URN

“If for just a moment you want to recapture that feeling of being in the middle of an audience watching a live performance unfold in front of your eyes, and just enjoying it for the sake of it being good, then I cannot recommend Ben Platt’s Netflix special highly enough.” 

In a week that has seen more theatres try - and fail - to work out whether they can reopen at reduced capacity, I recommend watching Ben Platt 'Live From Radio City Music Hall' for an evening that absolutely celebrates live music instead. Listen to this week's #SpotlightOn to find out more!

Part of the Home Theatre series as we continue to broadcast from our homes!

Jamie presents: Isaac vs. Joseph: The Genre Challenge 

Who can do the best in recommending me a film from the chosen genres...ranging from the broad to the very specific.

Have a listen to what URN has got up to in the second month of isolation; from finishing University work to binge watching TV, making fires to drastic haircuts and even spending time with a tortoise...

This week The Positive Place Podcast focuses on all things active! We speak to Lucy about her online Zumba classes and Jenny and Georgi from UNLCC discuss how the cricket season has been affected by lockdown. 

Find out more about Zumba with Lucy Nottingham here - https://www.facebook.com/zumbawithlucynotts/

Keep up to date with UoN Ladies Cricket on Twitter - https://twitter.com/unlcc?lang=en

Read the full article all about how Olympic athletes are training in lockdown -https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/train-olympics-lockdown-200405131539014.html 

We, like the real Eurovision, may not be able to host a live competition this year, but join me as I look back over our past #URNivision winners and chat about some of my favourite European musicals!

Here's a few suggestions to check out:

Soldaat van Oranje (Soldier of Orange):

Tanz der Vampire (finale number): youtube.com/watch?v=iEtez3VeAhg

• And for the oh-so entertaining plot on the Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_of_the_Vampires_(musical) 

Mozart! (act 1) recorded live at the Rainmund Theatre, Vienna: youtube.com/watch?v=narShT7KhEM

Mozart, l’opera rock is a rock opera about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (what a sentence) which premiered in Paris in 2009 before going on to have productions in Belgium and Switzerland. Take a listen to the song ‘Tatoue-moi’ which became a number 1 hit in France (and sounds like it was written by Mika): youtube.com/watch?v=KtTlVYG9o8Y

Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine  à l'Amour is a musical by Gérard Presgurvic that takes a more pop/rock-influenced approach to the Shakespeare play of the same name. It opened in Paris in 2001 and the song ‘Les Rois Du Monde’ was a huge pop hit in France and Belgium: youtube.com/watch?v=7gh81PYERlM

Monte Cristo is one of the few Russian musicals to be recognised internationally and is kind of like a cross between Phantom and Jekyll & Hyde but with more electric guitar: youtube.com/watch?v=DOmK2PnN0II

And to finish off, just a few of my favourite songs from foreign translations of hit English-language shows:

Tarzan in German: youtube.com/watch?v=hcORe71UZXI

Book of Mormon performing ‘Turn It Off’ in Swedish: youtube.com/watch?v=wJsgrdfbVrA

Music credits in order of use: Marc-Antoine Charpentier (‘Te Deum’); Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus (‘Waterloo’, Mamma Mia, Original Cast Recording, 1999); David Yazbek (‘Model Behaviour’, Women On The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Original Broadway Cast Recording, 2011); Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (‘Be Our Guest’, Beauty and the Beast, Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2017); David Baerwald & Kevin Gilbert (‘Come What May’, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Original Broadway Cast Recording, 2019); Lucy Moss & Toby Marlow (‘Haus of Holbein’, Six: The Musial, Studio Cast Recording, 2018); Tom Harriman, Pamela Philips Oland & Frans van Deursen (‘Morgen Is Vandaag [single vesion’, Soldaat van Oranje, Original Dutch Cast Recording, 2011); Jim Steinman & Michael Kunze (‘Totale Finsternis’, Tanz der Vampire, Original German Cast Recording, 1998).

Part 1: https://audioboom.com/posts/7584679-the-film-show-the-director-special-part-1

Part of the Home Theatre series as we continue to broadcast from home!

Jamie, Joseph, Isaac & Ben each explain who their top 5 favourite directors are and recommend a film from each director.

Part 2: https://audioboom.com/posts/7585720-the-film-show-the-director-special-part-2

Part of the Home Theatre series as we continue to broadcast from home!

Jamie, Joseph, Isaac & Ben each give their argument for who the top 5 objectively best directors working today are. 

URN has been busy this week with lots of podcasts on the go and the SU elections at the start of the week.

The Positive Place Podcast presents episode four, filled with volunteering and social action ideas. Emily speaks to Erin from Planning Aid Scotland, we hear from more Girlguiding members about how they're continuing volunteering from home, and an interview with UoN students Charlie and Alfie explains all you need to know about the social media group 'Communi-teas' 

Find out more about PAS here: https://www.pas.org.uk/

Join UoN Communities here: @uoncommunitea and https://www.facebook.com/uoncommunitea/

Join the URN Sport team as they look back on the 2007/08 season