Following the successful completion of the building work to save Wilton’s Music Hall, Frances Mayhew will step down as artistic director on October 6^th 2015.

“For the last 11 years saving Wilton’s has been all-consuming. A personal passion, and a professional mission. This extraordinary building was literally falling down when I first arrived, however, its outstanding beauty and charm and enormous historical significance were plain to see, despite the tumbling masonry, and I knew pretty much straight away that I had to find a way of securing its future long term.

It is with no little sense of achievement that I can now say: “We did it”. Wilton’s is saved. The job is done. And so too is my job. It is time to move on and try new things and maybe have a little rest!

I have loved being here, the joy it brings people who come here is the same joy that it has given me. I have had the privilege of working with some wonderful staff members and I have enjoyed the support of some wonderful colleagues and my family to all of whom I say a big thank you. Wilton’s I hope will now spread its wonderful wings and fulfil all its amazing potential. I shall miss the place!”

–          Frances Mayhew

“Frances Mayhew has been the inspiration and driving force behind the conservation of Wilton’s Music Hall. She has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of the project and together with her team should be proud of what she has achieved.

Not only has Frances played the leading part in saving Wilton’s but she has built up a sustainable business model which will ensure that Wilton’s continues to develop and grow its role as ‘A Music Hall for the Modern Day’.

All at Wilton’s wish Frances every success in her future career. Her energy and enthusiasm will be a challenge to replace.”

–          David Pennock, Chairman of Trustees

Upstairs At The Gatehouse 16th – 27th September, St.James Theatre – Studio 2nd – 3rd October, Radlett Centre 17th October. Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Sue Kelvin (the Me in the title) is a lifelong fan of Bette Midler, and boy, does it show. Along with Alex Young and Sarah Travis, Sue showcases some of Midler’s most famous songs. Writer Chris Burgess has cleverly intertwined the life stories of Sue and Midler with hilariously moving results.

The three ladies all have very different and very strong voices, and produce magical harmonies together. How Sarah Travis manages to keep playing the piano so well with all of the insanity going on around her is a mystery to me. Alex Young shows off her skills with the flute and ukulele before her stunning version of From A Distance takes your breath away. Their camaraderie on stage is infectious – at times you want to join in the banter – and the tag team story telling is energetic and slick.

The show takes us from childhood in Hawaii (and Didsbury) through to the present day. Anecdotes from Midler’s life are told alongside Sue’s own life story. The songs the team has selected are very effective in carrying the narrative along, and are fantastic crowd pleasers. As well as recounting the tragedies in Midler’s life, Sue doesn’t shy away from telling of her troubles and losses. She is searingly honest talking about her brother mid song, making her version of The Rose one of the most emotionally raw I have ever seen.

But there are lots of laughs too! Rapid fire one liners and some fantastic visual gags keep you giggling throughout.

The finale is a 3 minute 52 second version of Beaches – with puppets. This is as mad and as funny as it sounds. The cheesiness of the film is embraced and celebrated and the death scene is brilliantly bonkers.

This show has been put together with love and respect – near the end, Sue states that Bette Midler is an inspiration to all of us who never quite fitted in, and trembles with excitement recalling Midler’s latest UK show. There are Bette Midler fans, Bette Midler superfans, and then there is Sue Kelvin!

This is a wonderfully ballsy show with a heart of gold. Brilliant. Just brilliant.

GO, GO, GO JOE!

CHART-TOPPING X FACTOR STAR JOE MCELDERRY

STEPS INTO TECHNICOLOR TITLE ROLE AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

WATCH: #JoeIsJoseph

X FACTOR winner JOE MCELDERRY gets set to put on a dazzling coat of many colours as he steps in the title role of the UK’s longest running musical JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT at Leeds Grand Theatre next year.   Tickets  go on sale on Monday 21^st September at 10am.

Joe was just 18 when won the sixth series of The X Factor having been mentored by Girls Aloud star Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and beating off fierce competition from Olly Murs and Stacey Solomon.

Joe then soared to number one on the UK Singles Charts with his rendition of Miley Cyrus’s The Climb and his debut album Wide Awake went straight in at number 3 on the UK Albums Chart. He has since gone on to have two more top ten albums, and he became the first X Factor star to release four albums, with a fifth in the making.

Joe, who hails from South Shields, Tyne and Wear, is also the first and only celebrity to win three reality TV shows! He was crowned the winner of the second series of ITV’s Popstar to Operastar before strapping on his skis and slaloming his way to become champion of Channel 4’s celebrity ski competition The Jumplast year.

