Author: FairyPoweredProductions

‘Make a Person Laugh Enough Times, You’re Loved Forever…’
I Loved Lucy is a personal portrait of an iconic comedic entertainer whose public face is all too well known. But what was Lucille Ball really like and how did she choose to live her life… at the end of her life? Out of the spotlight.

Based on his best selling memoir, Lee Tannen’s funny, bitter-sweet play, which gets its UK premiere in a four-week season at Jermyn Street Theatre, reveals the real-life Lucy and what is was like being her friend to the end. Most people who wrote about Lucy never even met her. They relied on others to fill in the blanks. Lee relied solely on Lucy. And he paints a rich personal portrait that can only add to our love of a legend.

I Loved Lucy stars Sandra Dickinson (A Streetcar Named Desire, Not about Nightingales, Orpheus Descending) as Lucy and Matthew Bunn (The Ladykillers) as Lee. It is directed by Jermyn Street Theatre’s Artistic Director Anthony Biggs (The River Line, On Approval, The First Man).

Awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Lucille Ball remains one of Hollywood’s best loved stars. With her trademark red hair and goofy persona, she will always be remembered as the crazy, accident-prone, lovable Lucy Ricardo on her groundbreaking 1950s TV sitcom, I Love Lucy, which co-starred her real-life husband Desi Arnaz and was produced by their own TV company, Desilu Productions. Shown around the world and topping the ratings every year in the US, it is still regarded today as one of the greatest and most influential sitcoms in TV history.

When the show ended, Lucy took sole control of Desilu Productions, making her the first woman to run a major TV production studio. She won four Emmys and was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in recognition for her life’s work. On August 6, 2011, which would have been her 100th birthday, Google honored her with an interactive doodle on their homepage featuring classic moments from I Love Lucy.

Born in Washington DC, Sandra Dickinson first found fame in the UK as the star of Birds Eye beefburger ads in the early 1970s. They established her in a succession of American ‘dumb blonde’ roles, and it was many years before she was able to shake that image. She’s had a prolific career on stage and screen, notably as Trillian in the cult sci-fi TV series The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. She is currently the voice of Grandma Tracy in CITV’s Thunderbirds Are Go.

Lee Tannen first met Lucille Ball as a child but cemented their close and enduring friendship as an adult. During the last 10 years of Lucy’s life – years mostly spent out of the spotlight and much of it around a backgammon table, where Lee became Lucy’s confidant spending time in her Beverly Hills and Palm Springs homes, traveling with her and entertaining her on his turf in New York City. His memoir became an instant best seller. In 2010, he adapted it for the stage where it premiered at The Laguna Playhouse. Lee’s other work includes a new libretto in 2007 for the stage adaptation of the classic children’s story Dr. Dolittle, starring and directed by nine-time Tony Award winner Tommy Tune. A year earlier, Lee was a contributing writer for the Drama-Desk-nominated musical The Audience. In 2003, Lee was writer and Associate Director for Paparazzi, an original musical for Holland America Line directed by Tommy Tune. In 2001, Lee wrote and directed All The World’s a Stage, a star-studded benefit for Variety Club at Carnegie Hall starring, among others, Barbara Cook, Nathan Lane and Tommy Tune and hosted by Jane Powell. Lee has also written special material for Joan Rivers, Elizabeth Taylor and Shirley MacLaine.

LISTINGS
I Loved Lucy
Tuesday 2nd – Saturday 27th February 2016
Press night is Friday 5th February at 7.30pm
Jermyn Street Theatre
16b Jermyn Street
LONDON, SW1Y 6ST
Tuesday to Saturday 7.30pm
Saturday & Sunday matinees 3.30pm
Additional matinee Thursday 25 February at 3.30pm
Tickets: £22.00 (£18.00 concs)
www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk

As rehearsals commence for the West End production of Motown the Musical, full casting is announced for the production led by Cedric Neal as Berry Gordy, Lucy St. Louis as Diana Ross, Charl Brown as Smokey Robinson and Sifiso Mazibuko as Marvin Gaye.

