Capital Style Magazine

I don’t know!

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In 2009 we switched from generic hosting to a local UK host, and we’re pleased with that move so far.

It’s difficult to say at this point what will happen in 2010 as far as mutiple niche or general type blogs are concerened, so we’ll just have to see what happens.

Tags: blog, capital style, happy new year, niche, UK, uk host

Gwen Stefani attends the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes held at The Empire Leicester Square on December 14, 2009 in London, UK.

Tags: Gwen Stefani, Gwen Stefani Style, Style

Tags: anniversary, berlin, Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, capital cities, celebration, fall, General View, germany, horizontal, International Landmark, one, People, politics

Tags: 20, 2009, Abdullah, Borghese, Departed, gallery, Giorgio, ii, invitation, italy, jordan, Jordan's, king, monday, Napolitano, Newscom, october, official, photo, president, queen, Rania, Rome, visit, visits, wife

Capital Style has taken us to Paris and Florence, Barcelona and Berlin but for musicals it has to be theatre breaks in London. There’s nowhere outside the West End that has the same buzz, class and choice as theatreland London, and you get the convenience of the capital being an international travel hub with all connections, terminals and networks centred on the English city. London has the best choice of shows as well, and a huge hotel and hospitality sector, so it’s often possible to get the best all in package deal from regional centres for theatre breaks in London with top tickets, posh Hotel and otherwise expensive discount rail travel included.

New theatre shows in London

In the autumn season there are usually a few  brand new shows coming up and this year is no exception. Sister Act is a new show this year, and starting to settle in well by all accounts with Patina Miller doing a grand job as the diva.  Another big show that’s arrived on the London theatre scene is Priscilla Queen of the Desert and then it doesn’t seem like it but Oliver has only been going for about a year!

The one we’re all waiting for though is called Love Never Dies, and that’s going to be a sequel to Andrew Loyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera – something that’s pretty unique in the theatre world, do you think he will pull it off?

Hotels for Theatre Breaks in London

When you book theatre breaks in London you get offered a wide range of hotels, depending on the dates and show you have chosen. One way to choose is by trading off the price range for proximity to the theatre where you go to see the show but that’s not always the most important factor. For example, there are hotels near Victoria that are dead handy for Wicked and Billy Elliot but if you intend getting out and about a bit more while you’re in town then it might be better to be somewhere like the St Giles Hotel which is right on the corner of Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road.

Billy Elliot theatre breaks in London

Tags: theater breaks in London, theatre breaks, theatre breaks in London

This is leading artist Antony Gormley‘s brainchild, and is causing a stir with a much wider audience through the live webcam feed which is attracting a lot of commentary on twitter.

The lucky ‘plinthers’ have been selected at random from those that chose to apply, or knew about it, and so far it’s thrown a variety of different approaches although with a certain similarity. The effect has been dubbed like ‘a middle class big brother’!

Tags: antony gormley, fourth plinth, London, trafalgar square

West End Live is an event that takes place in the UK capital, originally based on a New York Broadway event. London’s version is in Leicester Square and provides free entertainment for Londoners and tourists alike, in the form of short sets from members of the cast of many of the popular west end musical shows. In 2009 this all happened last weekend and theatre breaks was there to capture some of the performances.

Wicked Theatre Breaks

Alexia Khadime is Elphaba in Wicked

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Priscilla Queen of the Desert West End Live 2009 theatre breaks

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Dirty dancing west end live 2009 theatrebreaks

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We Will Rock You West End Live 2009 theatre breaks

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Sister Act West End Live theatre breaks

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Tags: Alexia Khadime, dirty dancing, Leicester Square, London, priscilla queen of the desert, Sister Act, theatre breaks, west end, Wicked

The Marais district covers the 3rd and much of the 4th arrondissements. Le Marais  means literally “the swamp” and it’s now one of the best-loved right bank areas. There were many decades of decay, but now Le Marais has made a big comeback, though perhaps not quite like it was in the 17th-century when prosperous aristocrats inhabited the 3rd. It’s a great place to base Paris breaks now, being charmingly unique but also very central.

The Marais contains Paris’s major gay neighbourhoods,with lots of gay/lesbian restaurants, bars, and stores, as well as the remains of the old Jewish quarter, centered on rue des Rosiers. Two of the best attractions are museums. The Musée Picasso is a well curated collection of paintings, sculptures and ceramics which the French Government inherited in lieu of death duties. The Musée Carnavalet, a history museum also in the Marais depicts Parisian life from prehistoric times to the present. Small restaurants, kosher food and felafel kiosks abound for informal lunches.

Tags: Breaks, felafel, gay neighbourhoods, history museum, marais district, marais quarter, musée carnavalet, musée picasso, Paris, paris breaks, Picasso, rue des rosiers

The Richmond Kinema opened on 21st April, Easter Monday,  1930. The first films shown that day were Gold Diggers of Broadway and The Cockney Spirit In War.

It was built for the Joseph Mears Theatres circuit. It had an original seating capacity of 1,533 in stalls and circle levels, making Richmond Kinema the largest Cinema yet built in teh West London area.  It was re-named Premier Cinema from 29th June 1940  this was to enable the removal of the Richmond name on the cinema, in case German parachutists landed nearby).

It was taken over by Oscar Deutsch’s Odeon Theatres Ltd. from 3rd January 1944 and was re-named Odeon in May 1944. Converted into a triple screen from 30th December 1972. Screen 1 in the old circle is beautiful. It retains the original Atmospheric style auditorium, modelled in the style of a 17th century Spanish courtyard.  Its owners confidently informed the public that their intention was to “make this Kinema equal to any in the West End,” The front of the auditorium was modelled on a fanciful recreation of a seventeenth century Spanish Grandee’s courtyard, features included ornate grillwork, Spanish tiles, Moorish windows and an intricate system of coloured lights was projected onto the ceiling to create an artificial sunrise and sunset in the intervals between films.

Features include ornate grillwork, Spanish tiles, Moorish windows, even stone and plaster oranges and doves. Screens 2 & 3 are located under the circle and both have seating provided for 118. The entrance foyer plasterwork depicts all the various trades of the people the original owner (Joseph T. Mears) employed, lots of them.

In 2008, the seating capacities are given as 406, 178 and 178.

The Richmond Odeon is a Grade II Listed building because it’s the most architecturally interesting of Richmond’s Cinemas. It is believed to have been the first “semi-atmospheric” cinema in Britain.

Tags: Joseph T. Mears, Listed, London, Odeon, odeon cinemas, Oscar Deutsch, Premier Cinema, Richmond, Thames, West London