Bat Out Of Hell Breaks Dominion Box Office Record
JIM STEINMAN’S BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL
TAKES £350,000 ON FIRST DAY OF ON-SALE
BEATING PREVIOUS BOX OFFICE RECORDS
AT DOMINION THEATRE
Winner of the Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical, Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has already broken box office records at London’s Dominion Theatre, taking £350,000 on the first day of on-sale. The musical returns to London’s West End in 2018, with performances at the Dominion Theatre from Monday 2 April.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House and London Coliseum earlier this year. It currently has audiences rocking out in Toronto, where performances will end on 7 January 2018.
As well as winning the Evening Standard Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical, the show has just been nominated for a phenomenal 8 WhatsOnStage Awards, including Best New Musical.
Andrew Polec, winner of the Joe Allen Best West End Debut in the Stage Debut Awards 2017, and Christina Bennington are in positive negotiations to recreate their roles as the romantic leads, Strat and Raven, at the Dominion Theatre. Further casting is to be announced.
Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. 16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland. Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor and Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod Associates and musical direction by Robert Emery.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox & Tony Smith.
Website: www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com
Twitter & Facebook: @BatTheMusical
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical
Dominion Theatre
268-269 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7AQ
Performances: Mon-Sat at 7.30pm, Wed & Sat matinee at 2.30pm*
*There is no 2.30pm performance on Wednesday 4 April
Tickets: from £15
Box Office: 0845 200 7982
Current Booking Period: 2 April – 28 July 2018
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes (including interval)
THEATRE ROYAL STRATFORD EAST ANNOUNCE THREE SHOWS FOR 2018
DAILY LOTTERY PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR WEST END PRODUCTION OF HAMILTON
DAILY LOTTERY PLANS ANNOUNCED FOR WEST END PRODUCTION OF
H A M I L T O N
Producers Jeffrey Seller and Cameron Mackintosh today confirm plans for the HAMILTONWest End £10 daily Lottery which will open on Monday 4 December 2017 for the show’s first performance on Wednesday 6 December 2017.
Patrons can apply for a maximum of two £10 Lottery tickets via the official HAMILTON App or online. Each lottery will open at 4pm and close at 2pm the following day. Within an hour of each lottery closing and after the random selection of winners, all entrants will be notified either through the app or by email with successful entrants receiving details of how to claim and pay for their lottery tickets. To download the app or for further details, visitwww.hamiltonthemusical.co.uk
HAMILTON will re-open the newly rebuilt and restored Victoria Palace Theatre with previews beginning on 6 December 2017. The official opening night will take place on 21 December 2017. HAMILTON is currently booking to 30 June 2018.
The producers of HAMILTON are working to combat the unauthorised profiteering of third party resellers and ticket touts. Delfont Mackintosh Theatres has pioneered for the West End a paperless ticket system for this production – HAMILTON Paperless Ticketing, powered by Ticketmaster.
HAMILTON is the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington’s right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and helped shape the very foundations of the America we know today. The score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway – the story of America then, as told by America now.
HAMILTON has book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, is directed by Thomas Kail, with choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical supervision and orchestrations byAlex Lacamoire and is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton. HAMILTONfeatures scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Paul Tazewell, lighting design byHowell Binkley, sound design by Nevin Steinberg and hair and wig design by Charles G. LaPointe.
Winner of 11 Tony Awards including Best Musical, the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, HAMILTON continues its runs at The Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway, at the CIBC PrivateBank Theatre in Chicago and cities across North America.
HAMILTON is produced in London by Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, The Public Theater and Cameron Mackintosh.
