We are super HAPPY to be joining up with Made with HAPPY as part of the Kids Crafts from Around the World series! If you haven’t taken a minute to check it out yet. In just five minutes, you can identify what truly makes you happy. Learn your Happiness Style with this short assessment. If you don't see a screen, CLICK HERE to view on YouTube. Here is a video of the Shree Guru Gita sung in Sanskrit with the English translation for each phrase on screen.
Musical Theatre 2. Preview – all you need to know. You can’t get more comprehensive than this, here’s a preview of all the 2. West End, on the London Fringe and across the UK.
JANUARYThe Girls – Phoenix Theatre, London. Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s new British musical, The Girls, based on the true story, the film and the award- winning play by Tim Firth, Calendar Girls, will open at the Phoenix Theatre, with performances from 2. January. The West End premiere follows sold- out runs at the Grand Theatre, Leeds and the Lowry Salford late 2.
The show will be produced by David Pugh and Dafydd Rogers and The Shubert Organisation. Tickets for The Girlsare available HERE. Promises, Promises – Southwark Playhouse, London. The first major London production of the hit Broadway show Promises, Promises since its 1.
West End premiere will play the Southwark Playhouse from 1. January to 1. 8 February (press night on 1. January). The distinctive 1. Billy Wilder’s classic movie The Apartment, Promises, Promises brought together three of the biggest names in entertainment, the songwriting team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David and writer Neil Simon. The creative team will include director Bronagh Lagan, musical director Elliot Davis and choreographer Cressida Carr. Producers are Aria Entertainment and Senbla.
Death Takes a Holiday – Charing Cross Theatre, London. Maxwell Caulfield, Zo. The third production in Thom Southerland’s first season as artistic director, following on from the critically acclaimed Titanic and Ragtime, Death Takes a Holiday will run from 1. January until 4 March with a press night on 2. January. Based on the Italian play La Morte In Vacanza by Alberto Casella, the musical has a score by Yeston and a book by Thomas Meehan and Peter Stone. The show is produced by Tarento, Steven M. Levy, Sean Sweeney and Vaughan Williams.
Tickets for Death Takes a Holiday are available HERE. Cautionary Tales For Daughters – Jermyn Street Theatre, London. Following its acclaimed premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2. Cautionary Tales For Daughters arrives at Jermyn Street Theatre from 3. January to 1. 1 February.
Drawing on her own unconventional upbringing, composer Tanya Holt takes the audience on a foray through comedy, live music and original animation to the dark heart of growing- up and the dark arts of parenting. Director/contributing writer is Robin Kingsland and the contributing composer is Daniel Dibdin. The show is produced by Fair Warning in association with Jermyn Street Theatre. January – Live At Z. Presented by Atomicus, the show will arrive at the cabaret venue a year after a sell- out workshop production at the Canal Theatre. With a book by Alexander Parker, music by Patrick Stockbridge and musical direction by Tim Gilvin, the show takes a wry and musical look at the .
Hamilton Tony nominee Phillipa Soo returns to Broadway, taking center stage in Amélie, A New Musical, which officially opens April 3 following previews that began. Tony nominee Phillipa Soo (Hamilton) returns to Broadway in Amélie, a new musical based on the beloved five-time Oscar-nominated film with direction by Tony winner. Mice are the most common animals now used in obesity research.They have many advantages for scientists who work with them but are far from perfect as a model for.
Glee is open delight or pleasure. This term has had musical associations since around 1000 when the noun glee could be used to refer to entertainment of the. Electronic music Why it works. Ambient electronica tends to fit our need for present but unobtrusive. As a genre it’s repetitive, but in a good way.
A recent Off- Broadway hit, the show will be directed by Luke Sheppard, whose previous productions include the Olivier Award- winning musical In The Heights. Murder For Two will run at the Watermill from 2. January to 2. 5 February (press night is 3.
