THE MUSICAL BOX PRESENTS A GENESIS EXTRAVAGANZA IN OCTOBER 2018

PRESENTS

A GENESIS EXTRAVAGANZA

A MUSICAL FEAST OF FAVOURITES AND RARITIES 1970-1977

UK TOUR OCTOBER 2018

The internationally acclaimed French Canadian band The Musical Box, famed for their historically faithful re-enactments of Genesis are coming to the UK in October 2018 with a brand new show, which for the first time in the band’s 25 year history enters the world and music of early Genesis. The 10 date tour begins on 2 October 2018 in Southend and takes in Leicester, Basingstoke, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester, London, Brighton and Bath.

As the only band ever licensed and supported by Genesis and Peter GabrielThe Musical Box’s latest show features some iconic tracks from the albums TrespassNursery CrymeFoxtrotSelling England by the PoundThe Lamb Lies Down on BroadwayA Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering plus a few surprises. Including live visual stunts, theatrical tricks and a vast array of vintage musical instruments, this show is an intense trip back in time into the world of early Genesis.

The band has performed for more than a million spectators globally in some of the world’s most prestigious venues including the Royal Albert Hall and the Paris Olympia and has hosted both Phil Collins and Steve Hackett as guest performers.

The Musical Box is the only band ever to be licensed and supported by Genesis and Peter Gabriel whose testimonies to the band’s authenticity can be seen below:

“The Musical Box recreated, very accurately I must say, what Genesis was doing.  I saw them in Bristol with my children so they could see what their father did back then” – Peter Gabriel

“They’re not a tribute band, they have taken a period and are faithfully reproducing it in the same way that someone would do a theatrical production” – Phil Collins

“I cannot imagine that you could have a better tribute for any act.  They not only manage to sound, but look virtually identical.  It seems as though nothing is too difficult for them” – Steve Hackett

“It was better than the real thing actually.  It was great, that was fantastic.” – Mike Rutherford

 

“The guy who does Peter Gabriel is brilliant” – Tony Banks

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to go back to the 70’s and re-live some of Genesis’s iconic musical performances this Autumn.

 

UK Tour Dates 2018

Tuesday 2 October                                                          Box Office: 01702 351135

Cliffs Pavilion, Southend                                               Website: www.southendtheatres.org.uk

Wednesday 3 October                                                   Box Office: 0116 233 3111

De Montfort Hall, Leicester                                          Website: www.demontforthall.co.uk

Friday 5 October                                                              Box Office: 01256 844244

The Anvil, Basingstoke                                                   Website: www.anvilarts.org.uk

Saturday 6 October                                                         Box Office: 0121 780 3333

Symphony Hall, Birmingham                                        Website: www.thsh.co.uk

Sunday 7 October                                                            Box Office: 0131 228 1155

Usher Hall, Edinburgh                                                    Website: www.usherhall.co.uk

Monday 8 October                                                          Box Office: 0151 709 3789

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall                                          Website: www.liverpoolphil.com

Tuesday 9 October                                                          Box Office: 08444 777 677

Manchester Apollo                                                          Website: www.academymusicgroup.com/o2apollomanchester

Thursday 11 October                                                      Box Office: 0844 249 1000

Eventim Apollo, London                                                Website: www.eventimapollo.com

Friday 12 October                                                            Box Office: 0844 871 7650

Theatre Royal, Brighton                                                 Website: www.atgtickets.com/brighton

Saturday 13 October                                                      Box Office: 0844 888 9991

Bath Forum                                                                        Website: www.bathforum.co.uk

Female consent and robotics are tackled in timely new piece at Leicester Square Theatre in February 2018

Version 2.0

February 20th – March 3rd, Leicester Square Theatre

In new play Version 2.0, issues of female consent and robotics are thrown together in this timely new piece challenging the superficiality of modern society, opening at the Leicester Square Theatre in February 2018, directed by Kevin Michael Reed.

“a moving display of superb acting” A Younger Theatre on Kevin Michael Reed’s Shadows

Kash, a playwright, is obsessively in love with his childhood friend Karen. Kash silently expresses his love for Karen by writing plays for her and she returns his admiration by acting in them. Their enduring friendship falls apart when Karen rejects Kash, infuriating him to such an extent that he refuses to see her again. After the rejection, he isolates himself from everyone and gradually falls into a depression.

A robotic society offers Kash an opportunity to live with a humanoid companion, and in return that society wants him to introduce their robots to the world via the means of theatre. Kash accepts the invitation and creates a robot that looks exactly like Karen. He prepares a new show with the humanoid look-alike of Karen and presents her in front of a live audience.

Exploring the effect of social media culture on real human relationships, and asking whether a robot replace a true human and face to face relationships. Version 2.0 comments on and highlights the effects of social media on the nature of relationships.

