BUSINESS
Argos profits take a knock, a supermarket takes on the download giants in the online film market and Home Shopping channels are poised for a take over
LOCAL SPORT
22 Apr 11 | Premier Division
Billericay Town VS Croydon Athletic (Bottom of the table, 21)
23 Apr 11 | Division One North
Brentwood Town VS Cheshunt (Bottom of the table, 18 )
PETE’s SPORTING WEEKEND:
Football – Man Utd vs Everton 12:45 Saturday
Chelsea vs West Ham 17:30 Saturday
Bolton vs Arsenal 16:00 Sunday
In Scotland, it’s Rangers vs Celtic 12:30 Sunday, Rangers currently 4 points clear in the table
Lots of games Friday and Monday – it’s a double header in Football league – including tonight’s East Anglia derby between Ipswich and Norwich at 7:45, with Norwich 3rd in the Championship at present, and then it’s 2nd vs 1st on Saturday as Cardiff take on QPR at 12:45.
Next week, Champions League semi final first legs (Schalke vs Man Utd Tuesday, Real Madrid vs Barcelona Wednesday)
Cricket – Essex taking on Northants away, with a century from Ashes hero Alastair Cook leaving them 345-6 at close of play last night
Rugby Union – penultimate round of Premiership games, on Saturday it’s Irish vs Northants at 15:00, and Wasps (with disciplinary issues) vs Bath at 17:30, then Harlequins away to Leeds at 15:00 and Saracens at home to Gloucester at 13:30, which is a 2nd vs 3rd (Sarries should be comfortably in top 4 for the play-offs)
Snooker – into the 2nd round at the Crucible and last year’s champion, Neil Robertson, is out in the first round. It’s a tough one for Ali Carter in his next match, takng on Graeme Dott, last year’s runner up. Ronnie O’Sullivan was in glorious form to beat Dominic Dale 10-2, and he faces 2005 champion Shaun Murphy in the next round.
And of course, the biggest sporting news of the weekend, Eddy the ‘Edgehog, from Alderley Edge Hockey Club, won the Mascot Gold Cup, beating more than 50 other mascots in the process.
Reminder about Olympics tickets – Monday 26th April is the deadline for the ballot.
Here is the moment that Sergio Ramos dropped the Trophy and it was run over by the bus:
Spain may need a new football trophy
Pete’s Predictions
Chelsea to beat West Ham
Arsenal to beat Bolton
Man U to draw at Everton
Brentwood to beat Cheshunt
Billericay to beat Croyndon
John Higgins to win at the Crucible
THEATRE LISTINGS
Stand Up And Be Counted at Palace Theatre – Finishes this Saturday, performances at 8pm and 5pm Saturday.
An old-school comedian and a new young talent clash whilst awaiting their respective appearances at a charity fundraiser. Comic play written by and starring Jim Davidson.
Tickets – £17.50 – £28.50 CALL 01702 351135
A View From The Bridge at Mercury Theatre Until 30th April at 7.30 and 2.30 on Saturday
Mercury Theatre Company presents Tim Treslove in Arthur Miller’s drama about mounting family tensions in a close-knit immigrant community in 1950s Brooklyn. Directed by Janice Dunn.
Tickets £8.75 – £19.90 CALL 01206 573948
The Taming Of The Shrew at Queen’s Theatre until the 30th April at 8pm and 2.30pm next Thursday
Musical comedy adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, with the action now set in Padua, Texas. Directed by Bob Carlton.
Tickets £14 – 23 CALL 01708 443333
LONDON NEWS
EastEnders actress Samantha Womack is to star in the Lincoln Center production of South Pacific when it plays the Barbican this summer.
Womack will play Nellie opposite Paulo Szot in Bartlett Sher’s Tony Award-winning production, which will run at the Barbican from August 15 to October 1, with press night on August 23. A nationwide tour follows, opening in Milton Keynes on October 12.
With a cast of 40 and a 25-strong orchestra, the production will be helmed by the original Lincoln Center creative team with musical staging by Christopher Gattelli and sets by Michael Yeargan.
Womack previously appeared in Michael Grandage’s production of Guys and Dolls and played Sandy in the West End production of Grease.
Judy Garland Bio Play End of the Rainbow Headed for Broadway
A spring 2012 Broadway transfer is in the works for End of the Rainbow, Peter Quilter’s biographical play about the last days of superstar Judy Garland, according to The New York Times. The play has been running in London since November 2010, starring two-time Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett as Garland. The star, who received a 2011 Olivier Award nomination for her performance as Garland, will make her Broadway debut as the superstar singer.
NEW YORK
Last night saw the Broadway opening night of Sister Act
Patina Miller plays the lead role of nightclub-singer-turned-nun Deloris Van Cartier in the muscial, who Goldberg played in the iconic movies. Millers has taken her role as a nun very seriously, with the 26-year-old actress admitting she doesn’t go out partying and hasn’t dated since she nabbed the lead in the musical in late 2008.
