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Montserrat Theathre Company LTD Is Ready To Go

The Montserrat Theatre Company Ltd. (MTCL) under the presidency and leadership of Dr. Eddie Donaghue, a Montserratian residing for many years in St. Thomas, has been one of the recipients or awardees under the current DFID sponsored Tourism Challenge Fund. The MTCL has jumped out ahead almost immediately and sent their Artistic Director Marc Fellnererez and Marketing Director Anat Erez Fellner to Montserrat to move their activities into action.

The couple is married to each other, but in a press interview with the local media, radio, television and press, told that they came to familiarise themselves with the island and its people, the Cultural Centre and other facilities in preparation for this summer’s youth theatre program to take place on the island of Montserrat.

Marc a gave a detailed outline of the program which will life to the MTCL theatre program led by himself and his wife Anat. The summer theatre program on Montserrat will include three sessions each lasting 4 weeks running from June through August and will work in conjunction with the Montserrat Calabash Festival in July.

At the camp which will draw children from all over the world, they will learn the elements of theatre as well as delve into the culture of Montserrat and the Caribbean through various activities including learning to play steel pan.

Each session will produce a final performance to be presented at the cultural centre.

He expanded further: “…the camp is the idea that it will expose children of the world to this amazing island of Montserrat. The second group will overlap the first group by one by one week and it will be designed for students that from the islands, in and around the Caribbean. They will focus on play writing and the basics of theatre through scene work, monologue, singing, dancing dance movements as well as the exploration of the work that goes on behind the scenes.”

Centre As to whether the project is a business or a school type project. “…what we plan is just to have this as a beginning as a first step then to have a company a theatre company on Montserrat that functions year round… We hope that this will become a self sufficient company that can maintain year after year and ultimately become a year round endeavour, Marc responded.”

The couple spoke ecstatically about the Cultural Centre in absolute terms. “…Absolutely we went on a tour of that space and it is cutting edge they have projector, they have moving lights, an incredible grid…the space is ready to perform. I think the improvement that will need to come will need to be in parking and outside of the space but the space inside look really good. I think it’s ready to go it is up and running.”

Dr. Donoghue the architect of the project keeps his fingers on the pulse of activity and development in Montserrat and he is very excited about it. He had called to announce his acceptance and pleasure at receiving the grant to do what he considers to be a very forward moving project, and said they would waste no time.

Source: www.themontserratreporter.com

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Jadine ‘De Soca Deva’ Nominated for Music Award

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Trevor McDonald gives helping hand

Little Bay, Montserrat – Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John and Mark Knopfler are amongst the music industry greats contributing to a new ‘Wall of Fame’ which was unveiled in the Montserrat Cultural Centre last week.

The musicians had their hands cast in bronze to represent the ‘helping hand’ they provided when performing in the Music for Montserrat concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 15, 1997. The concert was organised by legendary producer Sir George Martin, whose connections with Montserrat date back over 30 years. Sir George’s hand-prints also appear on the wall, with percussionist Ray Cooper’s hands completing the current line up.

“Displaying these bronzed hand plaques demonstrates our continued commitment to the development of the arts in Montserrat,” said Sir George Martin, former producer of the Beatles, patron of the Cultural Centre and long time winter resident of Montserrat. “This is a lasting tribute to the artists who performed at the Royal Albert Hall, without whose selfless contribution the Centre would not have been built.”  

Helping Sir George at the unveiling of the Wall of Fame was Sir Trevor MacDonald, one of Britain’s foremost news anchormen and television presenters, who was in Montserrat at the time to film a documentary for ITV.

Sir George Martin places plaques with Trevor McDonald looking on

The Montserrat Cultural Centre is the island’s premier arts and culture facility, which first opened for business in 2007. It is hoped that the ‘Wall of Fame’ will soon be extended to include the handprints of other artistes who performed at the Music for Montserrat concert. These include Jimmy Buffet, Montserrat’s own Alphonsus ‘Arrow’ Cassell, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Dave Hartley, the London Gospel Community Choir, Sting and Ian Thomas.

Source: www.themontserratreporter.com

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Jamaican born Kevin Barnes successfully competed against eight other participants to walk away with the top prize at Montserrat’s inaugural talent search hosted by the Nurses Association.  Adena Morson grabbed the 2nd place spot and Jamal St. Hill who goes by the stage name of ‘Prosper’ filled the third position.  The other contestants were Thiffanie Rogers, Ben Durand, Camille Winspeare, Shamella Carlisle, Flora Martin and Veronica Lynch.

The show was held at ‘The Lime’ in Brades on Monday, December 22nd.  The eight participants puts on a great show and fully entertained the many patrons that came out to show their support.  The event hosted by Mr. Basil Chambers was patterned after shows such as ‘American Idol’ and ‘Digicel Rising Stars’ which have become quite popular in recent times.  

The judges Mr. Kelvin ‘Tabu’ Dubbery, Mr. Chad Cumberbatch and Ms. Ann-Marie Dewar.  Each judge gave their personal opinion of each act immediately after the contestant performed.  The three judges then took 20 minutes after all the contestants completed their performances to tally their scores and declare the winners.

Kevin Barnes won the talent search singing a Christian Ballard which allowed him to hit the high notes and showcase his natural talent.  Mr. Barnes described the competition as ‘tough’.