Joseph marks Joe’s first major theatrical appearance following a one-off West End gala performance as the lead in The Who’s Tommy in 2012.

Having garnered sensational reviews and standing ovations at every performance since its inception almost 35 years ago, Bill Kenwright’s Amazing’, ‘Superb’, ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Brilliant’ production of this sparkling family musical has now sold an estimated 20 million tickets. This vibrant and exciting retelling of the biblical story about Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours sings out to young and old alike with a score which is crammed wall to wall with hits, including Jacob and Sons, Close Every Door and Any Dream Will Do.

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 22^nd to Saturday 26^th March 2016

Tickets go on sale on Monday 21^st September at 10am priced from £19 to £33.50

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700

The Gala Charity Performance of The Rocky Horror Show on 17^th September, at the Playhouse Theatre, London in aid of Amnesty International, was broadcast to over 600 cinemas across the UK and Europe. Celebrity guest star narrators including comedy legend Stephen Fry, Great British Bake Off host Mel Giedroyc, Spice Girl Emma Bunton, comedy actor Ade Edmondson and Merlin star Anthony Head joined the cast and the creator of The Rocky Horror Show, Richard O’Brien on stage to share the role of The Narrator.

Rocky Horror Show live screening was number one performer in UK cinemas grossing over £600,000 at the Box Office, beating Legend and The Maze Runner. Rocky Horror Live was trending on Twitter throughout the evening, with thousands of fans interacting about the event.

Fans across Europe turned up in fancy dress to watch the special screening at their chosen cinema and all took a jump to the left in probably the largest simultaneous Time Warp ever! Celebrity fans including Melanie C, Kimberley Walsh, Martin Clunes, Jane Horrocks, Jade Jones, Louie Spence, Paul Cattermole, Shappi Khorsandi and Daisy Head showed their support from the Playhouse Theatre, London.

Marc Allenby at Picturehouse Entertainment said: ‘We are delighted with the broadcast of Rocky Horror Live, the response of audiences across the UK and Europe has been phenomenal it’s been a pleasure partnering with the team and ATG on this fantastic theatre and cinema event and we are looking forward to further collaborations in the future.’

The limited London run of Rocky Horror Show, awarded 5 stars by the Daily Telegraph, at the Playhouse Theatre, London continues until Saturday 26^th September

JOIN STRICTLY’S VINCENT AND FLAVIA FOR THEIR LAST TANGO

AT THE LYCEUM THEATRE

Strictly Come Dancing superstars Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace bring their final ever spectacular dance show The Last Tango to the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 28 September – Saturday 3 October.

Twenty years of dancing together has seen Vincent and Flavia become Strictly Come Dancing favourites, World Argentine Tango Champions, and create and star in their own Olivier Award nominated West End productions Midnight Tango and Dance ‘Til Dawn – but now, as the nation’s favourite dancers prepare to take on new projects, it is time for them to say goodbye to audiences across the UK with a brand new thrilling live performance.

The dynamic duo will be accompanied on stage by a brilliant cast of professional dancers and musicians in an intimate, passionate and moving performance guaranteed to thrill all lovers of dance.

Don’t miss these virtuoso performers as they dance together on stage for the final time in The Last Tango.

The Last Tango is at the Lyceum Theatre from Monday 28 September – Saturday 3 October.Tickets are priced from £16.00 – £32.00, 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).

National Theatre artistic director Rufus Norris has announced several new productions for 2016.

They include a new version of Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, revivals of plays by Terence Rattigan and Sarah Kane, and new plays from Alexi Kaye Campbell and Suhayla El-Bushra.

The year will open in the Olivier Theatre in January with Yaël Farber’s production of Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry, the first of her plays to be produced at the National.

Farber’s recent productions include The Crucible (Old Vic), Nirbhaya and Mies Julie (Edinburgh Fringe and Riverside Studios).

It’s followed in the Olivier in May by Norris’s production of The Threepenny Opera, which will feature a translation by Simon Stephens (Port, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) and star Rory Kinnear (Hamlet, Othello) as Macheath.

Carrie Cracknell also returns to the National in June to direct Terence Rattigan’s modern classic The Deep Blue Sea in the Lyttelton Theatre.

