Category: Uncategorized

SO FUNNY YOUR TEETH WILL ITCH

Darlington Civic Theatre will be buzzing as the zany antics of comedy genius Tommy Cooper are brought to life with The Tommy Cooper Show on Thursday 24 September.

The Tommy Cooper Show features West End star Daniel Taylor (Blood Brothers) as Tommy Cooper, in the knockout performance of the year.

The show comes with a fabulous supporting cast, and all of your favourite jokes. Between the story, the gags and the magic, and Daniel’s incredible portrayal of showbusiness legend Tommy Cooper, this promises to be a very special show.

Gareth Jones (formerly Gaz Top) stars as Miff Ferrie, Tommy’s long suffering agent and manager along with Sharon Byatt as Tommy’s wife Gwen Cooper.

This production has the blessing of Tommy’s estate, and his daughter Vicky.

“Daniel Taylor is breath-taking as Cooper” British Theatre Guide

The Tommy Cooper Show is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Thursday 24 September.

Tickets* are £14 to £18

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

*All ticket prices include a £1 restoration levy.

The premiere of Richard Rocks, a new rock opera inspired by Richard III, has been postponed.

The production was due to be staged in the Great Hall of The People’s Palace in London, opening on 7 October 2015.

Partly inspired by Al Pacino’s 1996 film Looking for Richard, it’s composed by Swedish pair Peter Robsahm and Maria Robsahm.

Directed by Staffan Aspegren, it was due to feature “cutting edge lighting, sound design, video and computer animation”.

According to a show representative it will now open in 2016 in a revised concert version, with a new venue due to be announced at a later date.

Richard III, the monarch who became one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains, has been the subject of renewed interest since the discovery of his skeleton in a Leicester car park in 2012.

Director Danny Boyle will stage a series of monologues at the Royal Court next month, dramatising the testimonies of children growing up in rural South Africa.

Titled the Children’s Monologues, they’ll be performed by an all-star cast including James McAvoy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kit Harington, Josh Hartnett, Christopher Eccleston, Zawe Ashton and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Boyle, director of films including Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, was inspired to stage the monologues after visiting Rammulotsi, a small rural township in the Free State province of South Africa.

He invited 15 local children to retell personal experiences in their native Sesotho language. The testimonies then provided the basis for monologues written by playwrights including David Hare, Neil LaBute, James Graham, Laura Wade, Jack Thorne, Roy Williams and Tanika Gupta.

According to press material:

While some monologues capture moments of childish joy and wonder, many stories tell of desperate circumstances: what it is like to watch their parents die because of inadequate medical treatment, discover their mother has been gang raped and burned alive, and succumb to xenophobia they once despised.

Together they provide a deeply intimate and uncompromising insight into the lives of children facing extremely difficult realities.

Boyle will “fuse live theatre, hip hop music, classical piano from James Rhodes and documentary footage” in order to create an “immersive mashup”.

The performance on 25 October 2015 will be held in aid of Boyle’s arts charity Dramatic Need.

Game of Thrones star Kit Harington said: “To be able to tell the stories of impoverished children from the other side of the world, which they themselves have penned, is a unique and important experience that I couldn’t possibly turn down.

“Dramatic Need is an incredibly special cause and will produce a night of charity and theatre which should be daring, moving and an experience not to forget.”

As Glenn McCrory steps out to make his West End Debut, Boxing world champions and major sports personalities will be ringside lending their support to their close friend. Adam Smith, (Head of Sky Boxing) Johnny Nelson (WBO cruiserweight champion), Spencer Oliver (former European Super Bantamweight Champion) Darren Barker (IBF World middleweight champion and former European, British and Commonwealth champion) and Carl Frampton (current IBF super bantamweight champion) are only a handful who have already bought their tickets and have been tweeting their support and approval of this next step in Glenn’s brilliant career.

