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Alfie Boe and guests to headline at Llangollen Live 2027

* Alfie Boe. Credit: XRayBurmiston

Internationally acclaimed stage star Alfie Boe is to headline a dazzling night in North Wales – accompanied by Gravity stars Louise Dearman, Kerry Ellis and Rachel Tucker as his very special guests.

The West End and Broadway stars will play Live at Llangollen Pavilion on Saturday June 26.

Tickets for the fully standing show go on general sale at 10am Friday via llangollen.net and ticketmaster.co.uk

One of Britain’s best-loved and most celebrated tenors, Alfie Boe’s commanding voice and versatility has earned him huge praise and success across opera, musical theatre, and popular music.

A graduate of the Royal College of Music who went on to train at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, Alfie achieved global recognition performing leading roles with major opera companies before cementing his reputation as the definitive Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. He has starred in the production both in the West End and on Broadway, and in the recent 40th anniversary world tour, performing at Radio City Music Hall in New York, and in the Australia and China casts.

Alongside Les Mis, Alfie has enjoyed an extraordinary career spanning stage, recording and television, releasing more than a dozen studio albums and appearing at some of the most prestigious venues and events worldwide; from Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee to the Royal Albert Hall.

The trip to Llangollen will be a welcome return for Alfie who has performed in the Pavillion on numerous occasions previously, and joining him as very special guests will be Wicked stars.

* Gravity.

Kerry Ellis, making her third trip to the Pavilion, Louise Dearman and Rachel Tucker with their incredible Gravity show.

With Ellis playing the first British Elphaba in Wicked, Dearman being the first and only performer to play both Elphaba and Glinda in Wicked and Tucker playing Elphaba on both Broadway and the West End, the trio have earned their titles as musical theatre’s leading women.

Gravity celebrates their collective back catalogue and features a range of stage favourites including We Will Rock You, Cats, Oliver!, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon, Les Misérables, Guys and Dolls, Evita, Joseph, The Great Gatsby, Sunset Boulevard, Chicago and more.

Artistic Director of the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod Dave Danford said: “Alfie Boe has become a firm favourite at Llangollen, and every time he performs in the Pavilion it creates a genuinely special atmosphere. He has such an extraordinary voice and a wonderful connection with audiences here, so I’m delighted that we’ll be welcoming him back once again next summer.

“It will also be wonderful to welcome Kerry Ellis back to Llangollen as part of Gravity, following her performance here in 2024. It promises to be a fantastic evening and another brilliant addition to our Live at Llangollen programme.”

* For more information go to llangollen.net and ticketmaster.co.uk

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Gripping pictures tell of teenager's fightback from Chinese horror smash

Llangollen teenager Dyfan Hughes has used a series of pictures on a Facebook post to tell the story of his 45 days of recovery from an horrific crash with a lorry on a Chinese road which left him with a catalogue of serious injuries.

Along with his two friends of the same age Louis Dennis from Garth and James Thomas from Wrexham - together known as the Westheads - Dyfan was on one of the final stages of their 10,000-mile cycling trip to Thailand in memory of Tony Edge, the father of their friend Harrison, who died following a heart attack in 2024, and along the way raising over £50,000 for the British Heart Foundation.  

Dyfan was rushed to hospital in the city of Chengdu with injuries to both legs, neck and scalp and just over two weeks ago had major corrective surgery lasting for many hours.

Louis and James have already flown home to Wales after staying by is bedside along with his worried parents for an anxious couple of weeks. Dyfan will follow when he is strong enough for the flight home to continue his rehabilitation.

And, according to his latest social media update, he says that is likely to be next weekend.

His post takes the form of a montage of pictures, beginning with one showing the broken and twisted remains of his bike lying in the roadway where he was hit by the lorry. It bears the caption: "This is the state of the bike after!"

Next comes a shot of the HGV involved, captioned: "This is the truck that dealt the damage!"

Then comes a shot of him lying in his hospital bed battered and bruised soon after he was brought in by ambulance but still with his thumbs up. "This photo is only 36 hours after the accident in Teshan Hospital, which now I don't remember at all," he says on it.

Next is a picture of him looking more cheerful: "This is a week or two after in Chengdu, which is still where I am now."

Further pictures show him with Louis and James and his dedicated nurse - all wearing Wrexham shirts - and with his personal medic, Dr Liu, "the legend who has been amazing," a couple of days after his big operation. Dyfan adds: "He speaks perfect English also". 

The last picture in the series shows him lying in bed and is captioned: "And now my treatment has all been completed we are just waiting to get back to Wales safely so I can start my rehabilitation process ... We are hoping to be home by next weekend."