They are joined by Keisha Amponsa Banson as Mary Wells, Cindy Belliot as Anna Gordy, Samuel Edwards as Jackie Wilson, Tanya Nicole Edwards as Florence Ballard, Portia Harry as Teena Marie, Aisha Jawando as Martha Reeves, Joshua Liburd as Eddie Kendricks, Simeon Montague as Jermaine Jackson, Cleopatra Rey as Gladys Knight, Brandon Lee Sears as Tito Jackson, Jordan Shaw as Stevie Wonder, Cherelle Williams as Mary Wilson.

Eshan Gopal, 12 years old from Kingsbury, London, 13 year old Kwame Kandekore from Leicester and 11 year old Joshua Tikare from Bromley will alternate the role of Young Michael Jackson.

They are joined by swings and ensemble members Jay Bryce, Daniel Bailey, Edward Baruwa, Eddie Elliott, Christopher Fry, Alex Hammond, Edward Handoll, Simon Ray Harvey, Elias Hendricks, Brian James Leys, Jayde Nelson, Kieran McGinn, Simone Mistry Palmer, Carl Spencer and Marcel J Whyte.

London previews begin at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 11 February 2016, with press night on 8th March 2016 with the first booking period to 22nd October 2016.

With music and lyrics from the legendary Motown catalogue and book by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Motown the Musical is directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.

With just $800 borrowed from his family, Motown founder Berry Gordy, goes from featherweight boxer to heavyweight music mogul, discovering and launching the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and many more. Motown the Musical uncovers the true story of the legendary record label that changed music history and created the soundtrack of a generation.

Featuring a sixteen piece orchestra playing 50 Motown tracks including Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, I’ll Be There, Dancing In The Street, Stop! In The Name Of Love, My Girl and I Heard It through the Grapevine, Charles Randolph-Wright’s production tells the story behind the classic hits.

VAULT Festival returns to The Vaults on Leake St in Waterloo for another year of comedy, theatre and experimental work from emerging artists.

Highlights from the 2016 line-up include Squidboy, a new show from award-winning physical performer Trygve Wakenshaw about an imaginary friend who creates their own imaginary friends (27-30 Jan) and The Misfit Analysis, written and lead by Cian Binchy who is a consultant for the National’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Journeying through the mischievous mind of an autistic man, audiences will be taken through a world of wheelchairs and blow up dolls (2-6 March).

Making their VAULT Festival debut from 17-21 Feb will be award-wining company Clout Theatre with The Various Lives of Infinite Nullity, a piece of absurdism centered around a post-suicide support group held in the afterlife. The production will run alongside Dom Coyote & The Blood Moneys’ Songs for the End of the World which is billed as ‘part gig, part play, part apocalypse’ and features artists from Kneehigh and Little Bulb Theatre.

Other highlights around the festival include the previously announced one-man show from Jamie Muscato; Tar Baby, a Fringe First Award-winning solo show which looks at race in America (10-14 Feb), The Devil Speaks True, an immersive show offering an intimate perspective of a man returning home from war with PTSD (17-27 Feb) and a new film festival taking place each Sunday in February with long and short form screenings of drama, documentary, animation and more.

Taking place from 27 January to 6 March, expect pop-up bars, restaurants, club nights and performances. Since its inception in 2012, VAULT has hosted over 250 productions and the 2016 festival includes shows which explore themes including gender, mental health and conflict.

For the full VAULT Festival line-up, click here.

The Terence Rattigan Society have announced a new writing award with monetary prizes and a professional production of the winning play on offer.

The winner of Terence Rattigan Society Award – which honours Sir Terence Rattigan’s unique contribution to British drama and will be judged by David Suchet, Julian Fellowes, Thea Sharrock and Dan Rebellato – will receive £2,500 and a professional production of their play at the Sarah Thorne Theatre in Kent. The runner-up will received £1,000 and a guaranteed rehearsed reading.

Suchet, who will host the formal announcement of the award on 26 January at the Jermyn Street Theatre said: “I’m thrilled that the Terence Rattigan Society is offering an award for a new play in his name. As one of this country’s true masters of the dramatists’ craft, it is a fitting tribute to his enormous contribution to the theatre”.