This atmospheric post apocalyptic chiller is set in a world where society has collapsed and the birds, for reasons unknown, attack humans at every given opportunity. Three strangers with dark pasts and many secrets, find themselves thrown together trying to survive this harsh new world… Hiding in a boarded up house where danger comes from the skies above and also from within.

Directed by Adam Morley
Cast: Glenn McCrory (Nat), Emma Taylor (Diane), Alice Marshall (Julia)

CONOR MCPHERSON (WRITER) stage plays include Rum & Vodka, The Good Thief, This Lime Tree Bower, St Nicholas, The Weir (Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard & Critics Circle Awards), Dublin Carol, Port Authority, Shining City (Tony Award nomination for Best Play), The Seafarer (Tony, Laurence Olivier & Evening Standard Award nominations for Best New Play), The Veil and The Night Alive (New York Drama Critics Circle Best Play Award, Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard & Lucille Lortel Award nominations for Best Play).

ADAM MORLEY (DIRECTOR) Artistic Director of Baroque Theatre Company, associate director of the Canal Café Theatre in London. Awards include: in film and advertising twice been nominated at Cannes Lions winning in 2006; in Theatre: Editors Choice Award as Artistic Director for best new venue, Edinburgh 2008 and Best Director for Theatre & Film at the Fringe Report Awards 2012. Recent theatre credits include: Inspector Morse (UK Tour), Great Expectations (UK Tour for Bicentenary of Dickens’ birth) Dracula (Leicester Square Theatre), The Boy who was Woody Allen (Pleasance Theatre)

GLENN MCCRORY (NAT) Former IBF Cruiserweight champion of the World, Undefeated British & Commonwealth Cruiserweight Champion. BROADCASTING 26 years BSKYB Boxing Commentator and Analyst. Mike Tyson sparring partner. HONOURS Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland Honorary Colonel Durham ACF ACTING CREDITS Quayside, (ITV), Crocodile Shoes 11. Our Friends in the North, Space Precinct, Casualty, Press Gang (TV series) Newton Princess from Kathmandu.

EMMA TAYLOR (DIANE) Credits include: Shoreditch Bitch, RichMix, London, The Fat Man’s Wife, London, Tennessee Williams, UK premiere, The Nanny/The Gossip, Soho Theatre, Dracula, Hackney Empire, The Wedding; Anton Chekhov, The Shaw Theatre & Moscow. Presenting credits include: Writer and presenter [Mobuzz TV, daily show]. Presenter [Reelkandi TV, Edinburgh Fringe] Awards: Fringe Report Award [Theatre Person of the Year].

ALICE MARSHALL (JULIA) is an award winning actress and comedian, and has recently been nominated for the BBC Radio New Comedy Award. Previous theatre includes: Boys & Girls (Tristan Bates Theatre), Alice Marshall: Vicious (Museum of Comedy) Sleeping Booty! (Leicester Square Theatre). Television includes: Very Important People (Channel 4), The Warm Up Guy (E4) and Skins (E4)

Listings Information
THE BIRDS
CONOR MCPHERSON
Leicester Square Theatre
6 Leicester Place
WC2H 7BX
24 September 2015 to 17th October 2015
Tuesdays-Saturdays 7pm
Box Office: 02077342222
www.leicestersquaretheatre.com

Social Media
Twitter: @lsqtheatre
@AdamMorley
@JemmaGross

 

Due to critical acclaim and public demand, the five star 40th anniversary production of Side By Side By Sondheim will be playing an additional matinee performance at 3:30PM 19th September.

“This is a short review because the show is simply amazing to experience. As a homage to Sondheim’s work – both as a composer and a librettist – “Side by Side by Sondheim” cannot be faulted. Even if you don’t know who Stephen Sondheim is – and I still haven’t got over the fact that some people don’t know him – or a not a real fan of musical theatre, “Side by Side by Sondheim” is a night of superb music delivered by five wonderful performers in a lovely intimate setting and is perfect in every way.”

