Monday, December 17, 2007
Liverpool Nativity: Overnight news
There is some early coverage of the Liverpool Nativity. The Liverpool Echo has an article and pictures:
City in spotlight as thousands turn out for Liverpool Nativity
Dec 17 2007 by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo
Thousands brave freezing weather for Liverpool Nativity
The second page of this is a short review of the piece by Phil Key, which also appears in the Liverpool Daily Post. The article also notes that there will be a repeat on 23 December on BBC3.
The Guardian notes that it was a ratings success:
Update (10.34): There is also a BBC Video News item with some interviews and rehearsal footage. I should also have linked to BBC3's page on the Liverpool Nativity which features rehearsal photographs and a trailer. BBC Liverpool have pictures from the event.
City in spotlight as thousands turn out for Liverpool Nativity
Dec 17 2007 by Catherine Jones, Liverpool Echo
THOUSANDS gathered to watch the Liverpool Nativity acted out on the streets of the city.The same paper declares today that the City's star is rising with further positive comments about the production. And then there is a third article:
People braved freezing temperatures to cheer, boo, sing and clap along in the BBC’s live televised event.
Crowds started arriving at William Brown Street two hours before the start of last night’s event which was beamed nationwide to TV viewers on BBC3 . . .
. . . .The hour-long production opened with the iconic image of a star shining high in the sky above Liverpool and culminated with the nativity scene brought to life to the sound of some of the city’s greatest music.
It included songs by The Beatles, Teardrop Explodes, Dead or Alive, The La’s and The Zutons.
The Bishop of Liverpool, the Rt Rev James Jones, described it as a “brilliant” live experience.
He said: “It had poignancy and the joy of the Christmas story. There were so many resonances there.”
The Liverpool Nativity sprang out of a meeting between writer Mark Davies Markham and the Bishop at Liverpool cathedral.
Mr Markham said: “I owe the story to Bishop James. All I did was fill in the dots.” . . .
Thousands brave freezing weather for Liverpool Nativity
The second page of this is a short review of the piece by Phil Key, which also appears in the Liverpool Daily Post. The article also notes that there will be a repeat on 23 December on BBC3.
The Guardian notes that it was a ratings success:
BBC3's ambitious attempt to re-create a modern day nativity on the streets of Liverpool was rewarded with more than 700,000 viewers last night.This might sound low to those unfamiliar with the British scene, but this is very good for non-networked TV. BBC3 is one of the BBC's channels only available via satellite, cable or freeview.
Liverpool Nativity, which starred Jennifer Ellison, won its slot with an average of 710,000 viewers and a multichannel share of 3.2% between 8pm and 9pm, according to unofficial overnights.
The BBC3 drama peaked with 770,000 viewers in the quarter hour from 8.15pm
Update (10.34): There is also a BBC Video News item with some interviews and rehearsal footage. I should also have linked to BBC3's page on the Liverpool Nativity which features rehearsal photographs and a trailer. BBC Liverpool have pictures from the event.
Labels: BBC, Bible Films, Liverpool Nativity
Liverpool Nativity: Comments
I watched The Liverpool Nativity and found it a laid back, enjoyable, refreshing hour's viewing. It was broadcast live from Liverpool on BBC3, at 8pm. The event was very similar to last year's Manchester Passion, the Biblical story adapted and set in a modern British city, set to music familiar from that city's recent heritage. Something like half of the music tonight was Beatles (Across the Universe, Lady Madonna, All You Need is Love, Here Comes the Sun) or Beatles related (My Sweet Lord, Imagine). And there were other Liverpool favourites like The LAs' "There She Goes" (I once went to see them live in concert!) and that Dead or Alive song, "Spinning Right Round". There were one or two I didn't recognise.
Several of the actors were familiar faces. Nerys Hughes (Liver Birds) appeared at the beginning as a sympathetic server at "The Grill" and Geoffrey Hughes (Twiggy in the Royle Family and a ton of other things) was Gabriel, also the ever present compere. He held the production together, addressing the massive assembled crowd of Liverpuddlians, acting as narrator and moving loosely in and out of character as Gabriel, and occasionally addressing those taking part via audible voice or TV screen. His narration was lightly Christian and broadly traditional but not overtly evangelistic, with references to what "the Bible" says, and drawing attention to the contemporary translation to Liverpool.
The narrative thread was fairly straightforward, a fairly even and traditional harmonizing of Matthew and Luke translated into a contemporary setting, often in interesting ways, but often without the necessary time to get properly developed, so that it raced along. The story was stronger in the first third of the piece, where we see Mary in a cheap diner, meeting her boyfriend Joseph, an asylum seeker, and finding out that she is pregnant by the holy spirit at the same time that Joseph finds out that he needs to register as an asylum seeker. They get the ferry across the Mersey, and work out their problems with further communications from Gabriel. All this was the strongest, most compelling part of the story, not least because we were allowed some insight into what Mary and Joseph were thinking, the music well chosen, and the performances very good.
In the next phase, the other characters dominated. A purple-suited local government official of some kind called Herodia was the cartoon villain, and her two or three songs were set pieces with dancers, one with the magi, who arrived in a Rolls Royce. The shepherds (singing "Imagine" -- did this represent their secular lifestyle ahead of their encounter with Jesus?) were homeless people who were addressed by Gabriel on their faltering radio, and who were joined by a handful of angels in silver suits, all of whom marched to the centre of Liverpool, where the stages, the crowds and Gabriel were located.
