Month: February 2016

MATTHEW BOURNE’S SLEEPING BEAUTY

A GOTHIC ROMANCE REVIVED AT THE THEATRE ROYAL FOR 2 WEEKS ONLY

 

The UK’s most popular dance company, New Adventures, returns to Newcastle Theatre Royal this Spring with Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty, a gothic tale for all ages. This ground-breaking production heads to Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 5 – Sat 16 Apr 2016.

 

Directed and choreographed by probably the ‘hottest’ choreographer in the world right now, Sir Matthew Bourne OBE, and from the UK’s most popular dance company, Sleeping Beauty is a revival of this new classic, giving audiences one more chance to see the final piece in the trio of Tchaikovsky masterpieces.  With sumptuous sets, costumes and evocative lighting, the audience will be transported in time.

 

Returning to the central role of Aurora in this first revival is rising star Ashley Shaw. Ashley recently played Lana in the triumphant revival of The Car Man, also played Kim in Edward Scissorhands, Sugar in Nutcracker! and the title role in Cinderella. Cordelia Braithwaite made her debut with New Adventures in Swan Lake in 2013 and has since featured in this year’s revival of The Car Man, covering the role of Lana. Cordelia makes her debut as Aurora this season; her first Principal role with New Adventures.

 

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty premiered in 2012, and was the fastest selling production in the company’s history. Sleeping Beauty was created for New Adventures 25th birthday celebrations and completed Sir Matthew Bourne’s OBE trio of re-imagined Tchaikovsky ballet masterworks that started in 1992 with Nutcracker! and, most famously, in 1995, with the international hit Swan Lake. This dazzling production has won the hearts of thousands and smashed box office records across the UK and at Sadler’s Wells.

 

The leading role of Leo will once again be played by Dominic North and Chris Trenfield who co-created the role in 2012.

 

Perrault’s timeless fairy tale, about a young girl cursed to sleep for one hundred years, was turned into a legendary ballet by Tchaikovsky and choreographer, Marius Petipa, in 1890. Bourne takes this date as his starting point, setting the Christening of Aurora, the story’s heroine, in the year of the ballet’s first performance; the height of the Fin-de-Siecle period when fairies, vampires and decadent opulence fed the gothic imagination. As Aurora grows into a young woman, we move forward in time to the more rigid, uptight Edwardian era; a mythical golden age of long Summer afternoons, croquet on the lawn and new dance crazes. Years later, awakening from her century long slumber, Aurora finds herself in the modern day; a world more mysterious than any Fairy story!

 

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 5 – Sat 16 April 2016 (Evenings: 7.30pm, Matinee: Thursday 2pm, Saturday Matinee 2.30pm). Tickets are from £17.00 and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge).

Theatre Royal, Newcastle – 16 February 2016

Anyone expecting to see people banging dustbins is in for a treat, as STOMP at Newcastle Theatre royal this week, is so much more than that.

90 minutes of exhilarating entertainment.  8 performers playing perfect percussion with all manner of household objects – brushes, tumble dryer extractor tubes, pots, pans, paper and the proverbial kitchen sink.  Using their bodies as instruments as well as the sticks, tubes and bits and bobs on the stage.

An amazing piece is when they drum whilst suspended on bungee cords and the part with the supermarket trolleys is balletically beautiful

Versatile, creative, talented and breathtaking this is a show for the entire family.  Despite none of the performers saying a word there is fantastic interaction with the audience and amazing physical comedy.  The 6 men and 2 women beat, bang, crash and clap with outstanding physicality, giving themselves an unrivalled workout

From the opening scene, STOMP just builds and builds and builds – it’s high energy, laugh-out-loud funny, perfectly choreographed and completely immersive, and the rhythms the London STOMP company create are positively infectious. They are such a tight knit, incredibly talented troupe, and look like they’re genuinely enjoying putting on a show for us… which in turn makes STOMP a real joy to experience

The performers and production make this an outstanding piece of theatre, using lighting, sound and the set to their full potential

In Newcastle until Saturday 20 February and on tour around the UK – this is one show that does not disappoint.

EXCITING NEW SHOWS ON SALE THIS SATURDAY AT SHEFFIELD THEATRES

Sheffield Theatres have added some exciting new shows to their spring 2016 season, on sale to the general public from Saturday 20 February,

 

Schools, colleges and drama groups from across the region bring thought-provoking drama to the Studio from Wednesday 16 – Tuesday 22 March, as part of the National Theatre’s Connectionsprogramme.  Connections 500 commemorates 21 years of creating brilliant plays and theatre making for young people and this year’s festival includes works by Mark Ravenhill, Bryony Lavery(Queen Coal) and Frantic Assembly.  Sheffield People’s Theatre Young Company will performBassett by James Graham, an exhilarating snapshot of a generation who have inherited a world at war. 

