CATEGORY:SPECIAL EVENT -------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA Saturday April 14,2007 An exciting and unique event is happening in the Spice Isle next week, 15th-22nd April. A British family of four Leslie Hutchinson relatives, two children and two grand-children, accompanied by London writer Charlotte Breese, author of the 'Hutch' biography, and an American film crew, arrive Sunday April 15th at Point Salines International Airport on their first ever visit to the land of their father's birth, to film a documentary. The documentary, a work-in-progress, is based on Mrs Breese's best-selling book "HUTCH", (see "HUTCH" at www.amazon.com) and will portray the dynamic and controversial life and times of Gouyave-born Leslie Hutchinson, 1900 - 1969, "Hutch" to millions in Britain and western Europe from the 1930's to the 1950's. Grenada's legendary entertainment superstar, and unfortunately one of its most forgotten native sons, was the most highly acclaimed national and international singer and pianist for over three decades. As a friend and interpreter of the music of Cole Porter, Noel Coward and other Cabaret greats, as soloist at the Concert Grand, and orchestra leader, his body of studio work provided 450 recordings, many of which are still admired, and re-issued, today. (See "HUTCH" at www.cdconnection.com) Hutch's hit version of Porter's "Night & Day", acclaimed by Porter himself, was one of his many theme songs. His impeccable romantic and witty performances as a Cabaret artist, Variety entertainer, broadcaster, raconteur, and nightclub star brought him immense wealth and an unsurpassed popularity in Britain, Venice, Paris, Nairobi, and India among audiences and critics alike. ("Hutch - the elegant figure with the Velvet Voice. A great performer." Sunday Telegraph... "Hutch was an innovative and influential performer - his keyboard technique was brilliant and he used his voice, a deep baritone, with skill, his diction precise". The Literary Review.) Cartoonists in the British press symbolised his essence by sketching just his trademark white silk handkerchiefs, with the classic embossed "H", signifying "Hutch was here".... at yet another British night club, theatre, or Royal Command Performance success. Added to this was his incredible charisma and charm, onstage and off, which endeared him to patrons - including British Royalty - of exclusive private Clubs, like London's' Cafe de Paris, Quislings, and The Ambassador, eventually leading to huge wider audiences through radio and television programs, his Hit Parade records, and later on Cassettes. The film crew headed by Mark Wagner will shoot footage of Hutch's birthplace, childhood locations, his adult "kids" chatting with surviving family members, Guoyave residents and Grenadians young and old, on a real voyage of discovery next week during the busy days of World Cup Cricket at the new Stadium. They'll all be taking in the popular street seafood Festival, Fish Friday in Guuyave on the 20th, and visiting St George's the capital, where Hutch attended the well-known G.B.S.S., the Grenada Boys Secondary School, before embarking for the U.S. in 1916. As the Finale of this Sentimental Journey, at Grenada's beach-front REX hotel on Tuesday 17th and Thursday 19th April, from 9.00 - 10.00 pm, Grenadians will get the dramatic opportunity, 107 years after his birth, and 38 years after his death in London, to find out just who this famous - or infamous - Leslie Hutchinson really was. His four descendants, Gabrielle, daughter; Rommy, grand-daughter; Chris, son; and Colin, grand-son, accompanied by London pianist John Harriman, will present a live cabaret entitled "THE STORY OF HUTCH" onstage at the Rex hotel's Tamarind Room next week, for locals, visitors and World Cup cricketers alike. It will be a most entertaining evening indeed, as his own descendants portray in Words and Music the story of their father and grandfather as both an entertainment legend and as a man; the admired artist of sophistication, wit and devil-may-care style as well as the behind-the-scenes human face of a successful yet infamously controversial personality. Who better to paint a live portrait showing the measure of a man, than his own offspring? Who indeed... On completion, the documentary "HUTCH" will be released all over the world, and will be shown at Film Festivals world-wide as well, bringing Grenada to the attention of film fans everywhere. Its credits include Executive Producer, "Hutch" biographer Charlotte Breese, Chicago Emmy-Award winner, producer Ben Hollis, and Chicago area Editor Mark Wagner. So ... one and all, Grenadians, West Indians and citizens of the world - on behalf of their father and grand-father, you're invited by the Hutchinson family of England and, yes, Grenada - to step up and step out, and..... "COME TO THE (HUTCH) CABARET! " ===+=== A few "HUTCH" biography Review quotes: "Charlotte Breese's admirable research has revealed an even more richly picturesque figure than the one invented by Hutch himself." The Times Literary Supplement "Charlotte Breese has researched Hutch's story in great depth - his private life was as complicated as his stage manner was simple." The Literary Review. WHO IS LESLIE 'HUTCH' HUTCHINSON? Leslie Arthur Julien Hutchinson (Hutch) (7 March 1900 – 19 August 1969) was one of the outstanding cabaret singers of the inter-war years. Born Leslie Arthur Hutchinson in Grenada on 7 March 1900, he was a favourite singer of the then Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII). He came to England in 1927 and soon became the darling of Society as well as immensely popular with people in general. He was regularly heard on air with the BBC. One of his greatest hits was "These Foolish Things". He was a lover of Cole Porter, recording several of his songs, not least the evocative "Begin the Beguine" and Porter's famous list song "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)." He died on 19 August 1969.