Author: FairyPoweredProductions

SPECTACULAR TOURING PRODUCTION OF WICKED

WILL FLY BACK TO TEN UK & IRELAND CITIES FROM FEBRUARY 2018

ACCLAIMED PRODUCTION IS CURRENTLY PLAYING IN HONG KONG

WICKED, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, is delighted to confirm that its spectacular, multi record-breaking and critically acclaimed touring production will return to the UK & Ireland in 2018, revisiting the following ten cities:

 

BRISTOL Hippodrome, Tuesday 5 February – Saturday 3 March 2018

Tickets on sale Wednesday 1 February 2017 at 10am (Theatre Card holders 25 January, Groups 10+ 30 January 2017)

LIVERPOOL Empire, Wednesday 7 – Saturday 31 March 2018

Tickets on sale Wednesday 1 February 2017 at 10am (Theatre Card holders 25 January, Groups 10+ 30 January 2017)

BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome, Wednesday 4 – Sunday 29 April 2018

Tickets on sale Tuesday 21 March (Friends 7 March, Groups 10+ 14 March 2017)

EDINBURGH Playhouse, Tuesday 8 May – Saturday 9 June 2018

Tickets on sale Wednesday 8 February at 10am (Groups 10+ 6 February 2017)

LEEDS Grand Theatre, Wednesday 13 June – Saturday 7 July 2018

Tickets on sale Friday 3 February (Friends 27 January, Groups 10+ 30 January 2017)

DUBLIN Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, Tuesday 17 July – Sunday 26 August 2018

Tickets on sale Friday 30 June at 10am

SUNDERLAND Empire, Tuesday 4 – Saturday 29 September 2018

Tickets on sale Wednesday 1 February 2017 at 10am (Theatre Card holders 25 January, Groups 10+ 30 January 2017)

SOUTHAMPTON Mayflower Theatre, Wednesday 3 – Saturday 27 October 2018

Tickets on sale September 2017

CARDIFF Wales Millennium Centre, Wednesday 31 October – Saturday 24 November 2018

Tickets on sale Monday 27 March (Promise members 27 February, Groups 10+ 20 March 2017)

MANCHESTER Palace Theatre, Tuesday 4 December 2018 – Saturday 5 January 2019

Tickets on sale Wednesday 1 February 2017 at 10am (Theatre Card holders 25 January, Groups 10+ 30 January 2017)

 

Discover more and sign up for priority information at www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

 

 

Acclaimed as “one of the greatest musicals of our time” (Daily Mail), “a wicked and wonderful vision of Oz” (London Evening Standard) and “one of the West End’s true modern classics” (Metro), WICKED is already the 17^th longest running show in London theatre history and recently celebrated a decade of performances at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, where it continues an open-ended run. Around the world, WICKED has now been seen by over 50 million people in 15 countries, and won over 100 major awards (including 3 Tony Awards and 6 Drama Desk Awards on Broadway; 2 Olivier Audience Awards, 9 WhatsOnStage Awards and an Evening Standard Theatre Award in London; 6 Helpmann Awards in Australia and a Grammy Award).

 

WICKED played a fifteen-city tour of the UK & Ireland from September 2013 – July 2015, winning five-star rave reviews at every venue. The production, acclaimed by the Northern Echo as “the ultimate Broadway experience for theatre audiences all over the UK”, resumed touring in July 2016, playing a sold out engagement at the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford and is currently playing in Hong Kong and opens at The Theatre at Solaire in Manila on 2 February. Prior to returning to the UK & Ireland, WICKED will also play engagements in Shanghai and Beijing.

 

Based on the acclaimed, best-selling novel by Gregory Maguire that ingeniously re-imagines the stories and characters created by L. Frank Baum in ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’, Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two sorcery students. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.

 

“Prepare to be spellbound by spectacular costumes, thrilling technical wizardry

and a phenomenal score, all wrapped up in a topical tale.”

Metro

 

WICKED has music and lyrics by multi Grammy and Academy Award-winner Stephen Schwartz(Godspell and Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted) and is based on the novel ‘Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West’ by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman. Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilentoand the production is directed by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello.

 

WICKED is produced around the world by Marc Platt, Universal Stage Productions, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone. Executive Producer (UK/International Tour) Michael McCabe.