Director Kevin Michael Reed says “We seem to think we know people just by being “friends” with them on Facebook, but those idealized worlds presented are not truth. When placed in the wrong hands, those worlds are dangerous.”

Reed is an award-winning, internationally published fashion photographer, producer and director from New York City, currently living in London. He is the founder and president of Squire Lane Endeavors and its subsidiaries Squire Lane Films and Squire Lane Theatrical. He produced the critically acclaimed productions of Reese Thompson’s WHORE: A Kid’s Play and Joy Donze: 13 & Not Pregnant at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Shadows in London in 2017.

Opening next week: Ian Bonar’s Be Prepared at VAULT Festival | 7 Feb 9.30pm

Be Prepared
VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
Wednesday 7th – Sunday 11th February 2018

People would move seats on the bus. But I can’t get on the bus cos I’m waiting
for this old man to call

Following its premiere at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, Ian Bonar and Rob Watt collaborate once again to bring Be Prepared to VAULT Festival for a limited run. This is a heart-breaking and moving yet hilarious play about one man struggling to remember while another finds himself unable to forget.

Tom’s a mess. Mr Chambers keeps phoning him asking for a funeral director. Tom is not a funeral director. Getting one digit wrong can change a person’s life forever. Conversations become confused and memories intertwine and unravel. Be Prepared tells the story of two strangers who unwittingly help each other to remember and connect to the people they loved

Inspired by Ian Bonar’s own experiences of his father’s death and subsequently finding his grandad’s cherished memoires, Bonar uses his grandad’s words, some verbatim and some embellished to explore memory, grief and how we remember things. Be Prepared is a darkly comic one-man show that captures the millions of tiny emotions and confusions that ambush you when you lose someone

Writer and performer Ian Bonar comments, Death is funny, right? When I found my Grandad’s journal it was fascinating and heart-breaking to see his memories literally disintegrate on the page as his mind began to fail him, and it made me think about my Dad, about what I wanted to forget about his death and the things I desperately wanted to remember about his life. Why could remember every detail of the hilariously awful experience of going to the local Funeral Director (with whom my family nearly shared a phone number) but struggled to conjure up the sound of his voice? And as Rob and I made the show we learned that grief is both the most specific, individual, private experience – and the most beautifully universal thing that we should all maybe share a bit more…

This is a powerful collaboration between Bonar, one of nine writers in the Orange Tree Writers Collective 2016 and previous alumnus of a Royal Court invitational writers group, and Rob Watt, who is an Associate at Headlong Theatre, lead artist at Lyric Hammersmith, and artist mentor at the Barbican. They will be joined by sound designer and successful musician Alex Crispin and critically acclaimed lighting designer Charlie Morgan Jones

Be Prepared was developed at The RSC Other Place and had a first full run at the RSC Fringe Festival. It was then selected to be part of Underbelly Untapped at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

THE PRESIDENT IS COMING TO LONDON AS WE ASK DOES THE ‘BEST MAN’ ALWAYS WIN THE WHITE HOUSE?

THE PRESIDENT IS COMING TO LONDON…

 

AS WE ASK DOES THE ‘BEST MAN’ ALWAYS WIN THE WHITE HOUSE?

 

MARTIN SHAW

JEFF FAHEY, MAUREEN LIPMAN, JACK SHEPHERD

HONEYSUCKLE WEEKS AND GLYNIS BARBER

in

THE BEST MAN

 

THE WEST END PREMIERE OF GORE VIDAL’S AWARD-WINNING

POLITICAL DRAMA

                                                                                                                                

Bill Kenwright presents Martin Shaw in the West End premiere of Gore Vidal’s sharp political drama The Best Man, at The Playhouse Theatre from Saturday 24 February.

 

Written and produced on Broadway nearly 60 years ago, long before the battles of Trump vs Clinton and May vs Corbyn, The Best Man never achieved a West End transfer at the time because it was thought that American politics were of no real interest to London audiences.

 

Martin Shaw is William Russell, esteemed ex-Secretary of State and US presidential candidate, with something of a philandering reputation. Jeff Fahey is Joseph Cantwell, an ambitious populist newcomer, opposing Russell for the party nomination.

 

Running neck and neck, the only thing that might separate the candidates are endorsements from a respected Ex-President (Jack Shepherd) and party big-wig (Maureen Lipman). As the race heats up the campaign gets personal, involving Russell’s estranged wife Alice (Glynis Barber) and Cantwell’s wife Mabel (Honeysuckle Weeks). But where does compromise end and corruption begin? How far will they each go to become the most powerful man in the world? And who in the end will be proven to be “the best man”?

 

The play mirrors the often surprising results of campaigning, and the all-too-often unscrupulous world of politics.

 

Leading the cast is Martin Shaw. Best known to TV audiences for the title-roles in Judge John Deed, Inspector George Gently and The Professionals, Shaw’s leading-man West End stage roles have included Twelve Angry Men, A Man For All Seasons and The Country Girl directed by Rufus Norris.