Fellowes commented: “Terence Rattigan is one of England’s greatest playwrights whose light was hidden under a bushel for far too long before his recent rediscovery. An award in his name, dedicated to finding new talent and bringing it out of the darkness for the public to enjoy, seems only fitting.”

Shakespeare’s Globe has announced its 2016 Wonder Season, which will be Emma Rice’s inaugural season as artistic director.

Throughout the season, a magical forest designed by Lez Brotherston featuring silver birch tree trunks will span from the piazza onto London’s Bankside.

To coincide with the forest, the season will open in April with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Rice.

Rice said today at the launch: “This is an amazing new adventure for me. I want to remind us of what it is like to tell a story… The Globe is the most accessible and inviting place in London and I want to continue that.”

Up next will be The Taming of the Shrew directed by Gate Theatre creative associate Caroline Byrne. Running from May to August the production, which Byrne will set in Ireland, tells of two sisters approaching marriage but both with different mindsets, one excited, one horrified.

“Taming of the Shrew taunts us,” said Rice. “How can we make this play for the 21st century? I told Byrne to be brave and it’s going to be very Irish.”

Acclaimed opera and theatre director Iqbal Khan then directs the Scottish classic Macbeth from June whilst Kneehigh show 946 The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, which was co-adapted by War Horse writer Michael Morpurgo with Rice, will run at the Globe between August and September. It is based on his novel about the preparation for the D-Day landings. The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk will also run in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse from June. The Kneehigh and Bristol Old Vic production tells of a young couple navigating the Russian Revolution and each other.

Further ahead, the season will also see Olivier-nominated director Matthew Dunster direct Imogen(Sept to Oct), a renamed and ‘reclaimed’ version of Cymbeline. Jonathan Munby’s heralded version of The Merchant of Venice will return to the Globe in October, following a national and international tour, which kicks off at the Liverpool Playhouse in June. Multi-award winning actor Jonathan Pryce will reprise his role of Shylock.

In the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the theatre will host a touring production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona from September to October, directed by Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse associate director Nick Bagnall.

The Playhouse season will close with The Inn at Lydda, a play from John Wolfson who is Honorary Curator of Rare Books for the Globe. The play follows Tiberius Caesar and a meeting with Jesus Christ in Judea.

Rice also announced that there would be relaxed performances for every production and has reduced the number of plays in the season this year than in previous years.

Rice takes over from Dominic Dromgoole who has led the venue since 2006.

Robert Stigwood, who was known as the manager of the pop group the Bee Gees has died at the age of 81.

As well as managing the ’70s band, the Australian impresario produced several hit musicals, including Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. Moving into theatre in 1968 the Robert Stigwood Organisation staged Hair in London after Stigwood saw it on Broadway.

He bought the rights to Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar and produced the film of Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta.

Stigwood also produced Grease and pulled off the Golden Globe Award-winning 1997 film adaptation of Evita starring Madonna.

As well as managing the Bee Gees, the producer also represented Eric Clapton. One of his first successes was with English singer John Leyton, whose song “Johnny Remember Me” spent four weeks at number one in 1961.

Andrew Lloyd Webber took to Twitter to remember his colleague, calling him ‘the great showman who taught me so much’.

Kneehigh have announced that Mike Shepherd will take the role of sole artistic director as Emma Rice takes over the leadership at Shakespeare’s Globe in April.

Shepherd started Cornwall-based Kneehigh in 1980 and has worked closely with the company since. In 2016 the company will tour their hit show Dead Dog In A Suitcase (and other love songs) to New Zealand, Colombia and Korea as well as announcing another Asylum Season at The Lost Gardens of Heligan in February along with more UK and international tours.

Rice’s Globe season includes two Kneehigh productions, The Flying Lovers Of Vitebskand 946: The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips, both of which will be directed by her.