 

Jamie Muscato and Laura Jane Matthewson and the rest of the original London cast and band reunited for a special concert version of the acclaimed musical Dogfight.

Exactly a year after Dogfight’s acclaimed European premiere season ended at Southwark Playhouse, the original cast and creative team are to reunite for a special concert version of the musical in the main theatre at St James Theatre on Sunday 11 October, 2015.

Dogfight was showered with praise by the critics and the production was nominated Best Musical and Laura Jane Matthewman named Outstanding Emerging Talent in the Evening Standard Awards. Dogfight also received three Off West End Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Female and Best Male, and it was shortlisted Best Off West End Production in the Whatsonstage Awards.

Producer Danielle Tarento said today: “Dogfight was such a special project for everyone involved. Now we have a wonderful opportunity to reunite the Dogfight family to once more sing the magical score by Pasek and Paul and relive again the heartbreaking love story between Eddie and Rose. As the lyrics to the show’s opening song say: ‘Take me back…’”

November 21, 1963. The night before their deployment to Vietnam, three young Marines set out for one final boys’ night of debauchery. But when Corporal Eddie Birdlace meets Rose, the unassuming and idealistic waitress he enlists to win a cruel bet, she rewrites the rules of the game and opens his eyes to what really matters in life.

Heading the cast in the central roles of Eddie and Rose are Jamie Muscato and Laura Jane Matthewson. The rest of the cast are: Cellen Chugg Jones; Nicholas Corre; Joshua Dowen; Ciaran Joyce; Amanda Minihan; Rebecca Trehearn; Samuel J. Weir.

Director: Matt Ryan. Choreographer: Lucie Pankhurst. Musical Director: George Dyer. Producer: Danielle Tarento

Sunday 11 October at 3.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets: £15.00 – £30.00
St. James Theatre, 12 Palace Street, London SW1E 5JA
Box Office: 0844 264 2140 www.stjamestheatre.co.uk

 

TIME TO ENJOY THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN

Motown’s greatest hits is the order of the day with How Sweet It Is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Wednesday 23 September.

In 1959, Berry Gordy Jnr had a dream, and with a loan of $800 he started Motown records in Detroit. In the 60’s the production and songwriting talents of Holland, Dozier and Holland dominated the Detriot sound, the sound of young America, and they both penned and produced numerous hits for The Four Tops, and many more artists of the day. The hits continued throughout the 60’s, into the 70’s, the 80’s, and even the 90’s as Motown became a genre of music all of its own, and had people dancing ‘All Night Long’ all over the world.

On Wednesday 23 September, that’s exactly what’s in store at Darlington Civic Theatre – ‘Motown’s

Greatest Hits – How Sweet It Is’ – will have you dancing to the classic’s of Motown Legends The Four Tops, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Lionel Richie, The Isley Brothers, The Jackson’s, Stevie Wonder, Edwin Starr and many more.

This Show is an evening crammed full of all your Motown favourite’s, – ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’, ‘Walk Away

Renee’, ‘I Can’t Help Myself’, ‘Going Loco in Acapulco’, ‘My Girl’, ‘Ain’t Too Proud To Beg’, ‘Papa Was A

Rolling Stone’, and ‘Get Ready’, to name but a few from the ‘Tops and Temps’, PLUS, ‘I heard It Through The Grapevine’, ‘Sir Duke’, ‘The Tracks Of My Tears’, ‘Dancing On The Ceiling’, ‘This Old Heart Of Mine’ and ‘I Want You Back’ etc., etc….

Motown’s Greatest Hits – How Sweet It Is is 100% live, with five superb vocalists backed and supported by their own fabulous musicians – The Peter Brent Orchestra, a fantastic powerhouse band.

Motown’s Greatest Hits – How Sweet It Is comes to Darlington Civic Theatre on Wednesday 23 September.

Tickets* are £20 and £22.

