Month: April 2015

ArtsSpark are proud to share the news that one of their students, Jamie Heward, will soon be taking his next big step towards becoming a professional performer.

Jamie has been a member of ArtsSpark for over 2 years and has just been awarded a place at the prestigious Urdang Dance Academy in London. His course – the B.A. Hons Professional Dance and Musical Theatre, will see Jamie spend 3 years from September honing his craft with some of the best teachers in the business.

ArtsSpark Youth Theatre and Youth Dance classes provide a fun creative environment for young people aged five and over to participate in quality theatre and dance activities leading to regular performance opportunities across the region. Led by professional practitioners, ArtsSpark sessions focus on developing excellent performance skills and technique as well as building teamwork, trust, and communication skills, building confidence and self-esteem.

Sessions take place at Hummersknott Academy, a secondary school located to the west of Darlington. Hummersknott Academy provides excellent workshop and performance spaces for our sessions, with plenty of free parking.

The children and young people who take part also have access to opportunities at the Civic Theatre, including discounted theatre tickets, the chance to take part in workshops from visiting theatre companies and performance opportunities at the Civic Theatre.

Recent opportunities have included various Festivals and events regionally and nationally including the East Midlands Regional Youth Theatre Festival, Darlington Civic Theatre, The Arc in Stockton, Dance City Newcastle and Middlesbrough Theatre.

They have also performed alongside the professionals in recent Civic Theatre shows such as To Sir, With Love, Goodnight Mr Tom, and The Good Old Days of Musical Hall and Variety. There have also been workshop opportunities with professional Theatre and Dance companies such as Duka Dance (a South African based Dance Company), Balletboyz, Pilot Theatre Company, the Touring Consortium Theatre Company, Frantic Assembly, Blind Summit and many many more!

For more information contact the Audience Development and Participation Officer on 01325 405510 or check out the website at www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

The producers of the UK tour of Anything Goes have announced that the tour has been shortened to sixteen weeks, concluding at the Grand Opera House in Belfast on Saturday 30 May.

Following a hugely critically praised run at Sheffield Crucible, the tour launched in January at the New Wimbledon Theatre.

Rebecca Quigley, Producer Stage Entertainment, said:

“I’d like to sincerely thank everyone in the Anything Goes family for bringing this remarkable production to the stage.  We’re immensely proud to have produced the tour and I’d like to especially thank and congratulate Daniel and the team at Sheffield for creating such a vibrant, exciting and, to many, definitive new production, and for partnering with us to take it around the UK.  The touring market is an increasingly unpredictable one and, of course, we’re very disappointed that we won’t be able to complete the tour’s full schedule. I am, however, delighted that many, many happy audiences did, and still will, get the chance to enjoy this very special show.”

Dan Bates, Chief Executive, Sheffield Theatres, said:

“Anything Goes had a rapturous response from thousands of people in Sheffield and outstanding critical acclaim. We’re thrilled that it’s gone on to be enjoyed by many more people across the country. It’s been wonderful to work with this fantastic cast, creative team and our partners, Stage Entertainment, to produce such a remarkable show.”

Ticket holders for venues beyond Belfast should contact their original point of sale.

LET IT BE to join celebrations at Feast of St. George this Saturday

LET IT BE  will perform in Trafalgar Square as part of London’s celebrations for St George’s Day

Feast of St. George takes place on 25th April 2015

LET IT BE will perform at 1.45pm and 3.45pm

LET IT BE returned to the Garrick Theatre in February, celebrating its third year in the West End

Packed with 11 number ones, 40 smash hits from the back catalogue and over 15 tracks never played live by The Beatles themselves LET IT BE is “The Beatles show you never got to see” (Smooth Radio)

LET IT BE, the international hit show celebrating the music of The Beatles, will take centre stage at the Feast of St. George in Trafalgar Square, this weekend.  The annual event is free to attend and takes place this year on Saturday 25th April.

Currently celebrating its third year in the West End, LET IT BE, will perform two setsm jam-packed with The Beatles’ greatest hits, from the bandstand at the foot of the iconic Nelson’s Column.  The band will play at 1.45pm and 3.45pm; the event is free to the public.

