Noises Off - Performances of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Apollo Theatre, London, have been cancelled for an extra week until 11 January. The venue had originally planned to reopen after 4 January. However a statement on Nimax Theatres' website - which owns the Apollo Theatre - confirms that all shows have now been cancelled up to and including 11 January. This follows an incident at the London venue three weeks ago in which part of the ceiling collapsed during the show, taking down some of the balcony as well. An investigation by Westminster City Council into the cause of the Apollo Theatre's ceiling collapse is underway and results are expected later this month.
Sales Statistics - Digital services like Spotify, Netflix and iTunes have helped boost sales of video and music in the UK, according to figures from entertainment retailers. Digital sales of video grew by 40% in 2013, helping to offset a 6.8% decline in sales of physical formats. Music streaming, meanwhile, saw a 33.7% rise and now accounts for nearly 10% of consumer revenues from recorded music. The overall UK music, video and games market was worth £5.4bn in 2013, up 4% on 2012's total of £5.1bn. Kim Bayley, director general of the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), said this was "a stunning result after at least five years of decline".
Glastonbury 2014 - Dolly Parton is strongly rumoured to be playing Glastonbury Festival 2014. The supposed date would fit in perfectly with her Blue Smoke World Tour 2014 which sees Parton playing London's O2 Arena on June 27, but leaves her with an open schedule until her Nottingham Arena tour on July 2. Arcade Fire and Lily Allen have already confirmed themselves for the festival. Michael Eavis has said that Fleetwood Mac will not be playing Glastonbury this year. The band were rumoured to be performing at the festival, but the event's founder has denied that they will be playing Worthy Farm in 2014. However, speaking to The Guardian, Eavis said that he hopes to get the classic rock band to play the following year. "We're hoping to get them for 2015," he commented. Tickets for Glastonbury Festival 2014 sold out in record time, after going on sale on October 6. 120,000 tickets were snapped up in 1 hour and 27 minutes, beating last year's record of 1 hour and 40 minutes.
(Jim Evans)
