The most hotly-tipped ‘dream toys’ for this Christmas were unveiled recently.

Film and TV shows have made their mark on this year’s wish-lists for both boys and girls.

And hi-tech gadgets rub shoulders with more traditional board games and dolls in the Toy Retailer Association’s predicted top toys for Christmas.

A Dr Who Cyberman Mask and the interactive toy car Fast Talkin’ McQueen, inspired by the hit movie Cars, will be hot favourites with boys this year.

Hollywood movies Pirates Of The Caribbean and Star Wars have also made their mark, inspiring the Isla Cruces playset and a Transformer toy set.

The girls’ top 12 list includes a Disney Princess chair, and a Let’s Dance Barbie, based on the sixth Barbie movie, will add a new twist to the long-standing favourite doll.

Pre-schools will prefer toys inspired by Bob The Builder and Thomas The Tank Engine.

Their top 12 also includes the V Smile Baby game, an interactive toy for children as young as nine months.

For older children, the list includes Hasbro’s Trivial Pursuits 90s and the electronic board game of Deal Or No Deal.

Toy Retailers Association (TRA) chairman Gary Sadler said: ‘We are currently seeing a resurgence in licensed toys, which combine fun and playability with the familiarity of popular characters.’

The TRA’s independent predictions are based on retailers’ opinions, items requested by shoppers and the latest trends in new products.

White Christmas features music and lyrics by Irving Berlin with book by David Ives and Paul Blake begins a new holiday touring production, produced by Atlanta’s Theater of the Stars.

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas is a delightful new musical based on the 1954 Paramount hit movie.  It tells the story of two veterans Bob and Phil who have a successful song- and-dance act after the war. With romance in mind, the two follow a duo of beautiful singing sisters en route to their Christmas show at a Vermont lodge, which just happens to be owned by Bob and Phil’s former Army commander. The boys soon realize they are the only guests at the resort because there is no snow! In order to help the General, they come up with a scheme to bring in a crowd.  They decide to stage their newest Broadway revue, as well as make a special television appeal to all their Army buddies to show up on Christmas Eve,” explain press notes.

The show features the classic Irving Berlin hits “Blue Skies,” “Sisters,” “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep,” “I Love a Piano?” and the most popular song in history, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas.”

Directed by Jeff Calhoun, White Christmas stars Tom Galantich as crooner Bob Wallace; Marla Schaffel will portray singing sister Betty Haynes; David Engel plays the dashing Phil Davis; Kristen Beth Williams will appear as Betty’s sister and matchmaker Judy Haynes. Also starring as the cheerful but nosey inn manager Martha is Karen Murphy; George McDaniel stars as the commanding General Waverly; Fred Berman will portray high powered producer, Ralph Sheldrake; Elisa Van Duyne portrays bubbly chorus girl Rita; starring as the General’s daughter Susan Waverly is Hannah Misera.

Tour Schedule:
Savannah Civic Center in Savannah, GA – Nov. 3 & 4
Fabulous Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA – Nov. 6-11
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in Appleton, WI – Nov 13-18
Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville, TN – Nov 27-Dec 2
Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN – Dec 4-9
Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, NY – Dec 11-16
Shea’s Performing Arts Center in Buffalo, NY – Dec 18-23
Progress Energy Center at Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, NC – Dec 26-30
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Center in Fort Myers, FL – Jan. 1-6, 2008

The creative team includes Noah Racey as Choreographer, Steven Landau as Musical Director/Conductor, Kenneth Foy as Scenic Designer, Ken Billington as Lighting Designer, Peter Fitzgerald and Erich Bechtel as Sound Designers and Wade Laboissonniere as Costume Designer.

Theater of the Stars will present White Christmas at the Fabulous Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree Street, from Nov 6-11, 2007.  Preview performances are scheduled for Tuesday-Thursday at 8PM.  The official opening of the tour is Friday at 8PM with additional performances on Saturday at 2PM & 8PM and Sunday at 1:30PM & 7PM.

Tickets are on sale now through Ticketmaster. Purchases through Ticketmaster can be made in three ways: at Ticketmaster ticket centers, by calling 404-817-8700, by ordering online at www.ticketmaster.com. For group ticket sales, call the Fox Theatre Group Sales Office at 404-881-2000. Ticket prices range from $20- $64.

