Spotlight on . . .

FUNDRAISER

MOVIN’ ON UP

IT’S that time of the year again. Time to head to the Church Hill Theatre for an evening of music in the company of Showcase Musical Productions.

Every September, Showcase take to the stage in their annual fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. This year, a cast of more than 50 of Edinburgh’s finest amateur performers, along with a 14-piece orchestra, will celebrate 100 years of Macmillan, which provides practical, medical and financial support for people with cancer.

From showstoppers to chart toppers, this year’s production shines the spotlight on the hits of everyone from Sir Tom Jones to the Pet Shop Boys and U2. From the world of musicals, there are songs from modern favourites such as Wicked, and old classics like Carousel.

There’s even the odd Bonnie Tyler and Primal Scream number.

Something for everyone then and in a good cause as all proceeds from Movin’ On Up go directly to Macmillan Cancer Support.

The show runs until Saturday. Get along if you can.

Church Hill Theatre, Morningside, until Saturday, 7.30pm (Saturday matinee 2.30pm), £8-£12, 07768-319 663

POP

LOVE AND MONEY

HOP on board the candybar express at the Queen’s Hall tomorrow, when Scottish rock/soul/funksters Love And Money, below, make a long overdue return to the Capital.

For those too young to remember the 1980s, Love And Money were formed in 1985.

High points in their history include supporting U2 at Murrayfield Stadium and their 1991 album, Dogs In The Traffic, reaching No.30 in a chart of the all-time Top 100 Scottish albums.

Last April they re-released their second LP, the 250,000-selling Strange Kind of Love, from 1988, a move that found frontman and songwriter James Grant in good form. “I’ve always tried to make music that you can keep going back to and keep finding things within it,” he said.

Tomorrow, expect a set of classics such as Winter, Lips Like Ether, Last Ship On The River, Jocelyn Square, Halleluiah Man and, of course, Strange Kind Of Love, along with a taster of things to come.

Joining Grant on stage will be fellow co-founder Paul McGeechan and ex-members Gordon Wilson and Douglas MacIntyre, plus bassist Ewen Vernal, ex-Thrum vocalist Monica Queen and harmonica ace Fraser Spiers.

Revitalised and buoyed by the response to their reunion, Love And Money have just revealed that next year they will be releasing a new album called The Devil’s Debt.

Their first recording for 20 years, it’s one fans will be holding their breath for.

Queen’s Hall, Clerk Street, tomorrow, 7pm, £25, 0131-668 2019

BOOK

OLD THE FRONT PAGE

JUST imagine if the tabloid newspaper had existed back in the day of Bonnie Prince Charlie. What would it have made of Charles Edward Stuart’s claim to the throne?

Well, now you can find out, thanks to author and journalist Martin Kielty, who has combined his writing and reporting skills to produce Old The Front Page, 2000 Years Of Scottish Headlines.

In his book, Kielty revisits many of the milestones in Scottish history, imagining how the fictional tabloid, the Scottish Scribe, might have reported them.

The result is a book of “authentic” reproduction front pages that never existed, but feel as if they did. From the Romans leaving the Antonine Wall to St Columba’s fight with the Loch Ness Monster, to William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Greyfriars Bobby, you will never look at Scottish history in the same light again.

Old The Front by Martin Kielty is published by Noisewave, £7.25 (£6.50 from www.martinkielty.com)