 

Jeff Fahey has starred in many indie movie classics, including the title role in cult sci-fi hit TheLawnmower Man opposite Pierce Brosnan and in Quentin Tarantino’s Grindhouse. He has rarely been off our TV screens, starring in US series The Marshal and more recently in Lost. He returns to the West End stage following his acclaimed performance in Twelve Angry Men alongside Martin Shaw.

 

One of Britain’s finest and best loved film, TV and theatre actresses Maureen Lipman (CBE), is known on the big screen for roles such as Trish in Educating Rita and in the Oscar winning film The Pianist as well as for her wide ranging TV appearances – from the landlady of The Rover’s Return inCoronation Street, to the Princess of France in Love’s Labours Lost.  A prolific stage actress, Lipman is an Olivier Award winner (See How They Run) and has appeared in some 20 West End productions.

 

Star of TV’s Wycliffe and Bill BrandJack Shepherd’s extensive stage career includes his award-winning performance in Glengarry Glen Ross and The Iceman Cometh at the National Theatre. Glynis Barber is known for Dempsey and Makepeace and popular roles in Night and Day and EastEnders.Her stage credits include, the original London Cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Story at the Aldwych Theatre, and The Graduate. And Honeysuckle Weeks is best known for starring alongside Michael Kitchen as Samantha Stewart in hit TV drama Foyle’s War. Her theatre credits include The Shining Lives at the Park Theatre, Pygmalion and Love’s Labour’s Lost at Chichester Festival Theatre and A Daughter’s A Daughter in the West End.

 

Born into a distinguished political family, Gore Vidal was a prolific writer known for the waspish wit, which peppered his essays, novels, screenplays and Broadway plays. Among his most famous works are Myra Breckinridge and LincolnThe Best Man premiered on Broadway in 1960 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, including ‘Best Play’. Vidal adapted it into a film with the same title in 1964 starring Henry Fonda, Cliff Robertson and Lee Tracy, who was nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the crafty ex-President. The play received a major revival on Broadway in 2012 starring James Earl Jones and Angela Lansbury, and earned two Tony award nominations including ‘Best Revival of a Play’.

 

Director Simon Evans‘ credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo UiSilence of the Seas (Donmar Warehouse), The DazzleBugFool for Love (Found111), Almost Maine (Park Theatre), Hannah(Unicorn), Speed Twins (Riverside Studio), Laura MarlingShawshank Redemption and Ghostbusters(Secret Cinema), Rubber Room (The Old Vic) and Madness in Valencia (Trafalgar Studios). Simon was Resident Assistant Director at the Donmar Warehouse, Staff Director at the National and Creative Associate at the Bush.

 

Further casting to be announced.

 

The Best Man is produced by Bill Kenwright and directed by Simon Evans, with set and costume design by Michael Taylor, lighting design by Chris Davey and composition and sound design by Ed Lewis.

LISTINGS

 

BILL KENWRIGHT PRESENTS

THE BEST MAN

www.Kenwright.com

 

Written By Gore Vidal

Directed By Simon Evans

Playhouse Theatre

24 February – 12 May 2018

 

Performances:                       

Monday – Saturday evening: 7.45pm

Thursday and Saturday matinee: 3pm  

 

Ticket Prices: From £15

 

Address: The Playhouse Theatre, Northumberland Ave, London, WC2N 5DE

 

Box Office: 0844 871 7631

 

ATG Tickets: www.atgtickets.com

 

Facebook: BKLProductions

 

Twitter: @BKL_Productions

ELIZABETH BERRINGTON AND TANYA MOODIE TO STAR IN UK PREMIÈRE OF JOEL DRAKE JOHNSON’S RASHEEDA SPEAKING

ELIZABETH BERRINGTON AND TANYA MOODIE TO STAR IN UK PREMIÈRE OF JOEL DRAKE JOHNSON’S RASHEEDA SPEAKING
 
Troupe presents
The UK première of
RASHEEDA SPEAKING
By Joel Drake Johnson
 
18 April – 12 May 2018
 
Trafalgar Studios 2
 
Directed by Jonathan O’Boyle; Designed by Anna Reid; Lighting Design by Peter Harrison
Sound Design and Original Composition by Max Perryment
 
