Rock Revival - The four surviving members of the Grateful Dead are coming back to life for a series of farewell concerts. Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will reunite at Chicago's Soldier Field, nearly 20 years to the day of the last Grateful Dead concert, which took place at the same venue. The band is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and the shows from 3 to 5 July will mark their final performance. The news was announced by late founding member Jerry Garcia's daughter Trixie. Garcia died aged 53 of a heart attack while in a drug rehabilitation centre in 1995.
Blackpool Rocks - Blackpool's Pavilion Theatre, which has been out of use for around 20 years and was added to the Theatre Buildings at Risk Register last year, is to be developed into a museum that will celebrate the town's social and entertainment history. Plans for the project include the development of a teaching and apprenticeship scheme for backstage and technical work, making use of the facilities the Pavilion has to offer. Blackpool Council has appointed the Prince's Regeneration Trust to manage the project, which has already secured £1.25m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to progress to the next development stage.
Plans for the museum, which is earmarked to open in 2018, include displaying artefacts, as well as film, music and performance that reflect Blackpool's past. It will incorporate temporary and permanent exhibitions, with a strong emphasis on the town's entertainment history.
Under Canvas - A temporary campsite that will offer discounts to performers and allow them to showcase previews of their work is planned for this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The site is planned by Campingninja, the company which created a pop-up site for last year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The site, situated around a community sport centre, is planned to be open for the duration of the fringe, from 7 to 31 August, side-stepping any change-of-use planning requirements as it is open for less than 30 days. Campingninja is proposing to have a separate performers' area in the site.
Lead Role - Ambassador Theatre Group has appointed Birmingham Hippodrome chief executive Stuart Griffiths as its first programming director. The theatre company said the appointment was part of its continued expansion in the UK and international theatre markets and described the newly created role as "crucial" to its content strategy. Griffiths will join ATG in July and will work alongside Michael Lynas, the theatre company's managing director of content, to deliver "top quality productions to the group's 39 venues".
Space Race - British singer Sarah Brightman has missed the start of the space training which will allow her to travel to the International Space Station. Brightman travelled to Russia for nine months of training, but has delayed the start date by a week. Russia's space agency is confident she will be ready for the planned 10-day trip in October. The singer is paying understood to be paying around £34m to become the eighth space tourist. The last space tourist to make the trip was Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte in 2009.
(Jim Evans)
