Hello and welcome to todays Levy Letter. I hope youve had a good start to the week, and I hope you can join me tonight at half past six on BBC One for Tuesdays Look North. We had lots of messages on fuel prices after yesterdays programme, thank you for all of those. Im sure well be able to follow up some of those stories and experiences and bring you more on that on the programme soon.
I mentioned some of your reports from the Waddington Air Show in the letter yesterday and we had some fantastic pictures of displays on the programme yesterday. Lots of people enjoyed those, including me. Its a spectacular event, and it was good to see so many people turning out despite the somewhat dreary weather. If you were involved, well done, and if you went along then I hope you had a very good time. Theatre Going to see a big West End production is one of the great tourist activities when youre in London, and it seems business is booming for the capitals theatres. According to a new report, 2007 was the most successful year on record for box offices, with over 13 million people attending performances, bringing takings to almost £470 million. Its a huge amount of money. Two thirds of tickets sold were for musicals, with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and Grease doing particularly well. The production of Joseph starred Lee Mead who you might have seen winning the role in the BBC series Any Dream Will Do. I think these television talent contests have certainly had something to do with the popularity of the shows, with The Sound of Music and now Oliver! featuring performers chosen by public vote. There were 17,455 performances in London last year, with an average attendance of 781. It makes you realise how big an industry it is when you see those figures. Perhaps another reason the theatre is booming is that there are so many big stars on the stage these days. In addition to the reality television winners, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe has made an appearance, as have veteran actors of stage and screen Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen. Dr Who star David Tennant is preparing to play Hamlet soon, and other big names planning to tread the boards on London stages include Kenneth Branagh, David Walliams, and Sir Michael Gambon. Youd have thought that those used to the cosy world of film and television acting would be happy with their pay cheques, endless takes, and private trailers, but obviously the stage still has an allure, and audiences are obviously showing how much they enjoy watching star names by voting with their feet. Snails Theyre not everybodys cup of tea, but snails are of course a delicacy enjoyed by many a French connoisseur. Theyre also the latest unlikely victims of global economic problems. According to the French food industry, a shortfall in supplies this year could send prices soaring. France has the highest snail consumption in the world, not much surprise there, but 99% of the slimy snacks are actually imported from abroad, particularly Eastern European countries, Greece, or the Balkans. As Eastern European economies are developing, less people are apparently willing to work as snail harvesters, which alongside rising transport costs, has pushed up prices. In 2007 the French processed 14,300 tonnes of gastropods, including snails and whelks, and thousands of visitors are expected to dine on the creatures in the summers snail festivals. If youre a fan of snails, then enjoy them while you can get them before prices go to high. I would have thought a snail harvester has quite a relaxed job, theyre hardly going to out pace you. Well thats it from me for today. I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and I hope youll join me at half past six on BBC One for this evenings Look North. In the mean time, if you want to catch up on the latest edition of Look North, visit our website www.bbc.co.uk/looknorth and youll be able to view the programme, as well as the top stories online. If you have anything you think we should know about, get in touch as usual, email me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] And I look forward to seeing any unusual pictures you have for us to show on the programme as well. Bye for now Peter And for the latest news and more where you live, go to: http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the BBC Look North newsletter, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/england/looknorthhull/newsletter/newsletter_index.shtml, enter your email address in the unsubscribe box. 1.94.4
