THE LAWRENCE BATLEY THEATRE, HUDDERSFIELD ANNOUNCES LIVE CHRISTMAS SHOW ALFIE THE ELF’S CHRISTMAS RESCUE
The Lawrence Batley Theatre and The Big Tiny will co-produce the world premiere of Alfie the Elf’s Christmas Rescue
The Lawrence Batley Theatre, Huddersfield has today announced that it will premiere a one-man Christmas show this December titled, Alfie the Elf’s Christmas Rescue. Co-produced by the regional venue and producers The Big Tiny, the show will premiere on Saturday 19 December for a six-day run.
Suitable for families with children ages 4-11, Alfie the Elf’s Christmas Rescue follows the story of Alfie, an elf from Santa’s workshop who has been stranded in Huddersfield, and will see him bring stories to life, crack jokes and tell us all how Christmas really works in Santa’s workshop.
Performances will adhere to COVID-19 guidelines which include: social distancing, face coverings, contactless ticketing and staggered arrival times. These measures have been in place at the venue since the summer, when the Lawrence Batley Theatre was one of the first theatres to reopen their doors for live performances after the easing of national restrictions.
Alongside the Lawrence Batley Theatre’s live offer, the venue will also be streaming an animated version of A Christmas Carol to households throughout December. The digital production which combines radio play and original animation sees broadcaster Gyles Brandreth voice the cold-hearted protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge next to a cast of over 40 community members.
Henry Filloux-Bennett, Chief Executive & Artistic Director comments; “I am utterly delighted that we will have live performances on our Main Stage this December. Christmas at the Lawrence Batley Theatre is such an important part of our annual activity for both our staff and community. I couldn’t think of a much better way to end such a challenging year.”
Tickets are available via thelbt.org. Early booking advised. Alfie the Elf’s Christmas Rescue will run from Sat 19 – Thu 24 December 2020. Audio Described performance available at 11am Wed 23 December.
HIGHTIDE ANNOUNCES NEXT PHASE OF ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT WORK; SCHOOL OF HIGHTIDE AS PART OF ITS ‘INVENTING THE FUTURE’ PROGRAMME AND TWO NEW HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS
Today HighTide announced the first phase of its Inventing the Future programme, a range of initiatives to support the rebuilding of the arts sector in its current recovery phase and made possible by a grant of £78,000 from the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund. Announced today are the launch of School of HighTide andtwo new Higher Education partnerships with London College of Communication at University of the Arts, London and University of East Anglia, with further initiatives to be announced soon.
HighTide has long been known for nurturing truly diverse talent and showcasing the future of British theatre.They work across the UK to develop and showcase the country’s best new playwrights and plays and productions are typically challenging, contemporary and political, and are written by diverse new playwrights. These new initiatives announced today very much continue in this vein.
‘Inventing the Future is part of our contribution to the UK’s cultural recovery and I’m delighted to share the first phase of this programme today. As a new writing organisation, we have always championed and uplifted artistic voices. However, the Covid-19 Global Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement has re-affirmed my belief that Black, Asian, MENA, Latin and all Minority Ethnic heritage writers must be supported and nurtured. They should also be encouraged to develop not only their craft but also how they use their artistic voice to tell stories that reflect the urgent political and social changes that have happened this year. Through School of HighTide writers will not only to make sense of current events as individuals but also how that understanding and passion can be harnessed into making the most relevant and necessary work for today.
This paired with our partnerships with the London College of Communication (LCC) at University of the Arts, London and University of East Anglia will allow us to contribute in a meaningful way to breaking down barriers and addressing systematic racism and inequalities within the arts. The theatre of tomorrow is not the theatre of the past and we welcome the opportunities this brings for a more exciting, diverse and responsive British Theatre ecology.
We’re grateful to DCMS and Arts Council, whose ongoing support to HighTide throughout the pandemic enables us to plan with certainty and to do even more to support our freelance community during these challenging times. We are also thrilled to have secured a major grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, one of the UK’s most significant supporters of the arts, to further support the costs of our new ways of working. This support is testament to HighTide’s longstanding history of nurturing the most exciting playwriting talent in the UK and sharing this work with our communities in the East of England; and this mission remains at the heart of our future.” Suba Das, HighTide’s Artistic Director and CEO
SCHOOL OF HIGHTIDE
In response to the pandemic crisis and designed to address the barriers and structures that disproportionately impact some artists from sustaining a career, HighTide is launching School of HighTide, a free three-month workshop programme curated by Director and HighTide Associate Artist Chris Sonnex. Acknowledging the barriers and structures that disproportionately impact artists in accessing opportunities and being able to sustain a career in the arts, School of HighTide is open to playwrights who identify as Black, Asian, MENA, Latin and/or all Minority Ethnic heritage and who are committed to playwriting and want to strengthen their practise.
Practitioners will include Sonia Jalaly, Milli Bhatia, High Rise Theatre Collective, Temi Wilkey, Debbie Hannan (Co-Artistic Director Traverse Theatre), Myah Jeffers, Eve Leigh, Ned Glasier (Company Three), Juliet Gilkes-Romero and more.
The Covid-19 Global Pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have highlighted the significant and entrenched inequalities that are still present within the world and within the arts sector. School of HighTide was borne of the challenges and necessary conversations that 2020 has brought to the foreground. Deeply concerned about whose stories get to be told and more crucially whose stories are missing, HighTide passionately believes that it is the responsibility of organisations like itself to ensure that the industry is representative of our society and to challenge the status-quo. HighTide will work to help ensure that voices are not lost as a result of the many barriers that existed prior to this pandemic and also those that have manifested as a result of it.
