On October 14, London’s Royal Albert Hall will present Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: Best of Broadway. According to Playbill, The 7:30 PM concert will feature tunes from Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Les Misérables and more as well such MGM musicals as “The Wizard of Oz,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Easter Parade” and “High Society.” Ria Jones, Mary Carewe, Graham Bickley and Michael Dore will sing, while David Firman will be the musical director.
A few days earlier, Tony winner Idina Menzel will make her solo London concert debut on October 6, 2011, at 7:30 PM. She will be accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, which will be conducted by legendary Tony-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch (who wrote a little show called A Chorus Line).
And next year, the 50th anniversary of the film version of West Side Story will be celebrated June 22-24, 2012. A full live symphony orchestra will play Leonard Bernstein’s score while the re-mastered film is shown in high-definition on the big screen with the original vocals and dialogue intact.
Tickets and more information are available at www.royalalberthall.com.
St. Andrews, the birthplace (and, we’d say, spiritual home) of golf, will host the world’s first public tribute to the ancient game with the inaugural St. Andrews Golf Festival from March 28-April 1, 2012.
Conceived by Richard Wax, Chairman of Golf Surveys Ltd. And one of Europe’s leading golf consultants, the very first Festival of Golf is a global celebration in St. Andrews that aims to draw in visitors to experience the history, traditions and modern innovations that reflect the 600 years that golf has been played in northeast Scotland and around the world.
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This past weekend, Wales got its own National Museum of Art (http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/3357/) after a 10-year development. The museum is part of the National Museum Cardiff.
According to the Guardian, the museum will display work from the masters (think Renoir, Cézanne and Monet), but there will also be some contemporary and boundary-pushing pieces as well (for example, a jagged stone circle created by Richard Long that two weeks ago was nothing more than a pile of rejected hunks of slate in a north Wales quarry).
The multi-million dollar project involved the refurbishment of old galleries and the creation of six new spaces. Pieces that have long languished in storerooms have been hauled out and paintings and sculptures that were jammed together have been given more room.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
Good news for those who frequently fly to Germany: Frequent flyers who have achieved Senator status can now relax in style at Lufthansa’s largest airport lounge. In the hall B departures area of Terminal 1 at Frankfurt Airport, the airline’s top customers can, for the first time, enjoy a modern wellness area with luxury facilities that include ten showers and two spa treatment rooms.
An atrium in the center of the lounge brings in plenty of natural light. The atrium is surrounded by plenty of service facilities, including a wellness area where guests can unwind and enjoy massages, facials and other beauty treatments. (The “Senator Spa” area is operated in cooperation with Babor, one of the leading brands in professional skin care.)
Villas have become de rigueur for luxury hospitality these days (especially for the family, multi-generational and groups markets)—but a day villa is a fairly unique concept.
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, Brigadoon re-opened last month following three years of renovation as a unique venue for events and gatherings (think weddings, birthday parties, reunions and business dinners), with space for up to 1,000 guests. Note: Guests cannot stay overnight, but the villa makes for a terrific day trip.
Good news for foodies: Guests who visit Italy’s Borgo Santo Pietro in Valle Serena, Tuscany can now get hands-on experience in an authentic Tuscan kitchen. The 11-room, 800-year-old Borgo recently added a windowed Chef’s Table, overlooking the kitchen, with daily pasta and bread making classes for guests.
The Chef’s table seats two to eight people and can be booked by guests on a nightly basis. Working with the chef, guests design their own menu for the evening.
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There are as many options for a wedding in Europe as there are couples looking to tie the knot. We reached out to a few wedding specialists to find out what their clients want and how they deliver the best wedding imaginable.
Heads up, meat-lovers! The Carnivore’s Carnival menu will be returning to Seasons Restaurant at Four Seasons Hotel Dublin from May 2 to 31. This is the perfect opportunity to completely sate the appetite and sample some of the world’s best steaks, cooked to order with the sauces and accompaniments carnivores crave.
The Carnival line-up will offer a roll call of star dishes including a true steak stalwart: the 16-oz aged T-bone from Ireland, a striploin from the USA, an Irish/French combo mixed grill of lamb chops, pork sausage and pork tenderloin, and the crowd pleasing main attraction – hailing from New Zealand, the delicate wagyu beef, which makes two appearances – first as the 10 oz wagyu rib eye of beef and then as the Penultimate Burger (wagyu beef patty, foie gras and truffle mayonnaise), a true show stopper!
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Fashionistas now have a new place to hit the hay during Paris Fashion Week. La Maison Champs-Elysées—a 67-room hotel just a stone’s throw from the famous boulevard—enlisted the star talent at Maison Martin Margiela for a redesign. (Since the Belgian-born fashion leader launched the label in 1988, Maison Martin Margiela has been celebrated for its deconstructionist creativity. Though the famously low-profile Margiela quietly left the fashion house in 2009, it’s continued to blaze a trail in the fashion world.) The Financial Times is reporting that the big renovation has just been unveiled. “Expect meticulously under-styled cool coupled with trompe-l’oeil dramatics,” says Travelista Maria Shollenbarger.
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Leave it to Orient-Express—the elite collection of luxury travel experiences—to orchestrate an unforgettable trip to France’s Burgundy region. (First known for the epic train journey, the company now embraces hotels, cruises, and luxury rail adventures in 24 countries.) Orient-Express’ “Afloat in France” invites wine-lovers to board the Amaryllis barge for a six-night voyage where they will have the opportunity
