Things To Book, Watch & Listen To This Month
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THE CELEBRATION:
Aladdin Sane: 50 Years Exhibition at Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre has opened an exhibition to mark 50 years since the release of David Bowie’s sixth studio album, Aladdin Sane. The exhibition explores the creation of Bowie’s iconic ‘lightning bolt’ cover portrait by Brian Duffy, which is considered one of the most emblematic and influential art images of the past century. It also explores Bowie’s image, his sexual and gender identity, and how he became one of the biggest stars of a generation. Tickets cost £5.
Belvedere Road, South Bank, SE1 8XX; until 28th May
Visit SouthbankCentre.co.uk
THE PODCAST:
Seasoned
Tommy Banks first came to our attention in 2016 when he won Great British Menu two years in a row. Three years prior, he’d become the UK’s youngest Michelin-starred chef at the age of 24, after taking over the kitchen at his parents’ pub. Since then, he’s retained one star at the Black Swan in Oldstead, so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about great good. In this new podcast, the chef takes listeners and celebrity guests through the ins and outs of running a restaurant supplied almost entirely by his family’s farm. From Junior Bake Off host Ravneet Gill to comedian Mel Giedroyc and chef Andi Oliver, guests don their wellies and get stuck in on the farm, revealing their own food passions and learning new recipes along the way from Tommy.
Listen here
THE HOTEL:
Palazzo Previtera
Palazzo Previtera, a museum with rooms on the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily, has reopened its doors after ten careful years of restoration by descendants of the family that built the house in the 17th century. Guests will be greeted by an art historian for a tour of the house, before checking into one of 12 individually designed rooms with restored Sicilian furniture, painted ceilings, antique floor tiles and contemporary artwork. Out in the one-acre garden, there are two cottages – sleeping two and six. Guests are often personally greeted by the family and breakfast can be taken in the house or in the restored garden. Dinner can be provided and ingredients at both breakfast and dinner are sourced from the garden including pomegranates, avocados, peaches and apricots. Alternatively, you can walk into the town where you’ll find a choice of good restaurants just a five-minute walk away including the one Michelin starred Shalai.
Visit PalazzoPrevitera.com
THE FILM:
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Based on the 2012 bestseller by Rachel Joyce and starring Jim Broadbent as Harold and Penelope Wilton as his wife Maureen, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry tells the story of a man who leaves his seaside town in South Devon to deliver a message to an old friend. Harold Fry was never meant to be a hero. He’s an unremarkable man who has failed at all the important things: being a husband, a father and a friend. Now, well into his 60s, he is content to fade quietly into the background of life. But when Harold learns his friend Queenie is dying, he is moved to act. He leaves home, walking to the post box to send her a letter, until he realises a letter is not enough. In that moment Harold decides to keep walking, all the way to her hospice, some 500 miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed: as long as he walks, Queenie must live. Surprising himself as much as his wife Maureen, Harold embarks on a walk of hope, determined to travel the length of England to save his friend.
In cinemas on 28 April.
Visit Picturehouses.com
THE PLAY:
Private Lives at Donmar Warehouse
Noël Coward’s play has been adapted for modern audiences at Covent Garden’s Donmar Warehouse. It’s 1930s France. Elyot and Amanda are glamorous, rich, reckless… and divorced. She believes he treated her cruelly, while Elyot looks back on their turbulent three-year marriage with equal disdain. A surprise encounter on adjoining hotel balconies rekindles their passion and they fling themselves violently into love once more. Then their newly married lives are plunged into chaos… Starring Stephen Mangan, Rachael Stirling, Laura Carmichael and Sargon Yelda. Tickets start from £10.
41 Earlham Street, Covent Garden, WC2H 9LX; until 27th May
Visit DonmarWarehouse.com
THE UNFORGETTABLE TRIP:
Belmond British Pullman x Joanna Lumley
Regular The Gold Editions readers will know we love Belmond’s British Pullman train journeys for a special day out, so we were excited to hear it has teamed up with Joanna Lumley for an experience to Kent. Guests can relax in the art-deco carriages and take in the scenery while enjoying a bellini and three-course brunch. Once you arrive at Balfour Winery at the Hush Heath Estate, you’ll begin a guided tour of the estate with a welcome drink, before learning about the winemaking and sampling its award-winning wines. Dame Joanna Lumley will greet visitors to talk about her life and career, before opening the floor for guests' questions. You’ll then reboard the train back to London for a four-course dinner with the sommelier's choice of wine. Tickets start from £649.
Visit TripSmiths.com
GENEVIEVE LUTKIN
THE EXHIBITION: Mirror Mirror:
Reflections on Design at Chatsworth House
Faye Toogood is a British artist known for her sculptures and wooden furniture. Over the next few months, she’s exhibiting a collection of works in and around Chatsworth House and its gardens. Visitors can see her latest collection in the Chapel, all of which are made of Purbeck marble, a limestone from Dorset with dense deposits of snail shells often used in English cathedrals in the Middle Ages. You’ll also find oak-panelled pieces in the Oak Room, set amongst the house’s grand interiors and famous antiques.
Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PJ; until 1st October
Visit Chatsworth.org
THE ROYAL DISPLAY:
Crown to Couture at Kensington Palace
Gear up for the Coronation with this new exhibition at Kensington Palace which celebrates royal outfits through the ages, and how modern-day figures and celebrities have interpreted it. From Charles III to Lizzo, the largest exhibition ever staged at the Palace features 200 objects, including Lady Gaga's luminous green MTV Awards dress to the world-famous Silver Tissue Gown worn at the court of Charles II. Curated by Joseph Bennett (production designer at Alexander McQueen), visitors can also see the Monique Lhuillier gown worn by Phoebe Waller-Bridge at the Emmys in 2019. Tickets start from £10.
Kensington Gardens, Kensington, W8 4PX
Visit HRP.org.uk
© HISTORIC ROYAL PALACES
THE FOODIE EVENT:
Marylebone Food Festival, Marylebone
Ottolenghi, Cavita, La Fromagerie, Donostia, Cubitt House, The Italian Greyhound, T by Tamara, Delamina, The Cavendish, Philglas & Swiggot and Hagen are some of the names that have been announced so far for this year’s Marylebone Food Festival. On 25th April broadcaster and critic Jay Rayner will launch the five-day festival with a one-off dinner – a special tasting menu by Ottolenghi, with all proceeds going towards charity Food Chain. Dozens of more intimate events will follow from 26th to 29th April.
Various sites.
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