*All ticket prices include a £1 restoration levy.

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

Clockschool Theatre presents:

PLAYGROUND
13 October – 17 November 2015, 7.30pm (Tues-Sat)

Peter Hamilton’s Playground is a gruesomely comic follow-up to his hit play Bridlington, and reunites him with acclaimed director/designer and Old Red Lion legend Ken McClymont (Mugs Arrows, No Picnic, Beak Street) in a story of things falling apart beneath the swing-set.

***** “emotionally flooring… spectacularly funny… beautifully ordered chaos… a surprising and revelatory piece of new writing” (London Theatre 1)

“There isn’t going to be no revolution. I’ve told you: you can’t change the world.”

Playground is about a fragmented, broken society. It’s about the lost, the damaged and the disappointed. About rattling about in the nightmarish modern world. It takes the form of a murder mystery. It takes place in a park. Someone’s been decapitating children with a fret-saw. Someone’s been reading Enid Blyton. Something has gone badly wrong.

***** “surrealistic, powerful and extraordinarily beautiful play” (Remotegoat)

Two detectives struggle to solve a spate of child murders in Victoria Park, East London. Small bodies found beheaded with a Famous Five novel lying open on top of them. Suspects are readily available: previous and current patients at Bow Road Psychiatric Unit; Danny, a night cleaner at Canary Wharf; Stuart, a rough-sleeper from Walthamstow; private school drop-out-turned-Communist Tamsin; or frayed and failed Carolyn who teeters on the brink of another suicide attempt. Then there’s Bella, the proprietor of canal-side Drop-In Cafe, who just happens to go about with a ferocious looking knife in her shoulder-bag.

**** “an affectionate and often darkly humorous tale of mental illness” (The Upcoming)

—————————————————————————

Title: Playground
Playwright: Peter Hamilton
Director and Designer:Ken McClymont
Company: Clockschool Theatre
Performance Dates: October 13th 2015 – November 7th 2015, Tuesday – Saturday, 7.30pm, 3pm Saturday matinees, 2pm Sunday matinees (No evening performance Saturday, October 31st)
Running Time: 2 hrs (with interval)
Venue: Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
Ticket Price:£15 (£12 concessions, £1 – £1.50 booking fee), previews and matinees £10
Box Office: Ticketweb (ticketweb.co.uk)
Links: Website (oldredliontheatre.co.uk)

WILTON’S MUSIC HALL HAS OFFICIALLY REOPENED AFTER FOUR YEARS OF WORK TO REPAIR THE BUILDING

THE STING IS FIRST PRODUCTION IN THE NEWLY REPAIRED WILTON’S MUSIC HALL AND WILL RUN UNTIL 17 OCTOBER

THE 2015/16 ARTISTIC SEASON ALSO INCLUDES THE MAGIC OF THE MUSIC HALL FAMILY WEEKENDER, CASTING THE RUNES, L’OSPEDALE, DICK WHITTINGTON, AND THE ODYSSEY

 

Yesterday, Wilton’s Music Hall officially reopened the public following four years of repair works to secure the long-term future of the building. As part of the Capital Project, which began with the repair of the main hall, Wilton’s has now opened up 40% of the building which was previously inaccessible.

As the future of the building is now secure, for the first time Wilton’s is able to present a long-term artistic programme which befits the building’s future. The inaugural production of the artistic season The Sting opened on the 14 September and will run until 17 October. The production is directed by Peter Joucla (The Great Gatsby, Wilton’s) and stars Bob Cryer, Ross Forder and John Chancer and is based on the iconic 1973 caper film of the same name, in which two small-time con men set out to outwit a powerful mob leader.

Future productions at Wilton’s include The Magic of the Music Hall Family Weekender, Casting The Runes, l’Ospedale, the first ever Wilton’s panto Dick Whittington and Mark Bruce Company’s The Odyssey.