 

The compelling story of the legendary Judy Garland is told on the Lyceum stage in End of theRainbow from Thursday 12 – Saturday 14 May.  Starring Lisa Maxwell (Loose Women, The Bill),Gary Wilmot (Oklahoma!) and Sam Attwater (Seven Brides For Seven Brothers), this emotionally charged play sees Judy making her explosive London come-back at the height of the swinging sixties.  Then, Matthew Bourne’s stunning production of Sleeping Beauty (Tuesday 17 – Saturday 21 May ) will transport lovers of dance to a magical world of fairies and vampires.  Discover if Princess Aurora will ever find true love again in this gothic romance set to Tchaikovsky’s dramatic score.

 

Sexy, sassy West End and Broadway musical Chicago will razzle-dazzle audiences from Monday 6 – Saturday 11 June.  When nightclub singer Roxie Hart shoots her lover, she teams up with cell block rival Velma Kelly and smooth talking lawyer Billy Flynn, in a bid to avoid death row.  This iconic musical by Kander and Ebb with choreography by Bob Fosse stars John Partridge (Celebrity Big Brother, EastEnders), Hayley Tamaddon (Coronation Street, Dancing On Ice) and X Factor winner and former prison-warden Sam Bailey as Mama Morton.

 

The biggest comedy tour of the year, the All-Star Stand-Up Tour 2016, stops off at the Lyceum onTuesday 3 May, with double Sony Award-winner and star of Mock The Week Gary Delaney, top comedy trickster and star of BBC One’s The Magicians Pete Firman, Kiwi compere Jarred Christmas and former Never Mind the Buzzcocks team captain Sean Hughes.

 

For families, popular childrens book Aliens Love Underpants is brought to life from Tuesday 31 May – Thursday 2 June.  This hilarious family show full of madcap action, lively music and of course –    aliens – will have audiences laughing their pants off! 

 

Now on sale to Sheffield Theatres’ Centre Stage members, the new shows go on sale to the general public on Saturday 20 February from 10.00am.  For more details and to book tickets call the Box Office on 0114 249 6000 or visit sheffieldtheatres.co.uk. 

REVIEW: ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Sunderland Empire)

February 16, 2016 

For: West End Wilma 

https://www.westendwilma.com/review-rocky-horror-show-sunderland-empire/

With just a jump to the left and step to the right the Rocky Horror show dances its way into Sunderland this week.  And over 43 years later this tour is still as fresh as ever.

Whilst previous leads have played Frank as sophisticated and mysterious, Liam Tamne gave a fresh, vibrant and brilliantly scandalous performance as Frank ‘n’ Furter, with spot on comic timing.  Excitable like a child in a sweet shop his vocals – especially in his final solo piece – were outstanding and he seemed to love the audience as much as they loved him, interacting well.

The narrator in Rocky Horror can make or break a performance as the interaction with the audience is a crucial part of the show.  Steve Punt is fabulous in the show dealing with the hecklers and shouting, with witty asides and never putting down or insulting the audience.

Brad and Janet are played by Ben Freeman and Diana Vickers, both have excellent voices and portray young and naive with perfect charm.  Paul Cattermole was unfortunately indisposed but Zachary Morris gave us his superb version of Eddie/Dr Scott.

Filling the shoes of Richard O’Brien is Kristian Lavercombe, a near perfect version of Riff Raff.  His mannerisms, acting and comic timing show why he has played the role more times than his creator.

There isn’t a weak link in this show at all, performers, musicians and outstanding production make this one of the best version of Rocky Horror to tour in a long time.

It’s a fan favourite, full of innuendo, an adult pantomime, camper than Christmas, and a guaranteed standing ovation when the audience rises as one to do an encore of the Time Warp.

Shoppers and commuters were stopped in their tracks on Monday as some of the cast members of Stomp went back to their roots and took to the streets of Newcastle, to give passers-by a sneak peak at what to expect from their award-winning show, which plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 15 – Sat 20 Feb 2016.

 

Now entering its 23rd year, this smash hit show has entertained over 15 million people across 50 countries worldwide; featured in a range of commercials, film soundtracks and TV collaborations and won multiple awards including an Obie, a Drama Desk Award and an Olivier.

