Month: April 2019

GIANT BABY DUE TO BE DELIVERED IN YORKSHIRE FOR EASTER WEEKEND

FRIDAY 19 & SATURDAY 20 APRIL 2019

For two nights only Yorkshire is preparing to host a world premiere in a spectacular evening of entertainment on a huge scale!

ZARA opens at The Piece Hall, Halifax on Friday 19^th and Saturday 20^th April and promises to be an epic event for all the family.

The creation of two of the UK’s leading arts organisations – Mind the Gap theatre company and outdoor arts specialists, Walk the Plank – and has been in the making for 3 years.

Nicky Chance Thompson, Chief Executive of The Piece Hall says: “We are really excited to host this world premiere ahead of its London dates. It’s great news for us and great for the North of England.  The Piece Hall has hosted a vast array of events since it re-opened – from contemporary music concerts to intimate site-specific performances, circus spectacle and street theatre – and even the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow – but I think it’s the first time we’ve welcomed a giant baby!”

The baby is central to the production – at 22 feet high, it’s bigger than a double decker bus and will take eight people to operate and make it come to life.

Telling a story of a mother and child against the world, ZARA has a cast of over 100 actors, an army tank, cherry pickers and 4x4s; 3D illuminations will be projected on to the heritage building making it both a backdrop to the performance and central to the story.

The company behind the lighting projection is the internationally-renowned Illuminos who have created projections for buildings, structures and geographical features all over the world. 

“We worked with Illuminos last December when we hosted ‘Illuminating Halifax’ with Halifax Minster and Square Chapel Arts Centre” says Nicky Chance Thompson.  “That was a huge success with our visitors, and I have no doubt that this will be too.”

Artistic Director, Joyce Nga Yu Lee: “There are poignant stories to be told with theatre and this is one; whilst it’s fun, upbeat, contains ridiculous dances and baby ‘poo’ – which we’ve affectionately named ‘Poo-mageddon’ – there is also a story about parenting, motherhood and people with learning disabilities. 

“When I started working on this project, I knew I wanted to make it big – I wanted it to be in your face so that people had to take notice. I always imagined it to be like a cross between Godzilla, the Paralympics opening ceremony, and a sci-fi film! I think ZARA will stay with you long after you leave.”

ZARA premieres at The Piece Hall in Halifax on Easter Weekend

Friday 19^th and Saturday 20^th April

The production starts at 9pm; there are refreshment stalls and pre-show entertainment and visitors are welcomed from 7pm

Tickets are £8 or £28 for a group of four people

https://www.thepiecehall.co.uk/events/zara

Last night, Tuesday 2 April, four of the original calendar girls, Angela Baker, Beryl Bamforth, Christine Clancey and Tricia Stewart celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of their calendar, at the opening night performance of CALENDAR GIRLS THE MUSICAL at Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. They joined the current cast, which includes Fern Britton, Anna-Jane Casey, Sara Crowe, Karen Dunbar, Rebecca Storm and Denise Welch, on stage for a very special bow, cake and bubbles. 

CALENDAR GIRLS THE MUSICAL is inspired by the true story of a group of ladies, who decide to appear nude for a Women’s Institute calendar in order to raise funds to buy a settee for their local hospital, in memory of one of their husbands, and have to date raised over £5million for Bloodwise. This musical comedy shows life in their Yorkshire village, how it happened, the effect on husbands, sons and daughters, and how a group of ordinary ladies achieved something extraordinary.

Bloodwise, the UK’s specialist blood cancer charity, continues to receive monies from this production.

CALENDAR GIRLS THE MUSICAL continues to tour until November 2019, with new cast members Sarah Jane Buckley, Sue Devaney, Julia Hills, Judy Holt and Lisa Maxwell taking over from 23 April in Southend. Lesley Joseph will play the role of Jessie from 23 April until 10 August in Eastbourne.

Casting announced for the UK professional première of Amour

Casting is today announced for the UK professional première at London’s Charing Cross Theatre of Amour, a musical fantasy about daring to dream and the power of self belief, with music by multi award-winning Michel Legrand with English lyrics by Jeremy Sams (from the original French by Didier Van Cauwelaert).

Amour runs from Thursday 2 May – Saturday 20 July.  