“There have been many calls for theatre to return not only stronger but more sustainable, to challenge and hold society better. With that in mind we wanted to redesign the idea of what a writers’ workshop series looked like. Asking the question “how can we tool artists to create work with a civic duty at its heart, whilst ensuring they also look after their own heart, soul and mind?.” These workshops will explore a different way, not just focussing on how to write the play we want to see, but more – how can we write the world we want to see?” Chris Sonnex
Playwrights who would like to take part and fit the outlined criteria, can fill in this expression of interest form here.
HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS WITH UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS,
LONDON & UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA
HighTide has entered into two new Higher Education partnerships with London College of Communication (LCC) at University of the Arts, London and University of East Anglia designed to increase access to training and broaden collaborative approaches between sectors.
In collaboration with Lucia McGuinness, Systems Thinker and Lecturer on the BA Design Management course at LCC, the HighTide team and Associates explored the challenge of how they might better connect diverse playwrights to their audience. As part of the programme, the second year BA Design Management students will be responding to this brief using a design thinking approach with the aim of offering a variety of design-led solutions to removing barriers of engagement, improving connections, and building communities. Working in this way will allow for innovation to come from outside of the theatre sector, giving fresh viewpoints. Playwrights included in this project include Vinay Patel and Abi Zakarian as well as HighTide Associates Chino Odimba and Aisha Zia.
‘We are delighted to be partnering with LCC to develop this new approach to addressing inequalities in our industry. It’s so important that to ensure increased development and exposure for underrepresented voices within the arts, that we are working with the very best young minds to ensure the best possibilities for change. We are sure this will not just develop new ways of thinking but also a practical model and toolkit for change
UEA and HighTide have supported each other’s work over a number of years and we are thrilled to now begin this partnership with one of the foremost creative higher education organisations in the East of England. We can’t wait to see the results and successes from this partnership affect real change in our local communities.’
Rowan Rutter, Executive Director, HighTide
HighTide’s partnership with the University of East Anglia (UEA) is being devised with the goal of delivering bespoke support and training on creative partnerships and community engagement to practitioners at HE level.
ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY PRESIDENT ATTENDS ONLINE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Royal Shakespeare Company’s President, HRH The Prince of Wales, joined RSC Board Members, Governors and Honorary Governors at the Company’s Annual General Meeting, which covered the financial year 2019 – 2020. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic this year’s AGM took place on Friday 6 November as a closed meeting with only formal business taking place.
Joining the RSC’s Chair, Nigel Hugill, Artistic Director, Gregory Doran and Executive Director, Catherine Mallyon, HRH The Prince of Wales spoke about his passion for theatre and live performance and offered his ongoing support to the RSC and wider theatre industry as they continue to face the ongoing impact of the crisis.
HRH The Prince of Wales said: “It’s only when you haven’t got access to arts and cultural activities that you realise how much you miss them and also that you realise just how much of an impact that must be having on all of those wonderful people who are part of the great theatrical community, whose whole lives and livelihoods revolve around being able to express their talent and their art.
I wanted to say, more than anything else, how much admiration I have for the amazing resilience and professionalism of the Company as it deals with the most challenging period possible in its history and I want to congratulate everybody involved, from every corner of the RSC, for managing to continue to produce performance of some kind in such difficult circumstances.
I wish the company every success and the swiftest possible return to some sort of normality as the nation recovers from this extraordinarily difficult period, when the Royal Shakespeare Company’s inspiration will be needed more than ever”.
HRH The Prince of Wales also spoke of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s ‘invaluable contribution to the nation’s cultural life’ and his admiration for the RSC’s ongoing efforts to support young people and teachers around the country during the crisis through initiatives such as the Shakespeare Learning Zone website and the Homework Help appeal which saw over 100,000 young people receive advice on performing and studying Shakespeare in home and in the classroom from RSC Actors and alumni.
RSC Artistic Director, Gregory Doran, spoke of the work achieved by the Company and the many different productions that were playing, and projects that were being worked on when theatres were closed in March at the end of the financial year, plus the ongoing challenges the Company continues to face. He also praised the work of the RSC team, its freelance community and many supporters.
Commenting on the year 2019/2020, Artistic Director Gregory Doran said: “At the point at which our theatres were forced to close in March, we were in Newcastle Theatre Royal with Measure for Measure, As You Like It, and The Taming of the Shrew on our UK tour.
In Stratford, the get-out of The Boy in the Dress was underway, and a West End transfer was planned. The company in the Swan Theatre were in the last week of The Whip and King John, with the third play in that repertoire A Museum in Baghdad due to have a London run at The Kiln Theatre. In The Other Place, Projekt Europa was in the final stages of rehearsals. At the Cambridge Theatre, Matilda The Musical was to move into its tenth year in the West End, while at the Ambassadors Theatre Kunene and the King was entering its last fortnight of performances.
With memorable successes for the Company in 2019/2020, it is particularly important to acknowledge the exceptional work of so many people, and the ongoing support of our funders and donors that has been so clearly demonstrated and welcomed since the pandemic began.
We want to welcome our audiences back, to re-open again and to help our regional and wider economy rebuild itself, bringing people back into our towns and cities and we want our brilliant workforce, permanent and freelance, to be back doing what they do best, making live theatre.
