When it works, it's magic… Belfast Operatic director on the joys of the job

Gary Redpath reveals upcoming The Sound of Music production at St Anne's Cathedral is one of group's most ambitious yet
By day, Gary Redpath is a civil servant, but when the working day ends, he transforms into a director, actor and creative powerhouse at Belfast Operatic Company (BOC) — a group he calls his 'theatre family'.
A long-standing member of more than 15 years, Gary is now at the helm of one of BOC's most ambitious productions yet: an immersive staging of The Sound of Music in St Anne's Cathedral.

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Daily Mirror

5 hours ago

• Daily Mirror

Legendary BBC presenter quietly bows out after almost 50 years of TV hosting

BBC and ITV sports presenting icon Steve Ryder gave his last broadcast on Sunday as he presented the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park for ITV4 Sports presenter Steve Ryder has announced his retirement from broadcasting after an impressive 48-year career. The 75-year-old covered major sporting fixtures for both the BBC and ITV over the course of his time on the air. On Sunday, the star was broadcasting from the British Touring Car Championship at Oulton Park in Cheshire when he revealed he would be hanging up his microphone. He was covering the event for ITV4 when he announced the news of his departure from the screen. ‌ A montage of clips was then shared showing drivers including Lando Norris, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Jenson Button and David Coulthard all bidding farewell to the broadcaster. Over the years, he has hosted Sportsnight and Sports Personality of the Year, as well as the BBC's coverage of every Olympic Games between 1988 and 2004. ‌ He departed the BBC in 2005 and joined ITV where he presented coverage of Formula One, as well as the football and rugby World Cups. His final appearance proved to be a muted exit, but he has previously explained why he decided the time had come to quit. He told the Daily Mail: "The biggest emotion as you get into the last two minutes of something like that is, 'For God's sake, don't c**k it up.' "Because you'd be thinking about that for the next 20 years. I've probably outstayed my welcome. I've been hugely lucky with the places that the career has taken me. But it's close to 50 years now, so the cracks are showing." Steve famously used to present Match of the Day and was left miffed when he was replaced by Gary Lineker as the main host - admitting he had cut the former footballer out of his life. The beef began when Gary said in 2015 that he though the R&A as 'pompous' and accused them of feeling like 'superior beings'. This, in turn, provoked a furious reaction from Steve. ‌ He told the Golf Paper: "I hold Gary Lineker in the highest regard as a football presenter, but his reflections on his experiences as a golf presenter need a huge reality check. For four years, the R&A and most other observers knew that Gary was the wrong man in the wrong job. Hazel Irvine has just delivered once again at the Open presentation skills of the highest quality. Not many people can do that and Gary certainly came up short. "Roger Mosey, the head of sport, knew Gary was a golf fanatic and was further encouraged by Gary apparently volunteering for the Masters vacancy within a few minutes of my exit from Television Centre. ‌ "But if Mosey thought long and hard before offering Gary the golf job, it's even more baffling. Match of the Day is scripted and rehearsed. Golf presentation, especially at Augusta, is seat of the pants, unpredictable and demanding." Away from sport, Steve also won praise for being open about a battle against prostate cancer after he was diagnosed with the disease in October 2023. He underwent emergency surgery which stopped the cancer from spreading. He previously told BBC Breakfast: "They took one look and said, 'We're going to operate in two weeks'. "No messing around. We did Brands Hatch for ITV on the Sunday and I had the operation on the Thursday. So it slotted into the schedule quite nicely!"

Scottish Sun

18 hours ago

• Scottish Sun

Iconic ‘secret' UK cinema famed for showing cult movies & loved by Hollywood stars ‘fighting for survival'