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Dates From 6 December 2017 and currently booking 30 June 2018
Theatre Victoria Palace Theatre, Victoria Street, London SW1E 5EA
Performances Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday at 2.30pm
Running time 2 hours and 45 mins including interval
Website www.hamiltonthemusical.co.uk
Social Media facebook.com/HamiltonWestEnd
twitter.com/HamiltonWestEnd
instagram.com/HamiltonWestEnd
#HamiltonLDN
Northern Broadsides to premiere Deborah McAndrew’s new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Hard Times – Opening at Viaduct Theatre Halifax from 16-24 February then touring till 26 May 2018
Northern Broadsides present
By Charles Dickens
A new adaptation by Deborah McAndrew
Directed by Conrad Nelson
Designed by Dawn Allsopp
Lighting by Mark Howland
Musical director Rebekah Hughes
Opening venue: Viaduct Theatre Halifax – 16-24 February
National tour: 27 Feb- 26 May 2018
This February, Northern Broadsides are set to stage the premiere of Deborah McAndrew’s (UK Theatre Award Best New Play winner An August Bank Holiday Lark) witty new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ great Northern novel of repression and longing Hard Times.
Directed by Northern Broadsides Resident director Conrad Nelson, the new adaptation will premiere premiere at the Viaduct Theatre Halifax from 16-24 February before touring nationally until 26 May 2018.
Imagine a world where imagination is forbidden. Coketown is such a place. Thomas Gradgrind will not permit fanciful thoughts in his school or his home. But what effect will this policy have on his own children, Tom and Louisa? How can he protect them from corrupting influences – especially when the circus comes to town?
Dark satanic mills, interrupted by the colour and vibrancy of Sleary’s Circus, set the stage for a sweeping tale of supressed love, seduction and social mores, peopled with the sharply observed exaggerated characters that Dickens is celebrated for.
Playwright Deborah McAndrew said about adapting the classic tale:
‘I’ve always admired Hard Times – Dickens’ one truly Northern novel. The title is a bit off putting, giving the impression of a story that is relentlessly grim. However, it’s full of all the usual brilliant Dickens characters, and lots of very good jokes. It’s also a life affirming story, and a manifesto against a dry, utilitarian approach to education and human discourse in general.
At his school Mr Gradgrind insists on facts and only facts. His pupils and his own children are not just limited, but psychologically and emotionally damaged by the exclusion of the Arts from their education and their lives. In the 21st Century, with our own education system increasingly focused on a core of fact based subjects at the expense of music, drama and art, this tale seems as pertinent as ever – and Hard Times might just as well be called ‘Our Times’.
Director Conrad Nelson added:
“Nestled amongst the charcoal-etched towers of Dicken’s fictional Coketown sit the bold stripes of Ringmaster Sleary’s Gilliam-like circus tent. Hoop-la! It is in this vibrant three-ringed arena that we set our play and where we celebrate life, risk, adventure and the power of imagination.
Audiences will meet the characters below a big top where the flames of a circus fire-eater become the flaming coals of the inscrutable young Louise Gradgrind as she stares into the fire, searching for something within herself that she knows is missing, and where the taught line of the tightrope walker becomes the precarious strand of Stephen Blackpool’s happiness between an ill-advised early marriage and the promise of a future with the true love of his life.
In Deborah McAndrew’s witty and imaginative adaptation, we maintain all the humour and pathos of the original novel, presented with a lightness of touch in a clear and fluent drama.
It might be grim up north in Coketown, but this is a place populated by the most colourful personalities that you’re ever likely to meet. Broadsides’ vibrant performance style and musical verve and wit are best suited to deliver Charles Dickens at his popular best. Northern Broadsides – not for gradgrinds.”
Deborah McAndrew’s plays have included the moving First World War drama An August Bank Holiday Lark for Northern Broadsides and New Vic Theatre which won both UK Theatre Award and Manchester Theatre Award for Best New Play 2014. Her credits for Northern Broadsides include Cyrano (2017) The Grand Gesture (2013) A Government Inspector (2012) Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (2008) and Vacuum (2006). Other theatre credits include Anna of the Five Towns (2017) and Flamingoland (2008) for New Vic Theatre and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (2017) and David Copperfield (2010) for the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. Alongside her husband – director Conrad Nelson – she is co-founder and Creative Director of Claybody Theatre Company. As an actress Deborah is best known for her role as Coronation Street regular, Angie Freeman, in the 1990s.
