Birmingham Hippodrome to Present RINGSIDE Film Series to Accompany THE RING CYCLE This Autumn

This coming November, Birmingham Hippodrome will present Wagner's epic The Ring Cycle in its entirety. Conducted by Maestro Valery Gergiev with his world-famous Mariinsky Opera, it is the only UK date in 2014.

In celebration of this exciting event in the opera calendar, Hippodrome Plus will be taking a deeper look at Wagner with RINGSIDE a series of films, cabaret and talks inspired by his work. The events take a look at Wagner's unusual narrative style - his operas included magic objects, love potions and family rivalry: this programme takes a light-hearted look at the amazing stories, introducing them to those new to Wagner, and re-interpreting them for those who already love his work.

Paul Kaynes, Director of Creative Programmes at Birmingham Hippodrome said "The Ring Cycle is very rarely performed in full so to coincide with this we wanted to provide audiences with the chance to get under the skin of Wagner exploring how other art forms have been influenced by his work. RINGSIDE offers alternative events and performances for all ages from Brunch with the Brünnhildes hosted by BBC Radio 4's Front Row presenter Matthew d'Ancona, The Fat Lady Sings - An Opera Cabaret, starring cabaret legend Kit Hesketh Harvey, to a real life adventure game that can be played by all the family.

"RINGSIDE will take place off the main stage using our Patrick Centre studio, foyer areas, the UK's oldest working cinema The Electric Cinema and places and spaces around the Hippodrome with some events FREE."

TWILIGHTOFTHEFREAKINGODS
Saturday 25 October 6.30pm and Sunday 26 October 2.30pm
Birmingham Hippodrome's The Patrick Centre - Tickets £6
TWILIGHTOFTHEFREAKINGODS is a film by Reel Access from a play by Birmingham based Stan's Café from an opera by Richard Wagner.
In 2013 internationally acclaimed theatre company Stan's Cafe created a visionary rendering of Wagner's Götterdammerüng story. Reel Access shot 24 hours of video footage over the two performances and through a process of time shifting and layering they produced an extraordinary, hypnotic, timeless film that both documents that original production and transcends it to become a ravishing work of art in its own right. Black and white and wordless, with a rich original soundtrack by Nina West, this film harks back to Fritz Lang, carries echoes of Matthew Barney, is resolutely Wagnerian and playfully Stan's Cafe.

ONE OF OUR SINGERS IS MISSING
Saturday 1 November 11am
Birmingham Hippodrome
FREE TO ATTEND BOOKING ESSENTIAL (duration approx 90 mins, depending on how fast attendees solve the clues!)
One of Our Singers is Missing is a real life adventure game that anyone can play, from individuals, and groups to couples and families. One of the Hippodrome's opera singers has gone missing so participants have to rescue the star from peril by following the trail around the Hippodrome and solving the clues.

FILM MUSIC AND THE GHOST OF WAGNER
Neil Brand - An Illustrated talk
Saturday 1 November 4pm
The Patrick Centre - Tickets £10
As cinema has embraced the fantasy epic, comic-book heroes and ancient and modern fairytales, so its music has become more grandiose, action-packed, and bombastic - some would say 'Wagnerian'. In this specially created event, lavishly illustrated with ï¬ï¿½lm excerpts both classic and modern, Neil Brand (presenter of the critically-acclaimed BBC4 series "Sound of Cinema - the Music that made the Movies") dismantles modern ï¬ï¿½lm scores to ï¬ï¿½nd where Wagner lurks within, from the use of Leitmotifs, to the music of the Gods, to the melodic construction of superheroes - a layman's guide to ï¬ï¿½lm scoring that ensures you will never hear blockbuster movies the same way again!

SIEGFRIED IDYLL
Saturday 1 November 5.30pm
Birmingham Hippodrome Foyer - FREE
A performance by students from Birmingham Conservatoire, conducted by David Purser.
On Christmas Day 1870 Cosima Wagner, Richard Wagner's wife, awoke to the sound of a dozen or so musicians, crowding along the staircase to her bedroom, playing a piece of beautiful music that she had never heard before. Siegfried Idyll, based on one of Brünnhildes lilting melodies from The Ring, was Wagner's extravagant and romantic birthday present to his beloved wife and, in turn, it has become the most widely loved piece of music Wagner wrote.

THE FAT LADY SINGS
Saturday 1 November 7.30pm
The Patrick Centre - Tickets £18
The Fat Lady Sings is a hit opera cabaret performed by Kit and McConnel who enjoyed a sold-out tour with the late Joan Rivers. This hilarious evening is an irreverent romp through the hilarities of the opera repertoire created by cabaret legend Kit Hesketh Harvey, best known as one half of comedy duo Kit and the Widow and Radio 4's long-running comedy show Just a Minute.

SIEGFRIED
Sunday 2 November Doors 11.30am
The Electric Cinema - Tickets £10 standard; £14 front row sofas; £16.50 back row sofas
To book call the Electric Box Office on 0121 643 7879 or online www.thelectric.co.uk
Hippodrome Plus teams up with the UK's oldest working cinema to provide an escape from the city for an afternoon of black and white movie magic. This rare screening of Fritz Lang's silent movie epic Siegfried is accompanied on live piano by Neil Brand (presenter of the critically-acclaimed BBC4 series "Sound of Cinema - the Music that made the Movies") the world's leading silent movie pianist. Famous for his later hit Metropolis Lang's black and white cinema masterpiece is adapted from the same myth that Wagner drew on for The Ring Cycle.

BRUNCH WITH THE BRUNNHILDES
Saturday 8 November 11.30am
The Patrick Centre - Tickets £25 including brunch
Brunch with the Brünnhildes is a unique and special event with two of the world's leading Wagnerian sopranos Susan Bullock and Catherine Foster who have sung the role of Brünnhilde in opera houses all over the world. In conversation with Spectator journalist and BBC Radio 4 Front Row presenter and Wagner fan Matthew d'Ancona they reveal the secrets of what it takes to perform this demanding role and some of the tricks of the trade they deploy to cope, and what it feels like to bring the whole of the Ring Cycle to an end - with one of opera's most iconic passages, Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene.

Tickets are available from Birmingham Hippodrome Box Office on 0844 338 5000 or online at www.birminghamhippodrome.com. *5% fee applies, £1 postage fee, calls cost from 5p per min. Tickets for Siegfried are available from The Electric cinema box office on 0121 643 7879. One of Our Singers is Missing is a Free event but booking is essential call Birmingham Hippodrome Box Office on 0844 338 5000 or book online at www.birminghamhippodrome.co.uk.

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