Troupe today announces Elizabeth Berrington and Tanya Moodie are to star in the UK première ofJoel Drake Johnson’s tense workplace drama Rasheeda SpeakingDirected by Jonathan O’Boyle the production opens at Trafalgar Studios 2 on 20 April, with previews from 18 April, and runs until 12 May.
In one of Chicago’s wealthiest hospitals, a white doctor tries to remove a black receptionist by enlisting her colleague as a spy. The women’s friendship quickly deteriorates, and a chilling power struggle ensues. With the office becoming a battleground of passive aggression and paranoia, things spin wildly out of control.
Joel Drake Johnson’s incendiary timely new play examines underlying racism in the workplace, white guilt and the manipulation of women by men in power. Rasheeda Speaking is a shocking dark comedy that keeps the audience in its claustrophobic grip until the final moment, proving that nothing in Middle America is ever truly black or white.
Rasheeda Speaking was originally produced by Chicago’s Rivendell Theatre, was nominated for Best Play by the Jefferson Committee, and then opened in New York City at The Signature Theatre as part of The New Group’s 2014-15 season. Under the direction of Tony and Emmy Award Winner, Cynthia Nixon, it featured two-time Oscar Winner, Dianne Wiest and Tony Award Winner, Tonya Pinkins. Rasheeda Speaking was subsequently nominated for Best New Off Broadway Play by the Outer Critics Circle and filmed by WNET New York/East Coast. This production marks the plays UK première.
Joel Drake Johnson is an award-winning, internationally produced playwright who began his career at Chicago’s critically acclaimed Econo-Art Theater. His other plays include Four Places, first produced at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater. It was subsequently produced in Los Angeles by The Rogue Machine Theatre, featuring Tony nominee, Roxanne Hart. Other works include A Blue Moon (Chicago Dramatists Theatre and Woodstock, New York City), As the Beaver (Zebra Crossing), The End of the Tour (Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago) and The Fall to Earth (Steppenwolf Theatre/ Penguin Rep / 59E59 Theaters and The Odyssey Theatre) and The First GradeA Blameless LifeTranquillity Woods (Steppenwolf Theatre).
 
Elizabeth Berrington plays Ileen Van Meter. For theatre her work includes Who Cares (Royal Court Theatre),Holes (Arcola Theatre), The Low Road (English Touring Theatre and Royal Court Theatre), Absent Friends (The Old Vic), Abigail’s Party (Hampstead Theatre and New Ambassadors Theatre), An Ideal Husband (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Rupert Street Lonely Hearts Club (English Touring Theatre, Donmar Warehouse and Criterion Theatre) and The Country Wife (Sheffield Crucible). For television her credits includeStellaLittle Boy BlueThe Tracey Ullman ShowBlack Mirror: Hated in the NationThe Living and the Dead,The SyndicatePramfaceStage Door JohnniesThe OfficeTrying AgainWaterloo RoadPsychovilleMoving WallpaperMay Contain NutsThe Grimleys and The Lakes; and for film, National Civil War Centre Film Series,Alan Partridge: Alpha PapaMr TurnerHard Boiled SweetsIn BrugesScoopNanny McPheeSpivsQuills8 ½ WomenUrban Ghost StoryNaked and Secrets and Lies.
 
Tanya Moodie plays Jaclyn Spaulding. For theatre her work includes Trouble in Mind (The Print Room), Hamlet(RSC), The House That Will Not Stand (nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre) and The Piano Lesson (both Tricycle Theatre), Intimate Apparel (nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre and an Evening Standard Award for Best Actress / Ustinov Studio, Bath), Fences (Duchess Theatre), CatchACDCFewer Emergencies and Incomplete and Random Acts of Kindness (Royal Court Theatre), The Overwhelming
The Darker Face of the Earth and The Oedipus Plays (National Theatre), 66 Books (Bush Theatre) and The Suit(Young Vic). For television her credits include SherlockDicte: Crime ReporterCommonThe Body FarmThe ClinicSea of SoulsRichard Is My BoyfriendArchangelShaneAbsolute Power, In DeepBoyz Unlimited,Neverwhere and So Haunt Me and the upcoming A Discovery of Witches; and for film, LegacyRabbit Fever,The Tulse Luper Suitcases and The Final Passage.
 
Director Jonathan O’Boyle’s work includes Dear Brutus (Southwark Playhouse), Pippin (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester and Southwark Playhouse), Hair (Hope Mill Theatre, Manchester and The Vaults), Four Play(nominated for an Off West End Award for Best Director), Sense of an Ending and Water Under the Board(Theatre503), The Surplus and All the Ways to Say Goodbye (Young Vic), Bash: Latterday Plays (Old Red Lion Theatre and Trafalgar Studios). Work as Resident Director includes An American in Paris (Dominion Theatre). Work as Associate Director includes This House (Chichester Festival Theatre, Garrick Theatre and UK tour),Mack and Mabel and Amadeus (Chichester Festival Theatre), This is My Family (Sheffield Crucible and UK tour), The Scottsboro Boys (Young Vic), My Fair Lady and The Village Bike (Sheffield Crucible) and Manon(Royal Opera House).
 
