In the presence of the Divine – the inimitable Audra McDonald – portraying Billie Holliday in her final days, lives and breathes the Legend with an enthralling ingenuity – a heartbeat away from the Icon herself.
The Musical Play – LADY DAY – at The Wyndham’s theatre written by Lanie Robertson is a revelation as Audra invites us to join her as she entices us into the world of Billie Holiday, the most revered Jazz artist of our time, along with the betrayal, despair, racism and genocide that were reflected in her lyrics. Audra’s performance is remarkable, with her undeniable talent and echoes of the Legend herself, with her underlying pain and the haunted memories of childhood abuse.
The magic is relived through Audra as what can only be described as a spiritual conduit for the Legend as she wails and weaves her way through the lyrics, portraying Holiday’s demise, and bringing us nearer to the torment which is tangible and inevitably touches each member of the audience.
We witness the impact as we encounter a nervous ripple of excitement that emanates from the crowd as the show delves into the intricacies of her relationships and drug abuse, and the tension of her musicians as she threatens to lose control at every turn, regaining composure by the skin of her music.
Responses are sometimes inappropriate when silence is demanded, but the house are invited to experience the images of Strange Fruit, with Blood on the Leaves, and God Bless the Child written after a confrontation with her Mother – which is a prickly way to spend an evening if you are not equipped.
But those of us who have already become familiar with the Legend and have explored her songs, will be prepared to take on the heady power of Billie Holiday so thrillingly performed by the multi-talented Grammy award winning Audra McDonald and spend the following days recovering from the intensity of the narrative and glory of the interpretation.
The show runs until 9th September, so beg, steal or borrow a ticket now to avoid disappointment.
Bruno Tilley visited us at Pinewood Studios recently as he was launching his new art based T-Shirt company and wanted to show us. We were definitely impressed with the T-shirts, but even more so with Bruno himself.
An old friend of Bruno’s told him ‘when something really bad happens, good will follow’ which is why in the turbulent industry of Music and Art, Bruno has always remained positive and focused on a good outcome.
It has certainly paid off and in spite of the fact that after Art School Bruno was living in a chaotic but rather creative squat, this is where he landed the dream job as designer at Island Records.
Bruno one of those rare individuals who is both creative and practical, and after enlisting a design team was the first person to create an ‘in house’ art department within a record label – his job description being ‘One foot in art and one in Marketing’.
His passion for art and music drove him to ensure that his success was not short lived, and he remained at Island Records for ten years having worked his way up to creative director and onto the board of directors. In that time he directed videos and lead campaigns for legends like Bob Marley, U2, Grace Jones and many more. Buffalo Soldier by Bob Marley was the first music video that Bruno directed.
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Wherever possible he would like to meet with the artists first and then create their campaign image, which was a huge part of their ultimate success, both with their imagery as well as their music.
Not only has Bruno designed major album covers he has also produced various music videos and even music videos based on cult television series such as The Prisoner and Thunderbirds. Bruno was especially keen to do a video based on Thunderbirds as it was his favourite TV series growing up. You can see the Thunderbirds music video below. A little known fact is that as in the original TV series of Thunderbirds real human hands were used for close up shots, the human hands in the video are actually Bruno’s!
He always loved working with fellow creatives and commissioned some of the leading photographers, Illustrators, designers, film makers and even sculptors to create the campaigns.
Very often these campaigns would include T-shirts which were then worn by celebrities all over the world. Sometimes the T shirts sold more than the records.
During his time at Island Records, as one of his assignments Bruno fell head over heels in love with a beautiful young singer, who he discovered was dangerously addicted to heroin.
On Bruno’s mission to save the singer, he was beckoned into ghettos, drug dens, and rehab centres, and describes this phase of his life as now seeming unreal, “Every day was like living in a movie” As a form of a personal exorcism and warning to others Bruno took the experience and has written a full length feature film called ‘Hooked’ which he hopes to direct.
As painful as it was, Bruno felt it was a turning point in his life and is now happily married with a lovely young daughter, whom he absolutely adores.
