most-known performer of all time. The Beatles made Liverpool skiffle rock a template for some of the best music of the century. Such young innovators have always been in the forefront of new genres.

In the early 90s Celtic music was coming into the scene and we took an instant liking to it. It was new and fresh, yet it was as old as our heritage. Having been trained to play and read violin music, a simple Irish jig was a walk in the park. However, we added something to Celtic music that wasn’t as present before: Attitude.

Irish fiddle is traditionally played softly, sweetly and lyrically. The bow gently lilts across the strings, never creating the “grind” new players bring out. Our new technique is raw and assertive and so much fun to play!

Donning a kilt and old combat boots, Nova Scotian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac stomps and thrashes as he plays. He said, “When I go out and do my live show I present the image of angry young man… It’s angst or punk and that’s what the Celts were, punks.”

Other young Canadian fiddlers have been equally successful in the aggressive new Celtic movement. Richard Wood’s swift step-dancing and fiddling keeps the crowds at their target heart level. Natalie MacMaster’s feminine charm mixed with intense and gritty fiddle solos has helped her earn a gold record and several music awards. Bands like “Leahy” and “Barrage” put on shows that sell out in hours.

Ten years ago our fiddle generation was still in school, playing violin and searching for an identity. We took the opportunity to personalize a timeless style of music and brought the violin back into popular culture. In fact, violin is the most demanded instrument lately, especially among teens.

Just imagine a world where peer pressure means convincing your friends to practice violin? As a violin teacher I’d sure love to see that.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years. Rhiannon, age 29, has worn the hats of events promoter, classical music radio host and school orchestra music arranger in rural British Columbia, Canada. Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her comittment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies. http://www.fiddleheads.ca provides a rich resource of information on her school, violin, products for sale and her many writings. Rhiannon is Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society http://www.violinsociety.ca She dedicates much of her time to community music projects and helping young musicians in financial need. Rhiannon currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and has been featured in Australia’s “Music Teacher Magazine.” Writing allows her to be a creative “smart-ass” and to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be!

Playing your saxophone in tune with others in your band requires much more than simply playing a reference note into a tuner and adjusting the mouthpiece on the instrument. In order to really understand the tuning process and how best to tune your saxophone it helps to know the physics behind the sound that you produce while playing. When we are talking about physics and the saxophone we are dealing in the realm of invisible vibrations called sound waves.

To better understand these sound waves it helps to think about a guitar string. When you pluck a note on a guitar the string vibrates at a specific rate or “frequency.” The length of this string dictates what frequency the string will vibrate at. By moving your finger up and down the fretboard you can change the pitch to any of a dozen or so pitches. Now think about a fretless guitar. Instead of a dozen pitches you could potentially have hundreds of pitches, each very slightly different that the other. Saxphones behave in this same way but use a vibrating column of air instead of a vibrating string.

When you add or subtract fingers on the saxophone you are changing the overall length of the tube, creating shorter or longer sound waves in the process. Many things can affect this resultant wave. A key that is not adjusted properly can partially close over an open hole causing all notes above that key to be slightly flat. Likewise a key that is left open when it should be closed can make other notes out of tune or at the very least sound less focused.

Two saxophones that are not perfectly tuned to each other will always vibrate at different frequencies even when playing the same note. When two sound waves of the exact same frequency are played together they reinforce each other creating a stronger, more pleasing overall sound. When two pitches are slightly out of tune they occasionally collide with each other causing a disturbance in the combined wave form. This phenomena creates audible “beats” or bumps in what the listener hears. Each bump in the combined sound is literally the two sound waves slamming into each other. It is often easier to understand this process by seeing it visually. Take a look at the examples shown at http://library.thinkquest.org/19537/Physics.html.

As a saxophone player it should be your goal to learn how to play your instrument in perfect tune. Unfortunately this requires more than simply tuning your concert A or B-flat. Now that you know a little about the physics of sound however, you can begin to understand the inherent pitch problems of your saxophone and relate this to your overall performance and study routine.

Chad Criswell is an accomplished Iowa music educator. He hosts a web site dedicated specifically to music education topics of interest to students, parents, and teachers located at www.musicedmagic.com. He is also the music appreciation editor for musicappreciation.suite101.com.