David Suchet, a long-term supporter of Wilton’s, said: “As both the Campaign Patron and a local resident I cannot tell you how thrilled I am that Wilton’s has finally be saved. It is such a unique cultural and historic landmark for the East End, London and beyond and it gives me such pleasure to think of all of the people that will enjoy and benefit from its performance and heritage programme. Long live this wonderful building!”

The total Capital Project cost for Phase 1 and 2 was just under £4 million and was made possible by significant support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), SITA Trust, Viridor Credits, The Loveday Charitable Trust, The Foundation for Sport and the Arts, Garfield Weston Foundation, Aldgate and Allhallows, The City Bridge Trust, The Foyle Foundation and numerous other Trusts and Foundation and individuals. As well as funding 74% of Wilton’s building repair and conservation costs which totaled at £1.8m, including a purpose-built learning & participation studio, HLF has supported a three-year programme of schools and community activities and events.

Stuart Hobley, Head of HLF London, said: “The stage is set for Wilton’s Music Hall to both entertain and enchant in equal measure.  This gem of a building – loved by so many Londoners – is now fully restored with a little help from National Lottery players and a lot of hard work by the Trust’s dedicated team.  We’re ready to kick up our heels in celebration as the curtains go up again.”  

LISTINGS

THE STING

A full length play by David Rogers
Based upon the screenplay “The Sting” by David Ward

Press Night: Monday 14th September at 7pm
Dates: 9th September – 17th October 2015
Times: 7:30pm Tuesdays to Saturdays (press night will be at 7pm on a Monday)
Prices: Previews (9th, 10th, 11th & 12th Sept): £32.50 for seats at tables, £25 standard seating, £20 restricted view.
Main Run: £35 for seats at tables, £27.50 standard seating, £22.50 restricted view

CREATIVE TEAM

Director & Designer Peter Joucla
Costume Designers Hilary Lewis & Claudia Mayer
Lighting Designer Jody Kelly
Choreography Simeon John-Wake

THE MAGIC OF MUSIC HALL FAMILY WEEKENDER

Dates: 24th and 25th October 2015
Times: All Day (exact timings tbc)
Prices: Free
Ticket Info: All activities will be unticketed, drop in only

CASTING THE RUNES

Adapted from the novel by M.R James
Directed by Robert Soulsby-Smith
Created and performed by Box Tale Soup

Press Night: Wednesday 28th October at 8pm
Dates: 27th October to 31st October (Half Term)
Times: 8pm – 9pm
Prices: £12.50 full price, £6 under 18s
Ticket Info: Age guidance 12+

L’OSPEDALE

Text by Antonio Abati
Director James Hurley
Musical Director James Halliday
Designer Rachel Szmukler
Lighting Designer Ben Pickersgill

Press night: Wednesday 11th November at 7pm or 9pm
Dates: 10th – 21st November 2015
Times: 7pm and 9pm on double bill evenings (75mins), Tuesday – Saturday
Tuesday 10th November 7pm
Wednesday 11th November 7pm and 9pm
Thursday 12th November 7pm
Friday 13th November 7pm and 9pm
Saturday 14th November 7pm
Tuesday 17th November 7pm and 9pm
Wednesday 18th November 7pm
Thursday 19th November 7pm and 9pm
Friday 20th November 7pm
Saturday 21st November  7pm and 9pm
Prices: £15 – £25

DICK WHITTINGTON

Written by & starring Roy Hudd
Director Debbie Flitcroft
Musical Director Steven Geraghty
Designer Mark Hinton
Lighting Designer Jody Kelly
Choreographer Helen Jeckells

Dates: 1st – 31st December 2015
Press Night: Thursday 3rd December at 7pm
Times: 7pm Tuesday – Saturday (excluding 24th and 25th December) with 2pm matinees on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays
Prices: Previews: £25 for stalls, £20 for benches, £10 for all children under 16 and OAPs for matinee performances
Main Run: £30 for stalls, £25 for benches, £15 for all children under 16 and OAPs for matinee performances

THE ODYSSEY

A co-production with the Mark Bruce Company
Producer Nick Sweeting

Date: 22nd Feb – 19th March 2016
Times: Will be announced in due course
Prices: Will be announced in due course

 

A WHOLE HOST OF BRAND NEW SHOWS

TO GO ON SALE AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

 

Leeds Grand Theatre has today announced a bounty of brand new shows for next year. With comedy, musicals, dance and drama 2016 is set to be another good year for Yorkshire audiences.