Gary Tushaw (Tateh in Ragtime, Charing Cross Theatre; Joseph Taylor Jr in Allegro, Southwark Playhouse) will play Dusoleil and Anna O’Byrne (Laura Fairlie in The Woman In White, Charing Cross Theatre; Christine Daaé, Phantom Of The Opera and Love Never Dies, West End) will play Isabelle. Alasdair Harvey (Sunday In The Park With George, Mamma Mia! We Will Rock You, Sunset Boulevard, all West End) will play the Prosecutor, Isabelle’s controlling husband.

They will be joined by Elissa Churchill (Elephant Steps, Arcola);  Claire Machin (Memphis, The Pyjama Game, West End; Flowers For Mrs Harris, Chichester; Titanic, Charing Cross Theatre & UK tour); Keith Ramsay (The Cereal Cafe, The Other Palace; and a cabaret artist, Black Cat Cabaret at Crazy Coqs, Wilton’s Music Hall and Spiegeltent at London Wonderground); Steven Serlin (The Wild Party, The Other Palace; Oklahoma!, Grange Park Opera; Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, West End); Alistair So (The King & I, West End; Jimmy Winter in Nice Work If You Can Get It, Upstairs At The Gatehouse); Daniel Stockton (Nicely Nicely Johnson in Guys & Dolls, Kilworth House);  with understudies Laura Barnard and Jack Reitman.

Creative team: Director Hannah Chissick. Choreographer Matt Cole. Production Designer Adrian Gee. Lighting Designer Rob Halliday. Sound Designer Andrew Johnson. Musical Director Jordan Li-Smith. Producer/Casting Director Danielle Tarento.

Paris, 1950 – a shy, unassuming civil servant, Dusoleil, lives alone and works diligently in a dreary office. To pass the time, he writes letters to his mother and daydreams about the beautiful Isabelle, who is kept locked away by her controlling husband. When Dusoleil miraculously gains the ability to walk through walls, he not only begins to lead a double life, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor to right the wrongs of his war-impoverished Parisian neighbours, but also gains the self-confidence to woo Isabelle and, just for a while, live the life he has always longed for.

Adapted from a 1943 short story Le Passe-Muraille by Marcel Aymé, Amour opened on Broadway in 2002 and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Michel Legrand, who sadly passed away, aged 86, on 26 January 2019, was predominantly a jazz musician and film composer with 200 film and television scores to his credit. In a prolific career he won three Oscars  – Best Original Dramatic Score: Summer of ‘42, Best Original Song Score Yentl and Best Song The Windmills of Your Mind from The Thomas Crown Affair – and five Grammys. 
He made his Broadway debut with Amour. Other West End musicals include The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and Marguerite, with Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (creators of Les Misérables and Miss Saigon).

Producer Danielle Tarento said “Whilst I am so delighted to be producing this beautiful show, there is a tinge of sadness that Michel never got to see Amour in London, something that he 
sorely wanted. I hope the production serves as a fitting tribute to this extraordinary man.”

SOCIAL MEDIA

Website
www.tarento.net

Twitter
@AmourTheMusical

Facebook
tarentoproductions

Instagram
@amourthemusical
LISTINGS INFO

Danielle Tarento presents

AMOUR

Music by Michel Legrand 
Libretto by Didier van Cauwelaert
Adapted from Le Passe-Muraille 
by Marcel Aymé 
(Les Éditions Gallimard)
English adaptation by Jeremy Sams 

Charing Cross Theatre
The Arches
Villiers Street
London WC2N 6NL

www.charingcrosstheatre.co.uk
Box office: 08444 930650

Thursday 2 May – Saturday 20 July, 2019

Performances
Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Matinees Wednesday at 2.30pm 
and Saturday at 3.00pm

Ticket prices

2-7 May (previews) all tickets £22.50
From 9 May £22.50-£32.50 

Upgrade your ticket to include a glass of 
bubbly and a programme for just £7.50

A booking fee applies to phone and internet 
orders; no booking fee to personal callers 

The box office is open from 2 hours
before curtain time on performance days for 
personal callers

Amour was originally produced on Broadway by 
The Shubert Organization, Jean Doumanian 
Productions, Inc. and USA Ostar Theatricals

Presented by arrangement with 
TAMS-WITMARK 
www.tamswitmark.co.uk

Jean Paul Gaultier

FASHION FREAK SHOW

COMES TO LONDON THIS SUMMER

Gaultier’s spectacular revue show to make UK Premiere

50 years of pop culture through the eyes of fashion’s enfant terrible

Performances begin Tuesday 23 July | Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall

