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Mayor Paul Dimoldenberg with the Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe

WESTMINSTER council’s former air quality supremo has helped saw down a giant tree in Norway ahead of it being shipped to Trafalgar Square.

Lord Mayor of Westminster Paul Dimoldenberg joined the Mayor of Oslo, Anne Lindboe, in the Forest of Oslo for the annual felling ceremony on Friday.

The photocall came after a “slight delay” when a protester attached themselves to the tree in a bid to stop it being cut down.

A 20-metre spruce is axed each year as part of a Christmas tradition that dates back to 1947.

Mayor Dimoldenberg said: “It is a huge privilege to be a part of this wonderful tradition and on behalf of the City of Westminster and London I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the people of Oslo and Norway for this wonderful gift.

“People sometimes overlook the meaning behind the tree, but we must never forget the importance of friendship and solidarity during uncertain times. It will look magnificent in Trafalgar Square.”

On the journey, with Captain Lars Skjold-Hansen

The mayor was cabinet member for air quality from 2022-25 before taking up his ceremonial role.

During the Second World War Norway’s King Haakon VII had sought refuge in this country and the government in exile was based in London.

After the war, the King set up the tree tradition as a gesture of thanks.

It has now begun its 112-mile trip to London via the Brevik port.

The Christmas lights in Trafalgar Square will be switched on by both mayors at 6pm on December 4.

The mural at Westway

A HUGE mural celebrating the past, present, and future of the Grand Union Canal has been unveiled under the Westway.

Several artists have collaborated on the project including Jael Umerah-Makelemi who is behind the illustrations of the people.

She told the Extra: “The task for me was to come up with a series of illustrations that really represented the community over time and how the canal area has developed. It meant doing a bit of research into what canal boats and the canal itself mean for communities.

“You see people walking along waving to boat owners. You see two people in wheelchairs feeding the ducks. You see people sitting on a park bench and kids drawing hopscotch.”

Speaking about the importance of public art in communal spaces, she said it was important to see representation of all cultures in art, something she did not always see growing up in the capital.

She said: “It’s important for communities to see themselves represented within the area, so I wanted to make sure there was a vibrant array of different people so they could walk past it and say, I see myself as part of this community.”

The mural was also co-designed by young people from the charities City Lions and The Avenues Youth Project.

City Lions aims to widen access to opportunities for teenagers in the area.

The Avenues Youth Project is a youth club based in Kensal Rise.

Sophie, a City Lions member who took part in the design process, said: “I learnt so much from the process, including how to use nozzles, the different colours, how to spray paint.

“And this is a new skill I can add to the list.”

The art project is part of Westminster City Council’s “North Paddington Cultural Activation Strategy” which aims to deliver improvements to the area through injections of colour and creativity.

Alongside the artwork, the city council have created a “bug hotel” in a canal trail.

Cycle routes, paths, and new benches have been upgraded.

City council leader Adam Hug said: “We are creating places that people can feel proud of and enjoy every day.”

Spellbinding take on Arthur Miller play raises the stakes with contemporary resonances

Paapa Essiedu in All My Sons [Jan Versweyveld]

IVO Van Hove’s blistering production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons feels as though it could have been written yesterday, not in 1946.

Joe Keller (Bryan Cranston) built a successful business during the Second World War, but at the cost of his conscience: he knowingly shipped defective airplane parts, causing the death of 21 pilots.

To save himself, Joe let his partner Steve take the blame and go to prison while he was exonerated.

Meanwhile, Joe’s son Larry has been missing in action for three years, and his wife Kate (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) refuses to accept he’s dead. Their surviving son, Chris (Paapa Essiedu), plans to marry Ann (Hayley Squires), Larry’s former fiancée and Steve’s daughter, and invites her to visit.

The play unfolds in the Kellers’ backyard in the American Midwest. In Jan Versweyveld’s simple but effective design, a storm-toppled tree lies across the stage – a stark symbol of the fallen son. A giant porthole glows like the sun, offering glimpses into the house’s interior.

Over the course of a single day, neighbours drop into this seemingly innocent domestic setting, where secrets and lies fester, waiting to erupt. When they finally do, with the arrival of Ann’s brother George (Tom Glynn-Carney), the Keller family is torn apart.

The play moves to its conclusion with the inevitability of Greek tragedy: Miller demonstrates how Joe’s pursuit of wealth and the American Dream undermine his moral accountability, exposing the rot of a world where personal gain outweighs social responsibility. In wanting to provide for his family and protect his business, Joe sacrifices integrity for profit, leaving them irrevocably damaged.

