DISCOVER YOUR REAL POTENTIAL
That’s the scene for perhaps Manchester International Festival’s most ambitious arts world premiere yet – Bambino, an opera for babies.
Written by Scottish Opera’s acclaimed composer in residence Lliam Paterson and directed by Improbable theatre’s Phelim McDermott, BambinO is billed as a twin celebration of the possibilities of music and the power of the infant imagination.
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When Chinese pianist Lang Lang was just nine years old, his father gave up his job to take his son from their hometown of Shenyang, to audition for the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
“For three months, I did not have a teacher. So, and I thought my career was over as a pianist, and I should go home,” he told Trailblazers presenter Tania Bryer.
“It was a very difficult time. I mean leaving my mother, coming here, my father quit his job, and we rented the most cheap, the 15 dollar-a-month apartment, and study with a new teacher, with completely different environment. It was very difficult, and I did not really enjoy (it).”
After several months, he got into the Conservatory.
Lang has now sold millions of albums around the world and is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
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Although Depp is now one of the best-known and most respected actors currently on the movie scene, he originally had no intention of pursuing a career in acting. He wanted to make money with music and moved to LA follow his dreams. However, his career path took a turn when he accompanied a friend to the auditions for ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’. The director’s daughter took a shine to him, describing him as ‘dreamy’, and persuaded her father to cast young Depp in the movie. The rest, as they say, is history.
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Should you dress up for the opera? For traditionalists, it’s an occasion that demands formal evening wear. Others insist audience members should simply wear the clothes in which they feel most comfortable.
Today, few opera houses enforce a dress code. Visit the Royal Opera House or the English National Opera, and you’ll see dinner jackets and evening gowns rub shoulders with leather jackets and open-necked shirts.
Daniel Kramer, artistic director of the ENO, says: “Central to everything we do is the belief that high-quality, amazing opera should be accessible to absolutely everyone. We are passionate about breaking down any perceived barriers to opera that people may have, from price to dress code.
“Although the debate about what to wear to the opera has moved on, with almost all of our audience happily turning up wearing whatever they feel most comfortable in, the way opera is presented in a lot of popular culture can be at odds with this.
“Opera is the most moving art form on Earth. It has the power to challenge, to entertain, to devastate and to inspire, whether its audience is wearing a tiara and ball gown or a T-shirt and jeans.”
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Ashton Kutcher doesn’t mince words when it comes to artificial intelligence and automation transforming every industry, even Hollywood entertainment.
“If you look at box office results on animated films, animated films continue to keep growing from a box office perspective. I think the more virtualization becomes real, you’re going to be able to create a person that looks and feels like a real person,” added Kutcher, who’s a tech investor in addition to being an actor. “It’s really hard still, but look at the number of animated characters in action movies today, where you get to the point and you go, is that a person, or is that animated?”
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