We will continue to respond creatively to the ongoing crisis and look forward with optimism to 2021 when our postponed productions of The Winter’s Tale and The Comedy of Errors finally make it to the stage, and for Matilda The Musical to re-open at the Cambridge Theatre alongside other shows to reignite the vital West End economy.”
During the AGM Gregory Doran also spoke of the company’s extensive performance, event and education activity which continues to take place online whilst the RSC remains closed to in person audiences. Initiatives discussed included the Share Your Shakespeare digital project inviting audiences to play their part in keeping the work of Shakespeare alive under lockdown, launched in collaboration with the Folger Library in the US, Shakespeare Snapshots, the RSC’s programme of outdoor Shakespeare in Stratford, which proved incredibly popular with audiences throughout August and September and the broadcast of six RSC titles as part of the BBC’s Culture in Quarantine programme which were viewed by 1 million people during the summer of 2020.
Gregory Doran also spoke of the company’s intention to welcome back visitors as soon as it was safe to do so this Winter with small-scale socially distanced performances in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The performances will also be streamed into homes to enable audience from further afield to join with details soon to be announced.
The Company is planning to hold an EGM in January 2021 where the RSC’s audited accounts for the 2019/20 financial year will be available.
will play Riverside Studios on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December
Dominic Ferris and Martin Milnes will bring their fun-packed variety extravaganza Ferris & Milnes – Christmas Cracker! to Riverside Studios on Saturday 12and Sunday 13 December 2020 at 8pm.
Audiences can expect the unexpected, as well as the Christmas favourites they know and love, in a heart-warming, foot-tapping seasonal shindig which is sure to delight the whole family. Further details are to be announced.
Described as “the most exciting musical theatre double act to be discovered in years” (West End Frame), Dominic Ferris and Martin Milnes are a unique combination. Dominic is a pianist extraordinaire; Martin has ‘two voices’. Together they combine comedy, music and vocals in a dynamic cocktail of explosive Broadway glamour and fun!
Ferris & Milnes made their debut at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in Stephen Sondheim’s 85th Birthday Gala, performing their signature mash-up medley 33 Sondheim Numbers In 5 Minutes. Their debut West End show played at Ambassadors Theatre, and they have been seen annually at West End LIVE in Trafalgar Square. Ferris & Milnes’ Gershwin mash-up premiered at the Rose Theater, Lincoln Center, New York. Earlier this year they created We’ll Meet Again, a morale-boosting music film dedicated to the theatre industry featuring the late Dame Vera Lynn and many West End stars.
Ferris & Milnes – Christmas Cracker! is produced by James Quaife and Robin Rayner of New Frame Productions, in association with Ferris & Milnes.
James Quaife and Robin Rayner of New Frame Productions said: “We are incredibly proud to be producing an outstanding line-up of theatrical events as part of our Live at Riverside series this Christmas. During these troubling times for the live events and theatre industries, we are immensely grateful to all the artists, agents, production teams and everyone at Riverside Studios for having belief and trust that we can create something a little bit joyous and socially distant at the end of such a tough year. It has been an absolute pleasure to work with the extraordinarily talented Ferris & Milnes on bringing their Christmas Cracker to the audiences of Hammersmith and we look forward to hearing the sound of applause once more.”
Ferris & Milnes said: “We hope that Christmas Cracker will bring audiences escapism and merriment as this eventful year draws to a close. This season, more than ever, we celebrate the hope and joy that Christmas can bring; looking forward to a new year in which faithful friends who are dear to us will be near to us once more.”
Social distancing measures will be in operation at Riverside Studios, with audiences being seated in households. All patrons, unless they have a known medical condition, will be required to wear a face covering at the venue. In case of cancellation, Riverside Studios will offer tickets holders a full refund. For full details on the measures implemented to ensure audience safety and wellbeing, please visit: www.riversidestudios.co.uk.
Transport: The nearest tube is Hammersmith (Piccadilly & District Lines) at roughly 6 minutes walk. You can also take the Hammersmith & City line which is roughly 10 minutes walk. For full transport details, visit: https://www.riversidestudios.co.uk/visit/getting-here.
Thomas Hopkins & Michael Quinn for Ginger Quiff Media in association with Guy Chapman and Bailey Harris-Kelly Digital streaming announced for Falling Stars with Peter Polycarpou and Sally Ann Triplett Streaming worldwide: Sunday 22nd – Sunday 29th November 2020
Peter Polycarpou (Man of La Mancha, London Coliseum; City of Angels; Donmar Warehouse; Birds of a Feather) and Sally Ann Triplett’s (Finding Neverland, Broadway; Viva Forever, Piccadilly Theatre; EastEnders) Falling Stars will be going digital this winter. Following the impending cancellation of live performances, the company quickly came together to create a filmed adaptation, providing audiences with an unmissable opportunity to experience the 1920s revelry from their own home during lockdown. With theatres forced to close their doors, Ginger Quiff are aiming to make the theatrical experience accessible for all.
Falling Stars is the charming story of a lost songbook; hidden away in an antique shop on the East Finchley High Road, its discovery unlocks the beautiful refrains of a bygone era. Conceived and written by Polycarpou, the song cycle is an homage to the composers, collaborators, and publishers of the 1920s, who created some of the greatest music of all time.
This musical revue captures the spirit of the age as Polycarpou and Triplett serenade audiences with the music of Charlie Chaplin, Irving Berlin, Buddy De-Silva, Ray Henderson, Vincent Youmans, Carl Schraubstader, Arthur Freed, and Meredith Wilson. Directed by Michael Strassen (Godspell 50th Anniversary concert; Billy; Assassins), Falling Stars will be available digitally from Sunday 22nd through to Sunday 29th November 2020.