Theater of the Stars is celebrating its 55th Anniversary this year as one of the nation’s premier theater companies.  A civic non-profit cultural organization, Theater of the Stars is dedicated to presenting and producing the best in musical theater. To learn more about their history of excellence, visit them at www.theaterofthestars.com

Pittsburgh CLO presents two Holiday shows: Tickets for Pittsburgh CLO’s 16th annual holiday production of A Musical Christmas Carol at the Byham Theater and the highly-anticipated Pittsburgh premiere of Plaid Tidings at the CLO Cabaret will go on sale Friday, October 5, 2007.

Plaid Tidings > November 8, 2007 – January 13, 2008 > The very best of Forever Plaid wrapped up in a nifty package with a big bow on top! Pittsburgh’s original cast (J.D. Daw, Joe Domencic, Adam Halpin and Marcus Stevens) is back in town for their highly-anticipated Christmas Special, filled with “plaid-erized” holiday favorites. At first The Plaids aren’t sure why they’ve returned, but a phone call from the heavenly Rosemary Clooney tells them that they’re needed to add a little harmony to the world. Plaid Tidings is sponsored by TRACO.

Performances are Wednesday-Saturday evenings, 7:30PM; and Saturday & Sunday matinees at 2PM. Tickets ($50.50) are available online at www.PittsburghCLO.org, by calling 412-456-6666 or at the Box Office at Theater Square. Groups of 10 or more can call the Group Sales Hotline at 412-325-1582 to learn more about special discounts and priority seating.

A Musical Christmas Carol > December 7-23, 2007 Byham Theater > Featuring classic characters and a wealth of yuletide melodies, this traditional holiday tale is a must see! Audiences are sure to enjoy Ebenezer Scrooge’s ghostly adventure through the past, present and future as he finds redemption from a life of loneliness and greed, and just in time to celebrate the season. Young and old alike will rejoice in this heartwarming musical production!

Performances are Fridays at 7:30PM; Saturdays at 12PM, 4PM & 8PM; Sundays at 2PM & 6PM; and Thursday December 20 at 7:30PM. Student Matinees are December 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 18 & 19 at 10AM

Pittsburgh CLO is proud to present eight specially priced 10AM Student Matinees. With an informative study guide, behind-the-scenes DVD and captivating musical performances, A Musical Christmas Carol is both an educational theater experience and wonderful holiday celebration!  Teachers who want to make A Musical Christmas Carol part of their lesson plans should call the Group Sales Hotline at (412) 263-2560.

Tickets to A Musical Christmas Carol are affordably priced for family entertainment from $26.50 to $42.50 with half-priced tickets for children 3-14.  Tickets are available online at www.PittsburghCLO.org or by calling (412) 456-6666 or at the Box Office at Theater Square.

Pittsburgh CLO has carefully designed special group discounts and corporate ticket programs to accommodate any size group!  Interested parties should call the Group Sales Hotline at (412) 263-2560 to learn more about these fantastic opportunities.     

Related Links > http://www.pittsburghclo.org

Christmas, of course, comes earlier every year. For retailers it starts earlier than most as they try to identify the year’s ‘must have’ gifts. In order to give them a bit of a hand, we’ve spent the last week analyzing search data in order to make some predictions as to what we think will be this year’s hot gadgets, entertainment, toys and fashions.

First a word on the methodology. Search term analysis provides great insight into people’s habits and desires, so we analysed the top 2,000 search terms that sent traffic to a Hitwise Custom Category consisting of the top 100 online retail websites in the UK during the four weeks ending 22nd September 2007. Gadgets are up first, and our defintion encompasses a range of consumer electronics products including mobile phones, computers and peripherals, games consoles, in car entertainment and navigation systems, and audio-visual equipment,

The Nintendo Wii is the most searched for gaming console in the UK, ranking as the sixth most popular gadget heading into Christmas, ahead of the Xbox 360 at number 7 and the Nintendo DS at number 8. There were 5 times as many searches for the Nintendo Wii as the Sony Playstation 3, which did not make the top 10 gadget list.

Mobile phones are the most popular gadgets in the UK, capturing 46% of all searches, followed by computers, iPods, satellite navigation systems and high definition televisions. The success for the TomTom brand of satellite navigation systems continues, with the number of searches for ‘tomtom’ double that for the generic term ’sat nav’. Searches for ‘external hard drive’ have increased by 15% year on year, reflecting a desire among UK consumers to back up their precious collections of digital music, photos and video.