1st runner up Ms. Adena Morson said she was grateful for the experience and told The Montserrat Reporter: “Well…..I’m happy for the opportunity to have taken part in the first ever talent show on Montserrat.  I went up there and I did my best and even though I did not win I am still happy because I now have an experience that I can look back on and share with others”.

Uprising hip-hop artist ‘Prosper’ from the 501 Camp said ‘It was a great experience because it provided exposure for myself and 501 Entertainment.  I am not surprised that I placed third because as the 501 motto says - ‘First Strat; then the world’ and 501 music is going international”.

Nurse Maureen Cabey from the Nurses Association told The Montserrat Reporter “The show was very good especially when considering it was the first time doing this kind of show.  The crowd was also very good and involved in the show from beginning to end”.  

Sponsors of the talent search included Judith Greer and Associates, Dr. Lowell Lewis and MS Osborne Ltd.

By: Jarrell Fenton
Source: www.themontserratreporter.com

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Crowd favourite Rondell Meade competiting in the Soca monarch Competition for the first time ‘jumped’ his way to the crown with his festival anthem ‘I Love My Festival’.  Flying Dove with his catch phrase ‘Are you ready?’ was 1st runner up,  while, Kulcha Don was 2nd runner up singing his club-banger ‘Wickedest Wine’.

The final line up of singers included Prosper, Lionel Obama Bolt, Dexter, I-Cultural.

The show held at Festival City was put on by Punch and Get Out Promotions who have been hosting the Soca Monarch Competition for the last five years.  The Competition was very lively and MCs Ben Meade, ‘Diamond’ from Antigua, and house DJ – ‘Banga Dred’, did an exceptional job of keeping the Soca patrons entertained throughout the whole night.

Soca Monarch Rondell Meade told The Montserrat Reporter, “I am really elated to win the Soca Monarch and I feel as if I have set a positive example for other young people on Montserrat to follow.  Winning the crown meant a lot to me especially as it was my first time in the competition”.

2nd runner up Kulcha Don has recently shot a music video for his extremely popular song ‘The Wickedest Wine’ with Soca Diva Jadine Greenaway.  The song is already receiving regional success in countries such as Jamaica where it is in heavy demand.  Kulcha will travel to Trinidad in February and Jamaica in April for their respective carnivals to promote this new song.

Noticeably missing for the competition for the second year in a row is former Soca Monarch ‘Scrappy’ who lives in the UK.  However, he has promised his fans that he will definitely be competing in this year’s competition.

By: Jarrell Fenton
Source: www.themontserratreporter.com

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Lionel Baker, the first Montserratian to play for the West Indies, was greeted with a hero’s welcome when he arrived here last Thursday evening.
 
Scores of jubilant supporters turned up at the John A Osborne Airport for Baker’s arrival, his first return to his homeland since making his debut for the senior West Indies team in November in Nee Zealand.
 
“When I came off the plane and saw so many people I was quite happy to see that the people of Montserrat appreciate what I have done, I was quite happy,” a delighted Baker told reporters.
 
“It feels quite good to see all these people coming out to welcome me back,” said Baker who joked that “I thought it was Christmas again … I thought Christmas was coming again just for me.”
 
“We want to welcome you home and to show our appreciation, for you have done us proud and you are now a national hero,” said Communications and Works Minister Charles Kirnon, who greeted the young pacer as he stepped off the plane.
 
Among the accolades being planned for the West Indies player is the renaming of the St John’s main road to Lionel Baker Street, where a billboard will be erected in his honour.
 
“The best part of being back home is to go on my street,” Baker said, referring to the stretch of road where he honed his skills after school, on weekends and during vacation as a youngster growing up – and where a motorcade from the airport culminated Thursday night.
 
The 24-year-old Baker took three wickets for 74 runs on his One Day International debut versus Pakistan in Abu Dhabi in November and made his Test debut against New Zealand in Dunedin last month in the opening Test of the two-match rubber. He subsequently played three ODIs against the Kiwis in the five-match series that finished on Tuesday.
 
Meantime, Baker says his immediate priority is rest and relaxation with his family at home, ahead of what is expected to be a tough Home Series against England beginning next month.
 
Upon his arrival, he told reporters that the long journey from New Zealand, where he made his Test debut last month, had left him slightly exhausted.
 
“I just want to get some rest, stay home with my family and then, after a week’s time, its back to cricket again,” said Baker, who will await word on his selection for the four-Test and five-match One Day International series against old rivals England.
 
Baker, who did not take a wicket in his solitary Test, said while he was not overly happy with his performance with the ball in the just concluded series against New Zealand, he was “pleased” with his body of work that yielded eight wickets in six ODIs against Pakistan and New Zealand combined.
 
He said, however, after taking it easy for a few days, he would begin his analysis of the England batsmen using the popular internet site, Youtube.
 
Baker said he would use the technology to give him a head start on preparing for the upcoming tour.
 
“Before you get there you must know what you are about so when you get in the nets in Jamaica you will be bowling that kind of length … because that’s what you’ll be bowling in the Test match.”
 
He also said that his mission for the year ahead was “just trying to put myself and my country on the map, and trying to establish myself on the West Indies team.”
 
In the meantime, the St John’s native said he would also make himself available with the expectation to be selected to the Leeward Islands team now playing in the regional first class tournament and would play out the rest of the season if he did not retain his position on the West Indies side.

Source: http://www.themontserratreporter.com/index.pl/article_local?id=2471877

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