Eccentric, scandalous, provocative, exuberant and funny as ever, Jean Paul Gaultier is shaking up London with his stunning new creation, Fashion Freak Show. The production, an explosive combination of a revue and fashion show, will play Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall from Tuesday 23 July for 13 performances only

Fashion Freak Show is currently enjoying an acclaimed run in Paris at the iconic Folies Bergère, before transferring to Southbank Centre to make its UK premiere. Tickets for Fashion Freak Show go on sale to Southbank Centre members tomorrow, Thursday 4 April, and on general sale on Friday, 5 April.

In this extraordinary production, actors, dancers and circus artists take to the stage and play outlandish, passionate, larger than life, rude, sexy, sassy creatures and personalities.

Set against the backdrop of a giant video wall, a key part of the production features vignettes of special guest stars – including a number of Gaultier’s long-term, iconic supporters and friends.  Rossy de Palma plays the young Gaultier’s unforgiving schoolteacher, who harbours secret fashion fantasies of her own, while Catherine Deneuve reads out the hysterical names that Gaultier gave the creations in his fabulous men’s couture show of the early ’90s.

As author, director and costume designer, Jean Paul Gaultier takes a look at our times in both an extravagant and tender way, and invites us behind the scenes into his world filled with excess, poetry and magic.

From his childhood to his early career, from his greatest fashion shows to the wild nights in Le Palace or London, Jean Paul Gaultier shares his journal of the times and pays tribute to those who have inspired him in film (Pedro Almodovar, Luc Besson), music (Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Mylène Farmer) and dance (Régine Chopinot, Angelin Prejlocaj).

In the show, conceived like a grand party, Jean Paul Gaultier will surprise us yet again. He has designed hundreds of new exclusive outfits, incorporated within an exuberant set – without forgetting to invite his most iconic creations!

He has collaborated with the best in their field, such as actress, scriptwriter and director Tonie Marshall, who co-directs the show, and choreographer Marion Motin (Madonna, Christine and the Queens, Stromae, RESISTE, the musical…).

From disco to funk, from pop to rock and new wave and punk, the Fashion Freak Show is an explosive playlist of hits that have inspired the artist throughout his life.

Jean Paul Gaultier said:

“I am honoured that my Fashion Freak Show will premiere at Southbank Centre. London is dear to my heart and a constant source of inspiration.  I have been coming here since my youth and have been greatly influenced by British music, theatre and cinema throughout my career from the Rocky Horror Show through Punk and New Wave and I keep coming back.  I hope that audiences will enjoy the show as much as I did creating it.”

Rupert Thomson, Senior Programmer for Performance and Dance, Southbank Centre, said:

“Jean-Paul Gaultier is an idiosyncratic visionary, and his Fashion Freak Show comes with all the quirkiness, sexiness, French-ness and brio of the man himself. We are delighted to be presenting this run at Southbank Centre direct from its triumphant opening at the Folies Bergère in Paris, to give London audiences a chance to encounter, live, the great good fun, genius fashion, and raucous influences of Gaultier’s life.”

Southbank Centre in association with TS3 (A Fimalac Entertainment Company) and RGM Productions presents JEAN PAUL GAULTIER – FASHION FREAK SHOW.

LAMBERT JACKSON ANNOUNCE COMPETITION OFFERING OPPORTUNITY TO PERFORM IN MAIN MEN OF MUSICALS

Lambert Jackson today announce a competition for male performers, offering the winner the opportunity to perform in their upcoming production Main Men of Musicals at Cadogan Hall on 31 May. This follows the success of similar competitions for Lambert Jackson’s previous one-night only concerts There’s Nothin’ Like A Dame and West End Women.

Main Men of Musicals is a celebration of the best male songs in musical theatre history.Luke Bayer, Trevor Dion Nicholas, Ben Forster,and Liam Tamne will wow the audience with songs from all their favourite shows. Featuring songs from The Phantom of the Opera, Dear Evan Hansen, Les Miserables and many more – prepare to be dazzled by these men and their exceptional talent.

Lambert Jackson today said ” One of our core values is that everybody deserves a chance to be seen, so we are so pleased at Lambert Jackson to once again be searching for new talent to join our incredible cast of leading men on stage.  We watch every video and we personally are really looking forward to selecting our winner (or maybe even winners!) to perform on stage with Ben, Liam, Luke and Trevor.”