Conrad Nelson’s directing credits include the Northern Broadsides productions of The Bells (2004), Vacuum (2006), Blake Morrison’s Lisa’s Sex Strike (2007), Accidental Death of an Anarchist (2008), Canterbury Tales, adapted by Mike Poulton (2010), 1984 (2010) and most recently Cyrano (2017) Other directing work includes: Anna of the Five Towns, I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire and Oleanna (New Vic Theatre, Newcastle under Lyme) and Ballroom Blitz (Hull Truck Theatre).
Hard Times is designed by Dawn Allsopp (Kiss Me Quickstep, New Vic Theatre & Oldham Coliseum) with lighting by Mark Howland (Pride and Prejudice, Nottingham Playhouse and York Theatre Royal).
Casting will be announced shortly.
Hard Times will open at the Viaduct Theatre Halifax, from 16-24 February and will then tour to The Dukes Lancaster; The Lowry Salford; New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stephen Joseph Theatre; Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield; Liverpool Playhouse, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds and West Yorkshire Playhouse.
For more information visit www.northern-broadsides.
LISTINGS
Opening Venue
Fri 16- Sat 24 Feb at 7.30pm & Sun Feb at 4pm & (Mat performance: 24 Feb at 2.30pm)
The Viaduct Theatre, Halifax
Box Office 01422 255 266 or www.deanclough.com
Press night: Tuesday 20 February at 7.30pm
Tue 27 Feb – Sat 3 Mar The Dukes, Lancaster
Box Office: 01524 598500 or www.dukes-lancaster.org
Tue 6- Sat 10 Mar The Lowry, Salford Quays
Box Office: 0843 2086000 http://www.thelowry.co
Tue 27-31 Mar – Liverpool Playhouse
Box office: 0151 7094776 https://www.everymanp
Tue 4- Sat 14 Apr New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme
Box Office 01782 717962 or www.newvictheatre.org.uk
Tue 17 – Sat 21 Apr Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Box Office: 01723 370541 https://www.sjt.uk.com/
Wed 2-Sat 5 May Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield
Box Office: 01484 430528 http://www.thelbt.org/
Tue 16- Sat 19 May Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
Box Office: 01284 469505 http://www.theatreroyal
Tue 22- Sat 26 May West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
Box Office: 0113 213 7700 or www.wyp.org.uk
Darlington Hippodrome – opening season
Darlington Hippodrome to welcome exciting new shows in its opening season.
Following 18 months of expectation and a multi-million pound restoration, the doors to Darlington Hippodrome are now open offering a fabulous season of theatre with some big-hitting shows on offer and even more in the pipeline.
Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a pantomime, and this season we have the fairest of them all – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Starring boy band and soap star Lee Ryan, Darlington’s own West End leading lady Zoe Birkett, local funny-man Patrick Monahan, Eric Potts, Liam Mellor and Natasha Hoeberigs as Snow White, this year’s pantomime will be packed full of comedy, songs, dance numbers and the usual Darlington pantomime magic between Saturday 9 December and Sunday 14 January.
A series of week-long shows for all tastes kicks off with New Jersey Nights (Jan 16 to 20), a spectacular celebration of the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Son of a Preacher Man (Feb 6 to 10) is an all-new show directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood featuring the greatest hits of Dusty Springfield. We welcome back one of the all-time greats with Blood Brothers (20 to 24 February) followed by the David Walliams classic Awful Auntie (28 February to 4 March).
Hailed ‘a gut-busting hit’ by the New York Times, the West End and Broadway smash hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong comes to Darlington from 5 to 10 March and if you like a spot of Disney music then you must not miss A Spoonful of Sherman (12 to 14 March). We welcome back Middle Ground Theatre Company and the world stage première from Ruth Rendell (writing as Barbara Vine) with the murder mystery Gallowglass (27 to 31 March). Following a sell-out production of Strictly Musicals 2, DarlingtonOS returns to the Hippodrome with the ultimate feel-good musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert (18 to 28 April) and for added glitz and glamour we welcome The Rat Pack Live (8 to 12 May) with one of the ring-a-ding-iest nights in town.