 

Official website: www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

 

Twitter: @WickedUK  |  Facebook: /WickedUK  |  Instagram: @WickedUK

4000 horses pull Cinders magical coach to Salford this winter

Birmingham Royal Ballet present Cinderella
At The Lowry Tue 1 – Sat 4 March 2017

A fleet of articulated lorries, harnessing the equivalent power of 4000 horses, is set to roll out of Birmingham this month as Birmingham Royal Ballet heads to Salford with its UK tour of Cinderella on a scale comparable to any major rock band’s road trip. The ballet will be at The Lowry from Tue 1 – Sat 4 March.

Broadcast by the BBC as the 2010 Christmas Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s version of Cinderella won the Best Classical Choreography at the prestigious 2011 Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards for David Bintley’s elegant choreographic work.

From its base in the heart of the city, Birmingham Royal Ballet takes its spectacular version of Cinderella around the country on a logistical scale comparable to any major rock tour.

Ten articulated lorries packed with scenery flats, props, lighting rigs, rails of costumes, flight cases of wigs and all the materials necessary to stage this beautiful ballet pound the motorways of Britain.

At each venue the production must adapt its sets to work perfectly on a new and different sized stages and dancers must perform in up to a third less space, taxing the ingenuity and skill of over 50 backstage staff and nearly 40 dancers nightly and, at each venue, the production features the Royal Ballet Sinfonia bringing Prokofiev’s spiky, lush and romantic score to life.

The precision is military, the result magical.

The production requires between two and three days for each build or ‘get in’ and following the final night of the ballet the technical crew work straight on through the night to break down and load up before leaving for the next venue on the tour.

• 10 articulated lorry trailers in total
• 5 scenery trucks
• 1 flooring truck
• 3 lighting trucks
• 1 costume truck
• 31 rails of costumes
• 8 baskets of shoes
• 78 wigs
• 250 hair rollers
• 1000 hair pins
• 174 complete costumes
• 20 fat suits
• 44 tutus
• 2 washing machines and dryers
• 25 core technical staff
• 20 venue staff
• 64 orchestra musicians
• 39 dancers
• 64,688 seats over 27 nights and across 5 venues

Birmingham Royal Ballet’s production of Cinderella premiered in 2010. It is a full-evening (two 1/2 hour) ballet in three acts closely following the traditional Cinderella story of the wicked stepmother, ugly sisters, the fairy Godmother and of course, the slipper.

The music is the complete original score by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev which premiered in 1945 at the Bolshoi in Moscow but the choreography, by Company Director David Bintley, was created for this version. The set and costume designs are by John F. Macfarlane who designed the Company’s famous, and hugely popular, version of The Nutcracker and the lighting is by David A. Finn, who also lit The Nutcracker.

In a break from the character portrayal in Cinderella that has dominated in recent years, David Bintley returned to the original idea of having ballerinas as the two sisters who are ‘ugly on the inside’, rather than being played by two men. He also added a short prologue showing Cinderella and father at her mother’s graveside. This also serves as the introduction of the wicked stepmother who comes to dominate the family.

John Macfarlane’s designs, originated in close collaboration with David Bintley, offer some true coups de theatre including a giant ticking clock and a beautiful carriage described by one critic as being ‘like spun sugar’.

With beautiful choreography and clear narrative the ballet offers ample opportunities for acting and comedy, particularly for the two sisters, Skinny and Dumpy. It also has great family appeal. Not only does it feature traditional ballerinas,  but also roles for dancing lizards, mice and a frog!

Production credits: Music: Sergei Prokofiev; Choreography: David Binley
Production: David Bintley; Designs: John F. Macfarlane; Lighting: David A. Finn

Listings Info
Cinderella
The Lowry
Wed 1 – Sat 4 March 2017
7:30pm, Thu & Sat 2pm
Tickets: £18.50 – £47.50 (Including booking fees)
Box office: 0843 208 6000
Website

Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon for Playful Productions, Tom Kirdahy and Hunter Arnold present Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? Directed by Ian Rickson Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo will be joined by Jason Hughes and newcomer Archie Madekwe in the late Edward Albee’s darkly comic play about a family in crisis Ian Rickson’s production of Albee’s Tony Award®-winning late masterpiece will play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket with a first preview on 24 March and opening night on 5 April   Full casting for Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? is announced today. Joining Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo, who play husband and wife Martin and Stevie in Ian Rickson’s production, will be Jason Hughes as Martin’s oldest friend Ross and Archie Madekwe as their son Billy. Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? will play a strictly limited 12 week season at the Theatre Royal Haymarket from 24 March to 24 June 2017. In the play, a husband and successful New York architect with everything to lose must confess to his wife and son that he is having an affair and face the dizzying, explosive consequences. Ian Rickson will be joined by an Olivier and Tony Award®-winning creative team in Rae Smith (set and costume design), Neil Austin (lighting design) and Greg Clarke (sound design), with an original score by PJ Harvey. JASON HUGHES is perhaps best known for his television work, which includes playing lawyer Warren Jones in the BBC TV series This Life and as Detective Sergeant Ben Jones in Midsomer Murders from 2005 until 2013. A respected stage actor, previous work includes Our Country’s Good and Look Back in Anger opposite Michael Sheen at the National Theatre, Violence and Son and 4.48 Psychosis for the Royal Court and US tour, Way Upstream at Chichester Festival Theatre, Caligula at the Donmar Warehouse and Design for Living at Theatre Royal Bath. ARCHIE MADEKWE makes his professional stage debut as Billy. Prior to this he trained at LAMDA. Previous work includes Fresh Meat and Casualty, as well as the films Legacy and Second Coming. Archie also appeared in National Youth Theatre’s 2013 production of Pope Joan at St James’s Church, Piccadilly. DAMIAN LEWIS OBE won unanimous international acclaim for his role in Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning drama Homeland. Lewis starred as Sergeant Nicholas Brody opposite Claire Danes and was awarded the 2013 Golden Globe® for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series and a 2012 Primetime Emmy Award® for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series among other accolades for his role. Most recently Lewis has starred in Showtime series Billions. With an expansive list of diverse film, theatre and television credits Damian Lewis has evolved into one of this generation’s most respected and sought-after actors. Prior to his role in Homeland, Lewis first came to the attention of international audiences in 2001 with his Golden Globe®-nominated performance in the award-winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Tom Hanks. He also starred as Soames Forsyte in the acclaimed British production of The Forsyte Saga and Charlie Crews in Life. In 2015 Lewis starred as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall opposite Mark Rylance in the BBC Two television miniseries adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker-Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. Prior to American Buffalo in 2015, Lewis starred as Alceste in Martin Crimp’s 2009 adaptation of The Misanthrope opposite Keira Knightley. After training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lewis joined the British theatre community and appeared in a number of plays between 1993-98, primarily as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. During that time, he starred as Laertes in Jonathan Kent’s Broadway production of Hamlet opposite Ralph Fiennes. In 2003, Lewis returned to the London stage opposite Helen McCrory in Five Gold Rings at the Almeida Theatre. In 2005 he starred in the National Theatre’s production of Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community. In addition to his illustrious work on stage, Lewis has appeared on film in Julian Fellowes’ adaptation of Romeo and Juliet which starred Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld in the titular roles, The Sweeney, David Gordon Green’s Your Highness, and Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert opposite Nicole Kidman. SOPHIE OKONEDO OBE was born in London and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She has worked in a variety of media including film, television, theatre, and audio drama. Okonedo began her film career in 1991 in the British coming-of‐age drama Young Soul Rebelbefore appearing as Wachati Princess in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995) and Stephen Frears’ Dirty Pretty Things (2002). She received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Tatiana Rusesabagina in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda, a Golden Globe® nomination for the miniseries Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006) and BAFTA TV Award nominations for the drama series Criminal Justice (2009). Okonedo made her Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun for which she won the Tony Award® for Best Featured Actress in a Play. In 2016 she received a second Tony®nomination for her portrayal of Elizabeth Proctor in Ivo van Hove’s Broadway production of The Crucible which also starred Ben Whishaw, Saoirse Ronan and Ciarán Hinds. Okonedo was last on the London stage in Jeremy Herrin’s Haunted Child at the Royal Court in 2011. Previous work at the Royal Court includes Katie Mitchell’s Nightsongs, I Just Stopped by to See the Man, Been So Long and Women and Sisters. At the National Theatre Okonedo has appeared in Troilus and Cressida and Money, and has had roles in numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company including Tamburlaine The Great, The Changeling, A Jovial Crew and The Odyssey. Film work includes Hotel Rwanda; Tom Harper’s drama War Book; After Earth with Will Smith; The Secret Life of Bees alongside Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys and Dakota Fanning; Stormbreaker and Skin opposite Sam Neill and Alice Krige. Most recently on television, Okonedo starred in Peter Moffat’s political thriller Undercover for the BBC opposite Adrian Lester and