January), and then transfers to The Other Palace (formerly St James Theatre, London). Ed Mac. Arthur will play the role of Officer Marcus Moscowicz with Jeremy Legat portraying Joe, who plays multiple suspects. Thoroughly Modern Millie – Touring. The 2. 01. 7 UK touring production of the musical comedy Thoroughly Modern Millie openson Tuesday 1. January at the New Wimbledon Theatre.
The production stars Strictly Come Dancing’s. Joanne Clifton as Millie with former soap star Michelle Collins as the sinister Mrs Meers in the show until Saturday 4 March. Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International, the production will be directed and choreographed by Racky Plews. With a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, based on the original story and screenplay by Richard Morris for the Universal Pictures film, the multi award- winning show features new music by Jeanine Tesori and new lyrics by Dick Scanlan. La Cage Aux Folles – Touring.
John Partridge, Adrian Zmed and Marti Webb will star in the much- loved musical La Cage Aux Folles when it embarks on its first ever nationwide tour, opening at the New Oxford Theatre on 5 January. John Partridge will play . Adrian Zmed will play . This brand new production is produced by Bill Kenwright, directed by Martin Connor and choreographed by Bill Deamer. Evita – Touring. Bill Kenwright’s production of Evita returns for another major UK tour. The revival of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much- loved musical last toured the country three years ago ahead of a successful London run at the Dominion Theatre in the autumn of 2. Directed by Bob Tomson and Kenwright, the production is designed by Matthew Wright and choreographed by Bill Deamer.
The tour will begin in Bromley at the Churchill Theatre from 1. January. Wonderland – Touring.
Former soap favourite and stage actress Wendi Peters will star alongside West End leading man Dave Willetts in the 2. UK tour of Frank Wildhorn’s Tony Award- nominated Wonderland.
Peters will play the Queen of Hearts opposite Willetts as the White Rabbit in a production which will also feature West End leading actress Kerry Ellis as Alice in selected venues. Following sold- out seasons in Tampa, Texas and Tokyo, Wonderland debuts at the Edinburgh Playhouse from 2.
January, ahead of an extensive UK tour. Produced by Neil Eckersley, Wonderland has music by Wildhorn, lyrics by Jack Murphy and book by Murphy and Gregory Boyd. The UK adaptation is by Ava Eldred.
The production will be directed by Lotte Wakeham. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Touring. Joe Mc. Elderry returns to the title role in Bill Kenwright’s touring production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The singer, whose first taste of fame came as an 1. X Factor winner, made his first appearance in the UK’s longest- running touring musical early in 2. Presented by special arrangement with the Really Useful Group, Kenwright’s production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s much- loved musical is now in its 3. Frances Ruffelle as Queenie in The Wild Party.
Picture: Fern Berresford. FEBRUARYThe Wild Party – The Other Palace, London.
The first major London production of Michael John La. Chiusa’s The Wild Party at The Other Palace features Frances Ruffelle, John Owen- Jones, Simon Thomas, Donna Mc. Kechnie, Dex Lee, Victoria Hamilton- Barritt, Ako Mitchell, Gloria Obianyo, Genesis Lynea, Melanie Bright, Lizzy Connolly, Steven Serlin, Sebastian Torkia, Bront. Formerly the St James Theatre, the newest addition to the Really Useful Theatres Group will mark its debut as a new home for musical theatre with the production which will run from 1. February until 1 April. The dark, jazz- infused tale has music and lyrics by La. Chiusa and a book by George C.
Paul Taylor- Mills produces. The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin – Theatre Royal Stratford East, London. First performed at the prestigious Playwrights Horizons in New York and written by former Broadway dancer Kirsten Childs, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin will run from 1 February until 1.
March at Theatre Royal Stratford East (with a press night on 8 February). The European premiere features Karis Jack and Sophia Mackay who will play the younger and older versions of the central character Viveca.
The Theatre Royal Stratford East and Belgrade Theatre Coventry presentation will be directed by Olivier nominated actress and director Josette Bushell- Mingo (The Lion King). Lizzie – Greenwich Theatre, London. Eden Espinosa (Wicked) has joined the cast of Lizzie, the new gothic rock musical which will receive its UK premiere at London’s Greenwich Theatre.