Thomas Hopkins of Ginger Quiff Media comments, We’re incredibly grateful to stream.theatre for stepping in to support us and facilitate our production. Once again this gives us hope in this crazy world that we are living in, that our theatrical community will come together to support each other through different mediums such as streaming, as the show must go on!
People who had previously purchased tickets to the live event can either transfer their booking to the newly rescheduled dates in January (9th and 10th), switch their ticket to a streaming option and donate the difference to the production and the Union Theatre, or receive a full refund. Please contact the Union Theatre’s box office on [email protected] to make the necessary changes.
WITH DAME JUDI DENCH, SIR DEREK JACOBI, SIR IAN MCKELLEN AND DAME MAGGIE SMITH
HOSTED BY SIR KENNETH BRANAGH
Lockdown Theatre, in association with Acting for Others today announces ForOne Knight Only, a special evening of intimate conversation with British acting legends Dame Judi Dench, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Maggie Smith hosted by Sir Kenneth Branagh. The live Q&A will take place via Zoomon Sunday 29 November at 7pm and there will be opportunities for audience members to participate throughout the event.
All proceeds will be donated to leading theatrical charity Acting for Others who provide emotional and financial support to theatre workers in times of need through its 14 member charities. For more information and to buy tickets please visit: www.RtfLockdown.com – all tickets must be booked in advance and box office closes 1 hour before.
This is the latest from Lockdown Theatre, a quarantine initiative set up to present exclusive live table reads with all-star casts, raising money to support Acting for Others. Previous events have included Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot, NoëI Coward’s Private Lives and Tom Stoppard’s The Real Inspector Hound, with actors including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Emilia Clarke, Robert Lindsay, Joanna Lumley, Michael Palin, Jennifer Saunders and Emma Thompson, raising over £112,000 for those in need.
Producer of Lockdown Theatre, Rob Grant,said today, “We began this initiative when Robert Lindsay suggested we considered donating our proceeds to the RTF charity, a charity that is part of Acting for Others. In this climate, it sounded like a truly worthy cause, and we decided to mount future productions entirely for the benefit of the charity, and via them, the performing arts industry, which is suffering so hideously from the restrictions on live entertainment, with no clear end in sight. We enjoy putting the shows on, the cast enjoy performing them, and the audiences enjoy watching. It’s a three-way win.”
A special thank you to Corbin and King at The Wolseley for their generous support.
Sir Kenneth Branagh is an Oscar and Golden-Globe nominated actor, producer, writer and director. For the Kenneth Branagh Theatre company, founded in 2015, his credits include The Entertainer, Romeo and Juliet, The Painkiller, The Winter’s Tale, All On Her Own and Harlequinade (Garrick Theatre). Further theatre credits include Ivanov (Wyndham’s Theatre), Edmond (National Theatre) and Henry V (Barbican); and for TV his credits include Wallander, Shackleton and Conspiracy. His credits as a film director include adaptations of Shakespeare’s Henry V (Academy Award-nomination for Best Actor and Best Director), Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Love’s Labour’s Lost, As You Like it and Hamlet (Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay). Further film credits as a director include Thor, Cinderella, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Murder on the Orient Express; and film credits as an actor includes as Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, My Week with Marilyn, Dunkirk and Tenet.
Dame Judi Dench is an Oscar and Golden-Globe award-winning British actor. With a career spanning 63 years, her most recent theatre credits include The Winter’s Tale (Garrick Theatre), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Rose Theatre), Filumena (Piccadilly Theatre) and The Seagull (National Theatre). Having made her professional stage debut in 1957 with the Old Vic company, she went on to become a leading Shakespearean performer, eight times Olivier Award-winner, working frequently with the National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company in a host of leading roles including Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth. Her TV credits include Cranford, Angelina Ballerina and As Time Goes By.Her film credits include Notes on a Scandal (Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Chocolat (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Shakespeare in Love (Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress), Mrs Brown (Academy Award nomination for Best Actress) and she played the role of M in the Bond films between 1995 and 2015.
Sir Derek Jacobi is a BAFTA award-winning, and Golden Globe-nominated British actor. He made his 1986 West End debut as Alan Turing in Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code, his other theatre credits include Don Carlos (Sheffield Theatres/Gielgud Theatre), King Lear (Donmar Warehouse/National Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Garrick Theatre), The Tempest (Old Vic), Cyrano de Bergerac (Barbican – Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Revival), Voyage Round My Father (Donmar Warehouse), Twelfth Night (Wyndham’s Theatre/Apollo Theatre – Oliver Award for Best Actor) and Much Ado About Nothing (Gershwin Theatre – Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play). His film credits include Gladiator, Gosford Park, Last Tango in Halifax, Dead Again and The Tenth Man (Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special) while his extensive television credits include I, Claudius,Doctor Who, Inside Number 9 and The Crown.
Sir Ian McKellen is a Golden Globe award-winning British actor with a career spanning a wide variety of theatre and screen roles. He spent 2019 travelling across the UK with his one-man show Ian McKellen On Stage (Olivier Award for Special Recognition), other theatre credits include Macbeth (National Theatre), The Seagull (Royal Shakespeare Company), Waiting for Godot (Haymarket Theatre) and King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre/Duke of York’s). For TV his credits include, as himself in Extras and The Simpsons, Doctor Who, Rasputin: Dark Servant of Destiny and The Prisoner. His film roles include as Gandalf in Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, The Golden Compass, Cats, Richard III, Gods and Monsters (Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role), and the X-Men franchise.