played Queen Margaret in BBC One series The Hollow Crown: The War of the Roses alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench and Phoebe Fox. Other television credits include the role of Winnie Mandela in the BBC drama Mrs. Mandela; Clocking Off; the Doctor Who episodes “The Beast Below” and “The Pandorica Opens”; BBC series Extraordinary Women; miniseries The Slap; Sky1’s Sinbad; BBC One’s Mayday; and The Escape Artist. IAN RICKSON was the artistic director of the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, where he directed Jerusalem (also West End at the Apollo Theatre), The Winterling, The Night Heron and Mojo (also Chicago), all by Jez Butterworth; Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen and This is a Chair by Caryl Churchill; Dublin Carol and The Weir by Conor McPherson (also Dublin, Chicago, West End and Broadway); The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (also Broadway); Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett; Alice Trilogy by Tom Murphy; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman; Fallout by Roy Williams; The Day I Stood Still by Kevin Elyot; The Lights by Howard Korder; Pale Horse and Some Voices by Joe Penhall; Ashes and Sand by Judy Upton; Killers by Adam Pernak; Sab by Michael Cook and Wildfire by Jonathan Harvey. In the West End Rickson directed Kristin Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell and Lia Williams in Old Times by Harold Pinter (Harold Pinter Theatre); Betrayal by Harold Pinter, also with Kristin Scott Thomas, and Keira Knightley and Elizabeth Moss in The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman (both Comedy Theatre); and at the National Theatre, Evening at the Talk House by Wallace Shawn and The Red Lion by Patrick Marber. Productions at the Young Vic include Hamlet starring Michael Sheen, Now We Are Here and The Nest. Work on screen includes Fallout by Roy Williams (Company Pictures for Channel 4) and Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett (BBC4) and on radio includes In Therapy with Susie Orbach (BBC Radio 4). Rickson also works with PJ Harvey and Kate Tempest on their music and poetry shows. EDWARD ALBEE was born on 12th March 1928 and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include The Zoo Story (1958), The Death of Bessie Smith (1959), The Sandbox (1959), The American Dream (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961-62, Tony Award®), Tiny Alice (1964), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer Prize; 1996, Tony Award®), All Over (1971), Seascape (1974, Pulitzer Prize), Listening (1975), Counting the Ways (1975), The Lady from Dubuque (1977-78), The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981), Finding the Sun (1982), Marriage Play (1986-87), Three Tall Women (1991, Pulitzer Prize), Fragments (1993), The Play about the Baby (1997), The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2000, 2002 Tony Award®), Occupant (2001), At Home at the Zoo: Act 1, Homelife. Act 2, The Zoo Story. (2004), and Me, Myself & I (2008). Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980.  In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.  In 2005 he was awarded a special Tony Award® for Lifetime Achievement. PLAYFUL PRODUCTIONS – PRODUCER As Producer and General Manager productions include: No Man’s Land (UK tour and Wyndham’s); Kinky Boots (Adelphi); Hangmen (Wyndham’s); American Buffalo (Wyndham’s); The Audience (Broadway, Apollo and Gielgud, which was also a record-breaking, worldwide digital broadcast with NT Live and subsequently resulted in an Executive Producer position on the Netflix TV series of The Crown); Wolf Hall: Parts 1 & 2 (Broadway); Wolf Hall and Bring Up The Bodies (Aldwych); Shrek the Musical (UK & Ireland tour); The Weir (Wyndham’s); South Downs/TheBrowning Version (Harold Pinter); Sweeney Todd (Adelphi); Hay Fever (Noël Coward); Flare Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket); Yes, Prime Minister (Gielgud, Apollo, Trafalgar Studios and three UK tours); Krapp’s Last Tape (Duchess); Enron (Noël Coward); Red (Broadway); Hamlet (Broadway); Mary Stuart (Apollo and Broadway); Don Carlos (Gielgud) and Frost/Nixon (Gielgud and Broadway) and the forthcoming Don Juan in Soho (Wyndham’s Theatre, March 2017) As General Manager productions include: Groundhog Day (Old Vic); Wicked (Apollo Victoria, original UK & Ireland tour and now a further UK & Ireland tour in 2018); Blithe Spirit (Gielgud); Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane); Dirty Dancing (Aldwych, two UK tours and Piccadilly); Shrek the Musical (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane); Million Dollar Quartet (Noël Coward); Clybourne Park (Wyndham’s) and the forthcoming An American in Paris (Dominion, March 2017). www.playfuluk.com TOM KIRDAHY – PRODUCER Tom Kirdahy is currently producing the musicals Anastasia and Bandstand on Broadway and John Kander’s new musical Kid Victory Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre. He was the lead producer of the 2015 Broadway hit It’s Only a Play, the five-time Tony® nominated Broadway premiere of The Visit and the Off-Broadway smash and NYTimes Critic’s pick, White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Tom has previously been nominated for Tony Awards® for Mothers and Sons and After Midnight, as well as his revivals of Ragtime and Master Class. He is also a founding director of Berwin Lee London New York Playwrights, Inc. Kirdahy studied politics and dramatic literature at New York University and is a graduate of NYU School of Law. As an attorney, Kirdahy spent nearly two decades providing free legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS and served for many years on the Executive Board of the NYC LGBT Center. He currently serves as the Chair of the Broadway League Government Relations Committee. HUNTER ARNOLD – PRODUCER Hunter Arnold is the CEO of ARTech Holdings, a company dedicated to bringing best in class technologies to the live arts. He is also a founder of the New Musicals Creative Collective, an organization committed to aiding the development of new musical works from emerging artists. Broadway: Kinky Boots (Tony Award®), Dear Evan Hansen, Disaster!, Allegiance, Deaf West Theatre’s Spring Awakening (Tony® Nomination), The Visit (Tony® Nomination), It’s Only a Play, Mothers and Sons (Tony® Nomination), The Bridges of Madison County, Macbeth starring Alan Cumming, Godspell and Chinglish. Upcoming: Anastasia. Upcoming Film/Television: Hello Again and A Little More Alive.