The Prince Charles is a favourite of Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TUCKED away down an unassuming side street in London's famous West End is a "secret" cinema beloved by Hollywood art brats. The Prince Charles Cinema opened 60 years ago as a regular theatre and then briefly a "film house of ill repute" where it showed soft porn. 8 The Prince Charles Cinema is nestled away down a side street off Leicester Square Credit: Getty 8 The Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square during its construction in December 1962 Credit: Alamy 8 Cinema landlord Asif Aziz Credit: PA:Press Association As time went on, the cinema - just around the corner from bustling Chinatown and towering ODEON multiplex - became famous for showing cult and hard-to-find movies. In the 1980s it specialised in controversial horror flicks like The Evil Dead and even hosted the world premier of Hellraiser in 1987. In 1991 it largely became a repertory cinema, specialising largely in older classics and second-runs of films a few years after general release. It also regularly hosts sing-a-long versions of The Sound of Music and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Read more news LAST CURTAIN Iconic 60-year-old UK cinema praised by Tarantino threatened with closure The Prince Charles has just two auditoriums, with capacity for around 400 people, and prides itself on being a time capsule of movie theatres from the past - before the multiplex invasion. Hollywood A-list praise Directors such as Paul Thomas Anderson and John Waters have praised the venue - with Quentin Tarantino, a major champion of edgy B-movies and grind house, calling it 'everything an independent movie theatre should be". However, with the lease up in less than three months, its billionaire landlord Asif Aziz - dubbed "Mr West End" - has reportedly demanded double the rent, throwing its future into doubt. Cinema managing director Ben Freedman told The Sun talks about the venue's future appeared to breakdown earlier this year. He said: "We don't want to fight, to run a campaign. We want to run a cinema." And for Mr Freedman and his staff they have unwittingly become the face of a fight for the soul of the West End itself. John Travolta, 70, and Uma Thurman, 53, look radiant as they reunite for Pulp Fiction's 30th anniversary screening in LA The 64-year-old told The Sun that the area - fame as a glitzy arts hub - has been "hollowed out" as creatives are forced to go elsewhere in the city due to developers. Hotel tycoon Mr Aziz is one of the biggest landowners in Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus, as well as being a philanthropist - his foundation funds community work, arts, culture and research. But he's not popular at Prince Charles Cinema. The bosses at the Leicester Square venue allege the rent increase is an attempt to get them out once their lease ends in September 2025, in order to shut the cinema and redevelop the property as a hotel. And it seems that all of London - and all of Hollywood - has rallied to its defence. Heartthrob Paul Mescal - who recently starred in blockbuster Gladiator 2 - called the potential closure "incredibly disheartening" and told GQ: "It's imperative that this cultural institution does not close its doors." Christopher Nolan - the genius director behind Inception and Interstellar - proclaimed: "Film culture in Great Britain is unthinkable without the Prince Charles." Westminster Council recently made the cinema an asset of community value, calling it a "cultural landmark that brings so much life, character, and cinematic adventure to the West End". 8 Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino is among a host of A-listers to have praised the independent cinema Credit: Getty 8 British director - famous for the Dark Knight trilogy and Dunkirk - is also a fan of the Prince Charles Credit: Getty 8 Gladiator 2 star Paul Mescal has also praised the cinema Credit: Alamy Mr Freedman told us: "It goes back a couple of years when we first started talking about renewing our lease. In the first couple of meetings it was relatively friendly. "Early last year it got to a point where they were trying to raise our rent. We had reports from surveyors and reports on the market rates and said what we thought the rent should be. "But they wanted double. That was the beginning of this. "Then there were talks about redeveloping the building. We put out the petition and got this incredible wave of support from our audiences. "We saw this coming and put money aside a few years ago for this fight. "But this isn't what we want to be doing. We don't want to fight, to run a campaign. We want to run a cinema." He added: "Hotels are nice, but in the West End? What if it all turned into hotels? "I've worked in Soho for 40 years. It's a community. It's an area that is unique - there isn't anywhere like it in the world. Not LA, not New York, nowhere. "It is a place for creatives, for cinema, for the film industry - but everyone is moving out to different places across the city now. It's been hollowed out. "The things that people used to come to the West End for are no longer here." Hell of a fight He said that central London seems to just be for tourists now. But instead of giving into the weight of the ultra-wealthy landlord, the small cinema is determined to put up a hell of a fight. And the film lovers of London have come out in full force to support it. Mr Freedman said: "We have been very very busy recently. From people who haven't come here in a while to people who have never been. "It is not a sense of sadness here, but more of standing up for ourselves. We want to stay in the West End. We want to continue to bring films to our audiences." We have bent over backwards to try to negotiate with him. He doesn't seem to want to talk to us, he ignores us, then goes and makes out that he's the aggrieved one. It's frustrating. Ben Needham Referring to Mr Aziz, he added: "The spirit of our relationship…I have not enjoyed it. "We have bent over backwards to try to negotiate with him. He doesn't seem to want to talk to us, he ignores us, then goes and makes out that he's the aggrieved one. It's frustrating. "It's a consistent pattern here, we are not alone. And that is unfortunate. "The support we have had has been wonderful. Our ticket-buying public have put their money where their mouth is." Just 20 minutes down the road, the world's first YMCA club is fighting the same battle - against the same mega-rich businessman. In February, members of Central YMCA exchanged heartbroken hugs as it closed its doors for the last time. The huge 116,000 sq ft building on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, near the British Museum, was sold to Aziz's company Criterion Capital in December. The YMCA club had 3,600 members and saw 10,000 people use it regularly and they fought to keep it open, even submitting a failed High Court injunction application. Criterion has a luxury Zedwell hotel next door and the club members fear their community hub will be incorporated into the building. David Bieda, who is in his 60s, used the YMCA three times a week. He told The Sun what is happening with the YMCA and the Prince Charles is just the start of a wider problem in the city. "What if this happened to every single community space in England?" he said. "There need to be protections. It's happening all over the place. "If the whole thing was demolished and turned into hotels then it would be far more profitable. But what happens to the community? "It will have a big impact on those who use it. For the YMCA, people in their sixties like me go there a lot - it has arts, sports, pottery…all in one building. That is very unusual. I go to three classes a week there. "We've all written to Asif Aziz. We've had no response. He's been trying to get this space for ages. It's happening all over the place." The Sun has approached Mr Aziz for comment. 8 People queue for the first showing of Caligula at the Prince Charles in 1980 Credit: Alamy