BALLETBOYZ® ANNOUNCE TOUR DATES FOR WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION,LIFE

20 APRIL – 4 JUNE 2016

BRAND NEW TRAILER HERE

BalletBoyz have announced they will tour their brand new production Life, which will receive its world premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells in April 2016.  The show features new commissions by Javier de Frutos and Pontus Lidberg. After opening at Sadler’s Wells where BalletBoyz are Associate Artists, the production will embark on a UK tour, followed by a tour of the USA in 2017. The piece is co-produced by Sadler’s Wells in association with artsdepot.

Performed by the award-winning all-male company of ten dancers, the show features an original score and the evening takes an elegant, powerful and provocative look at life and death, presented in BalletBoyz’ inimitable style. After premiering in London the production, will tour to: Worthing; London; Oxford; Exeter; Guildford; Yeovil; Edinburgh; Dundee; Southport; Lichfield; Cheltenham and Cambridge. Full listings are below.

Javier de Frutos said: “I’m thrilled to be working with BalletBoyz again. This time the subject is LIFE and inevitably Death, an intoxicating cocktail, and this is a company of exquisite ingredients and one of a kind in the Dance World so I’m looking forward to the exhilarating experience that it is creating work with them!”

Pontus Lidberg said: “I’m truly excited to be creating for one of the world’s most forward thinking dance companies. Working with BalletBoyz on this new piece is proving to generate engaging material and ideas.”

Tickets for most venues are now on sale.

https://instagram.com/balletboyz
@BalletBoyz
www.balletboyz.com

LISTINGS INFORMATION
2016 TOUR DATES

LONDON, Sadlers Well’s
On Sale Now
20 – 24 April
20 -23 April, 7.30pm
24 April, 4pm
Box Office 020 7863 8000
www.sadlerswells.com

WORTHING, Connaught
On Sale Now
9 May
7.30pm
Box Office 01903 206 206
www.worthingtheatres.co.uk

LONDON, Arts Depot
On Sale Now
11 May
7.30pm
Box Office 020 8369 5454
www.artsdepot.co.uk

OXFORD, New Theatre
On Sale Now
13 May
7.30pm
Box Office 0844 871 3020
www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-theatre-oxford

EXETER, Northcott Theatre
On Sale Now
15 May
7.30pm
Box Office 01392 726363
www.exeternorthcott.co.uk

GUILDFORD, G Live
On Sale Now
17 May
7.30pm
Box Office 01483 369350
www.glive.co.uk

YEOVIL, Octagon Theatre
On Sale Soon
19 May
7.30pm
Box Office 01935 422884
www.octagon-theatre.co.uk

EDINBURGH, Kings Theatre
On Sale Now
22 May
7.30pm
Box Office  0131 529 6000
www.edtheatres.com

DUNDEE, Dundee Rep
On Sale Now
22 – 23 May
8pm
Box Office 01382 223530
www.dundeerep.co.uk

SOUTHPORT, Atkinson
On Sale Now
26 May
8pm
Box Office 01704 533 333
www.theatkinson.co.uk

LICHFIELD, Garrick Theatre
On Sale Now
28 May
7.30pm
Box Office 01543 412121
www.lichfieldgarrick.com

CHELTENHAM, Everyman Theatre
On Sale Soon
1 June
7.45pm
Box Office 01242 572573
www.everymantheatre.org.uk

Pipeline Theatre presents:

KULLY THIARAI NAMED NATIONAL THEATRE WALES’ NEW ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

THE CURRENT EXECUTIVE & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF
CAST, DONCASTER WILL BECOME NTW’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
& CHIEF EXECUTIVE FROM MAY 2016

Kully Thiarai, the founding Artistic Director of Doncaster’s Cast has today been named as the new Artistic Director and Chief Executive of National Theatre Wales, the country’s English-language national theatre, following John McGrath’s departure to run the Manchester International Festival.

Kully has been credited with both putting Doncaster firmly on the UK’s cultural map and giving the town’s artistic appetite an astonishing transformation since the £22million venue Cast was opened in September 2013, drawing 40,000 people through its doors in its first three months.