HACKNEY EMPIRE ANNOUNCES CINDERELLA AS 2017 PANTOMIME WITH TICKETS ON SALE ON 1 MARCH 2017. SUSIE MCKENNA TO CHANGE HER ROLE TO BECOME EXECUTIVE CREATIVE PRODUCER. SLEEPING BEAUTY CLOSED ON 8 JANUARY HAVING BEEN SEEN BY 50,000 PEOPLE WITH A RECORD NUMBER OF FIRST TIME ATTENDERS. Hackney Empire has today announced Cinderella as its 2017 Christmas pantomime. The 2016 production of Sleeping Beauty was seen by audiences from across the globe from countries including Hong Kong, USA, Brazil, Japan and Hawaii but 20% of the audience was from Hackney, an increase of 1% on last year. Other London Boroughs with an increase in audience presence include Islington, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Brent and Westminster. There were a record number of new attenders to the venue, 64% of the audience were first time attenders and they generated 57% of the final box office income. The venue has also announced that current Creative Director, Susie McKenna, is to change her role becoming Executive Creative Producer. The newly created role will see her develop new, diverse musical theatre for Hackney Empire and partners. In particular she will be exploring new projects that are created by, or feature, BAME artists as well as also looking to develop younger early-career artists.  She will still write and direct the legendary Hackney Empire pantomime, Cinderella in 2017 and the anniversary production in 2018. McKenna has been Creative Director at Hackney Empire for seven years and this new role will also allow her to pursue her freelance career as a writer, director and actor, whilst still developing and creating work for the Hackney Empire stage. In line with the 20thanniversary, McKenna is writing a book to be published by Oberon Books about pantomime and the story of 20 years of her annual show at Hackney Empire. Susie McKenna said: “What a journey! It has been an honour and a privilege to be the Creative Director of Hackney Empire for the last seven years. Alongside Clarie Middleton, I’m proud to have led the team that got the iconic East London theatre back on its feet and with all the artists, creatives, producers and administration team who have worked tirelessly to make the theatre what it is today. The venue has a reputation for high quality popular entertainment and a vast community footprint with an outstanding outreach and artist development programme that has served Hackney and surrounding boroughs. My new role is an exciting opportunity to work with established and emerging diverse talent to tell stories that will celebrate and reflect the melting pot that is our London wide audience.” Clarie Middleton says: “Susie’s passion for Hackney Empire and its communities has always been second to none, and this has been more than amply demonstrated over the last seven years. She has created stunning productions for our main stage ranging from the iconic annual pantomime to a really splendid BLUES IN THE NIGHT; and her work with local young people has been extensive and trail-blazing. We will miss her as Creative Director but look forward to working with her on the projects she will develop in her new role. We wish her all the very best of luck too, with her return to freelance acting, writing and directing. She will contribute loads to anywhere she works.” From starting as principle boy in Nottingham Playhouse pantomimes, Susie McKenna has written and directed critically acclaimed pantomimes since 1998. Her most recent directing credits include The Silver Sword, a musical adaptation of Ian Serraillier’s novel, written by Susie and Steve Edis. Other credits include Blues in the Night, A Midsummer Night’s Madness (Hackney Empire, New York and Edinburgh Festival) and Once on this Island (Hackney Empire, Birmingham Rep, Nottingham Playhouse).  She was nominated for the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Guild/Coigney International Theatre Award for developing international links.  She has also worked as an actor for over 30 years and credits include Chicago, Cats, Ragtime and The Witches of Eastwick in the West End, TV shows such as Mr Bean and Casualty and films such as Cats, Jack and Sarah and Muppets Most Wanted.