 
Rasheeda Speaking 
Listings
Trafalgar Studios 2
14 Whitehall, London SW1A 2DY 
Nearest Tube: Charing Cross

Box Office
0844 871 7632
 
Performances
Wednesday 18 April – Saturday 12 May 2018
                 

Monday to Saturdays at 7.45pm

Thursday and Saturday matinees at 3pm (no Thursday matinee on 19 April)
Ticket Prices – £15 – £35
 
Twitter
@Troupe_Theatre
@TrafStudios
#RasheedaSpeaking

Love Me Now to explore love, sex and consent at Tristan Bates Theatre this March

MBP and the Actors Centre present
Love Me Now
Tristan Bates Theatre, 1A Tower St, London WC2H 9NP

I know you feminists are all about sexual equality, and women should be allowed to sleep around, but…I just don’t like the thought of you with someone else.

This spring, the world premiere of Michelle Barnette’s Love Me Now will come to Tristan Bates Theatre. Throwing a sharp light on casual relationships and today’s hook-up culture, Love Me Now is about the toxicity of casual dating and the grey area between love and sex, consent and compliance, yes and no.

Brutal, funny and honest as hell, Michelle Barnette’s debut play explores the superficial intimacies we share and the defensive barriers we put up. The #MeToo campaign, and the conversations that have followed, have forced everyone to re-examine their behaviour in past relationships, and has
emphasised the reality of consent as far more nuanced than simply saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

Written in 2015, when Tinder’s popularity was on the rise, Barnette asks why millennials have come to view the relationships and sex as transactional. It has since become apparent that this is not just a story that needs telling, it’s a story that everyone seems to be living in some capacity

Directed by Jamie Armitage, the team includes OV12 Alumni and Linbury Prize winner Fin Redshaw, and 2018 Offie Finalist for Best Lighting Design Ben Jacobs.

Writer Michelle Barnette comments, This play has been sitting in a drawer for longer than I care to admit, but somehow feels more relevant now than when I wrote it. #MeToo showed the world how pervasive rape culture is, and how deeply women of all ages have been affected by it. Ultimately, Love Me Now is about the emotional repercussions of consistently presenting ourselves through a
male lens, accepting our emotions and needs as secondary. We have to stop allowing ourselves to be supporting characters in our own narratives. The overwhelming response from people so far is that Love Me Now is their story too – and I’m excited to put this story forward, continuing conversations about consent, self-worth, and how we can begin to change the culture that’s so deeply embedded in our society.

World premiere of RedBellyBlack Theatre’s OK, Bye | VAULT Festival | 7-11 March 2017

RedBellyBlack Theatre presents
OK, Bye
VAULT Festival, The Vaults, Leake Street, London SE1 7NN
Wednesday 7th – Sunday 11th March 2018

Following an award-winning run at VAULT Festival 2017 with A Year From Now,
RedBellyBlack Theatre returns with the world premiere of OK, Bye – a fierce and fresh take on saying goodbye.

Whether you are saying goodbye to a person, an addiction or a place, everything you part ways with is concluded by the final farewell ‘OK, Bye’. Using their signature combination of physical theatre and dynamic storytelling, RedBellyBlack explores the very simple premise that saying ‘OK, Bye’ can mean thousands of different things: ‘I love you’, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I never want to see your stupid face again’ or even just the end of a phone call. Using live music, lip syncing and movement, this production showcases raw, real-life stories from the general public

Director Vicki Baron comments, I am absolutely thrilled that the first production of OK, Bye will be part of the VAULT Festival 2018. Quite frankly, I am giddy about staging my work there again. We had an amazing experience at VAULTS last year because this festival has everything that brings out the best in our work: supportive audiences, wonderful production staff and an inspired programme of events. The Vaults always champions the very best that London fringe theatre has to offer and I cannot wait to be part of this exciting event all over again.

RedBellyBlack Theatre describe their style as theatrical tapas, taking the best of their resources and using them to make intimate, all-encompassing theatre. This includes tales from their own lives, writing, improvisation, music and movement.

Beautifully honest…storytelling at its most unlimited (London Theatre1 – A Year From Now 2017).

Casting announced for Titanic The Musical maiden UK Tour

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR THE FIVE-TIME TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

First ever UK & Ireland Tour

Opens in Southampton on 12 April 2018, in the week of Titanic’s 106th anniversary

Casting has been confirmed for the first ever UK & Ireland Tour of Titanic The Musical. Directed by returning director Thom Southerland, 25 actors from across the country will take the production on its maiden UK and Ireland tour, to visit the cities and communities whose forebears built, manned and sailed on the famous ship.

A gala performance will be held in Southampton on 17th April, in the same city from which the RMS Titanic set sail.

In the final hour of 14th April 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg and ‘the unsinkable ship’ slowly sank. It was one of the most tragic and infamous disasters of the 20th Century. 1517 men, women and children lost their lives.

Based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, Maury Yeston and Peter Stone’s stunning musical focuses on their hopes and aspirations. Unaware of the fate that awaits them, the Third Class immigrants dream of a better life in America, the newly-enfranchised Second Class dream of achieving the lifestyles of the rich and famous, and the millionaire Barons of the First Class dream of their mastery lasting forever.