So back to the T-shirts, if you log onto the Website, www.aware.zone you can see a wide range of images featuring top photographers, painters and image makers which are not only innovative, exciting but above all unique.
The quality is first class, and the high photographic imagery is indelible as they are produced with a dye process and which means they won’t fade. The T shirts are Eco friendly and printed using recycled plastic bottles leaving a positive footprint on the planet. The prices are great too, and I can feel several Birthday and Christmas presents coming on, as well as a few personal buys.
As we filmed Bruno he said he suddenly was feeling very serious, and joked that he is usually a very entertaining man. However, we looked at it from another perspective, as he reminisced over his incredibly creative and successful life, he was beginning to realise that Bruno Tilley is a bit of a legend himself, and one thing for sure – as he said when referring to his campaign with the young female singer, he ‘did it all for love’, and we know that it is the most powerful emotion of all.
Check out Bruno’s unique collection of Wearable Art at http://www.aware.zone/
You can see more of Bruno’s fantastic work on his website https://www.brunotilley.com/ You can like and follow Aware.Zone on twitter https://twitter.com/zone_aware
You can watch the exclusive interview with Bruno below
When I met up with Tony Klinger for an interview at Pinewood, the first thing that struck me was his gentle charisma and casual glint in his eye. So initially I couldn’t work out whether this was as a result of his heavy association with ‘A’ listers, or having inherited a famous family film legacy with his father Michael Klinger of ‘Get Carter’ fame.
But it is Tony’s own achievements that have given him the ‘edge’ and they range from producing Movies, writing Novels and being privy to the world of the Film Elite. In other words, Tony has steered his own ship without compromise, in his own right and on his own terms.
Tony knew from an early age that he wanted to make films, and even at school was awarded prizes from sponsored writing competitions, and running an underground school magazine called Fanfare with some of his friends. At 18 he was also writing and producing his own short films.
He has achieved a long list of film credits over the past four decades from action-adventure films such as Gold (1974) and Shout at the Devil (1976) both staring Roger Moore.
Tony also made rock films, documenting Deep Purple “Deep Purple Riser Over Japan” and “The Butterfly Ball” and The Who, including The Kids Are Alright (1979). Klinger’s book, Twilight of the Gods, recalling the making of the film The Kids Are Alright, was published in 2009–10.
‘Twilight of the Gods’, will have you hooked and as it documents his time spent with legendary rock band The Who, and as Director of the film and in command of the unpredictable activity of the Cast.
As if this isn’t enough, Tony has served on international boards, such as National Secretary of The Association of Media Practice Educators (AMPE) and The Audition for Hollywood Company. He has also run Film Production courses at the UK’s renowned Bournemouth and Northern Film Schools and was Director of the Media Production Centre at the University of East London. He has co-founded the Screen Commission Northants and is a newly appointed Patron of The UK Film School Charity and is on the NEL Creative and Cultural Strategy Board for who he represents the Digital and Creative Sectors.
Tony went on to serve as company President or Chief Executive for several media production, sales and distribution companies both in the UK and USA, including Avton Communications & Entertainment Inc., Small Giant Media Ltd. and Production TLMH Ltd.
Now in his sixties, Tony has no intention of slowing down, and his latest Novel, Under God’s Table has just been published and tells the story of two boys growing up in a divided society. Tony has clearly written this based on his own theology and has transported much of his inner world into this extraordinary Novel which is current, relevant and completely compelling. The separation of the two men to become staunch enemies, tears us apart as we live their pain and feel the agony of their ultimate destination.
A man of talent and intelligence, Tony Klinger continues to be an inspiration, and we are celebrating his success and watching his space, as he embarks on his next creative endeavor.
July 12, 2026 100 BC Julius Caesar 1854 George Eastman 1895 Oscar Hammerstein II 1927 Frank Windsor 1928 Kathy Staff 1935 Roy Barraclough 1937 Bill Cosby 1943 Christine McVie 1947 Gareth Edwards
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