TO ENTER

To enter, simply submit a one-minute video recording of any musical theatre song to [email protected] by 5pm on Thursday 18th April.

The competition is open to all men, no matter their experience. All entrants must be over the age of 16 but there is no upper age limit. Entrants must be available for a rehearsal in May and the rehearsal and show on Friday 31st May.

The winner will be selected by a judging panel including Collabro’s Jamie Lambert, CEO of Lambert Jackson, and Eliza Jackson, Creative Director of Lambert Jackson. The winner will be notified by the end of April.

Main Men of Musicals                                                                                                                             Listings

Cadogan Hall

5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Box Office: 020 7730 4500 

https://www.cadoganhall.com/

Cadogan Hall

Friday 31 May, 7.30pm

Tickets: from £32.50

LAMBERT JACKSON

Lambert Jackson is a production company dedicated to producing musical theatre shows and stunning one-night performances. Founded by Jamie Lambert (CEO) and Eliza Jackson (Creative Director), the company made its debut at Cadogan Hall in August 2018 with There’s Nothin’ Like a Dame – 100 Years of Women in Musical Theatre, and has since produced West End Women – A Celebration of Women in Musicals. The company’s upcoming production Main Men of Musicals will take place at Cadogan Hall on May 31^st.

Twitter:              @LJProds

Instagram:         @lambertjacksonproductions

Facebook:          /lambertjacksonproductions

UK PREMIÈRE OF CORAL BROWNE: THIS F***ING LADY!

Prospect Productions presents

CORAL BROWNE: THIS F***ING LADY!

By Maureen Sherlock

King’s Head Theatre

19 May – 3 June

Director: Maureen Sherlock

Prospect Productions today announces the UK première of Coral Browne: This F***ing Lady!, written and directed by Maureen Sherlock. Amanda Muggleton stars in this one-women play based on the real life of the stage and screen star Coral Browne. It opens at King’s Head Theatre on 19May and runs until 3 June.

In 1934 aged 20 Coral Browne arrived in London from Australia with £50 in her pocket, stars in her eyes and driving ambition in her heart. 85 years later Coral is back in London to let you know how that starry-eyed 20 year-old turned out!

Her flamboyance, her biting wit, her glamorous lifestyle are distant memories now. But for nearly 50 years smart London dinner parties were not complete without reporting the latest hilarious Coral Browne ‘bon and four-letter mots!’ They don’t make them like Coral any more. She was a one-off and that’s something worth celebrating.

Maureen Sherlock said today, “I was intrigued by Coral Browne after reading so many biographies of celebrities, like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, who mentioned her as an influence and mentor or related bawdy anecdotes involving her. She was Australian, but I’d never heard of her. Fortunately, all her papers and memorabilia were donated to the Performing Arts Collection in Melbourne by her second husband Vincent Price. And what a treasure trove they turned out to be! Letters from a who’s who of theatre luminaries, her lovers, her mother, Vincent Price, photographs, videos. Here was a woman whose determination, talent and lust for life had seen her climb out of working class Footscray in Melbourne and up to the West End stage and Hollywood. The more I researched, the more I loved this outrageous, funny, liberated woman who was way ahead of her time. And now it’s such a thrill to bring Coral Browne back to London where it all began for this wild Colonial girl!”

Maureen Sherlock is a writer and director. Her previous theatre credits include Alzheimer’s the Musical: A night to remember! (Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh Fringe), Ada & Elsie: Wacko-the-Diddle-oh! (Australian tour). Her credits as a co-writer are Lovers & Haters: The Turbulent Times of Don Dunstan (Adelaide Festival of Arts).

Amanda Muggleton plays Coral Browne. Her previous theatre credits include Hairspray – The Arena Spectacular (Brisbane Entertainment Centre/ Newcastle Entertainment Centre), Annie (Lyric Theatre), Blood Brothers (Metcalfe Playhouse), The Threepenny Opera (Sydney Theatre Company), Hello Dolly! (State Theatre, Melbourne), Masterclass, Steaming (Canberra Theatre), Lip Service (Ensemble Theatre), Shirley Valentine(Dunstan Playhouse), Calendar Girls (Theatre Royal, Sydney), Entertaining Mr Sloane (Adelaide Festival Centre) and The Book Club (King’s Head Theatre). Television credits include series regular Chrissie Latham in Prisoner Cell Block H.

