Leisure

The summer of 2014 offers a real treat for cyclists in and around London – whether it’s a gentle amble through the great British countryside, or a more intense sprint with a competitive edge, Bike Events has something for everyone. Bike Events are the UK’s biggest organiser of recreational and sponsored bike rides and they’ve been organising events for over 20 years now. The 2014 calendar is well underway and this year over 50 rides were scheduled to take place.

Following a fantastic opening year in 2015, Waterloo - The Best of Abba Tribute Show returns in 2018 delighting audiences and bringing the “Abba Party” to venues up and down the country. This truly phenomenal tribute show is presented by Sweeney Entertainments and Produced & Directed by James Baker. In 1974 the little known Swedish pop group ABBA swept to superstardom with their Eurovision winning Waterloo, and four decades later the song and the band remain as popular as ever. Waterloo looks back at the sensational rise to stardom of Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny and Anni-Frid and gives fans the opportunity to experience the thrill of a live ABBA show!

Touring theatre company Peppermint Muse has made a bold choice with its next production, Death and Dancing, which is coming to St Albans in the first week of February. Written by Claire Dowie, who based the play on some of her original stand-up comedy material, Death and Dancing is set against the backdrop of eighties sexual politics. It is a fast and furious comedy that attacks conventional notions of gender and labelling.

Last year, an ambitious new opera came to St Albans, premiering in the Abbey, the opera told the little known story of Alban himself, the first English martyr. After a sell out run, Alban the Opera is travelling to London for four nights only in October this year before heading to the US in 2011.

Romantic Russian music comes to St Albans Abbey on Saturday June 25th with performances of some of the most colourful and passionate scores ever composed for orchestra (7.30pm).

Next Saturday, I will be enjoying 'old meets new' when the St Albans Symphony Orchestra, performs a musical journey under their new conducter Bjorn Bantock. The orchestra will play well-known and loved pieces like Dvorak's Symphony No 9.....

The Verulam Amateur radio Club is running a training course in St Albans for anyone interested in obtaining an amateur radio transmitting licence. The course will be held on six Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm starting on Wednesday 28th October 2009 with the examination on December the 9th.

I've just found time to add a post about the Alban Opera. I must admit to an interest here as I'm singing in the choir. So very busy for the next week with rehearsals and then 5 performances in 4 days.....

Things I Know to be True, by the critically acclaimed playwright Andrew Bovell in conjunction with Frantic Assembly theatre company, is the touching, funny and visceral next production by the Company of Ten. It is a complex and intense portrait of the mechanics of a family, and a marriage, through the eyes of four siblings struggling to define themselves beyond their parents’ love and expectations.

As you all doubtlessly know, there is a campaign, led by JamesHannaway of the Rex cinema in Berkhamstead. Here's some useful info from James