 

But it was out on the streets that the show was first born when street theatre artists Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas came together in Brighton in the summer of 1991. From acclaimed performances at the Edinburgh Fringe to large outdoor events, the legend of Stomp grew in ambition and scope, gaining legions of fans along the way and becoming the theatrical sensation it is today.

 

Using everyday household items from paint cans and pipes to bin lids and brooms, the creators and co-directors have ultimately developed a unique, universal language of rhythm, theatre, comedy and dance, which has become a true phenomenon.

 

Since their last visit to Newcastle in 2000, the Stomp cast have performed in the closing ceremony at the 2012 Olympics and have introduced two new pieces to the show: Frogs and Trolleys.

 

Trolleys taps into the everyday experience of negotiating a busy shopping aisle with a fully laden supermarket trolley but soon transforms into the closest the show will ever get to drum corps. It is also the first fully fledged Stomp routine to be performed entirely in 5/4 time signature.

 

Frogs explores the bizarre sonic possibilities of a variety of plumbing fixtures! It has to be heard to be believed, but close your eyes and this piece sounds unlike anything ever heard in the show till now.

 

Creators Luke Cresswell and Steve McNicholas are both very happy with the way the new pieces have slotted in, each withStomp‘s trademark exploration of sound, movement and physical humour and there’s more to come: they will be working on more new routines later this year.

 

Still remaining is Stomp’s signature high-octane meeting of slick choreography, tight ensemble work, industrial percussion and a narrative of anarchic clowning; as the irrepressible troupe of eight turn brooms into soft shoe partners, clapping into intricate conversations and water cooler bottles into sophisticated instruments. A row of folding chairs are straddled, slid, slammed and slapped into rhythmic submission. It is at once primal and urbane, leaving no percussive potential – of object, body or action – unexploited. And all underpinned by a childish delight in making serious noise.

 

The whole show hurtles towards a brilliantly reworked climax – a showstopper in every sense – as a crackling carnival of leaping, spinning, skidding and pounding performers vent their inexhaustible energies on an unsuspecting orchestra of metal dustbins, bin lids, tubs and water butts. Joyous, thumping, exhilarating bliss for all involved … except the bins!

 

Stomp plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Mon 15 – Sat 20 Feb. Tickets are priced from £13 (pay less online) and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge).

TWIST AND SHOUT AT THE LYCEUM THIS MONTH AS BEATLEMANIA HITS SHEFFIELD

 

Celebrate the music of The Beatles, the world’s most successful rock ‘n’ roll band, at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 22 – Saturday 27 February in Let It Be, a spectacular concert charting the band’s meteoric rise from their humble beginnings in Liverpool’s Cavern Club, through to the heights of Beatlemania and beyond.

Packed with over forty of The Beatles’ greatest hits including Twist and Shout, Hard Day’s Night, She Loves You, Hey Jude, Yesterday, When I’m 64 and, of course, Let it Be, this unique show is set to delight audiences with rich, electrifying performances, taking Beatles fans back to the magical ‘60s, when all you needed was love, and a little help from your friends!

 

Let It Be is at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 22 – Saturday 27 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 £17.00 – £32.00 (a transaction fee of £1.50 (£1.00 online) applies to all bookings made at the Box Office, excluding cash), and discounts are available.

Lazarus Theatre Company presents

The Caucasian Chalk Circle by Bertolt Brecht in a version by Frank McGuiness

Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 12 March

A girl must make a choice… to take the child and run, or leave him behind in the fury of civil war.

Brecht’s thrilling and revolutionary play follows a young girl who makes the biggest decision of her life. Set against the back drop of war and mutiny, Grusha seeks refuge and asylum. Her crime: saving the son of the fleeing establishment. Her reward: The Chalk Circle.

This inventive ensemble production draws on Brecht’s pioneering techniques and thrilling text, set to an original score. Launching their 2016 season, The Caucasian Chalk Circle marks Lazarus Theatre’s return to The Jack Studio after their sell out productions of The Revenger’s Tragedy and The Merchant of Venice.

Listings Information

Venue: Brockley Jack Studio Theatre

410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH

Box office: www.brockleyjack.co.uk

or 0333 666 3366 (£1.50 fee for phone bookings only)

Dates: Tuesday 23 February to Saturday 12 March 2016

Performances at 7.45pm

Tickets: £14, £12 concessions

(23rd, 24th February all tickets £10)

Theatre website: www.brockleyjack.co.uk

Empire Theatre, Sunderland – 15 February 2016

With just a jump to the left and step to the right the Rocky Horror show dances its way into Sunderland this week.  And over 43 years later this tour is still as fresh as ever.