Dame Maggie Smith is an Academy Award-winning British actor with an extensive stage, film and television career. Her theatre credits include Hedda Gabler (National Theatre), The Way of the World (Haymarket Theatre), Three Tall Women (Wyndham’s Theatre), Lettice and Lovage (Globe Theatre/Ethel Barrymore Theatre – Tony Award for Lead Actress) and A German Life (Bridge Theatre). Her TV credits include as Countess Violet Crawley in Downton Abbey; and for film her credits include The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Academy Award for Best Actress), California Suite (Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Tea With Mussolini (BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress), Othello (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress), Travels with my Aunt (Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), A Room with a View (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress) and Gosford Park (Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress),andshe played Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter film series between 2001 to 2011.
Interim Creative Director, Rachel Tackley today announces Riverside Studios’ 2020 Christmas season. Highlights include award-winning actor and comedian Eddie Izzard’s solo show; a preview of Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens. The full programme commences on 2 December and runs until 24 December.
Further highlights includes the Live At Riverside residency from New Frame Productions who will present a variety of diverse theatrical events, including the UK première of TheChristmas Drag Roast 2020 with stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK:Divina De Campo, Blu Hydrangea, Sum Ting Wong, Crystal and hosted by Baga Chipz.
The Live At Riverside line-up also presents Ferris and Milnes – Christmas Cracker,which sees the popular double act perform festive favourites in addition to their classic mashups from seminal West End and Broadway shows. Shazia Mirza alsohostsFunny Women – Live Stand Up with comedians Jayde Adams, Jen Brister and Felicity Ward.
Additionally, the brightest stars of the West End, including The Prince of Egypt’sChristine Allado, Follies’ Norma Atallah andHamilton’s Sharon Rose perform songs from iconic festive family favourites in Christmas at the Movies. The week-long run features music presented by a twelve piece orchestra from movies including Home Alone, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Love Actually, The Polar Express and The Preacher’s Wife and is directed by Omar F. Okai with musical direction by Chris Poon. New Frame Productions will presents further seasonal highlights, with more details to be announced. Finally, completing the season is the previously announced family favourite Dear Santa Live, directed by Tim Wallers and adapted for the stage by beloved children’s writer Rod Campbell.
Interim Creative Director, Rachel Tackley today said, “It has been such a joy to work with all the outstanding artists and producers who have worked tirelessly to put this programme together and I am so thrilled to be able to announce our first ever Christmas Season in our glorious new building. Come December, we want to be able to offer audiences an opportunity to forget their worries and come and have a great time.”
Tony Lankester, Interim Executive Director,said today, “From children’s shows to comedy to musical theatre or drag our alternate Christmas season promises to be the light at the end of the tunnel. This has been a challenging year for so many, and we hope that a morning, afternoon or evening at Riverside will offer entertainment, escape and ultimately joy!”
Alongside live performance, Riverside’s cinema offering will continue through December, including a range of independent, arthouse films, classics and special one-off events. From 2 December, the Bar and Kitchen will be offering fantastic food alongside some Christmas specials, with the venue’s legendary mulled wine taking centre stage.
Social distancing measures will be in operation at Riverside Studios, with audiences being seated in households. All patrons, unless they have a known medical condition, will be required to wear a face covering at the venue. In case of cancellation, Riverside Studios will offer tickets holders a full refund. For full details on the measures implemented to ensure audience safety and wellbeing, please visit: www.riversidestudios.co.uk
A tale of convicts, mystery, friendship, rivalry, unrequited love, revenge and redemption.
Actor, comedian – Eddie’s career spans both of these with record-breaking comedy tours and critically acclaimed film, TV and theatre performances. But few know that it was acting that was Eddie’s first love. This preview show offers the chance to see Eddie as he follows in Dickens’ footsteps with his solo live performance of the master storyteller’s much-loved classic.
Eddie Izzard is one of the most celebrated actors and comedians of his generation. His performance in Dress to Kill earned him a New York Drama Desk Award and two Emmy Awards. Izzard has also achieved great success with his comedy stand up shows. Izzard made his West End stage debut in 1993 in his one-man show Live at the Ambassadors, in which he received an Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement. Live at the Ambassadors was followed by a succession of critically-acclaimed shows including Unrepeatable, Definite Article, Glorious, Dress to Kill, Circle, Sexieand Stripped and Force Majeure – which played in over 30 countries. His stage credits include The Cryptogram, 900 Oneonta (Ambassadors Theatre), Edward II (Haymarket Theatre), and A Day In The Death of Joe Egg (Comedy Theatre/ American Airlines Theatre). For TV, Izzard’s credits include Powers, Hannibal, The Riches, Castles In The Sky, Treasure Island and Lost Christmas, and for film credits include Victoria and Abdul, Valkyrie, Ocean’s Thirteen and Ocean’s Twelve, Across the Universe, Mystery Men, Shadow of the Vampire, and The Cat’s Meow.
On March 20, 2016, Izzard completed 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa as a tribute to Nelson Mandela and raised over £2.6 million ($3.3 million) for Sport Relief, a charity that helps improve the lives of people in impoverished countries. In 2009, Izzard ran 43 marathons in 51 days through England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland for charity and helped raise £1.8 million ($2.7 million) for Sport Relief. In January 2020 Eddie ran the first part of his ‘Make Humanity Great Again’ journey, an epic charity challenge running through 29 European capital cities over 29 non-stop gruelling days.