She joins the previously announced Jodie Jacobs, Bleu Woodward and Bj. Presented by Frederica Teater in association with Aria Entertainment, the show inspired by the story of notorious alleged axe- murderer Lizzie Borden will begin on 2. February and end on 1. March, with a press night on 2. February. My Land’s Shore – Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre, London. My Land’s Shore – having its world premiere at Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre, Walthamstow – tells the story of Dic Penderyn, a Welsh labourer and coal miner who lived in Merthyr Tydfil and who was involved with the Merthyr Rising of 3 June 1. The show has music and lyrics by Christopher J Orton and book and lyrics by Robert Gould.
For its first staged production, the creative team is headed by director Brendan Matthew, musical director Aaron Clingham and choreographer Charlotte Tooth. The show runs from 7 to 2. February (press night is 1. February). Summer Nights in Space – The Vaults, London. Coming to the VAULT Festival, Hannah Elsy Productions presents a new science fiction musical from the creators of rock musical The Quentin Dentin Show. Summer Nights in Space continues writer Henry Carpenter’s breakdown of a . This production is part of VAULT Festival’s .
The show runs from 1. February (press night is 1.
February). The Sorrows of Satan – Tristan Bates Theatre, London. A new musical play based on the Faustian 1. The Sorrows of Satan will make its debut at London’s Tristan Bates Theatre.
Written by Luke Bateman and Michael Conley, The Sorrows of Satan will play the Covent Garden venue from 1. February until 2. March with a press night on 2. February. Directed by Adam Lenson, the new musical plays for six weeks and is produced by Fisher Taylor- Gaunt Productions.
Christina Bennington and Andrew Polec are cast in Bat Out of Hell. Picture: Specular. Bat Out of Hell – Manchester Opera House/London Coliseum.
The world premiere of the theatrical incarnation of Jim Steinman’s rock classic Bat Out of Hell has a preview run at the Manchester Opera House from 1. February until 8 April.
The show will receive its official opening night at the London Coliseum on 2. June, following further previews from 5 June, and is due to run until 2.
Meaning and Happiness. I’d really be happy if I could just get that promotion.”“I can’t wait for my vacation!”“I wish I had just a little more money so I could make ends meet.”“I’d be glad if I could lose 1.
I want those shoes!”“I should move to California.”“Thank God it’s Friday.”When people think about what they want, it often has to do with improving their circumstances. People assume they’ll be happier if they could have a situation that includes things like the ones listed above. I’m pretty sure Ed Diener ( “Dr. Happiness” ) has done more scientific research on happiness than anyone, and is considered by many the world’s foremost authority. Recently he wrote a book on the subject with his son, Robert Biswas- Diener ( “The Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology” ), who has also done some interesting research on happiness all over the world. If you want to be happier, it might make sense to listen to what they have to say. The book is called Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth.
Part 1 (of 4 parts), “Understanding True Wealth,” includes Chapter 2: “Two Principles of Psychological Wealth.” The excerpts below are from their discussion of the first principle. Caveat Emptor: Bad Stuff Happens . Remember how she was cruelly mistreated by her stepsisters and their wicked mother?
Do you recall how they made her slave away at the daily household chores? Remember how the dress she labored so hard over was torn to shreds in a fit of jealousy, and her hopes of going to the royal ball lay in tatters? Of course, you probably best remember the happy ending of the fairy tale: Cinderella’s magical godmother arrives in the nick of time, whisks her away to the dance, and engineers a quick infatuation, with the result that the beloved protagonist marries the charming prince.
But is that the end of the story, or just the beginning? It is interesting to consider what happened to Cinderella next, after she was betrothed and took up residence in Charming Castle. For people who believe that happiness is a matter of favorable circumstances, the story of Cinderella turns out to be a slam dunk. With a Hollywood- handsome husband, a royal title, all the riches she could want, and soldiers to guard her from the paparazzi, how could our belle of the ball not be happy? But for folks who are inclined to think of happiness as a process, the matter of Cinderella’s emotional fate is far from clear. Did Cinderella’s husband treat her well, or was he a philanderer in later life?