After a record-breaking summer season in the West End, LET IT BE returned to the Garrick Theatre on 28th February 2015 where it will play for a limited season until 27th September 2015.

Organised by the Mayor of London, the Feast of St George is inspired by St George’s Day’s 13th century origins as a national day of feasting.  The event will include The English Food Market with stalls selling treats such as hog roast, homemade pie and delicious cakes, all of which can be enjoyed in the banqueting area between the square’s famous fountains.

LET IT BE established itself as one of the West End’s most popular shows when the production originally opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in September 2012, before transferring for a year-long run at the Savoy Theatre from January 2013 – February 2014.  The show then embarked on its inaugural UK & Ireland tour before enjoying a summer season at the Garrick Theatre last year.

Seen by over 1,000,000 people worldwide, LET IT BE continues to delight audiences across the globe, having recently entertained fans in Germany, Austria, Italy, Russia, Monaco, Tokyo, Singapore and America.

LET IT BE showcases the music of the world’s most successful rock’n’roll band, in a spectacular theatrical concert charting the band’s meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through the height of Beatlemania, to their later studio masterpieces.

The show is packed with over forty of The Beatles’ greatest hits including: I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Hard Day’s Night, Day Tripper, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Strawberry Fields, When I’m 64, Twist and Shout, Get Back and many more.

LET IT BE is produced by Jamie Hendry Productions.

Tickets and more information available from the LET IT BE website – www.LetItBeLive.com

THE YORKSHIRE PHILHARMONIC

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Sunday 21 June at 7pm

Formerly the Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, the Yorkshire Philharmonic brings together talented musicians from all walks of life from all over the county. With some of the best talent Yorkshire has to offer they strive to put on accessible concerts of the utmost quality for all to enjoy.

Their Summer Solstice Showcase will be at the Grand Opera House, York on 21st June, 2015 including Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 and Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan & Ludmila.  They are a paid, freelance ensemble. Each member can vote on important issues regarding repertoire, rehearsals, payment models or even guest conductors. The orchestra is run by professional orchestra managers and consultants and over time, the YPO hopes to replicate the success of the original Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, showcasing talent from throughout the region and becoming a full-time professional symphony orchestra.

They are a community driven project that relies on funding/ticket sales to pay our musicians and put on concerts.  They love collaboration and want to live up to their philharmonic title, striving for professional musical standards they have a very ambitious long term plan and want to represent Yorkshire’s fantastic classical musical heritage across the country.

A SUMMER SOLSTICE SHOWCASE

Glinka: Overture to Ruslan & Ludmilla

Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 “Pastorale”

Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 “New World”

Conductor: Alexander Conway

On the 2015 Summer Solstice, the Yorkshire Philharmonic Orchestra is presenting a showcase programme to celebrate the longest day of the year:

The programme begins with Glinka’s fast and furious Overture to Ruslan & Ludmilla, inspired by the juxtaposition of hustling servants and elegant stately dances at a grand wedding Glinka attended in Russia. It is a celebratory, virtuosic overture to put the new philharmonic through its paces and open the season.

With 85 years between Beethoven’s 6th and Dvorak’s 9th, the programme presents a chance to hear the musical progression of the symphonic form. Whilst they are similar in many respects they also differ wildly and use repetition to achieve very different effects. It’s hard to believe that Beethoven composed the Pastorale symphony alongside his monumental fifth symphony, he was simultaneously pushing different musical horizons to their limits and beyond. In the Pastorale symphony we are given a glimpse of the other, calmer more reflective side of Beethoven. Dvorak’s 9th symphony, the only symphony to travel to the moon and back, has earned its place as a canonic musical work. Influenced by Native American music and African American spirituals the Symphony (like Beethoven’s 6th) transcends many cultural boundaries to create a work full of variation and life.

TICKETS: £25 | £19 Concessions | £15 Students
Box Office: 0844 8713024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

Saturday 28th November
7.30pm

Are you ready to rock ’n’ roll at the PLAYHOUSE on Saturday 28th November, when we welcome the return of the closest you can get to the King – Mario Kombou.