Whilst previous leads have played Frank as sophisticated and mysterious, Liam Tamne gave a fresh, vibrant and brilliantly scandalous performance as Frank ‘n’ Furter, with spot on comic timing.  Excitable like a child in a sweet shop his vocals – especially in his final solo piece – were outstanding and he seemed to love the audience as much as they loved him, interacting well.

The narrator in Rocky Horror can make or break a performance as the interaction with the audience is a crucial part of the show.  Steve Punt is fabulous in the show dealing with the hecklers and shouting, with witty asides and never putting down or insulting the audience.

Brad and Janet are played by Ben Freeman and Diana Vickers, both have excellent voices and portray young and naive with perfect charm.  Paul Cattermole was unfortunately indisposed but Zachary Morris gave us his superb version of Eddie/Dr Scott.

Filling the shoes of Richard O’Brien is Kristian Lavercombe, a near perfect version of Riff Raff.  His mannerisms, acting and comic timing show why he has played the role more times than his creator.

There isn’t a weak link in this show at all, performers, musicians and outstanding production make this one of the best version of Rocky Horror to tour in a long time.

It’s a fan favourite, full of innuendo, an adult pantomime, camper than Christmas, and a guaranteed standing ovation when the audience rises as one to do an encore of the Time Warp.

Youth Theatre bury time capsule under auditorium

York Theatre Royal’s Youth Theatre Forum preserves memorabilia for future generations

Members of York Theatre Royal’s Youth Theatre have buried a time capsule under the theatre’s auditorium containing trinkets and letters addressed to a Youth Theatre of the distant future.

The Youth Theatre Forum – representatives from 12 Youth Theatre groups, aged between 8 and 18 – took the opportunity of the theatre’s ongoing redevelopment work to bury the capsule under the stalls, so future audiences will sit directly above it while watching shows.

Stored in the capsule are costumes and scripts from Youth Theatre productions, including scripts of upcoming shows The Holding Place and The Trojan Women, signed by each production’s cast and creative team. Letters, poems and drawings by members of the Youth Theatre to their future equivalents were also preserved. The letters give an account of the current state of York Theatre Royal and its youth groups, and ask about the world of those who will one day open the capsule.

Questions range from “What is the theatre like today?” to “Can you read our writing?” and “Is Berwick Kaler still the panto dame?” Another requested: “After you open this can you put some stuff back in the capsule for another 50-100 years?”

The Youth Theatre Forum members also included stage props and memorabilia from their shows, ranging from a Barbie doll to a Youth Theatre T-shirt.

Youth Theatre Director Kate Plumb, who helped collect the material, contributed a letter to whoever holds her post when the time capsule resurfaces, in which she described the highlights

of working with young actors in 2016 and wondered how her future equivalent’s role would compare.

Kate said:

We’ve had a wonderful time reflecting on the essence of our Youth Theatre and thinking about what we would like to share with a Youth Theatre of the future. We hope that it’s sealed for at least a hundred years, and that once it’s opened, they will get a real sense of the fun we’ve had in 2016, and over the last decade of our Youth Theatre.

York Theatre Royal’s ongoing restoration work is nearing completion: front-of-house and Box Office areas have been rebuilt, a flat stage has been installed and new raked stalls have been built, ready for a brand new set of seats to hold audiences from 22 April 2016 onwards. On that day the theatre will reopen with a world premiere of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, adapted by Bryony Lavery.

CELEBRATING THE UNDISPUTED KING OF POP

Direct from London’s West End, Thriller Live – celebrating the music of Michael Jackson, comes to Darlington Civic Theatre.

Direct from London’s West End where it is now in its record breaking seventh year, Thriller Live is a spectacular concert created to celebrate the career of the world’s greatest entertainer.

Seen by over three million people in over thirty countries, Thriller Live continues to moonwalk around the world, taking you on a visual, audio and electrifying journey through the magic of Michael Jackson’s 45 year musical history.

You will experience over two hours of non-stop hits from pop to rock, soul to disco as the cast play homage to Jackson’s legendary live performances and innovative dance moves executed with flair, precision and passion, this is a show that you will never forget.

Expect your favourite songs delivered by an exceptionally talented cast and band, including: I Want

You Back, ABC, Can You Feel It, Off The Wall, The Way You Make Me Feel, Smooth Criminal, Beat It, Billie Jean, Dirty Diana, Bad, Rock With You, They Don’t Care About Us, Dangerous and Thriller plus many more!

Thriller Live is at Darlington Civic Theatre from Monday 29 February to Saturday 5 March. Tickets* are priced £21.80 to £33.50, discounts are available.

*All prices include a £1 restoration levy

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