Arts diary: The Prague jazz club visited by Sean Connery and how Broadway set will be recreated in Pitlochry

I’ve been away with my non-arts hat on covering the World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechia, for the past few days. If you’re interested in the huge controversy surrounding Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson’s - and his partner Lilah Fear’s - medal loss due to an illegal element being called, read about it here and here.

But, back to the arts. While I was there, I spent a happy evening at the city’s oldest jazz club, the Reduta, where the Bohemia Big Band was playing. The club has an illustrious history, having hosted musicians including big band legend Glenn Miller himself and clarinettist Acker Bilk, as well as former US president Bill Clinton, who famously held an impromptu saxophone performance there in 1994.

The Reduta Jazz Club in Prague. | Scotsman

It has also welcomed a plethora of other well-known patrons through its doors, including former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and actor Morgan Freeman - as well as Scottish actor Sean Connery and US jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, husband of our very own Edinburgh International Festival director Nicola Benedetti, whose Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra is to take up a residency at this year’s festival. It was nice to know I was in good company.

The benefits of culture

The idea of a Culture Act for Scotland is one which has been toyed with for some time now. The campaign is spearheaded by Culture Counts, a group of Scottish arts, heritage and creative industries organisations, which are calling for the issue to be put firmly on the agenda during the Holyrood election campaign.

The question many people have asked, is, what would a Culture Act mean in real terms and why? The answer is simple: embedding culture across society in a way that is not restricted to just people who already want to (and can) attend performances of ballet, theatre and music.

Get the best news and analysis from Scotland’s arts scene with our special newsletter

Whether legislation is eventually introduced or not, the benefits of arts in society are clear. Giving people access to creative activities can reduce the burden on the NHS. A paper published recently in Wales has shown that every pound invested in cultural organisations delivered an £11 return in terms of health, wellbeing, and productivity benefits.

This is clearly evident at classes such as Dance for Parkinson’s, which takes place at community venues around Scotland. I visited one class in Perth, where I was blown away by the creativity of the participants. The class did not just bring much-needed exercise and movement to the class, made up of people living with Parkinson’s and their carers, but it encouraged them to express themselves through dance - which they did, in spades.

Read all about the Dance for Parkinson’s Perth posse and the wider implications of a Culture Act, here.

Broadway set ‘fits like a glove’ in Pitlochry

The original model of the Broadway set for Once, which will now be recreated down to the 'last detail' for the show's run in Pitlochry. PIC: Contributed | contributed

Last week, I had a chat with Broadway set designer Bob Crowley, who is recreating his original set for musical Once at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. The design from the Bernard B Jacobs Theatre in New York - where Julie Andrews made her Broadway debut - “fits like a glove” on the Perthshire stage.

The whole Broadway team from 2012 is getting together for a revival of the musical, based on the quirky indie film set in Dublin, where the main characters are known simply as “guy” and “girl” in a heartrending “will-they-won’t-they” situation which will make even the most stoic of us sob.

I can’t wait.