The Touring Consortium Theatre Company has presented some of the most thought-provoking theatre in Darlington including To Sir With Love, A View From The Bridge, Regeneration, Brassed Off, Brave New World and Of Mice And Men. This season they return with Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (15 to 19 May) starring Phil Daniels. Celebrating the world’s greatest entertainer, Thriller Live is a spectacular concert featuring the songs of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5 (28 May to 2 June). Broadway’s smash hit musical comedy, Thoroughly Modern Millie, starring Hayley Tamaddon comes to Darlington Hippodrome from 11 to 16 June swiftly followed by This Is Elvis (25 to 30 June) which recreates all the drama leading up to ‘the 1968 Comeback Special’ TV show – it’s the musical that puts the king back on the throne. For lovers of comedy we have one of the best as Joe Pasquale stars as Frank Spencer in an all-new stage show Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (2 to 7 July) while All Or Nothing – the Mod Musical (10 to 14 July) follows the rise and demise of the Small Faces.
A whole host of star performers will be appearing at Darlington Hippodrome and The Hullabaloo (the new 170 seat studio theatre adjacent to the Hippodrome) over the next seven months including Patrick Monahan (26 January), Jimmy Osmond (12 February), That’ll Be The Day (13 & 14 February), The Russian State Ballet of Siberia (15 to 18 February), Tom Allen (24 February), The Hallé (26 February), Tony Law (4 March), Sing-a-ling-a Beauty & The Beast (11 March), The Illegal Eagles (19 March), Stewart Lee (20 March), Madama Butterfly (21 March), Smokie (22 March), Peppa Pig and Friends (25 & 25 March), Bobby Davro and Dani Harmer in the Easter Pantomime Beauty & The Beast (2 & 3 April), Russell Watson (4 April), Rumours of Fleetwood Mac (5 April), Ken Dodd (8 April), Steve Steinman’s Meatloaf Story (9 April), The BBC Big Band (10 April), The Carpenters Story (11 April), English Youth Ballet (13 & 14 April), Jason Cooke (28 April), Liza Pulman (30 April), Brian Conley (1 May), Balletboyz (2 May), Gilbert O’Sullivan (3 May), Dinosaur World Live (4 to 6 May), Pam Ayres (5 June), Jane McDonald (7 June) and The Teletubbies (9 & 10 June).
More big names and blockbuster shows are in the pipeline for 2018 and beyond.
For further information and to book contact the box office on 01325 405405, or visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk to choose your own seats online.
Join the Victorian salon of Dorian Gray, in a secret location in Greenwich in 2018
The Alchemic Order presents:
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY: A RESTORATION
from April 24th 2018, 7.30pm, Dorian Gray’s Residence
(Secret Location in Greenwich)
The Alchemic Order’s highly acclaimed production returns to Dorian Gray’s townhouse, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, opening on April 24th 2018 – 127 years, to the day, since the original publication of Oscar Wilde’s only novel. Enter a Victorian salon where guests witness the story unfold around them during a unique and unforgettable evening of art, intrigue and distant pleasures.
★★★★★ “Mr Orange conjures an evening of startling invention. It is a labour of love that translates and showcases an impeccably high standard of acting. More than a theatre experience. More than a good night out.” Islington Gazette
The Alchemic Order consider The Picture of Dorian Gray one of the most important works of western literature. A reappraisal of the metaphysical premise of the novel has created a new theatrical experience. Be a guest at the irresistible infamous soirée, in the aristocratic parlours inhabited by the luxurious, languid and licentious world of Wilde and his characters..
★★★★ “Great acting, inventive staging and clever writing. This is the future of creative and imaginative theatre.” The Gay UK
“For years, Dorian Gray could not free himself from the influence of this book. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he never sought to free himself from it. Often, on returning home from one of those mysterious and prolonged absences that gave rise to such strange conjecture among those who were his friends, each evening while the season lasted, he would throw open to the world his beautiful house and have the most celebrated artists of the day to charm his guests with the wonders of their art.”