Did she find some meaningful pastime to keep her occupied on the palace grounds? Were her children spoiled brats? Did she harbor resentment about her upbringing, or try to get revenge on her stepsisters?
Did she grow bored with royal balls and court intrigue, or did she organize a dance program for the poor kids in her kingdom? Happiness, as we have said, is a process, not a destination. Just as Cinderella’s life did not end with her royal wedding, your emotional bliss is not complete once you have obtained some important goal. Life goes on, and even those great circumstances you achieve will not ensure you lasting happiness.
For one thing, bad things can happen even to beautiful young princesses. But even if Cinderella’s life encountered few bumps on the fairyland road, she might have grown bored with the wonderful circumstances surrounding her, and needed new aims and activities to add zest to her life. In the end, Cinderella’s quality of life was probably dictated less by her favorable circumstances and more by how she construed them. Hardships are an inevitable part of life, and having psychological wealth does not mean there are never any risks or losses.
Happiness is not the complete absence of tough times, because that would be unrealistic. But, as we shall see later in this chapter and later in this book, negative emotions have a place in psychological wealth, and subjective interpretation plays an important role in happiness.- Diener and Biswas- Diener, Happiness, pp. Chapter 2: Two Principles of Psychological Wealth)Cinderella seemed to end up with a lot of the things we want (and don’t we spend a lot of time trying to get them?): money, prestige, a good- looking romantic partner, security. She was “successful”; she had “arrived.” But research on happiness is showing that good circumstances (even those of storybook quality) don’t necessarily have a lot to do with how happy people are. Of course, goals are important, but happiness is more about the process than it is about where you end up.
The next section in the book, a kind of thought experiment, illustrates this nicely. Needing the Rigors of the Game. We sometimes ask our students whether they would accept the following pact with a genie.
After floating out of his lamp, he offers to give you everything you desire, and as soon as the wish comes into your head, without the typical three- wish limit. The smirking genie says that anything you want will instantly come to you.
You can’t wish for happiness, and you can’t wish that you will need to work for things to obtain them: no trickery of this type is allowed. Just solid old- school wishing for gold, castles, travel, beauty, friends, sports talent, intelligence, musical talent, good- looking dates, fast cars, and the like is permitted. Of course, most students wave their hands wildly, signaling that of course they would accept this great offer. Undoubtedly they are thinking of school loans, good grades, summers in Paris, and body fat. But – typically – as the class discussion proceeds, doubts begin to creep in.
Maybe this all- wishes- granted deal, having everything and working for nothing, would become boring. Maybe you would adapt to all your blessings and they would no longer produce happiness. The discussion proceeds a bit further, and a few students begin to think the infinite- wishes deal might be hell on earth. Things would become boring, they reason, and life would lose its zest. Students’ qualms about receiving everything without effort express our intuitive understanding that working for things we desire can be part of the pleasure of obtaining them.
Just as climbing the mountain may be the major part of the fun, and simply being boosted to the top by a genie would be much less rewarding, much in life might be more meaningful and rewarding because of the efforts needed to obtain it. Not only will the eventual reward be more exciting, but the activities needed to gain the reward can themselves be very rewarding. The former justice of the United States Supreme Court Benjamin Cardozo expressed this well: “In the end the great truth will have been learned: that the quest is greater than what is sought, the effort finer than the prize (or, rather, that the effort is the prize), the victory cheap and hollow were it not for the rigor of the game.” The renowned justice went beyond saying that the goal- seeking activities enhance the final reward; he claimed that these activities are in fact the prize itself!- Diener and Biswas- Diener, Happiness, pp. Chapter 2: Two Principles of Psychological Wealth)You’ve probably heard the saying “Life’s a journey, not a destination.” The quotation is from Ralph Waldo Emerson, but it was also popularized by Aerosmith. If you do a Google search for “journey, not a destination” you’ll get a lot of interesting variations – other things that are “.