NEW FRAME PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS: LIVE AT RIVERSIDE
New Frame Productions presents the UK Première
THE CHRISTMAS DRAG ROAST 2020
4 & 5 December 2020
The UK’s very first Christmas Drag Roast featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestants Divina De Campo, Blu Hydrangea, Crystal and Sum Ting Wong premieres at Riverside Studios this December hosted by Baga Chipz!
The Christmas library is officially open for these Queens to throw almighty shade at one another in the most dramatic, iconic and hilarious drag roasts ever witnessed.
Don’t miss this evening of mayhem as they tear off their cracker crowns and light the figgy pudding with their flaming tongues, during what promises to be a phenomenal night of entertainment. They will roast each other better than your Grandma roasts the Christmas turkey!
Meet & Greets will take place after each performance in a separate space and will be socially distanced.
Recommended Age: 16+
New Frame Productions presents
FUNNY WOMEN: LIVE STAND UP!
11 December 2020
Escape your living room for an evening of laughter and joy with some of the UK’s funniest female comedians.
Hosted by the hilarious Shazia Mirza and starring Jayde Adams, Jen Brister and Felicity Ward, these funny women are sure to offer one of the most raucous nights out you have had in a very… very long time!
New Frame Productions presents
FERRIS AND MILNES – CHRISTMAS CRACKER
12 & 13 December 2020
Dominic Ferris and Martin Milnes are a unique combination. Dominic is a pianist extraordinaire; Martin has ‘two voices’. Together they combine comedy, music and vocals in a dynamic cocktail of explosive West End glamour and fun! They couldn’t possibly be planning madcap musical mayhem, merriment and mirth for Riverside Studios … or could they…?
Expect the unexpected, plus all the Christmas favourites you know and love, in this heart-warming, foot-tapping seasonal shindig. Further special guests to be announced.
Ferris and Milnes made their debut at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in Stephen Sondheim’s 85th Birthday Gala, performing their signature mash-up medley ’33 Sondheim Numbers In 5 Minutes’. Their debut West End show played at Ambassadors Theatre, and they perform annually at West End LIVE in Trafalgar Square. Ferris and Milnes’ Gershwin mash-up premièred at the Rose Theater, Lincoln Center, New York. Earlier this year they created We’ll Meet Again, a morale-boosting music film dedicated to the theatre industry featuring the late Dame Vera Lynn and many West End stars.
New Frame Productions presents
CHRISTMAS AT THE MOVIES
Directed by Omar F. Okai & Musical Direction by Chris Poon
16 – 20 December 2020
The biggest and brightest stars from London’s West End, including Christine Allado, Norma Atallah and Sharon Rose come together with an incredible live orchestra to celebrate the festive season. With music from some of the most iconic Christmas films ever made, including Home Alone, The Holiday, The Preacher’s Wife, Love Actually, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Polar Express this special evening is sure to delight everyone, even the Grinches and Scrooges out there.
This unique and stunning celebration stars West End royalty and features a glorious twelve-piece orchestra in one of the most joyous and heart-warming shows this Christmas.
Christine Allado’s theatre credits include ThePrince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre), Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre), In The Heights (King’s Cross Theatre) and Sweet Charity (Royal Exchange Theatre).
Norma Atallah’s theatre credits include Follies (National Theatre), Les Misérables (Barbican/Palace Theatre/Queen’s Theatre), Cats (London Palladium), Chicago (Curve Theatre), Pirates of Penzance (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Oklahoma! (Palace Theatre), Evita (Prince Edward Theatre); and for film credits include Beauty and the Beast and Mamma Mia!
Sharon Rose’s theatre credits include Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre), Caroline or Change (Chichester Festival Theatre/Playhouse Theatre), Motown The Musical (Shaftesbury Theatre) and Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (Aldwych Theatre). Sharon will appear in the upcoming Netflix film Jingle Jangle.
Omar F. Okai is the award-winning director and choreographer of over sixty plays and musicals, produced internationally. He is the co-director and Founder of the Black British Theatre Awards and Artistic Director of The Okai Collier Company. He recently directed The Last Five Years (Minack Theatre), Annie and Peter Pan (Shanghai, China).
Chris Poon’s theatre credits include Rent, The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (Hope Mill Theatre), Legend Trippers (The Other Palace), In the Heights (Bridewell Theatre), Timpson: The Musical (King’s Head Theatre) and Nice Work If You Can Get It (Upstairs at the Gatehouse).
RIVERSIDE STUDIOS LISTINGS
Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline Street, Hammersmith, London W6 9BN
THE SHOW MUST GO ON! CINDERELLA WILL GO TO THE BALL THIS CHRISTMAS!
THE STRICTLY FINALIST AND MAGICALLY MARVELOUS DEBBIE MCGEE JOINS THEATRE ROYAL WINDSOR FOR THE MOST MAGICAL PANTOMIME OF ALL!
WINDSOR’S TRADITIONAL PANTOMIME WILL GO AHEAD – NOW OPENING ON THU 3 DEC
DEBBIE MCGEE JOINS THE LEGENDARY FUNNY FOX, BASIL BRUSH IN WHAT PROMISES TO BE THE MOST MAGICAL EVENT OF THE YEAR!
