Such a great mix, too. From his deserved Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Giuseppe Conlon in In The Name Of The Father, through to his scene-stealing in The Usual Suspects, a bit of footie with When Saturday Comes (spoiler: Sean Bean survives that one), and dinosaur hunting in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, he felt ever-present on cinema screens for a while there. I liked that. At the end of the performance the audience went into raptures. The emotion of the whole scenario took over and coupled with the excitement of the contest and the feeling of overwhelming satisfaction at the level of performance achieved, tears rolled down the faces of more than one hardened band member and Yorkshire Miner.

The band supporters were ecstatic, but other bands had also played well. The reigning champions Desford Colliery had evidently played very well a few bands earlier than us. Fairey’s had also given a very worthwhile performance and these two seemed to be our main contenders. So we waited and waited for the results. Did you know anything about this period of British history? Has it inspired you to learn more? Discuss how movies can teach us about the past. The rehearsal started without him, as frantic telephone calls were being made to his home, which were totally fruitless. The hospital scene, with Pete Postlethwaite in bed, was filmed at Doncaster College, not a hospital. The festival scene in Delph was filmed on Monday 23 October 1995. [6]

Release

As you can probably imagine, the mother of all celebrations was underway, and if any body of people know how to celebrate, Grimethorpe Colliery Band are world leaders and the evening became a blurred but very happy memory. From the dreariest of landscapes, the glint and gleam of an inimitable brass sound lit up the lives of men who worked in darkness. Emerging from the pit, they made for the bandroom where, with a discipline natural to an industry where self-control means life or death, they practised and rehearsed to the impeccable standards which have won them recognition as masters of their art. The band were on an uncontrollable high, and were whisked off stage onto the steps of the RAH for the worlds media to get another ounce of flesh. It was as if we had won already, but then we had to come down to earth until we found out whether or not the 3 adjudicators agreed with the whole audience. As ever, we were anxious to get a late draw, the television camera crews were still taking our every move and had even agreed with the organisers to set up a camera in the hall. We drew No.17, which for Ken Hirst was a major achievement. He even mumbled something about somebody pinching his no.1 ball, although he was a relieved man when they had.

More recently, the excellent Pride achieved something similar, by telling a harsh, often unpleasant story with some very, very strong comedy. And further examples include the likes of Billy Elliot, East Is East and the more recent Sing Street. Not for nothing are films like these amongst the best comedy movies of the last couple of decades. How did some of the male characters act toward Gloria? How did Gloria cope in these situations? Did you think she handled it well? Is it acceptable to make lewd or sexist comments if they are lighthearted and jokey? The colliery band we used still perform today. They’ve made albums and played at the White House. In the Halifax Piece Hall scene, where the band plays the Florentina March, my parents appear as extras. My dad loved the music so much we had it played at his funeral. Tara Fitzgerald, actorThe second outstanding performance you get in Brassed Off comes from Stephen Tomkinson, as Danny’s son, Phil. Phil: I love the band - we all do - but there's other things in life, you know, that's more important. Danny: Not in mine there isn't. The band undertook an unusual invitation to play at the World Cup Carnival at Saint Denis near Paris and returned to Paris again in July to perform at the Cite De La Musique conducted by Peter Bassino the Head of Brass at the Royal College of Music in London. September saw the band fly to Switzerland to undertake a three-concert tour and immediately returned to London to record the first of two television shows with Leslie Garrett. The band appeared in the second Series of Leslie Garrett Tonight which was shown in June 2000. In December the band appeared on the television show ‘Goin Home with Lesley Garrett’ on the new Sky “Artsworld” Channel. Lesley also features on the band’s compact disc – Classic Brass – which reached number three in the Classic FM chart. In September 2000 the band took part in the Quincentenary Concert for The Worshipful Company of Musicians, conducted by Elgar Howarth held at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. This was the first tour for the band organised by International Concert Attractions Pty Ltd and the schedule was gruelling. The tour started spending 5 days in Japan and performing on 14/02 with two concerts in the Orchard Hall – Tokyo, followed on 15/02 at Kouseinenkin Kalkin – Tokyo, 16/02 Hagoyashi Koukaido Nagoya, 17/02 Festival Hall – Osaka and 18/02 Meil Parque Hall – Kukupka.

Because of the success 2 years ago, with the popularity of the band with audiences, this tour was more relaxed with the first week being spent in the Kings Cross area of Sydney. The tour didn’t start on a good footing with all the luggage being lost on the flight over, arriving a day late, with the bands music arriving on the morning of the first concert. Apparently it had made a small detour to America. The tour started on the 25/01 at Wollongong Entertainment Centre, then 26/03 Civic Theatre – Newcastle then the main concert of the tour on 27/01 at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. This concert was a complete sell out including 200 people standing for the whole performance and we were informed that the concert could have been sold out another 2 times. Then the final concert in Australia on the 27/01 at The Hills Centre – Castle Hill before travelling onto New Zealand. Paul Allen adapted Mark Herman's screenplay for the stage, the production premiering at the Crucible Theatre Sheffield on 17 March 1998, with music performed by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. The play transferred to the Royal National Theatre in June before embarking on a UK tour. [16] In 2014 a new UK tour was mounted by the Touring Consortium Theatre Company, coinciding with the thirtieth anniversary of the miners' strike. [17] In popular culture [ edit ] Philip Wilby commented “a sure triumph of the human spirit, a sense of liberty and resurrection drawn out of sorrow and pain” The story starts in March 1992 on a spring Sunday afternoon. The day of the Yorkshire Regional Championships at St. Georges Hall, Bradford.The standalone CD, with added music from Trevor Jones, is a treat in its own right. But the music in the context of the film? It’s pretty much unbeatable.

It’s the character of Gloria, along with Ewan McGregor’s Andy, meanwhile, that proved to be the thrust of the film’s promotional campaign when the film made it to the States. Bizarrely, Brassed Off was actually sold as a romantic comedy (!) by Miramax in the US, and to this day, the DVD cover highlights Ewan McGregor’s Andy and Tara Fitzgerald’s Gloria. In fact, the eager accompanying sales copy is worth citing: This delightfully entertaining comedy treat features hot screen stars Ewan McGregor (STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, MOULIN ROUGE) and sexy Tara Fitzgerald (SIRENS). It’s the critically acclaimed story about two old friends — and ex-lovers — whose surprise reunion turns their lives … and the lives of everyone else in town … hilariously upside down!”

Tracklist

And then there’s the heart-breaking shot. Herman’s close-up on Tompkinson’s tear-stained face, arguably the character whose family has lost the most, is perfect. As Frank explained, “…the whole point of the series is to bring together great musicians who have made their reputations in other areas of music, and see them, with a Brass Band creating different sounds and styles”.