The Nokia N95 multimedia phone captures almost one in ten searches for mobile phone models in the UK, making it the most popular handset. It is followed closely by the stylish Nokia 6300, with 8.7% of searches, and the Samsung G600 5 mega pixel camera phone, with 8.5%.

The top mobile phone manufacturer by share of UK Internet searches is Nokia, which receives 35% of searches across the top 5 brands, followed by Sony Ericsson with 29% and Samsung with 24%. Motorola is at number four with a 6% share, followed by LG with 5%.

There are 14 times as many searches for the Apple iPod as for all the other MP3 players combined. Two thirds of searches are for the generic iPod, while one in five searchers is looking specifically for the iPod Nano, which has seen searches increase by 67% year on year.

The new iPod Touch and the UK release of the iPhone were announced too late to have a significant impact on the retail search data, but there is a huge amount of internet buzz about both products. For example, the volume of searches for ‘iPhone’ sending traffic to News and Media websites has increased 5 fold over the last month. With Apple the most searched for gadget brand in the UK, it seems likely that both products will find eager fans amongst British consumers. Dell is the second most searched for brand, receiving almost four times as many searches as its nearest rival HP.

Via > DigitalMediaWire

Rochdale business Craft Delights is kick starting the Countdown to Christmas on Thursday 4 October from 7pm – 9pm with a Christmas Craft Evening at the Urban Gallery, Meadowcroft Mill, Bury Road, Bamford, UK.

There will be craft materials on sale for card makers and scrapbookers as well as ceramic crafts to decorate and personalise as gifts.  There will be plenty of craft project ideas for stocking fillers and for children and for the not as creative, ready made gifts and cards.  All are welcome, entry is free and there will be refreshments. 

Anyone wanting to have a go at making their own cards for the first time is also encouraged to come along and will be sure of a warm welcome with plenty of tips of how to get started.

Craft Delights, run by Castleton based Ruth Percy, will also be celebrating its first birthday after a year of successful trading.  Ruth decided to set the business up after working in marketing for ten years.  She has a permanent display at the Urban Gallery and also sells on the internet.  As well as the business, she still works part-time for Sure Start in Rochdale. 

Ms Percy said: “On the day of the fair, it will be only 79 days to Christmas.  Card makers usually start around now to make enough cards for Christmas, so we are offering the opportunity to stock up on this year’s festive craft delights!  Christmas is my favourite time of the year, so I am looking forward to kick starting the season early with follow crafters.”

If you are looking to do some early Christmas shopping, you might consider getting an ornament from a North Dakota artist.

Jon Offut of Fargo is working with the North Dakota Council on the Arts to grow the North Dakota Cultural Endowment Fund. A special edition, hand-made ornament is for sale, and the Council says proceeds go to the Endowment Fund. It says the money provides artistic opportunities for people across the state. The Fund was created by the state legislature in 1979.

“One of the suggestions was to sell a handmade ornament created by a North Dakota artist,” says Amy Schmidt of the ND Council on the Arts. “So we decided to do that and for this we commissioned John Offut who is the owner and operator of the House of Mulciber Glass Studio in Fargo.”

For more information on the Special Edition Ornament, log onto www.nd.gov/arts. Or you can e-mail comserv@nd.gov, or call 701-328-7590.

Car-free shopping day, London, December 1st

London’s main shopping streets are set to open up for pedestrians again this December for annual VIP Christmas shopping day. However, in this instance VIP stands for Very Important Pedestrian, as those on foot will take precedence during the event.

The shopping meccas of Oxford Street and Regent Street will be completely closed to cars on December 1st, so that shoppers can stock up for Christmas. London’s West End is one of the most famous shopping areas in the world and routinely sees crowds of over 40 million drawn to it every holiday season.

Last year’s VIP Christmas shopping was a massive success, with thousands taking advantage of not having to dodge automobiles to do their shopping. And many of the 600 stores on the West End chose to keep their doors open until 9 pm in order to maximize the number of customers they saw.

If planning on hitting the VIP shopping day, the opulent Chesterfield Mayfair hotel is the best place to stay.

Related Links >
http://londonist.com/2006/11/west_end_vip_da.php
http://www.chesterfieldmayfair.com/location_hotels_mayfair