WINDSOR FAVOURITES KEVIN CRUISE & STEVEN BLAKELEY, RETURN FOR THEIR 11th and 12th HILARIOUS APPEARANCE IN THE ANNUAL WINDSOR PANTOMIME
WRITTEN BY STEVEN BLAKELEY & DIRECTED BY CAROLE TODD
Fashionably late, but – CINDERELLA shall go to the ball this Christmas!
Theatre Royal Windsor is delighted to announce that our traditional annual pantomime WILL be going ahead from Thursday 3 December when the New National Restrictions expire.
Theatre Royal Windsor’s Co-Directors Anne-Marie & Jon Woodley said: “Sadly, Theatre Royal Windsor has had to close its doors once again, but The Show Must Go On!
“We have been working hard on plans to reschedule this year’s pantomime. The Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has confirmed that rehearsals can go ahead during the lockdown period, so we are aiming to be back open just as soon as possible … the curtain will rise once more and Cinderella shall go to the Ball!”
Alongside the announcement of our new opening date, we have further exciting news: We are delighted to announce that the one and only Debbie McGee will star as Cinderella’s magical Fairy Godmother!
Debbie has appeared in numerous pantomimes over the years and is delighted to be joining us in Windsor this Christmas.
Featuring Theatre Royal Windsor’s traditional pantomime comedy capers, with a sprinkle of fairy dust, dazzling dancers, colourful costumes and a glittering starcast featuring Strictly Finalist and icon from the world of Magic Debbie McGee and not forgetting the little fox with the big laugh … Basil Brush!
Joining Debbie and Basil are Windsor favourites, calamitous comedian Kevin Cruise and dotty Dame Steven Blakeley in their 11th year in Panto together at Theatre Royal Windsor.
We are also delighted to announce some returning faces, as well as some brandnew ones! Joining us for their very first Windsor Panto this year will be Alice Fillary in the role of Cinderella and Dominic Sibanda as our handsome Prince Charming, joined by Joe Thompson-Oubari as Dandini and Rhiannon Bacchus, Billie Hardy, Sarah Kacey, Jamie Corner, Milo Quinton and Nathan Vaughan-Harris who complete our fantastic line up for the season.
Join us for what is set to be an extra special Panto this year!
Lambert JacksonProductions today announce that their critically acclaimed production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For a New Worldwill transfer to the Vaudeville Theatre for a strictly limited run from 9 February, with previews from 5 February, running until 7 March. This comes after the huge success of the production at The London Palladiumin early October, where it was the first new musical to be staged in the West End since the Covid-19 pandemic.
★★★★★
“A tear-jerking, heart-pumping winner”
Broadway World
Séimí Campbell directs David Hunter (Man 2), Rachel John (Woman 1), Cedric Neal (Man 1), Rachel Tucker (Woman 2) and Shem Omari James (Featured Role), who all reprise their roles from the London Palladium production.With musical direction by Josh Winstone, musical supervision by Adam Hoskins, lighting design by Jack Knowles, sound design by Jonny Dickie of Robins Audio and design consultancy by Madeleine Girling.
Jamie Lambert and Eliza Jackson, CEO and Creative Director of Lambert Jackson Productions, today said, “This show garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim when it played the London Palladium in early October, and we are hugely grateful to the brilliant team at Nimax for working with us to bring this phenomenal production to the Vaudeville. The show reflects so brilliantly all that is happening in our world right now, whilst also providing hope and light in a time where so many theatre fans are feeling the effect that the pandemic has had on our industry. We can’t wait for more people to see this production in all its glory in a West End run.”
It’s about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice… or take a stand… or turn around and go back. These are the stories and characters of today, the Songs for a New World. The first musical from Tony Award winner, Jason Robert Brown, this moving collection of powerful songs examines life, love and the choices that we make.
Songs For A New World transports audiences through time and space to meet a startling array of characters – every one of them so different, but all representing our world today and our hopes for a new world… a better world.
Jason Robert Brown is a three-time Tony Award winning composer and lyricist. His theatre credits include 13,The Bridges of Madison County, The Last Five Years – which was also adapted into a film in 2015 starring Anna Kendrick, Parade – which won a Tony Award for Best Score, Honeymoon in Vegas and Urban Cowboy – which he co-wrote with Jeff Blumenkrantz.
David Hunter is reprising his role of Man 2. He appeared in Lambert Jackson’s Leave a Light On, and in concert with Lucie Jones during lockdown. His theatre credits include Waitress, Kinky Boots (Adelphi Theatre), Once (Phoenix Theatre), One Man, Two Guvnors (National Theatre, Adelphi Theatre and UK tour), Tommy (Prince Edward Theatre), Seussical (Arts Theatre), The Hired Man (Curve Leicester and Mercury Theatre Colchester) and Pub and Spinach (Royal Exchange Theatre). For television, he was a participant in ITV’s Superstar – the search to find the lead for the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar. For film, he appeared in Nativity 3.
Rachel John is reprising her role of Woman 1.Her theatre credits include Hamilton (Victoria Palace Theatre), The Color Purple – In Concert (Cadogan Hall), The Bodyguard (Dominion Theatre/UK tour), Memphis (Shaftesbury Theatre), Rent (UK tour), We Will Rock You, Sister Act (London Palladium) and The Lion King (Lyceum Theatre/international tour).
Cedric Neal is reprising his role of Man 1. His theatre credits include Back To The Future (Manchester Opera House), The View Upstairs (Soho Theatre), Stagger Lee, Death of a Salesman (Dallas Theater Center), Porgy and Bess (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), and Dreamgirls (Signature Theatre). His credits for television include Friday Night Lights and The Good Guys.