* Llanblogger is recording the Westheads' journey and Dyfan's crash. To follow them on their social media, go to: https://linktr.ee/westheads 

Latest Citizens Advice drop-in sessions in the area

 

Kia Sorento PHEV is an easy car to get along with

Kia Sorento PHEV drive by Steve Rogers

Not so long ago Kia was shaking up the car industry. Reasonably priced, well built and with a ground-breaking seven year warranty.

From humble beginnings the Korean company has become an unstoppable force always ahead of the game, the strength of its electric car range is a case in point. But, there is always a but, does it have what it takes to fend off the cut price Chinese onslaught?

Sorento is a good example of how things have been turned on their head. Go back a year or so and it would be lauded as one of the best value seven seaters on the market. And then the Chinese arrived. The likes of Chery Tiggo 9 and the MG S9, a contender for my car of the year, have come along with plug-in hybrids at a fraction of the price of not just the Kia but every other seven seater outside their own market.

So how is Kia meeting the challenge? Let’s be clear, the Sorento is a fine car in all sorts of ways and the telling factor for me is that it is an easy car to get on with. If the Chinese models have one big fault it is that they can be bland and complicated. You are basically faced with two screens and have to get on with it.

Sorento, on the other hand, has arguably the best dashboard layout I have come across with a curved wide screen split into two 12.3in sections, driver’s display and central touchscreen. The driver’s display is big and bold with several steering wheel buttons to select a wad of information.

Sounds complicated but it’s not, although it might take a little time to find some of the clever short cut features like holding down the volume control to turn off the overspeed beep. Actually I found that useful and left it on. And there is a button to turn off lane hold rather than dabbing through the touchscreen menus.

Below is a clever mini touchscreen strip which alternates between quick keys for the radio and such like, or heating selections. Or just be lazy and use voice control for navigation destinations, changing the heating settings or radio stations. See what I mean about being easy to live with.

The most useful feature on the central screen takes the stress out of keeping within the limit on long stretches with an average speed camera. It monitors and displays your speed at all times, particularly useful on A roads where you are reluctant to overtake a slower driver for fear of being over the limit at the end.

Is Sorento really big enough to take seven people? The short answer is ‘yes’ because I put two adults in the third row who were satisfied with leg room and the full size seats while I had ample legroom sitting in the middle row.

Getting in and out is relatively easy as well thanks to a one touch button with a motor to tilt and shift the middle row forward. At 4.8 metres long there is a mound of space with all back seats levelled, sleep there if you like, or take advantage of huge boot space as a five seater.

An area where Sorento steals a march on Chinese rivals is ride comfort and driving enjoyment. With self levelling rear suspension, it absorbs everything our rubbish roads throw up while all wheel drive offers up sure footed handling. Remember this is family transport not a rally car but is still surprisingly steady through twisting roads considering its bulk.

If there is a drawback it is the miserly 34 miles of electric range. Kia has opted for a 13.8kW battery while rivals go bigger and therefore achieve more miles on electric, 63 for the MG S9 and 91 for Tiggo 9, but the extra battery weight carries a penalty making Sorento a better car to drive.

For a big all wheel drive the Sorento’s 1.6 litre engine packs a punch and outguns the MG on horsepower. Once down to petrol power only expect low forties to the gallon, I averaged 44mpg over 500 miles and shaded 50mpg on a couple of motorway runs which goes to show how petrol efficiency has soared in the last decade. Diesel is very much a thing of the past although Kia still offers it.

In all but price Sorento matches or betters its Chinese rivals particularly on driver safety aids, comfort, layout and, for the moment reputation and reliability,

My choice is Evolve, in the middle of the range, because it has everything you need.

Fast facts

Sorento Evolve PHEV AWD

£52,655 (starts £48,425)

1.6 litre 6sp auto, 283bhp

0-62mph 8secs; 128mph

Battery 13.8kW

72.4mpg with electric boost

35g/km. 1st VED £115

Boot: 809-1988 litres

Insurance group 36

Towing: 1700kg

Working Denbighshire sessions at Llangollen Library

 

Police appeal over missing teen last seen in Llangollen

North Wales Police say they have growing concerns for 15-year-old Kohan who last seen in the Llangollen town centre area at 10am yesterday (Friday).

He is described as 5'11", with short brown curly hair and a slender build.

Police say: "He is wearing a black new balance hoodie, black joggers, a beanie hat and trainers. He is believed to currently be in the Llangollen area.

"However, he has links to Corwen and could also head to Wrexham."

* Anyone with information about his whereabouts is urged to get in touch with officers on 101, or via the website, quoting reference 0154640.