“The book is good but this production is f*cking brilliant!” TwentySomethingLondon
Now in its 4th year, the new, revitalised production stands as the eponymous portrait, taking on a life of its own. Director Samuel Orange says: “When I first began this journey I had no idea how alive this story is; truly alive. As the apotheosis of Wilde’s genius, Dorian Gray does not cease to inspire, constantly provoking me to question, striving to perfect its multi-layered nuances, manifest its radicalism and to transform the novel into this alchemic experience. The production has grown with each investigation, each experiment and on every evening to date. I have become as obsessed with this project as Dorian Gray is obsessed with his portrait. This season, with the new cast, new collaborators and new energies, is set to be something of a new dawn.”
“Mr Orange seems to evoke the bohemian spirit of Oscar Wilde himself.” The Thinkers Garden
Stephen Sondheim’s iconic musical Company comes to Aberdeen Arts Centre in February
Aberdeen Arts Centre and David Adkin present
COMPANY
By Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
- THE AWARD-WINNING CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND 2016’S SELL-OUT SUCCESS CABARET RETURNS TO ABERDEEN ARTS CENTRE WITH STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S COMPANY
- OLIVER SAVILE, ANITA LOUSE COMBE AND ASHLEIGH GRAY LEAD A CAST OF WEST END STARS IN A BRAND NEW PRODUCTION, DIRECTED BY ABERDONIAN DEREK ANDERSON
- THE ICONIC MUSICAL WILL HAVE A STRICTLY LIMITED RUN FROM 1 – 10 FEBRUARY 2018 AT ABERDEEN ARTS CENTRE
Following Aberdeen Arts Centre’s 2016 smash hit production of Cabaret, the award-winning team returns with a brand new production of the iconic Broadway musical, Company, with support from Aberdeen City Council. From the legendary composer of Sweeney Todd and Into the Woods comes a dark comedy about life, love and marriage.
It’s Bobby’s 35th birthday party and his married friends are all asking the same question – will he ever give up his bachelor lifestyle and settle down?
Oliver Savile (Wicked, Phantom of The Opera); Anita Louise Combe (Gypsy, Chicago); andAshleigh Gray, who makes a triumphant return to Aberdeen after her acclaimed performance as Elphaba in the UK tour of Wicked, lead a cast of West End stars in this new production.
With music and lyrics from Stephen Sondheim and a book by George Furth, Company is widely regarded as a trailblazing concept musical, exploring modern relationships. It set records when it opened on Broadway, being nominated for an astonishing fourteen Tony Awards and winning six, including Best Musical.
With some of his best songs including Marry Me A Little, You Could Drive a Person Crazy, Another Hundred People, and Being Alive Sondheim has described Company as the first musical in which he found his voice.
Directed by Aberdeen born Derek Anderson, who directed the sell-out success of Cabaret andThe Pillowman, Company will play a strictly limited season from 1 to 10 February 2018.
The cast also includes Simbi Akande as Martha, Kimberly Blake as Jenny, Stephen John David as Larry, Wayne Fitzsimmons as David, Jennifer Harding as April, Jaqueline Hughes as Sarah, Susie Mathers as Kathy, Lisa Anne-Wood as Susan and Barnaby Thompson as Peter.
Aberdeen Arts Centre is delighted that this marks a further step in its commitment to draw on the talent and experience of theatre professionals from all over the country, both behind and in front of the curtain, and bring them to Aberdeen to present new productions.
Derek Anderson says: “I’m very excited to be returning to the Arts Centre to bring this iconic musical to my hometown. Not only does it provide the opportunity to present his masterpiece in Aberdeen but it also gives us the chance to reunite the creative talent behind the overwhelming success that was Cabaret. Company is a unique musical, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience this production with a brilliant cast.”
This production of Company will be choreographed by Lee Crowley, designed by Nik Corall, with musical direction by Nick Barstow, lighting design by Ben Pickersgill, video design byNorydas Genys, sound design by Mick Livermore, and casting by Lucy Casson.
