Ben Hur, Ben Hur, Ben Hur

What is it with Ben Hur at the moment? Firstly, following the première of the live show on Thursday last week, there have been a few reviews, most notably from The Guardian who have produced a glut of articles about the production.

Their main review gives it a paltry 2 stars out of 5, but there's also a review on their theatre blog called "Ben Hur Live: Big Ideas Add Up To A Big Yawn". On top of that there's another preview article on it from their Mark Epsiner, and then yesterday, racing commentator Graham Goode added another view. Oh, and Friday's Guardian featured "What to Say About... Ben Hur Live at the O2 Arena" which also sums up the reviews from Liam Steel in the Independent, Nick Curtis of the London Evening Standard and the Times', Benedict Nightingale. And just as The Guardian's Michael Billington gave this only two stars, so to does The Daily Telegraph's Charles Spencer. There's also a review come press round up at The Stage.

Aside from the goings on at the former Millennium Dome, Lew Wallace's novel is also popping up in various other places. I've already made various posts on the Ben Hur mini-series which is coming to the end of filming, but I got word last week from German Jesus films expert Thomas Langkau that the series will air on the German TV station Pro7 at Easter.

Lastly, Juliette Harrisson has also posted some classical thoughts on the 1959 movie adaptation of Wallace's novel.