The cast will feature eleven actors returning from Titanic The Musical’s performances at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, Southwark Playhouse and Charing Cross Theatre. The cast includes Alistair Barron (Titanic The Musical, Bumblescratch), Kieran Brown (The Phantom of the Opera, Chess), Greg Castiglioni (Titanic The Musical, Fiddler on the Roof), Lewis Cornay (The Break, Brothers), Alexander Evans (Eugenius, The Sound of Music), Simon Green (Titanic The Musical, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), Emma Harrold (Cinderella, The Sound of Music), Devon-Elise Johnson (Half a Sixpence, Mamma Mia), Claire Machin (Titanic The Musical, The Girls), Claire Marlowe (Titanic The Musical, The Importance of Being Earnest), Oliver Marshall as Bride (Blondel, Forty Years On), Matthew McDonald (Death Take a Holiday, A Christmas Carol), Chris McGuigan (Bananaman The Musical, West Side Story), Matthew McKenna (Bananaman The Musical, 42nd Street), Gemma McMeel (Big Fish, Royal Variety Performance), Janet Mooney (The Woman in White, The Braille Legacy), Joel Parnis (My Fair Lady, Les Miserables), Timothy Quinlan (Jersey Boys, Mack & Mabel), Philip Rham (Titanic The Musical, Dr Korczak’s Example), Dudley Rogers (Titanic The Musical, A Christmas Carol), Victoria Serra (Titanic The Musical, Mamma Mia), Niall Sheehy (Titanic The Musical, Miss Saigon), Judith Street (Titanic The Musical, The Girls) and Stephen Webb (Rothschild & Sons, Jersey Boys) Samuel J Weir (Common, The Caucasian Chalk Circle).

Maury Yeston commented on the cast of the UK tour: “The idea that a troupe of actors will tour this show in the UK, birthplace of the ship, where the workers of Belfast, the cabin boys and maids and stewards from Liverpool, the officers and crew, the stokers and stevedores from the Midlands all created a miraculous floating city, means more to me than I can say. I am touched that, musically, Titanic will finally be coming home, sung by the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of its builders – touched, and forever grateful.”

Opening at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton in April 2018, the critically acclaimed, multi award-winning production will transfer straight to Belfast, where the ship was constructed. From there, Titanic The Musical will visit 13 theatres nationwide.

“It’s an evening both shattering and gorgeous…

The day after seeing it, I went back to see it again. It’s that good.”

★★★★★ The Times

Having received its UK premiere in 2013 at Southwark Playhouse, the production returned to London in 2016 for an 11-week season at the Charing Cross Theatre, where it won overwhelming critical acclaim.

Titanic The Musical has music and lyrics by Maury Yeston (Nine, Grand Hotel, Phantom) and a book by Peter Stone (Woman of the Year and 1776). The pair have collectively won, including their previous works, an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, an Olivier Award and three Tony Awards for their works. The original Broadway production of Titanic The Musical won five Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book.

Titanic The Musical is produced by Danielle Tarento, Steven M Levy and Vaughan Williams, in association with Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.

CAST

 

Alistair Barron as Lightoller

Kieran Brown as Murdoch

Greg Castiglioni as Andrews

Lewis Cornay as Bellboy/Hartley

Simon Green as Ismay

Emma Harrold as Kate Mullins

Devon-Elise Johnson as Kate Murphy

Claire Machin as Alice Beane

Claire Marlowe as Lady Caroline

Oliver Marshall as Bride

Chris McGuigan as Jim Farrell

Matthew McKenna as Pitman/Etches

Joel Parnis as Fleet

Timothy Quinlan as Edgar Beane

Philip Rham as Captain Smith

Dudley Rogers as Isidor Straus

Victoria Serra as Kate McGowan

Niall Sheehy as Barrett

Judith Street as Ida Straus

Stephen Webb as Charles Clarke

Ensemble includes Alexander Evans, Matthew McDonald, Gemma McMeel, Janet Mooney Samuel J Weir.

TITANIC THE MUSICAL – UK TOUR DATES

12 – 21 April 2018                                                                                            Box Office: 023 8071 1811

Southampton, Mayflower Theatre                                                           Website: mayflower.org.uk

23 – 28 April 2018                                                                                            Box Office: 028 9024 1919

Belfast, Grand Opera House                                                                        Website: goh.co.uk

30 April – 5 May 2018                                                                                     Box Office: 029 2063 6464

Cardiff, Wales Millennium Centre                                                             Website: wmc.org.uk

7 – 12 May 2018                                                                                                Box Office: 0843 208 6000

Salford, The Lowry                                                                                           Website: thelowry.com

14 – 19 May 2018                                                                                             Box Office: +353 (0) 1 677 7770

Dublin, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre                                                              Website: bordgaisenergytheatre.ie