Ionesco/Dinner at the Smiths’

(an aburdist dinner party)

March 3rd – April 1st 2017, Latvian House in Queensway

 

This March, Mr and Mrs Smith invite you to an immersive, bilingual (French/English) theatrical experience, based on the works and words of celebrated absurdist playwright Eugène Ionesco. At this unusual dinner party, sat around a long table amongst the performers and glasses of French wine, you will be introduced to unexpected guests, have your senses played with and be made to eat your own words!

“Marianne Badrichani’s productions are unusual and fanciful” The Evening Standard

After sell-out performances in June 2016 as a commission from In TRANSIT Festival of Arts in association with the French Institute, the show is back by popular demand. This production, frantic, unpredictable and liberating, will make you dive into the absurdist world of Ionesco, from his reflection on the world to his most hilarious scenes (The Bald Soprano, The Lesson and others).

Marianne Badrichani and the Company have been successfully creating site specific and installation performances in unconventional spaces for the last ten years, including Blue Beard (Old Brompton Cemetery), La Peau de Chagrin (Holland Park), The Show in A Shop Window (Kensington Church St) and Square Bubble (Royal National Theatre Watch This Space in 2014).

“a lovely example of why immersive theatre is so accessible to new audiences” Big Idea (on Blue Beard)

Director Marianne Badrichani has been directing French plays in new translations for the last fifteen years, in association with Nathalie Berrebi Productions and the French Institute. Her latest show was the hit production Trois Ruptures/Three Splits, a new play by Remi De Vos presented at the Chelsea Theatre, at the Print Room in Notting Hill Gate, and in Beijing, China. Marianne was nominated “Français of the year” in 2008.

Ionesco/Dinner at the Smiths features a company of six performers: Edith Vernes, David Mildon, Lucy Russell, Sean Rees, Jorge Laguardia and Sharlit Dayzac.

 

• Natalie Casey joins previously announced Amanda Holden, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tamzin Outhwaite and Nicola Stephenson in Richard Harris’s award-winning comedy.
  
  
• Vaudeville Theatre, London with performances from 1 March 2017.
   
• Tickets from £20 via www.steppingoutplay.com

Birmingham Repertory Theatre presents

UK PREMIÈRE

FULL CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR ONE LOVE: THE BOB MARLEY MUSICAL

• CAST INCLUDES MITCHELL BRUNINGS AND ALEXIA KHADIME
• OPENS AT BIRMINGHAM REPERTORY THEATRE ON FRIDAY 10 MARCH AND RUNS UNTIL SATURDAY 8 APRIL

Full casting has been announced for One Love: The Bob Marley Musical which premieres at Birmingham Repertory Theatre in March.  Set across a dramatic period in the music legend’s life, this new production written and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, tells the story of a man propelled from rising reggae star to global icon. With unprecedented access to the entire Bob Marley catalogue, the musical features Marley’s greatest songs performed live by the cast.

Mitchell Brunings will make his UK stage debut as Bob Marley alongside Alexia Khadime who will play Rita Marley. Alexia’s major West End roles include Nabulungi in The Book of Mormon (for which she won the 2014 What’s On Stage Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical), Eponine in Les Misérables, Elphaba in Wicked and Nala in The Lion King. Most recently she played the lead in Hackney Empire’s 2016 pantomime Sleeping Beauty. Her screen roles include London Road and Les Misérables.