She already had, by then, an impressive background leading some of the UK’s best-loved theatre venues and producing companies, including Contact Theatre in Manchester, Leicester Haymarket Theatre, Theatre Writing Partnership Nottingham, and Red Ladder Theatre Company, Leeds.

Her directing credits for productions staged in Wales, across the UK and internationally over almost 30 years span a range of work from large-scale outdoor shows to intimate theatre performances, with a demonstrable emphasis on new writing, genuine diversity both on and off-stage, truly inclusive audience development and meaningful community engagement.

These include: Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Kes and Cinderella (for Cast); United Colours of FrustrAsian (Cast, Black Country Touring, Oldham Coliseum and Southbank Centre); Obama The Mamba by Kevin Fegan, (nominated for two Manchester Theatre Awards – Best Play and Best Actor 2012); Mandala, a large-scale outdoor arts spectacular for the Cultural Olympiad; The Soul Exchange, created with the communities of Butetown, Cardiff as part of NTW’s launch year, and Digital Tea Dance for Bangor University.

Her other productions include Do We Ever See Grace? by Noël Greig, Salaam – a devised show made with young Muslim men, Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey, Bogus Woman by Kay Adshead (London, UK, Australia, New York), The Fortune Club and Unsuitable Girls by Dolly Dhingra (London, Leicester), Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince, Athol Fugard’s Master Harold and the Boys, Captured Live!, West Side Story, The Witches, Bollywood Jane, Plague of Innocence and Death of a Salesman.

Kully is much in demand as an international keynote speaker on the arts (e.g. at No Boundaries in 2014 & 2015, supported by ACE & British Council), a consultant (inc. to the Secretary of State and the DCMS, on Supporting Excellence in the Arts), a tutor (e.g. for Hong Kong University’s Advanced Cultural Leadership Programme 2015) and board member (inc. of the Manchester International Festival).

Kully said: “I am thrilled to be joining National Theatre Wales. I have been hugely inspired by the range and diversity of work that has taken place over the last five years under John McGrath’s leadership. A wonderful artistic mapping of Wales and its people; extraordinary work that is daring, provocative and joyous, found in surprising places across the country.

I intend to build on this legacy by ensuring that National Theatre Wales continues to be original, radical and relevant. Many people and organisations have contributed brilliantly to making the company such a national and international success, and I look forward to working with them all.”

Phil George, Chair of NTW’s Board, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Kully to the leadership of NTW. She has a deep connection with the values and ambitions of the company and brings terrific experience from her times as Artistic Director at major theatres in Leicester and Manchester and from the creation of Cast, Doncaster as a dynamic and socially-significant performance venue. She has superb cooperative skills and will forge strong relationships with artists and writers in Wales and internationally. There are exciting times ahead as we build on John McGrath’s legacy of a bold, innovative company with deep community engagement and a strong, international profile.”

Dai Smith, Chair of the Arts Council of Wales, said: “”In a short space of time, National Theatre Wales has gone from the dream of a national need to the reality of a national marker for Wales, both here at home and on the international stage. Phil George as its first Chair and John McGrath as its first Artistic Director have more than fulfilled the brief given them by the Arts Council of Wales to be excellent in the work on offer and socially engaged with particular audiences right across Wales. Now comes the challenge of the second Act: how to continue to be daring, radical, rooted and inspirational in the young tradition which NTW has created. In appointing Kully Thiarai, a creative talent whose own vision and practice clearly mirror what Wales has been enjoying from NTW, the signal given out is bright and confident. I am sure that the cultural institution she will now lead is set to deliver more of the amazing drama and performance we have come to relish as all our own, and some for the rest of the world too.”

Outgoing Artistic Director John McGrath said: “I am utterly delighted that Kully Thiarai has been appointed the new Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales. An inspiring leader with a proven commitment to extraordinary international theatre, and to deep engagement with the widest range of communities, she is a perfect choice for this fantastic job.”

Andy Carver, Chair of Cast’s Board of Trustees, said: “Kully has achieved fantastic success in launching and running Cast as a vibrant new cultural venue in Doncaster, producing great work and building new audiences. We are sad to see her leave but wish her every success in this fantastic new challenge at NTW.”