This is preceded in the Lyttelton by The Suicide by Suhayla El-Bushra, which will transpose the 1928 play by Russian Nikolai Erdman to contemporary Britain. It will be directed by Nadia Fall from April.

Meanwhile in the Dorfman Theatre, Sarah Kane’s Cleansed will be revived by Katie Mitchell from February, marking the first production of a Kane play at the National.

Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick, directed by Sam Gold, will open at the Dorfman in April. It’s followed from May by Alexi Kaye Campbell’s National Theatre debut with Sunset at the Villa Thalia, which will be directed by Simon Godwin.

Godwin is among Norris’s newly announced associates, alongside sound designer Paul Arditti, director Nadia Fall and actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Plays in the Temporary Theatre (formerly The Shed) between January and March will include Iphigenia in Splott by Gary Owen, Jack Thorne’s The Solid Life of Sugar Waterand Islington Community Theatre’s Brainstorm.

Elsewhere, casting was announced today for former Royal Court artistic director Dominic Cooke’s production of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson; opening in the Lyttelton Theatre on 2 February, the company will include Sharon D Clarke, O-T Fagbenle, Lucian Msamati and Giles Terera.

And as previously reported, Norris confirmed that the National’s long-running production of War Horse will close at the West End’s New London Theatre on 12 March 2016 after an eight-year run.

Full casting is announced for the highly acclaimed Chichester Festival Theatre revival of Guys and Dolls, which will open at the Savoy Theatre for a strictly limited 13 week run from 10 December 2015. Joining Sophie Thompson as Miss Adelaide and Jamie Parker as Sky Masterson, are David Haig as Nathan Detroit and Siubhan Harrison as Sarah Brown. Guys and Dolls will see Sophie Thompson and David Haig perform together for the first time since their comic pairing as bride and groom, Lydia and Bernard, in the British smash hit film, Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Nathan Detroit (David Haig) is desperate: he needs money for an illegal dice game, and he needs it fast. Not to mention a 14-year engagement with nightclub singer Miss Adelaide (Sophie Thompson), whose patience is finally running out. Enter notorious gambler Sky Masterson (Jamie Parker), a guy who can never turn down a bet, and straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown (Siubhan Harrison), a doll with a heart of ice. Nathan’s wager is that Sky has to romance Sarah by taking her to Havana for dinner and in return he’ll provide a dozen ‘sinners’ for Sarah’s mission. Surely this is one bet Nathan absolutely can’t lose?

A joyous and vibrant celebration of Prohibition-era New York, Guys and Dolls first premiered on Broadway in 1950 and captured the optimism and energy of post-World War Two America. This hugely popular and multi award-winning musical, based on the colourful stories by American journalist Damon Runyon renowned for his vivid fictional depictions of the gamblers, hustlers and nightclub singers of New York, features some of Broadway’s greatest musical numbers including ‘My Time of Day’, ‘Luck be a Lady’ and the show-stopping ‘Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat’. Guys and Dolls is directed by Gordon Greenberg with choreography by Cuban dancer and former Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta and Andrew Wright whose credits include Chichester Festival Theatre’s Singin’ in the Rain.

Sophie Thompson plays Miss Adelaide. Theatre credits include The Physicists (Donmar), She Stoops To Conquer (National Theatre), Clybourne Park (Royal Court), Measure for Measure (Shakespeare’s Globe), Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse) for which she received an Olivier Award, and Company (Donmar Warehouse and West End). Television credits include Lightfields, Watson and Oliver, Poirot, Doc Martin, Big Top, and Stella Crawford in EastEnders. Film credits include Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Eat, Pray, Love, Fat Slags, Nicholas Nickleby, Gosford Park, Dancing at Lughnasa, Emma and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

David Haig plays Nathan Detroit. David is currently in Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me at Chichester Festival Theatre where previous credits include Pressure (a co-production with Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh) and Yes, Prime Minister, which transferred to the West End. Other theatre credits include The Madness of George III (Theatre Royal Bath and West End), Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre), Hitchcock Blonde (Royal Court and West End), House and Garden (National Theatre), Art (Wyndham’s and Broadway), and Our Country’s Good at the Royal Court, for which David won the Olivier Award for Best Actor. Television credits include The Thick Of It, Mo, The 39 Steps, My Boy Jack, Talking Heads and The Thin Blue Line. Film credits include Florence Foster Jenkins and Four Weddings and a Funeral.