Listings
Aberdeen Arts Centre and David Adkin present
COMPANY
by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth
Aberdeen Arts Centre
33 King Street, Aberdeen, AB24 5AA
Thursday 1 – Saturday 10 February 2018
Opening Night: 3 February 2018
Performance Schedule: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm, Saturday matinee 2.30pm
www.aberdeenartscentre.com/
Box Office: 01224 641122
Tickets are priced at £26/£24
Ex-Beatle To Make His Acting Debut In Lennon’s Banjo!
“The very first tune I ever learned to play was ‘That’ll Be The Day’. My mother Julia taught it to me on the banjo, sitting there with endless patience until I managed to work out all the chords”
JOHN LENNON
EX-BEATLE TO MAKE ACTING DEBUT!
Former Beatles drummer, Pete Best, is to play himself in a brand new comedy stage production called, Lennon’s Banjo. Written by Rob Fennah, the show is about a quest to find the holy grail of pop memorabilia – the first instrument John Lennon learned to play which has been missing for 60 years and now worth millions to whoever finds it.
Set in present day Liverpool, the stage play is based on the novel ‘Julia’s Banjo’ by Rob Fennah and Helen A Jones.
Pete said: “I read the novel ‘Julia’s Banjo’ some years ago and thought it was a great mix of fact and fiction with regards to the Beatles and the elusive banjo. It made me smile; a really enjoyable read. So, when speaking to Rob Fennah about the book becoming a stage play, I said in passing, ‘I should play me!’ And low and behold, here I am doing a few of the performances. I would have loved to have done all of them but prior commitments made that impossible. Anyway, either with me, or the actor playing me, this show is going to be great fun!”
Rob Fennah, added: “As a huge Beatles’ fan, I was gobsmacked when Pete said he wanted to do it. Having a real life Beatle up there on stage is going to be a fantastic buzz, not just for those fortunate enough to get tickets for the shows Pete is performing in, but for the whole cast and crew. As for the play itself, I have matched the story to historical reality including dates, places and events. I want everyone to enjoy their romp through Beatledom and come out of the theatre believing, as I do, that the banjo is still out there somewhere just waiting to be found. It’s The Beatles meets The Da Vinci Code!”
Pete Best’s confirmed performance dates will be Wednesday 25th April 2.30pm and 7.30pm and Saturday 5th May at 7.30pm.
Lennon’s Banjo – one of the most hotly-anticipated new plays of 2018 – will premiere at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre next spring.
Produced by Pulse Records Ltd in association with Bill Elms, Lennon’s Banjo will open at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre on Tuesday 24 April 2018 for a two-week run, continuing through until Saturday 5 May.
Directed by Mark Heller, Lennon’s Banjo stars Eric Potts, Jake Abraham, Mark Moraghan, Stephanie Dooley, Lynn Francis and Roy Carruthers, with more cast to be announced soon.
On 9 October 1957, a young John Lennon turned 17. It was the last birthday he would spend with his mother, Julia, who was killed the following summer in a road traffic accident. 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of Julia’s death and the banjo’s disappearance.
It is well documented that Lennon was estranged from his parents and brought up by his Aunt Mimi. He said in many of his interviews: “I lost my mother twice. Once when I was five-years-old when she left me with my Aunt Mimi, and again at 17 when she was run over by a drunken off-duty police officer.”
It was Julia Lennon who introduced John to the world of pop music, teaching him to play rock and roll on a banjo, given to her by John’s grandfather. Lennon often recounted how he would sneak off to visit his mum who lived only a few miles away. There, he would learn to play songs like ‘That’ll Be The Day’. He has been quoted as saying: “Mum would sit there with endless patience until I managed to work out all the chords.”
Mysteriously, the banjo went missing shortly after Julia Lennon’s death and no-one has set eyes on it since. One thing is certain though, if it did resurface it is estimated to be worth in the region of five million pounds.
“The intrigue and mystery surrounding Lennon’s missing banjo, and the logic that it could be sitting in somebody’s attic right now, has the potential to make headlines around the world. The story crosses over beautifully from fiction to fact and back again to tease and tantalise you into believing every word is true.” Trinity Mirror
So where do the facts end and the fiction begin? Everything will be revealed in this intriguing, colourful and fast-paced comic caper starring a talented cast of actors.