Metro

2 days ago

• Metro

Gary death fears in Corrie as Maria and Liam are seriously worried

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Next week in Coronation Street, panic takes hold as Maria Connor (Samia Longchambon) is left reeling from a string of betrayals and police drama, only for Gary Windass (Mikey North) to vanish without a trace. With Liam (Charlie Wrenshall) growing increasingly anxious and Maria fearing the worst, one question looms: Where is Gary, and is he in danger? As days pass and Liam's concerns grow, Maria questions whether Gary has taken the time to clear his head after a confusing run-in with Lou or if something far more serious is going on. It all kicked off when Maria arrived home from the police station after being accused of assault following her confrontation with Lou, where she accused her of stealing cash from the salon. She was furious and suspected that Lou was the one who reported her. A conniving Lou paid a visit to Gary, insisting she doesn't want trouble. In an attempt to keep the peace, Gary offered her a beer, but things soon moved into dangerous territory. While Gary was in the toilet, Lou sent herself a secret message off his phone. When he returned, Lou made a move and tried to kiss Gary, only for him to jump back in horror. Feeling humiliated, Lou retaliated and threatened Gary with blackmail. Maria then returned home to find Gary packing a bag. He told her he's going to stay with his mum for a few days. Gary admitted that Lou came round but promised nothing happened. Maria struggled to believe him and broke down in tears, devastated that he may be hiding something. Want to be the first to hear shocking EastEnders spoilers? Who's leaving Coronation Street? The latest gossip from Emmerdale? Join 10,000 soaps fans on Metro's WhatsApp Soaps community and get access to spoiler galleries, must-watch videos, and exclusive interviews. Simply click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in! Don't forget to turn on notifications so you can see when we've just dropped the latest spoilers! Days pass, and Gary is due to return home, but when he doesn't, a panicked Liam informs Maria that he's not answering his phone and questions why he's not back by now. More Trending Attempting to stay calm for Liam's sake, Maria tells Liam not to panic and that she's sure Gary will be home soon. As Maria continues to spiral, she finally receives a brief message from Gary saying he's staying with a mate and will be home soon. View More » But will Maria believe this vague text? And where really is Gary? MORE: All Coronation Street spoiler videos for next week as tragedy strikes MORE: Cheating scandal 'confirmed' for Gary in Coronation Street – with another cobbles resident MORE: Coronation Street hints at shock new story – and Gary will pay