21 – 26 May 2018                                                                                             Box Office: 0114 249 6000

Sheffield, Sheffield Theatres                                                                       Website: sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

28 May – 2 June 2018                                                                                     Box Office: 0844 871 7648

Glasgow, King’s Theatre Glasgow                                                              Website: atgtickets.com

4 – 9 June 2018                                                                                                 Box Office: 0844 338 5000

Birmingham, Birmingham Hippodrome                                                  Website: birminghamhippodrome.com

11 – 16 June 2018                                                                                             Box Office: 0844 871 3014

Edinburgh, Playhouse                                                                                    Website: atgtickets.com

18 – 23 June 2018                                                                                             Box Office: 01752 267222

Plymouth, Theatre Royal                                                                               Website: theatreroyal.com

25 – 30 June 2018                                                                                             Box Office: 01604 624811

Northampton, Derngate                                                                               Website: royalandderngate.co.uk

2 – 7 July 2018                                                                                                   Box Office: 0115 989 5555

Nottingham, Theatre Royal                                                                          Website: trch.co.uk

9 – 14 July 2018                                                                                                 Box Office: 01253 625252

Blackpool, Winter Gardens                                                                          Website: wintergardensblackpool.co.uk

16 – 21 July 2018                                                                                              Box Office: 020 3285 6000

Bromley, Churchill Theatre                                                                          Website: churchilltheatre.co.uk

30 July – 4 August                                                                                            Box Office: 0844 871 3017

Liverpool, Empire Theatre                                                                            Website: atgtickets.com

THE UK PREMIERE OF VOCAL IMRESSIONIST & SINGING SENSATION VÉRONIC DICAIRE¹S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW VÉRONIC VOICES OPENING AT THE HIPPODROME CASINO FOR A TWO-NIGHT SHOWCASE ON 12 & 13 MARCH 2018

TWENTY ONE MILES BY ARRANGEMENT WITH HERVÉ PRODUCTIONS  PRESENTS THE UK PREMIERE OF

VOCAL IMRESSIONIST & SINGING SENSATION

VÉRONIC DICAIRE’S CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SHOW 

VÉRONIC VOICES

 OPENING AT THE HIPPODROME CASINO FOR A TWO-NIGHT SHOWCASE ON 12 & 13 MARCH 2018

ONE SINGER…FIFTY VOICES

After opening for Céline Dion to standing ovations at the O2 Arena in 2017, vocal impressionist Véronic Decaire is bringing her smash-hit Las Vegas show Véronic Voices to London, in her first headline show in the UK at the prestigious theatre in the Hippodrome Casino on 12 and 13 March 2018.

Co-produced by Céline DionVéronic Voices debuted in 2013 at the world-renowned Jubilee Theater at Bally’s Las Vegas to critical acclaim, being named one of “Las Vegas’ Don’t Miss Shows” by USA Today, and winning “Best Impersonator” and “Best Singing Show” at the Best of Las Vegas Awards in 2014. Véronic has since embarked on a hugely successful world tour, performing to packed performance halls and arenas in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Quebec and finally arrives in London for the highly anticipated UK premiere.   

Véronic Dicaire said, “I am thrilled to be back in London with my own show!  I was so impressed with the energy of the crowd at the O2 Arena last summer when I was the support act for Céline’s tour…  and I promised myself to be back.  Here I am!”

Céline Dion said, “Véronic has one of the greatest voices in the world. From a singer’s point of view, it’s incredible what she does. Her performance is authentic; she showcases all the love she has for these artists and strives to live up to their talent.  It’s a daunting task.”

One singer… Fifty Voices 

Véronic Voices will transport you and your imagination to another dimension of extraordinary entertainment as talented singer-impersonator/entertainer Véronic Decaire pays tribute to the most popular female recording artists in the world, signing their songs in their voices. 

Whether she’s performing as Celine or Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand or Rihanna, Tina Turner or Katy Perry, Whitney Houston or Taylor Swift, Véronic’s amazing repertoire of voices will take you on a jaw-dropping, captivating entertainment journey like no other.

Véronic Voices is produced by Twenty One Miles by arrangement with Hervé Productions. 

MERCURY THEATRE COLCHESTER AND TBO PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW MUSICAL PIECES OF STRING

MERCURY THEATRE COLCHESTER AND TBO PRODUCTIONS

ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW MUSICAL PIECES OF STRING

 

Developed by Perfect Pitch

Co-produced by the Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions

PIECES OF STRING

Book, Music & Lyrics by Gus Gowland

 

Directed by Ryan McBryde; Designed by Fin Redshaw; Musical Direction by Paul Herbert

 

20 April – 5 May

 

Made in Colchester production

 

Mercury Theatre Colchester and TBO Productions today announce the world première of the brand-new musical – Pieces of String with book, music and lyrics by Gus Gowland. The production, directed by Ryan McBryde and designed by 2017 Linbury Prize Finalist Fin Redshaw, opens on 27 April at the Mercury, with previews from 20 April and runs until 5 May.