Eric Kofi Abrefa (Labyrinth and Wildefire, Hampstead Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, Headlong; Humans, Channel 4) will play Bob’s closest friend, Pablo. Cat Simmons (Sweet Charity, Manchester Royal Exchange; Jane Wenham: The Witch of Walkern, Out of Joint; Oliver!, National Tour) will play Bob’s lover, Cindy Breakspeare.

Newtion Matthews (The Frontline, Shakespeare’s Globe; Dancing in the Streets, UK Tour) will play Bunny Wailer alongside Jacade Simpson (The Book of Mormon and The Scottsboro Boys, West End) who will play Peter Tosh.

Adrian Irvine (King Lear and Romeo and Juliet, National Theatre) will play Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley while Simeon Truby (War Horse, National Theatre international tour) will play Leader of the Opposition, Edward Seaga. Ricardo Coke-Thomas (The Book of Mormon and Shrek the Musical, West End; Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, National Theatre) will play Tony Welsh. Birmingham-born Thomas Vernal, a recent graduate from The Arden School of Theatre, will play Claudie Massop.

Delroy Brown, also from Birmingham, (King David: Man of Blood, Mercury Theatre Colchester; The Harder They Come, Theatre Royal Stratford East; Scott and Bailey, ITV) will play Bob’s manager, Don Taylor. Alex Robertson (Tomorrow I Was Always a Lion, Belarus Free Theatre; The Seagull, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) will play Chris Blackwell. Natey Jones (Doctor Faustus, Don Quixote and The Alchemist, all Royal Shakespeare Company/ Barbican) will play Don Letts.

Maria Omakinwa (Show Boat, Sheffield Crucible/ West End; The Bodyguard, West End) will play Judy Mowatt.  Shyko Amos returns to Birmingham Repertory Theatre (where she last performed in This Island) to play Marcia Griffiths.

The ensemble will include Taofique Folarin, Martina Isibor, Melissa James, Lemuel Knights,Tanisha Spring, Ellena Vincent and Marcquelle Ward.

Bob Marley’s words and music have brought joy and love to people around the world of all generations and across all cultures. One Love: The Bob Marley Musical is a spiritual and political journey which celebrates one of the world’s most influential artists of all time by bringing Marley’s inspirational music catalogue to the stage for the first time. This compelling original musical features Marley’s greatest songs performed live on stage, including – No Woman No Cry, Exodus, Jamming and many more.

One Love: The Bob Marley Musical will be designed by Ultz (who won the Best Set Design Olivier Award for Jerusalem) with musical supervision and arrangements by Phil Bateman and choreography by Coral Messam. Lighting design will be by Tim Lutkin (who won the Best Lighting Design Olivier Award for Chimerica), sound by Richard Brooker, projections by Duncan McLean, orchestrations by Simon Hale and musical direction by Sean Green.

Presented by Birmingham Repertory Theatre.

One Love: The Bob Marley Musical is presented with approval of and in co-operation with the Marley family and Tuff Gong Pictures L.P. and has been developed with the support of Blue Mountain Music.

 

Three Bears Productions and Grand Opera House York are delighted to announce that their 2017 pantomime will be…

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Friday 15 December 2017 – Sunday 7 January 2018

BOOK NOW FOR A BEAST OF A PANTOMIME AT THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Grand Opera York are delighted to announce that Three Bears Productions will return next Christmas with another spectacular pantomime, with lots of surprises.  After a successful run with Aladdin last year the popular story of Beauty and The Beast is sure to be the Biggest and the Beast in Yorkshire.

‘Three Bears Productions are thrilled to hear that all panto box office records at the Grand Opera House York were broken this past Christmas with

the hit production of Aladdin. We are pleased to announce that a brand new production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST  with some very exciting special effects and fabulous sets and costumes will be this year’s sensational pantomime. A star cast will be announced shortly.’ Chris Moreno, Producer

‘We would like to thank all our customers for supporting us during our 2016 pantomime. It was fantastic to see our audiences marvel at the transformation scene and scream wildly at the 3D effects while wearing yellow glasses. This was our busiest pantomime yet. We are pleased to have The Three Bears returning later this year with their Beauty and the Beast pantomime. This pantomime title is a first for the Grand Opera House and we’re all looking forward to the cast announcement and the costumes.

The producer isn’t telling us about the special effects yet!’ Lizzie Richards, General Manager

 

Tickets from £15.75 from box office on 0844 871 3024 or online atwww.atgtickets.com/york

Schools and Family rates available.