Tony award? Opera to open about Britains Blair

He once played guitar in a band called Ugly Rumours and hosted Britpop's leading lights in 10 Downing Street. 

Now former UK prime minister Tony Blair is the subject of an opera, with a colorful cast of characters.

Tony! (A Tony Blair Rock Opera), written by comedian Harry Hill, will be performed next year at the Turbine Theatre next to Battersea Power Station.

https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-6698284.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-6002290.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-5894941.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-6442276.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-304661.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-7405649.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-8956883.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-2437585.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-9713296.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-2179459.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-9280447.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-8017638.pdf
https://extranet.who.int/icfrevision/Uploads/OTH/acepdion-8847597.pdf

The theater called the show, set to open in February, "a reckless reappraisal" of the life of the Labour party's most successful leader, who was in power for 10 years from 1997.

Publicity for the spectacle says it is "the story of how one man went from peace-loving, long-haired hippy and would-be pop star to warmongering millionaire in just a couple of decades".

The story plays "fast and loose with the facts, owing as much to Citizen Kane as it does to The Marx Brothers -- Karl and Groucho", it added.

Characters set to feature include Blair's wife, Cherie, his combative press secretary Alistair Campbell, former Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and ex-US president George W. Bush.

Read also: Iraq War whistleblower film has Bush and Blair in its sights

Depictions of Princess Diana, former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and Gordon Brown, Blair's dour finance minister and successor, will also appear on stage.

Blair became Britain's youngest prime minister since Lord Liverpool in 1812 when he won a landslide election victory in 1997 aged 42, ending 18 years of unbroken Conservative rule.

He was initially popular, introducing social and economic reforms, with a media-savvy approach, which included describing Diana as "the people's princess" after her death in 1997.

But critics have still not forgiven his support for Bush's "War on Terror" and invasion of Iraq to oust Saddam. 

Since leaving office he has been a Middle East envoy and set up his own foundation on religion, climate change and Africa, but been criticized for accepting lucrative private-sector work, including for autocrats. 

The opera is not the first spoof about the former prime minister. Channel 4 television in 2006 broadcast Tony Blair: Rock Star about his early musical ambition.

(Antara/Hafidz Mubarak)

The Supreme Court has accepted a case review filed by the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) over its dealings with former party stalwart Fahri Hamzah, who sued over his dismissal.

With the ruling in the bag, the PKS is no longer obliged to pay compensation to the tune of Rp 30 billion (US$2.129 million), as demanded in an appeal filed by Fahri.

“Yes, it is true,” Supreme Court spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro said on Tuesday as quoted by kompas.com.

The panel of judges reviewing the case – I Gusti Agung Sumanantha, Ibrahim and Sunarto – came to a verdict on Nov. 25.

Fahri and his former party were embroiled in a legal row that began in 2016, when on April 4, the party leadership revoked the firebrand politician’s membership.