 

When Jane returns from her father’s funeral to start clearing the house she grew up in – packing away the family photographs, closing a chapter – she isn’t prepared for the untold story she’s about to discover threaded through her past, a story that threatens to unravel her relationship with her own children and shake her understanding of who she is.

 

A new musical set simultaneously in the 1940s and in the present day, Pieces Of String tells how Jane’s father, Edward, came back from the Second World War with a secret that would change his life forever – a secret that he would carry until the day he died.

 

With hauntingly beautiful music and a heart-rending human story, Pieces Of String is a tender, funny, emotionally-charged exploration of how three generations of one family learn to deal with a story that nobody’s been brave enough to tell until today.

 

Times may have changed but some battles still need to be fought.

 

Gus Gowland. Book, Music and Lyrics.

Most recently Gowland wrote a short musical, Sick!, which was performed at LOST Theatre as part of Accidents & Emergencies, while his short play Clocks & Teapots was performed at Rada Studios and the London Transport Museum as part of London Omnibus. He co-wrote and directed Barren, Love Love Love(Canadian Fringe Tour) and wrote and performed in Tell Me on A Thursday at the Camden Fringe and wrote two songs for Copyright Christmas, for Olivier Award-winning theatre collective Duckie at the Barbican. He has also produced and directed a season of Miniscule Musicals at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, one of which was performed at the Duckie 10th anniversary birthday party at South Bank Centre and he also co-wrote the song Home, with Alistair Brammer for the MAD Trust album – The West End Goes MAD for Christmas. Gowland was shortlisted for the inaugural Perfect Pitch award in 2013 and his songs Take Me Back and Turning Stones have been shortlisted for the Stiles & Drewe Best New Song Award. In addition, he was also one of 5 music industry experts to form the UK jury for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014.

Ryan McBryde directs. His credits include The Invisible Man (Queens Theatre, Hornchurch), Before the Party, Cinderella, Jack And The Beanstalk (Salisbury Playhouse) Faust I, 1984, Spring Awakening and The Crucible (Schauspielbühnen, Stuttgart), Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Hamlet – The Musical (Royal & Derngate, Northampton and Richmond Playhouse), Saturday Night Fever (Theatre Royal Bath and UK tour), The House of Mirrors and Hearts and The Jabberwocky (Arcola Theatre), A Day at the Racists (Finborough Theatre), The RSC’s 50th Anniversary Gala (RSC), On the 20th Century (Union Theatre), The Life, The Ruling Class, Sweet Charity, Spring Awakening – The Musical, The Who’s Tommy, The Full Monty, Hysteria, Hair, Deathtrap and The Fox (The English Theatre, Frankfurt).

Production supported by the Linbury Trust

MERCURY THEATRE

The Mercury Theatre Colchester is the most active producing theatre in East Anglia and is a vital centre of excellence in the East’s growing creative economy. The Mercury exists to put theatre at the heart of the community it serves and to make work in Colchester that reaches audiences and generates critical attention regionally and nationally. The Mercury is a champion of regional arts, both as an active co-producer with other venues and companies and also touring our own productions to audiences across the UK. On-site production and workshop facilities create sets, props and costumes for both for in-house productions and touring companies, including the National Theatre.

@mercurytheatre

TBO PRODUCTIONS

TBO Productions have produced a veritable smorgasbord of productions Rhinestone Mondays (UK Tour), Haunting Julia (UK tour), Soho Cinders (Soho Theatre), Sherlock Holmes – The Best Kept Secret (UK tour), September In The Rain (UK tour), Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be (Theatre Royal Stratford East), April in Paris(UK tour), The A-Z of Mrs P (Southwark Playhouse). Recent productions have included, Associate Producers & General Managers for Harvey (Birmingham Repertory Theatre / Theatre Royal Haymarket), The Buskers Opera(Park Theatre), Tap factory (UK tour), Mindgame (UK tour). Their latest production, Son of a Preacher Man is currently on a nationwide UK tour.

@TBO_productions

PERFECT PITCH

Perfect Pitch, supported by Arts Council England, is currently the only non-profit theatre company in the UK dedicated exclusively to creating, developing, producing and promoting new contemporary British musicals. Their mission is to create a high standard of new British musical theatre that reflects and connects with today’s diverse and contemporary Britain. Perfect Pitch aim to predominantly work with artists whose work is contemporary, challenging and innovative. Musicals that could break boundaries and help us develop an audience’s perception of what the musical theatre art form can be. They work in partnership and collaboration with venues, writers, producers and creatives all over the UK and beyond.

@perfectpitch

 

Listings Information 

Pieces of String

20 April – 5 May

Performance times vary

Tickets £12 – £27 & discounts

www.mercurytheatre.co.uk

01206 573948