Month: January 2016

Trick of Light Theatre Company presents:

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group have today announced that in collaboration with Stage Entertainment, The Phantom of the Opera is to open at the Mogador Theatre in Paris from October 2016.

Following on from the successful season of Cats at the Mogador Theatre, The Phantom of the Opera, one of the biggest musicals of all time, is set to be another smash hit.

The Paris production will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the opening of the show and will be the first time it plays in France and also in French.

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra arrive à Paris!
En collaboration avec The Really Useful Group d’Andrew Lloyd Webber, Stage Entertainment présente l’un des plus grand succès de comédie musicale de tous les temps, Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, adapté du roman de Gaston Leroux, au Théâtre Mogador à partir d’octobre 2016.

La production parisienne célèbrera le 30ème anniversaire de la création du spectacle et sera la première à jouer en France et en français. Venez découvrir ce chef-d’œuvre spectaculaire et romantique au Théâtre Mogador.
http://www.thephantomoftheopera.com/paris/

The Phantom of the opera has entertained audiences in over 150 cities, 30 countries and has been adapted in 13 languages for over 140 million viewers worldwide. The Phantom of the Opera was inspired by the famous novel by Gaston Leroux published in 1910 – one of the major novels of the French classical literature.

Stage Entertainment said “The Mogador theater, so close to the Opera Garnier, is the ideal place in which to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the musical. We could not imagine a more appropriate framework for our Phantom than the homeland of Gaston Leroux.”

Priority bookings begin on 11th February 2016.
http://www.reallyuseful.com/news/the-phantom-of-the-opera-to-open-in-paris/

The Phantom of the Opera
Her Majesty’s Theatre
57 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4QL
Evenings: Monday to Saturday 7.30pm
Matinees: Thursday and Saturday 2.30pm
Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Age Restrictions: Recommended for ages 10 and over. Under 5s will not be admitted. Parental guidance advised.
Show Opened: 27th September 1986

Nick Moran has been announced to star in a new revival of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre in February.

Moran, who was recently seen in Roaring Trade at the Park Theatre and whose credits include Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, will be joined by Sarah-Jane Potts and Simon Merrells.

The production will be the venue’s first fully in-house production in six years. The theatre stopped producing work in 2009 when it was hit with financial troubles, but new artistic and executive director Paul Jepson reported last year it would begin to self-produce again.

Jepson said he was “delighted to be working with such a fantastic cast”, adding: “Betrayal is a fabulous play. Funny, touching and incredibly balanced. A play about people breaking out and having what they want and then finding out they still aren’t happy.”

Betrayal will run at the Northcott Theatre from 18 February to 5 March.

YORK LITERATURE FESTIVAL

Grand Opera House York

Saturday 12 March 2016

3:00pm         WENDY COPE                  Tickets from £10

7:30pm         ARTHUR SMITH               Tickets from £17

Wendy Cope, one of the UK’s most enduringly popular poets, features in the afternoon.  Wendy is acclaimed for her wryly perceptive love poems and parodies.  Since her highly acclaimed poetry collection Making Cocoa For Kingsley Amis in 1986, Wendy has been at the forefront of the British poetry scene.

Wit, raconteur, playwright, grumpy old man and Leonard Cohen fan – Arthur Smith is one of a kind. His career has built steadily from being part of the alternative scene in the Eighties, and he now describes himself as “semi-professional” comedian.   He describes himself as BBC Radio 4’s “bit of rough”. Support comes from writer,   Private Eye cartoonist and performer Mike Barfield.

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

SURPRISE!

Peppa Pig and friends return to Darlington Civic Theatre on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February.

Surprise! Peppa Pig, George and their friends are back in Darlington in a brand new live stage show, Peppa Pig’s Surprise.

It’s a lovely day and Peppa is playing outside with her friends. Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig have got a surprise for her and George – they can’t guess what it is, can you?

Enjoy fun, games and of course, surprises in this charming, colourful new show with new songs and new life size puppets, Peppa Pig’s Surprise promises to be the perfect theatre show for all pre-schoolers!