Going on sale on Monday 21^st September at 10am:

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat™

Tuesday 22^nd – Saturday 26^th March 2016

X Factor winner Joe McElderry dons the Technicolor Dreamcoat for Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sparkling family musical. Retelling the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours, this show is full of unforgettable songs including Those Canaan Days, Any Dream Will Do and Close Every Door To Me.

Blood Brothers

Monday 28^th March – Saturday 2^nd April

The legendary, multi-award winning Blood Brothers tells the captivating and moving tale of twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with fateful consequences.

Ray Mears Tales of Endurance

Sunday 3^rd April

As humans we have extraordinary ability in terms of ingenuity, adaptability and sheer determination, but how ca we access these abilities in a crisis? Through carefully selected stories Ray Mears explore what makes someone a survivor.

Alan Bennett’s Single Spies

Tuesday 12^th – Saturday 16^th April

Chichester Festival Theatre and Birmingham Repertory Theatre collaborate on this Alan Bennet comedy that explores the fascination with Russian spies and royalty. Chronicling the lives of two members of the notorious ‘Cambridge Five’ spy ring in the 1950s – Guy Burgess and Anthony Blunt – this double bill gives a glimpse into a life full of espionage, secret identities and even an interrogation by the Queen.

The Solid Silver 60s Show

Sunday 17^th April

 

This show has entertained the nation for over 30 years, celebrating history’s most successful decade of music. 2016 welcomes Peter Noone, Dave Berry and Brian Hyland as well as regular favourites New Amen Corner and special gusts The Merseybeats.

Pasha Kovalev – It’s All About You

Tuesday 26^th April

 

Last year’s Strictly Come Dancing winner Pasha Kovalev brings is new dance spectacular to Leeds. This high energy production brings an evening of dance from Ballroom to Latin with fabulous music and sparkling costumes.

 

Tell Me on a Sunday

Wednesday 27^th April

 

Following her acclaimed performance in Calamity Jane, Jodie Prenger steps into this classic musical charting the romantic misadventures of an English girl in New York during the heady 1980s. This one-woman show features an original score and includes a post-show chat with Jodie.

Russell Watson

Saturday 30^th April

The UK’s best-selling classical crossover artist returns to Leeds with a stunning collection of best-loved songs.

Guys and Dolls

Tuesday 24^th – Saturday 28^th May

Direct from the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End this highly acclaimed production heads to Leeds. The sizzling New York tale of gamblers, gangsters and nightclub singers features some of Broadway’s greatest show-stopping tunes including Luck be a Lady, Sit Down You’re Rockin’ the Boat and My Time of Day.

Derren Brown Miracle

Monday 30^th June – Saturday 4^th June

Back by phenomenal demand the multi-award winning acknowledged master of psychological illusion returns to Leeds Grand Theatre to deliver an evening of mind-altering genius as extraordinary events unfold live on stage.

Cats

Monday 20^th June – Saturday 2^nd July

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s record-breaking 2015 Olivier award-nominated musical comes to Leeds direct from its sell-out seasons at the London Palladium. A blend of fantasy, drama and romance, Cats is a magical musical with an amazing musical score, spectacular set designs, stunning costumes and breath-taking choreography.

All the above shows go on sale on Monday 21^st September at 10am

To book online visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call box office on 0844 848 2700