By drawing out the play’s contemporary resonances, Van Hove’s production raises the stakes, although its 130-minute interval-free running time is a challenge.

The cast is superb, and Cranston and Essiedu’s father-son showdown is spellbinding.

Unmissable.

Until March 7

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande manoeuvre through issues of love and war, friendship and loyalty

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo in Wicked: For Good [Universal Pictures]

WICKED: FOR GOOD Directed by Jon M Chu Certificate: PG ????

OFF back down the yellow brick road we go in this sequel to the smash-hit Wicked from 2024, starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande as the besties with very different paths to follow.

We join them as they manoeuvre through issues of love and war, friendship and loyalty, and a big dollop of Oz-land politics in their pre-determined roles of “good” witch and “bad” witch.

Glinda the Good (Grande), Elphaba the Wicked (Erivo) are trying to figure out what’s best for Oz – is it the Wizard’s charlatan rule, with Glinda a figurehead, or the real magic of Elphaba?

Then throw in a romantic conflict over the affections of a dashing Prince (Jonathan Bailey) and plenty of explaining as to how this all fits in with the original story, all set against Oz’s hallucinogenic landscape.

It’s a blast, though sadly the music doesn’t stand up much.

When Judy Garland went over the Rainbow in 1939 the songs gave our cultural landscape new landmarks – Over the Rainbow, Follow The Yellow Brick Road, Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, We’re Off To See The Wizard… all have become part of our common musical language. A curmudgeon might say the period the original film was made benefited from an amazing set of Hollywood composers and musical directors, inspired by the glorious jazz era. No wonder W:FG’s songs simply aren’t a patch on those stone-cold belters of yesteryear – compare Ariana’s saccharine pop and surely there is only one winner.

It may be the songs grow on you if you hear them again, but for such an enjoyable film experience, you would be hard pushed as you exit to remember one lyric or harmony.

It is hard not to look at the parable aspect of the politics of Oz, which dangles above the pink-puffery to give the adults in the stalls some food for thought.

The Wizard’s press secretary Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) is suspiciously like one of Trump’s White House media gatekeepers. Oz, played by Jeff Goldblum as a carnival shyster, peddles lies and divisive policies which sees the animals of Oz banished and the nation’s borders closed. It is an obvious message.

Possibly the best thing about this rather lovely film occurs at the end – the elongated plot re-writes Dorothy’s experience in Oz in a way that ties things all together nicely. Overall, a ball.

The Westminster headquarters of space technology firm Vantor, the company formerly known as Maxar Technologies, has sold for just over a third of what it fetched a decade ago.

An entity affiliated with Southern California’s AXS Opportunity Fund paid $32 million in late October for the office complex at 1300 W. 120th Ave., according to public records.

The property was sold by Peakstone Realty Trust, which bought it in 2014 for $92 million.

The latest sale represents a 65% drop. JLL marketed the property for sale.

The Westminster property is 31 acres, according to Adams County records. The connected buildings on it add up to 482,000 square feet, so the deal works out to $66 a square foot. The complex is known for the windowed roof of its lobby, which resembles a satellite dish.

The office complex was built in 2001 for Avaya, a technology firm based in New Jersey. That company was replaced by DigitalGlobe, which was acquired in 2017 by Maxar Technologies. At the time Maxar was based in Canada. The following year, Maxar announced it would move its headquarters to the Colorado complex.

In 2023, Maxar was acquired and taken private by a private equity firm, which split it into two. Maxar Intelligence remained based in Westminster, while Maxar Space Systems is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Last month, both companies rebranded. Maxar Intelligence took on the name Vantor.

Vantor spokesman Tomi Maxted told BusinessDen that 500 company employees work out of the complex. He declined to discuss lease specifics, but AXS managing partner Shahram Afshani said Vantor leases all of the space and has “a number of years” left.

“I think they’re committed to the building,” he said, adding that he’s optimistic about renewal.

AXS has real estate holdings around the country, but this is its first in Colorado, Afshani said.

Peakstone, the Southern California-based seller, is converting into an industrial-only REIT, with an emphasis on the industrial outdoor storage sector.

The Westminster property isn’t the only one that Peakstone sold to AXS last month. The two firms also struck a deal for a 238,000-square-foot office tower in Memphis, Tennessee, leased by International Paper Co., according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper.

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