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Friday, 28 January, 2000, 15:22 GMT
Aznavour launches Lautrec musical

Aznavour with Lautrec stars Stephan and Waddingham


French singing legend Charles Aznavour has been in London to launch his musical Lautrec, based on the life of the diminutive 19th century French painter Henri Toulouse Lautrec.

The 75-year-old Aznavour - best known for his classic love song She - has written the music and lyrics to the show. Armenian actor Sevan Stephan stars with Hannah Waddingham as his great love Suzannah Valadon.

Lautrec is set amidst the flamboyance of 1890s Paris where the city's many aristocrats, prostitutes and dancers provided the backdrop to the painter's life and work.

The show is due to get its world premiere in Plymouth in February before transferring to the West End - making it the second French-themed musical to open in London this year along with the smash hit Notre Dame de Paris.


Oasis exclusive for BBC's Jools

The first live performance of the millennium by Oasis has been scheduled for February.

The band will play an hour-long set, blending old hits with material from their fourth album Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, on BBC Two's Later with Jools Holland.

The show will be broadcast on 1 April and will be an early opportunity for UK fans to see the fresh Oasis line-up of new dads Noel and Liam Gallagher, plus Alan White, Gem Archer and Andy Bell.


Debut solo album from Marr

Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is set to release his first solo album in the summer - a venture which marks his debut as a lead vocalist.

Marr, who didn't sing on any Smiths tracks, was encouraged to take the microphone by Pretenders frontwoman Chrissie Hynde.

Marr says the album, Johnny Marr And The Healers, does not mean the end of Electronic - his collaboration with New Order singer Bernard Sumner.


Prestigious honour for Quincy Jones

US music legend Quincy Jones is to be honoured by the World Economic Forum for helping to bridge cultural gaps.

"I am humbled," said the 26-time Grammy winner, after learning he was picked to receive the Forum's Crystal Award for promoting "global unity through cultural diversity".

The award, to be presented on 1 February in Davos, Switzerland, honours people whose artistic achievements have no international boundaries and who have contributed to cultural understanding.

The 66-year-old, who has worked with most of the world's biggest stars, was also the producer and conductor of the anthem We Are the World which helped raised $100m (£62m) for African famine relief in the 1980s.


No extra night for EastEnders - BBC

The BBC has denied reports that soap EastEnders is poised to be aired four times a week.

TV industry weekly Broadcast had claimed that proposals to add an extra episode to the thrice-weekly soap had been under consideration "for some time".

However, BBC Drama boss Alan Ayres said there were no plans to introduce a fourth episode. "Nothing is ever off the agenda completely but there are no plans of this sort," he added.


Seagal signs for Under Siege 3

Tough guy Steven Seagal has signed up to star in Under Siege 3, the next instalment of the action movie series which is due to start filming this autumn.

Seagal will again play Casey Ryback, a former member of a US Navy commando unit with a black belt in aikido and kenjutsu, says the Hollywood Reporter.

Under Siege, which came out in 1992 and co-starred Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, took $156.4m (£97m), while the sequel netted $102m (£64m).


Pollack breaks hip in bike accident

Director Sydney Pollack, who won an Oscar for Out of Africa, has broken his hip in a bike-riding accident.

A member of staff at Sydney Pollack's production company, Mirage Enterprises, confirmed the injury, but had no details about the accident.

Earlier this week at the Golden Globes, Barbra Streisand singled out Pollack, 65, for his help in her directing career. Pollack is also an actor and appeared in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.


Norton set to team up with De Niro

American History X star Edward Norton is to team up for the first time with screen legend Robert De Niro in the Frank Oz directed film, The Score.

Daily Variety reports that the 30-year-old will play a young man who blackmails a retiring master thief (De Niro) into pulling off one last heist.

Oz, who directed Bowfinger, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Little Shop of Horrors, is due to start production in late April in Montreal.


Bob Dylan's mother dies aged 84

The mother of music legend Bob Dylan has died at her home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, aged 84.

Beatrice Rutman was married to Abe Zimmerman and living in Duluth, Minnesota when she gave birth to Robert Zimmerman - who later changed his name to Bob Dylan - in 1941.

Dylan's father died of a heart attack in 1968 and Beatrice married her second husband Joe Rutman in 1985.

As a boy, Dylan once wrote a Mother's Day poem for her on a piece of notebook paper which she cherished. It read...

"My dear mother, I hope that you

Will never grow old and grey,

So that all the people in the world will say:

Hello, young lady, Happy Mother's Day."

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See also:
30 Dec 99 |  Entertainment
Smiths voted top album
24 Nov 99 |  Entertainment
Oasis take on the world
25 Jan 00 |  Entertainment
Martine's dramatic TV return

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