Criterion Theatre, London – 2 April 2019

Reviewed by Jess Brady

5*****

What better way to celebrate your 3rd birthday on the west end than with cake! Mischief Theatre have gone from strength to strength since 2010 producing hit shows such as The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong to name a few! The success of these shows is down to a perfect concoction of excellent writing, sharp comedy and extremely talented casts and The Comedy About a Bank Robbery is no exception.

The Criterion Theatre right in the heart of the West End is home for this hilarious show and if you are looking for something to see that gives you none stop laughs then this is the show for you!

Set in late 50’s Minneapolis, we begin with two criminals busting out of jail and the main goal is the rob the bank and take the half a million dollar diamond locked in the vault, a pretty standard cops and robbers story from the outset but this is far from a standard story! What transpires over the next couple of hours is nothing short of unbelievable not just with the story but it really does need to be seen to be believed.
Everything about the production is flawless in my opinion. The set is clever and inventive and the whole stage is used to full effect. It creates a frantic energy which this kind of show needs, full of slap stick, crazy stunts and high speed chases a plenty which all adds to the sheer hilarity of each scene.

The cast are exceptional and probably one of the hardest working in any show in London. Each performer is well trained and completely comfortable throwing themselves around for your spectation. Lots of clever multi role characterisation and genius musicality which adds some moments of calm amongst the chaos. The talent shines from each member of the cast and they create some pure magic onstage.

I could go on for pages about this show but instead go and see it and I promise you that you will come away feeling exhausted from laughing and seeing something that is simply marvellous.

Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House – until 6 April 2019

Reviewed by Debra Shaw

5*****

All aboard the SS Italian Castle for the return of award winning writer Tom Stoppard’s Rough Crossing, adapted from a play by Ferenc Molnar. Directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, this is a must for fans of Stoppard’s typical word play.

The star cast is led wonderfully by John Partridge (Eastenders, Celebrity Masterchef winner and La Cage Aux Folles). His fellow actors are Charlie Stemp (Hello Dolly!, Half a Sixpence) Issy van Randwyck (Fascinating Aïda) Matthew Cottle (Game On, The Windors) Rob Ostlere (Holby City) and Simon Dutton (The Saint).

Set aboard a magnificent cruise liner headed for New York in the 1930s, Rough Crossing is the story of two playwrights, Sandor Turai (John Partridge) and Alex Gal (Matthew Cottle) rehearsing their play which still needs an ending. Whilst struggling to write the perfect ending, Turai also finds himself trying to stop their composer Adam Adam (Rob Ostlere) taking his leave. Adam is engaged to the leading lady Natasha (Issy van Randwyck) whom has briefly rekindled her affair with the leading man Ivor Fish (Simon Dutton) and Adam is heartbroken. All this is expertly overseen by Dvornichek (Charlie Stemp) as the steward/waiter, renamed Murphy by Gal, who enjoys multiple glasses of cognac, much to Turai’s frustration.

As the play opens against the stunning art deco set, some may find the out of sync conversation (due to the delayed reaction syndrome currently suffered by Adam) between Turai, Adam and Gal a little hard to follow. However, the physical comedy, witty one liners, Issy van Randwyck’s beautiful voice and superb acting more than compensate.

THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY

ANNOUNCES 2020 EXTENSION ON THIRD BIRTHDAY IN THE WEST END

Created by Mischief Theatre

Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields

The Comedy About a Bank Robbery today announces an extension of its Olivier Award-nominated show to run until Sunday 3 May 2020, as it celebrates its third birthday in the West End. Tickets for the new booking period are now on sale. Tonight marks the 1,423^rd performance at The Criterion, the 7,115^th theft of the diamond and the 10,584^th appearance of the seagulls!

The cast includes Samson Ajewole (Cooper), Jenna Augen (Ruth Monaghan), Jack Baldwin (Officer Randal Shuck), Leonard Cook (Robin Freeboys), Chris Leask (Everyone Else), Emily Stott (Caprice Freeboys), Gareth Tempest (Mitch Ruscitti), Jack Whittle (Sam Monaghan) and Jean-Luke Worrell (Warren Slax). From Tuesday 23 April the role of Warren Slax will be taken over by Matthew Cavendish and Jean-Luke Worrell will be taking over the role of Cooper. The understudies are, Rhiann Francis, Gracie Lai, Dale Mathurin, Kieran Mortell andFinlay Paul.