Featuring original Jailhouse Rock star Mario Kombou and his incredible band led by legendary producer, musical director and Ivor Novello award-winner David Mackay, in the UK’s number one Elvis show.

The King World Champion Mario delivers a tour de force performance in this spectacular show packed with over 50 greatest hits, from the early days of Sun Studios and That’s Alright Mama, through the Hollywood years of GI Blues and It’s Now or Never, the ‘68 TV special with All Shook Up, culminating in the legendary Las Vegas concert, with In The Ghetto, Suspicious Minds and American Trilogy.

“The best Elvis since Elvis!” Donna Presley

Tickets priced at £17.50. are on sale now. Tickets are available from the Box

Office open Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10.30am -2.30pm plus until show start on event days. Tickets can also be purchased on the booking hotline 0844 248 1588 or online at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk.

The cast of the Flanagan Collective’s Romeo and Juliet will meet on Wednesday 22 April in the

historical setting of St Olave’s Church on Marygate, York to celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday on Thursday 23 April. They will be joined by members of the cast of York Shakespeare Project’s Timon of Athens and the University of York DramSoc’s Richard III. These productions are part of the first annual York International Shakespeare Festival which runs from 8 – 17 May. This is the first time an International Shakespeare Festival has taken place in the north of England.

Directed by Alexander Wright, produced by Brian Hook and performed by Holly Beasley-Garrigan, Amie Burns Walker, Yoshika Colwell, Hannah Davies, Sarah Davies and Emma Ballantine, this contemporary production of Romeo and Juliet will be infused with live music, soaring harmonies and good, honest storytelling.

Director Alexander Wright said:

We are having a whole lot of fun in rehearsals – dancing, dressing up and learning capoeira. It’s almost unimaginable that we are working on a play that is over 400 years old. The more we read and play with it, the more it feels like a play which was written for us – here and now.

Producer Brian Hook added:

We couldn’t be happier to be premiering this production in York. It will, we hope, take us across the UK and a little further around the world too. But it feel absolutely right to be making the show her – in our home city as part of the York International Shakespeare Festival. We shall be raising a glass to Mr. Shakespeare on his birthday, you can be sure of that!

Romeo and Juliet will be performed within the stunning 15th century surroundings of St Olave’s Church, following in the Flanagan Collective tradition of staging work in unusual and quirky venues. Their interpretation of A Christmas Carol has successfully filled public houses around the UK for the past three years and they brought Sherlock Holmes: A Working Hypothesis to the wonderfully ornate Council Chamber at the Guildhall, York.

York International Shakespeare Festival is brought about through an adventurous new partnership between York Theatre Royal, Parrabbola, and the University of York and takes place from 8 – 17 May at venues across York. With traditional retellings and original responses

from both local and international production companies, the festival will explore the impact of Shakespeare over four hundred years after his final play.

Romeo and Juliet will run from Thursday 7 to Saturday 23 May, tickets priced £18 to £14 (£1 transaction fee per booking).

Timon of Athens will run from Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 May at 7.30pm with a 2.30pm matinee on Saturday and Sunday, tickets priced £12, £10 concessions (£1 transaction fee per booking) in the De Grey Rooms Ballroom.

Richard III takes place on Saturday 16 May at 5pm, tickets priced £6, £5 concessions (£1 transaction fee per booking) in the Guildhall Council Chambers.

Tickets for all productions are on sale now through the York Theatre Royal Box Office, either securely online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or by calling Box OfficeYork Theatre Royal Box on 01904 623568.

Jack and the Beanstalk

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Friday 11 December 2015 – Sunday 3 January 2016

New Pantomime Productions return to the Grand Opera House York for the 17^th year this Christmas with their spectacular family pantomime.

A fun packed show for all the family with crazy costumes, silly Jokes, live music, and a chance to boo the baddies, here at the Grand Opera House York this winter.

Fee Fi Fo Fum look out folks ‘cos here it comes – the best family panto in York

Jack lives in a small village with his Ma. They are very poor and when they look in the kitchen cupboards for food all they can find is a piece of mouldy cheese, a rotten apple core and a pair of smelly socks. They must do something – but what? Find out what happens when Jack takes their old cow to the market and ends up selling her for 5 beans…

Tickets for the panto go on sale on Tuesday 21 April at 10am. Call 0844 871 3024 to book yours now. For group bookings call 01904 678705. To book online go to www.atgtickets.com/york The theatre box office is open from 12 noon until 5:30pm for those who would like to book in person.