‘A rollicking, all singing, dancing interactive adventure.’ – Daily Telegraph

Peppa Pig’s Surprise is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Saturday 6 and Sunday 7 February at 10am, 1pm & 4pm. Tickets are priced Adults £16 & £14, Children £14 & £12. Family ticket £56

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

COME AND JOIN THE BEAR HUNT AT THE LYCEUM THEATRE

Direct from the West End, Michael Rosen’s award-winning book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is brought vividly and noisily to life on the Lyceum stage from Friday 29 – Saturday 30 January.

Join our intrepid adventurers on their quest to find a bear; as they wade through the gigantic swishy swashy grass, the splishy splashy river and the thick oozy, squelchy mud! Expect catchy songs, interactive scenes and plenty of hands-on adventure – plus a few special surprises!

Adapted for the stage from the modern classic written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt will delight children aged 3 years and above.

We’re Going On A Bear Hunt is at the Lyceum from Fri 29 – Sat 30 January.  Tickets are priced £11.50 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office* on 0114 249 6000 or by visiting sheffieldtheatres.co.uk (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash).

Civic Theatre, Darlington – 18 January 2016

Alan Ayckbourn, author of some 75 plays, writes about ordinary men and women, building his popular comedies around his characters’ fears, tics, and fantasies.  Ayckbourn does not build gag machines that spit out one-liners. He creates finely etched figures of fun whose behaviour is rooted in their befuddled personalities.

Round and Round the Garden is probably the most familiar choice for staging just one of the Norman Conquests trilogy, in which we see Norman seduce the three women in his close family, often with comedic – but also with a poignant – effect.

The three siblings and their husbands (or wished-for partner in one case) have come together to give the younger sister, the spinster Annie (Jo Castleton), a respite from caring for their mother. The pivotal figure is a libertine librarian, Norman (Philip Stewart). Married to the myopic, work-obsessed Ruth (Louise Faulkner), Norman’s chief objective is to whisk his sister-in-law, Annie, off for a dirty weekend in East Grinstead. When that fails, he turns his attention to his other sister-in-law, Sarah (Natasha Gray).  The secret getaway is quickly broadcast when the caustic Sarah finds out and telephones Ruth. “I thought you should know,” she tells her with barely disguised malice.

Ruth arrives at the start of Act II to complicate the affair. The other odd character, and you can read that any way you chose, is Tom (Ben Roddy), the local vet who has been faux-courting Annie for years. He hangs around, frequently arriving artlessly just in time for dinner. He seems to love her, but he cannot get the romantic words out of his mouth.  With Sarah’s husband Reg (Kevin Pallister) thrown in for comic effect – he delivers some of the best lines and moments in the show

The audience in Darlington were small but responsive to the show, laughing appreciatively.  it was stilted in some places but it was the very first night of the tour.  The set is outstandingly beautiful and you really felt you were in an English Country Garden as the tune rang out to us to begin the show.

On tour around the UK

ROBERT POWELL PAYS A ROYAL VISIT TO THE LYCEUM NEXT MONTH

Multi-award winning play King Charles III, starring Robert Powell, comes to the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 1 – Saturday 6 February, exploring the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.

The Queen is dead.  After a lifetime of waiting, Prince Charles ascends the throne with Camilla by his side.  As William, Kate and Harry look on, Charles prepares for the future of power that lies before him…but how to rule?

Best known for his portrayal of Jesus in Jesus of Nazareth and Mark Williams in Holby City, Robert Powellplays Charles along with Penelope Beaumont as Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, Jennifer Bryden as Katherine, Duchess of Cambridge, Ben Righton as William, Duke of Cambridge, and Richard Glaves as Prince Harry with Dominic Jephcott, Lucy Phelps, Giles Taylor, Tim Treloar, Beatrice Walker andPaul Westwood.

Written by Mike Bartlett (Dr Foster, Bull) and directed by the Almeida Theatre’s Artistic Director Rupert Goold, King Charles III won an array of awards in 2015, including Best Play at the Olivier Awards and the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards and Best Theatre Production at the Southbank Sky Arts Awards.

King Charles III is at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 1 – Saturday 6 February.  Tickets can be purchased from Sheffield Theatres’ Box Office* in-person, by phone on 0114 249 6000 or online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk and are priced from £14.00 – £29.00 (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash), and discounts are available.