The narrative had a slightly rushed, going-through-the-motions feel as it resolved itself with the birth of Jesus, and a reprise of "All you need is love". But the whole production was beautifully constructed and choreographed, and remarkable for being a live performance. The quality of the singing was mostly excellent, all the more impressive given the way the characters were moving around the streets in what must have been a pretty cold evening, probably close to freezing temperatures. There was a large orchestra on one of the central stages, and for other parts, there was a small ensemble of guitar, accordian and violin. For the bigger pieces, the crowd were encouraged to sing along and unfortunately no one told Geoffrey Hughes not to join in; he sang along like your uncle at the wedding who wants to encourage everyone else but doesn't realize that he is singing off key and only occasionally knows the words.
Mary (Jody McNee) was brilliantly cast and was one of the best things in it; Joseph (Kenny Thompson) was also impressive.
These are first impressions after an initial viewing. I hope to get a chance to catch it again tomorrow and perhaps to extend and modify some of these thoughts.
Several of the actors were familiar faces. Nerys Hughes (Liver Birds) appeared at the beginning as a sympathetic server at "The Grill" and Geoffrey Hughes (Twiggy in the Royle Family and a ton of other things) was Gabriel, also the ever present compere. He held the production together, addressing the massive assembled crowd of Liverpuddlians, acting as narrator and moving loosely in and out of character as Gabriel, and occasionally addressing those taking part via audible voice or TV screen. His narration was lightly Christian and broadly traditional but not overtly evangelistic, with references to what "the Bible" says, and drawing attention to the contemporary translation to Liverpool.
The narrative thread was fairly straightforward, a fairly even and traditional harmonizing of Matthew and Luke translated into a contemporary setting, often in interesting ways, but often without the necessary time to get properly developed, so that it raced along. The story was stronger in the first third of the piece, where we see Mary in a cheap diner, meeting her boyfriend Joseph, an asylum seeker, and finding out that she is pregnant by the holy spirit at the same time that Joseph finds out that he needs to register as an asylum seeker. They get the ferry across the Mersey, and work out their problems with further communications from Gabriel. All this was the strongest, most compelling part of the story, not least because we were allowed some insight into what Mary and Joseph were thinking, the music well chosen, and the performances very good.
In the next phase, the other characters dominated. A purple-suited local government official of some kind called Herodia was the cartoon villain, and her two or three songs were set pieces with dancers, one with the magi, who arrived in a Rolls Royce. The shepherds (singing "Imagine" -- did this represent their secular lifestyle ahead of their encounter with Jesus?) were homeless people who were addressed by Gabriel on their faltering radio, and who were joined by a handful of angels in silver suits, all of whom marched to the centre of Liverpool, where the stages, the crowds and Gabriel were located.
The narrative had a slightly rushed, going-through-the-motions feel as it resolved itself with the birth of Jesus, and a reprise of "All you need is love". But the whole production was beautifully constructed and choreographed, and remarkable for being a live performance. The quality of the singing was mostly excellent, all the more impressive given the way the characters were moving around the streets in what must have been a pretty cold evening, probably close to freezing temperatures. There was a large orchestra on one of the central stages, and for other parts, there was a small ensemble of guitar, accordian and violin. For the bigger pieces, the crowd were encouraged to sing along and unfortunately no one told Geoffrey Hughes not to join in; he sang along like your uncle at the wedding who wants to encourage everyone else but doesn't realize that he is singing off key and only occasionally knows the words.
Mary (Jody McNee) was brilliantly cast and was one of the best things in it; Joseph (Kenny Thompson) was also impressive.
These are first impressions after an initial viewing. I hope to get a chance to catch it again tomorrow and perhaps to extend and modify some of these thoughts.
Labels: BBC, Bible Films, Liverpool Nativity
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Liverpool Nativity
Tonight on BBC3, live, was the Liverpool Nativity. I can't wait to see this one, but it is looking like it will be tomorrow before I get the chance, at which point I will post my comments here. Today's BBC News reported on the upcoming performance and yesterday's Guardian has a great anticipatory write-up:Miracle on Merseyside - Liverpool remakes the nativity
David Ward
Saturday December 15, 2007
The Virgin Mary comes from Knotty Ash, one of the angels used to be in Brookside, and Herod is a woman.And there are similar amusingly worded comments. I have been meaning to blog on this for a while, but it's good to see that Matt Page, as ever on top of these things, commented back in November, on Bible Films Blog. More here when the reviews start coming in tomorrow.
This version of the Christmas story, to be played out on the streets in the centre of Liverpool and broadcast live on BBC3 tomorrow night, has a cast of 300, including the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, a technical crew of 150 and is produced by the BBC team responsible for last year's Manchester Passion.
It's a risky enterprise: Manchester United are playing Liverpool at Anfield that day, which could make for a lively post-match crowd looking on when Jesus is born in a real ale pub named after the first chief public health officer to be appointed in the UK.
Christmas weather in Liverpool can also be unkind so producers have not only given the angel Gabriel a decent part but beseeched him to arrange a meteorological miracle around St George's Hall and the Walker art gallery.
They have also taken the precaution of pre-recording the part of the story that unfolds on the Mersey ferry. But Mary and Joseph will still have to cross the river in real time.
If a force eight is blowing, Jesus's first glimpse of the world he has come to save could well be Birkenhead . . .
Labels: BBC, Bible Films, Liverpool Nativity
![[Valid Atom]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom feed"){kind=small}