Shem Omari James is reprising his Featured Role. He is a 2020 graduate of ArtsEd, and made his professional debut in Songs For A New World (The London Palladium).
Rachel Tucker is reprising her role of Woman 2. Her theatre credits include Come From Away (Phoenix Theatre), Wicked (Apollo Victoria/The Gershwin Theater), Communicating Doors (Menier Chocolate Factory), The Last Ship (Neil Simon Theatre), Farragut North (Southwark Playhouse), We Will Rock You (Dominion Theatre), Dusty (Leicester Square Theatre), The Wizard of Oz, To Be Sure, Merry Christmas Betty Ford (Belfast Lyric Theatre), Tonight’s The Night, Tommy and The Full Monty (UK tour).
Séimí Campbell directs. His previous credits include My Son Pinocchio (Southwark Playhouse). As an assistant director his credits include Come From Away (Phoenix Theatre) and Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre); and as resident director credits include Amour (Charing Cross Theatre), Cereal Café (The Other Palace) and Sweeney Todd (Shoreditch Town Hall).
A star cast will join Brian Conley in the new, musical staged concert of Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens and Mike Ockrent’s A Christmas Carol, which is set to play a strictly limited season at the Dominion Theatre in London. Performances run from Monday 7 December 2020 to Saturday 2 January 2021 (Press Night: Monday 14 December at 7:00pm).
I’m A Celebrity…2019 winner Jacqueline Jossa will join the cast as Emily/Ghost of Christmas Future. Jacqueline is an award-winning actress who played Lauren Branning in BBC1’s Eastenders from 2010-2018.
Matt Jay-Willis will play Bob Cratchit. Matt’s band Busted were one of the biggest pop success stories of the early noughties, and he has since starred in Wicked and Little Shop of Horrors in the West End.
Joining them are acclaimed performers Lucie Jones (Waitress, Rent, The X-Factor finalist), who will play The Ghost of Christmas Past, Sandra Marvin (Emmerdale,Waitress) who will be Mrs Fezziwig and Martyn Ellis (My Fair Lady, One Man, Two Guvnors) who will play her husband Mr Fezziwig.
Cedric Neal (The Voice, Motown The Musical, Back To The Future The Musical) will be The Ghost of Christmas Present, Jeremy Secomb (The Phantom of the Opera, Jerry Springer: The Opera) takes the role of Jacob Marley, Rebecca Lock (Heathers, Curtains) will play Mrs Cratchit and Sam Oladeinde (Hamilton, The Book of Mormon) will be Fred Anderson/Young Scrooge.
The staged concert will star TV comedy legend and West End star Brian Conley (9 to 5, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Jolson [Olivier nomination], Hairspray) as the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge, who will be joined on stage by an orchestra and cast of over 50.
The musical brings Dickens’ timeless fable to glorious life: telling the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean-spirited miser who does not believe in the power of Christmas. But on a Christmas Eve filled with memorable characters, spectacular songs, ghostly apparitions and journeys to the past, present and future, Scrooge acknowledges his mistakes and discovers the joy of redemption. With a sparkling Broadway score played by the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, an all-star cast and a touch of festive magic, A Christmas Carol at the Dominion is the must-see West End production this December.
Written by the critically acclaimed team of Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast), Lynn Ahrens (Anastasia, Ragtime) and Mike Ockrent (Me and My Girl, Crazy for You), the stage musical of A Christmas Carol first premiered in 1994 at New York’s Paramount Theatre. It ran for a decade at Madison Square Garden, and was seen by over 5 million people, becoming a firm Christmas tradition. The London Musical Theatre Orchestra (LMTO) have previously performed A Christmas Carol to sell-out audiences and five-star reviews in 2016, 2017 and 2018 at the Lyceum Theatre in London’s West End.
The creative team is led by director Shaun Kerrison, who has helmed several previous concert productions for LMTO (A Christmas Carol, Mack and Mabel, Candide) as well as BBC Proms My Fair Lady and Kiss Me, Kate, with Freddie Tapner (founder of LMTO) as Musical Director. Sound Design is by Nick Lidster for Autograph (Jesus Christ Superstar, The Band), Design is by DoraSchweitzer (The Wipers Times), Musical Staging is by Tim Jackson (Merrily We Roll Along, The Season), Lighting Design is by Mike Robertson (Sunday in the Park with George), Projection Design is by George Reeve (Six Broadway, Rogers and Hammersteins’s Cinderella) and Casting is by Jim Arnold CDG (Wicked, The Prince of Egypt).
With soaring melodies, moving lyrics and a moral for our times, this will be a Christmas event to reunite families after the hardest year in living memory.
A Christmas Carol is produced by Freddie Tapner for the London Musical Theatre Orchestra and Gary England. LMTO isthe world’s only professional orchestra dedicated solely to performing works of musical theatre.
COVID-19 safety measures and social distancing will be in place front of house, on stage, backstage and throughout the Dominion Theatre.
If you become unable to attend, unwell or are having to isolate, you will be able to exchange your tickets free of charge up to 24 hours before your performance.
RB Health & Safety Solutions are providing COVID security and testing strategies for the production.
A Christmas Carol is a strictly limited run from 7th December 2020 to 2nd January 2021. The hit musical The Prince of Egypt will resume its run at the Dominion Theatre in the Spring of 2021, pending UK Government advice.