‘The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is one of the flat-out funniest pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen.’  Dominic Maxwell – The Times ★★★★★

Mischief Theatre’s smash-and-grab hit The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is a fast, fabulous comedy caper and the funniest show in the West End!

Summer 1958. Minneapolis City Bank has been entrusted with a priceless diamond. An escaped convict is dead set on pocketing the gem with the help of his screwball sidekick, trickster girlfriend… and the maintenance man. With mistaken identities, love triangles and hidden agendas, even the most reputable can’t be trusted. In a town where everyone’s a crook, who will end up bagging the jewel?

Book now for this dynamite comedy. It would be criminal to miss it!

As well as celebratingThe Comedy About a Bank Robbery’sthird birthday, Mischief Theatre are celebrating a roller coaster start to the year. Having announced a brand-new season opening at the Vaudeville Theatre in September 2019, with new shows including Groan Ups and Magic Goes Wrong. In addition The Comedy About a Bank Robbery UK tour is currently running until 8 June and the Olivier Award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, is enjoying its fifth year at The Duchess Theatre, with booking until October 2019. 

Mischief Theatre

Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields met at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). All core members of Mischief Theatre, they worked in comedy together for several years before starting out as a writing team. The company’s first production was The Play That Goes Wrong (winner – Best New Comedy – Olivier Awards and WhatsOnStage Awards). The show began on the London and Edinburgh fringe before touring the UK. It then opened in the West End in September 2014 where it is still running. It is also playing on Broadway and heading out on a US tour in 2018. Peter Pan Goes Wrong was the trio’s second production, opening in November 2014 for a UK tour before a hugely successful West End season in Christmas 2015. Mischief Theatre adapted the script of Peter Pan Goes Wrong for the BBC, which was filmed with the original West End cast and broadcast on New Year’s Eve 2016. They were invited back to wreak more havoc at the BBC in 2017 with A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong on BBC1. They have recently announced a new comedy series The Goes Wrong Show, which has been commissioned by the BBC Controller of Comedy and is set to air on BBC1. Mischief Theatre will also be presenting a new season at the Vaudeville Theatre, including Groan Upsand Magic Goes Wrong, running from September 2019. The Comedy About A Bank Robbery marks the company’s third writing project and earned them another Olivier Nomination. 

Kenny Wax Ltd

Kenny Wax Ltd produced the multi-award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, currently in the West End and on a US tour. Kenny Wax’s second collaboration with Mischief Theatre, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, played the West End twice and is now touring Australia and New Zealand. Kenny Wax presented the world première of Top Hat, winning three Olivier Awards including ‘Best New Musical’, with 1995’s Once on This Island winning the same award. The new British musical SIX completed a sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and again at the Arts Theatre in the West End, where it has returned for an open-ended run after a short UK tour. The Company is also renowned for producing some of the best family theatre including We’re Going On A Bear Hunt; Tall Stories’ The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo’s Child and Room on the Broom;plus the stage adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s Hetty Feather. Last Christmas saw the opening of a new stage adaptation of Jill Murphy’s The Worst Witch, co-produced by Royal & Derngate Northampton.Kenny Wax is the current President of the Society of London Theatre.

Directed by Mark Bell with Nancy Zamit for Mischief Theatre; Designer: David Farley Costume Designer: Roberto Surace; Lighting Designer: David Howe Sound Design: Jon Fiber for JollyGoodTunes; Musical Director and Arranger: Joey Hickman; Associate Director: Kirsty Patrick Ward; Resident Director Katie Ann McDonough;Associate Lighting Designer: Matt Leventhall

The Comedy About A Bank Robbery                                                                                                      Listings

Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1V 9LB

Box Office:0844 815 6131

www.bankrobberycomedy.com

Twitter: @BankRobberyPlay

Facebook: BankRobberyComedy

PERFORMANCE TIMES

Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 7:30pm

Saturday matinee at 2:30pm, Sunday matinee at 3pm and Sunday evening at 7pm

TICKET PRICES

Sunday evening – Thursday:

£49.50, £39.50, £35.00, £29.50, £25, £20, £15, £10

Premium Seats £69.50

Friday – Sunday Matinee:

£52.50, £42.50, £38.00, £32.50, £28, £23, £18, £10

Premium Seats £72.50

AGE

11+

UK TOUR ANNOUNCED FOR NIGEL SLATER’S TOAST

Following its world premiere at The Lowry, Salford in May, a sold-out run at as part of Traverse Festival 2018 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and a London transfer to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Other Palace where it is set to play from the 4^th April – 3^rd August, it is today announced that Nigel Slater’s Toastwill then tour the UK. Launching at Huddersfield’s Lawrence Batley Theatre on 19 August, where the play’s writer Henry Filloux-Bennett has recently been appointed Chief Executive, the run will conclude its run at the Crewe Lyceum on 7 December. For a full list of dates, please see the tour list below.

From making the perfect sherry trifle, waging war over cakes through to the playground politics of sweets and the rigid rules of restaurant dining, this is a moving and evocative tale of love, loss and…toast.

Nigel Slater said: “With the London run about to start, it’s an extremely exciting time as the words on the page come to life once again. I’m thrilled that the play will continue its journey after The Other Palace, visiting venues around the country.”

Henry Filloux-Bennett continued: “Having written ‘Toast’ whilst working at The Lowry, that the production is coming back to the North of England after its run at The Other Palace is exciting enough. Now that I have moved to the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield, I’m completely delighted that we get to open the tour of ‘Toast’ here in Yorkshire, starting as it will our 25^th Anniversary season.”

Based on the British Book Awards Biography of the Year, Toast is a new play based on Nigel Slater’s award-winning autobiography. Vividly recreating suburban England in the 1960s, Nigel’s childhood is told through the tastes and smells he grew up with and the audience with be enveloped by the evocative sights and sounds of cookery that defined the definitive moments of his youth.

Writer Henry Filloux-Bennett was the recent recipient of the award for Best Screen to Stage adaptation at the CAMEO Awards (Creativity Across Media: Entertainment and Originality) at White City House. The London Book and Screen Week Awards celebrate outstanding adaptations in the fields of Book to Audio, Film, TV and Stage. This year’s Stage category also included competition from Sally Cookson’s adaptation of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Walker Books) and Rona Munro’s adaptation of My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (Viking).

Originally produced by The Lowry for Week 53 festival,Toast is written by Henry Filloux-Bennett and directed by Jonnie Riordan. Casting and further dates to be confirmed.

The author of a collection of bestselling books and presenter of nine BBC television series, Nigel Slater has been the food columnist for The Observer for 25 years. His memoir ‘Toast – the Story of a Boy’s Hunger’ won six major awards, has been translated into five languages and became a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. Nigel is currently working on a new book and television series. -ENDS-

Nigel Slater’s Toast – Autumn Tour 2019

Mon 19 – Sat 24 August                                             Box Office: 01484 430 528

Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield                  www.thelbt.org/

Mon 26 – Sat 31 August                                             Box Office: 01865 305 305 (on sale 11 April)

Oxford Playhouse                                                         www.oxfordplayhouse.com

Mon 2 – Sat 7 September                                          Box Office: 01702 351 135 (on sale 9 April)

Southend Palace Theatre                                           www.southendtheatres.org.uk

Mon 16 – Sat 21 September                                     Box Office: 0191 230 5151 (on sale 23 May)

Northern Stage, Newcastle                                        www.northernstage.co.uk

Mon 30 Sept – Sat 5 October                                    Box Office: 01684 892 277

Malvern Theatres                                                         www.malvern-theatres.co.uk

Mon 7 – Sat 12 October                                             Box Office: 01604 624 811

Royal & Derngate, Northampton                              www.royalandderngate.co.uk

Mon 4 – Sat 9 November                                           Box Office: 01722 320 333 (on sale June)

Salisbury Playhouse                                                      www.wiltshirecreative.co.uk

Mon 11 – Sat 16 November                                      Box Office: 0843 208 6000

The Lowry, Manchester                                               www.thelowry.com

Mon 18 – Sat 23 November                                      Box Office: 01904 623 568 (on sale June)

York Theatre Royal                                                       www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Mon 2 – Sat 7 December                                            Box Office: 01270 368 242

Crewe Lyceum Theatre                                               www.crewelyceum.co.uk

Further dates to be confirmed.

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