Jamie Parker plays Sky Masterson. Jamie was seen most recently as Mike Connor in High Society at The Old Vic. Other theatre credits include Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (Chichester and West End), Proof (Menier Chocolate Factory), Henry V, Henry IV Part I and Henry IV Part 2, As You Like Like It (all for Shakespeare’s Globe), Racing Demon (Sheffield Crucible), Revenger’s Tragedy (National Theatre) and The History Boys (National Theatre, Broadway and Australia and Hong Kong). Television credits include Parade’s End, Silk, The Hour, Silent Witness and Wire in the Blood. Film credits include Le Weekend, Valkyrie and The History Boys.

Siubhan Harrison plays Sarah Brown. Theatre credits include Pitcairn (Out of Joint/Shakespeare’s Globe/Chichester), From Here To Eternity (Shaftesbury Theatre), Earthquakes in London (Headlong and National Theatre), Grease (Piccadilly Theatre), Bad Girls The Musical (West Yorkshire Playhouse) and We Will Rock You (Dominion).

Completing the cast are Lucy Jane Adcock, Abigail Brodie, Cornelius Clarke, Momar Diagne, Lavinia Fitzpatrick, Lorna Gale, Nic Greenshields, Selina Hamilton, Ian Hughes, Frankie Jenna, Jacob Maynard, Neil McCaul, Genevieve Nicole, William Oxborrow, Max Parker, Carl Patrick, James Revell, Giovanni Spano, Gavin Spokes, Jonathan Stewart, Lucie Mae Sumner and Liam Wrate.

The music and lyrics are by Frank Loesser, whose credits include How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and the song ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’. The book is by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. Burrows’ credits include How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Swerling’s credits include the seminal film It’s A Wonderful Life.

FULL CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

GARY BARLOW AND TIM FIRTH’S NEW MUSICAL

THE GIRLS

BASED ON THE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL FILM & AWARD-WINNING STAGE PLAY

CALENDAR GIRLS

WORLD PREMIERE AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

The full cast has been announced for Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s new British musical, THE GIRLS. Based on the true story, the film and award-winning play by Tim Firth, Calendar Girls, the brand new production has its world premiere at Leeds Grand Theatre from Saturday 14 November to Saturday 12 December.

The cast will be led by Debbie Chazen as Ruth, Sara Kestelman as Jessie, Claire Machin as Cora, Claire Moore as Chris, Vivien Parry as Celia, Joanna Riding as Annie and Harriet Thorpe as Marie.

Debbie Chazen played Ethel Kingsley in Mike Leigh’s film Topsy-Turvy and her many television credits include the lead roles of Annie in Smoking Room and Kelly-Su Crabtree in Psychoville.  Sara Kestelman won an Olivier Award for her performance as Fraulein Schneider in Sam Mendes’ Cabaret at the Donmar; Sara has appeared extensively with the RSC, including playing Titania in Peter Brook’s landmark production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She also created the role of Margrethe Bohr in Michael Frayn’s award winningCopenhagen.  Claire Machin’s credits include My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Betty Blue Eyes and Memphis.  Claire Moore originated the role of Ellen in Miss Saigon.  Her other credits include Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, Fantine and Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables and the National Theatre’s award-winning London Road.    Vivien Parry’s credits include Madge in the original cast of Top Hat, Donna in Mamma Mia! and Mrs Johnston in Blood Brothers.  Joanna Riding won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical twice for her roles as Julie in Carousel at the National Theatre and as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.  Harriet Thorpe’s many television roles include Carole in Brittas Empire and Fleur in Absolutely Fabulous.  Her recent theatre credits include Great Britain, Wicked and Mamma Mia!.

Also starring Stephen Boswell (Top Hat in the West End) as Colin, Joe Caffrey (The Pitmen Painters for the National Theatre, and played the Father in Billy Elliott) as Rod, Jeremy Clyde (credits include The Alan Clark Diaries and The Iron Lady) as Denis, Susan Fay as Brenda, Steve Giles as Lawrence, Richard Huw (credits include Line of Duty) as John, Shirley Jameson as Miss Wilson, Judith Street as Lady Cravenshire and Karen West as the other Miss Wilson, and introducing the previously announced Josh Benson as Tommo, Ben Hunter as Danny and Chloe May Jackson as Jenny.

THE GIRLS 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.  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.

The Girls premieres at Leeds Grand Theatre from Saturday 14^th November to Saturday 12^th December

Tickets for The Girls are on sale now priced from £10 to £45

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700