The cast will be announced at a later date.

Monday 20th July
7.30pm

Join the unforgettable journey throughout pop music’s greatest decade when the fabulous Overtures band performs all the greatest hits from the Sixties on Monday 20th July at the PLAYHOUSE! We are delighted to welcome back the show, which last visited the venue in 2011.

The appeal of the sixties remains as strong today as it has throughout the preceding decades. Dynamic and innovative, the sixties heralded a shift in society that changed our world forever and Britain was at the forefront. The impact upon society is still being felt throughout the world; even now, the huge changes in music, fashion and popular culture brought about in the Sixties have left an indelible mark on the world, one which will probably never be equalled.

Performed by The Overtures who Sir Elton John called ‘the best band of their kind in the world’ and who are recognised as one of the finest exponents of Sixties music,  The Bootleg Sixties encapsulates the essence of the sixties in this hit packed, epic two hour show. Pop music’s greatest decade is brought back to life

back to life with the classic fashion, newsreel and iconic video footage of the period not to mention the music including hits made famous by: The Kinks, The Doors, Simon & Garfunkel, The Hollies, The Beach Boys, The Monkees,  The Byrds, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, The Animals and many more

Remember the most important decade in living history as it was or discover it for the first time.

Tickets priced at £22.50, £19.50 conc. are on sale now. Tickets are available from the Box Office open Monday – Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10.30am -2.30pm plus until show start on event days. Tickets can also be purchased on the booking hotline 0844 248 1588 or online at www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk.

The professional actor who will play The Railway King in a major theatrical production has been revealed. George Costigan, most recently seen in ITV’s Vera and playing Nevison Gallagher, a successful businessman whose daughter is kidnapped, in BBC drama Happy Valley, will be playing George Hudson in the York Theatre Royal, National Railway Museum and Pilot Theatre production of In Fog and Falling Snow.

The show follows in the footsteps of the huge success of the 2012 York Mystery Plays and 2013’s Blood + Chocolate but this time takes place in the National Railway Museum after hours. Telling a pivotal story in the city’s history, audiences will be taken on a journey through the museum’s collections before being seated in a purpose built theatre for the second half. It is directed by York Theatre Royal’s Artistic Director Damian Cruden, Associate Director Juliet Forster and Pilot Theatre’s Katie Posner.

Audiences will recognise George Costigan from the film Rita, Sue and Bob Too. George played Bob – a key character in the film about a working class Yorkshire life set in Bradford. George has also graced the screen in the smash hit film Calendar Girls, and Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter. Other television credits include The Arbor, A Touch of Frost and Emmerdale.

Costigan has worked with the York Theatre Royal on previous productions Death of a

Salesman and Blackbird, and also starred alongside his son Niall in A Number. Earlier this year he directed a rehearsed reading of Antony and Cleopatra, one of the last performances in the theatre before it closed for redevelopment . The night was in aid of the theatre’s capital project and raised £4,726

He said of the news

I’m thrilled to be returning to York Theatre Royal and to be working with Damian, Katie and Juliet again. York’s a very special place for me and I’m very pleased to be part of the team telling this important story of the city’s history.

Director Damian Cruden said

It’s lovely to have George back with the company and I can’t think of anyone better to work with our community in this fantastic production.

Set in 1840’s York, In Fog and Falling Snow follows George Hudson as he sets forth on his journey to build the great East Coast network at any cost. Investors, passengers and the people who built it are all played by a cast of over 200 community actors. This includes Olivia Ledden, a student at York College and Charlotte Wood, who attends All Saints sixth form in York, who will jointly play the role of George Jenkins, a rail driver’s daughter who is the only one who foresees danger ahead. The cast will be joined by a choir of 80.

The production opens on Friday 26 June and runs until Saturday 11 July. Tickets for the production are on sale now from the York Theatre Royal Box Office, located on St Leonards Place in the De Grey Rooms, by calling 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.