For more info visit www.lennonsbanjo.com
Twitter @LennonsBanjo #FindTheBanjo
Facebook/LennonsBanjo
LENNON’S BANJO
Epstein Theatre
Tue 24 April – Sat 5 May 2018
Tickets from £16
Group Rates Available
HOW TO BOOK
Tickets are on sale now.
EPSTEIN THEATRE
ONLINE: www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk
CALL: 0844 888 4411
IN PERSON: Hanover Street, Liverpool, L1 3DZ |Mon-Thu 2pm-6pm, Fri & Sat 12pm-6pm
TICKETQUARTER
ONLINE: www.ticketquarter.co.uk
CALL: 0844 8000 410
IN PERSON: Echo Arena Box Office, Kings Dock, Liverpool, L3 4FP | 12noon on Echo Arena event days, and from 9am – 6pm on Fridays.
Best Musical Winner BAT OUT OF HELL Returns to West End
WINNER OF THE EVENING STANDARD
RADIO 2 AUDIENCE AWARD FOR
BEST MUSICAL
JIM STEINMAN’S BAT OUT OF HELL – THE MUSICAL
RETURNS TO LONDON’S WEST END IN 2018
PERFORMANCES AT THE DOMINION THEATRE
BEGIN MONDAY 2 APRIL 2018
TICKETS NOW ON SALE
Following the announcement at last night’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards that Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has won the Radio 2 Audience Award for Best Musical, the producers are delighted to announce the musical will be returning to London’s West End in 2018, with performances beginning at the Dominion Theatre on 2 April. Tickets went on sale today.
It was also announced on Friday 1 December that Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has been nominated in the following categories for the 2018 WhatsOnStage Awards: Best New Musical, Best Actor in a Musical – Andrew Polec, Best Actress in a Musical – Christina Bennington, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical – Rob Fowler, Best Supporting Actress in a Musical – Danielle Steers, Best Direction – Jay Scheib, Best Set Design – Jon Bausor, and Best Lighting Design – Patrick Woodroffe. Winners will be announced on 25 February 2018.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical wowed critics and public alike when it played limited seasons at Manchester Opera House and London Coliseum earlier this year. It currently has audiences rocking out in Toronto, where performances will end on 7 January 2018.
Andrew Polec, winner of the Joe Allen Best West End Debut in the Stage Debut Awards 2017, and Christina Bennington are in positive negotiations to recreate their roles as the romantic leads, Strat and Raven, at the Dominion Theatre. Further casting is to be announced.
Bat Out Of Hell became one of the best-selling albums in history, selling over 50 million copies worldwide. 16 years later, Steinman scored again with Bat Out Of Hell II: Back Into Hell, which contained the massive hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That).
For the stage musical, the legendary and award-winning Jim Steinman has incorporated iconic songs from the Bat Out Of Hell albums, including You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Bat Out Of Hell, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That) and Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, as well as two previously unreleased songs, What Part of My Body Hurts the Most and Not Allowed to Love.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is a romantic adventure about rebellious youth and passionate love, set against the backdrop of a post-cataclysmic city adrift from the mainland. Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost, has fallen for Raven, daughter of Falco, the tyrannical, ruler of Obsidian.
Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical has book, music and lyrics by Jim Steinman, direction by Jay Scheib, choreography by Emma Portner, with musical supervision and additional arrangements by Michael Reed, set design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor and Meentje Nielsen, video design by Finn Ross, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, orchestration by Steve Sidwell, casting by David Grindrod Associates and musical direction by Robert Emery.
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical is produced by David Sonenberg, Michael Cohl, Randy Lennox & Tony Smith.
Website: www.BatOutOfHellMusical.com
Twitter & Facebook: @BatTheMusical
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Jim Steinman’s Bat Out Of Hell – The Musical
Dominion Theatre
268-269 Tottenham Court Road
London W1T 7AQ
*There is no 2.30pm performance on Wednesday 4 April
Tickets: from £15.00
Box Office: 0845 200 7982
Current Booking Period: 2 April – 28 July 2018
Running Time: 2 hours 40 minutes (including interval)