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London Irish Centre – until 25 August.  Reviewed by Sabrina Fancy

3***

Ever wonder what attending a real life beauty pageant feels like? Enter the comedy based on a beauty pageant aptly called- Pageant.

This musical spoof is set in the US where 6 contestants compete for the chance to be crowned as ‘ Miss Glamouresse’ (A prominent cosmetics company).

Set in the US the contestants consists include Miss Deep South, Miss West Coast, Miss Great Plains, Miss Bible Belt, Miss Texas and Miss Industrial Northeast. The contestants embody the biggest clichés and stereotypes of the areas they represent, which can be quite amusing at times! However, many of the jokes are difficult to get, unless you are quite familiar with the cultures of the various US states.

What is different about Pageant is the fact that the entire cast is played by males, and very convincingly as well!

The smarmy host and contestants of the pageant play their role with gusto and songs pepper the show as it goes through the various traditional pageant rituals, starting with the talent portion.

This section showcased each contestant (one right after another) various talents. Some of the talents were rather bizarre as opposed to amusing, including an odd puppet show, a ventriloquist and a dated interpretative dance. It dragged on and would have been far more enjoyable had it been shorter or the contests were all on stage at the same time performing almost simultaneously.

This continues with evening gown portion where the costumes are brilliant and over the top and there is lots of glitter and glam and followed by the swimsuit along with their spokes model abilities.

There is a lot of audience participation, as members from the audience are selected as the ‘judges’ and has the final say on the winner. While I have never attended a pageant, the show made me feel that I was at a real one because of glamour!

The show picks up after the interval, especially with the physical fitness routine but sadly, it’s not enough to save this ageing production. While the concept of the show is a good one, it falls short- not due to the performances which were stellar- but by the actual material which was dated and felt a bit flat as there was not nearly enough bitchiness or drama that you would expect.

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MUSICAL ‘IN GAY COMPANY’ MAKES WEST END DEBUT

In Gay Company, the stylish musical revue by Fred Silver, makes its West End debut at the Jermyn Street Theatre later this month for a limited run.

First opened off Broadway in 1974, the original production was nominated for “Best Score” by the New York Drama Critic Circle in 1975. It combines witty cabaret songs and inventive musical numbers, referencing many musical styles as diverse as Broadway, Jazz, Grand Opera, Sondheim and even a gay Gregorian chant!

The musical tells the story of four gay men and a straight woman and their experiences of life in 1960s and 1970s. At a time when same sex relationships had to be hidden for fear of recrimination, In Gay Company exposes the secret language and private relationships that became established between gay men meeting together, be they firemen, monks, ballet dancers, or simply as strangers meeting in a late-night bar.

Amongst these four men is one single lonely lady, who keeps thinking she has found her perfect match — a man so sensitive, so charming and bright… but in the end he turns out to be… well there is only one word for it… Gay!

Directed by Darren Royston, Musical Direction by Tom Wakeley and produced by Tom Wakeley and Philip Noel, the new production stars Matthew Boyd, Kelly Burke, James Hodgson, David Pendlebury and Gary Tushaw.

The show runs from Wednesday 16th to Friday 18th August 7:30pm – Saturday 19th matinee only at 5:00pm.

Musical Director Tom Wakeley said: “It is a true labour of love to bring In Gay Company to the West End stage. As we celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act it is a perfect time to look back on life in a very different age!”

For tickets please click here: https://www.eticketing.co.uk/jermynstreettheatre/list.aspx?tagref=137

Or call the Jermyn Street Theatre Box Office: 020 7287 2875.

Box office opening hours:

 1.00pm-9.00pm (Mon/Fri)

              1.00pm – 9.00pm Saturday
1.00pm – 7.00pm Sunday (if there is a performance)

There is a 24 hour answerphone available at all other times.

Tickets are £20.00 (£17.00 concessions).

ACCLAIMED MUSICAL CRAZY FOR YOU HEADS TO NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL AS PART OF NATIONWIDE TOUR

 

TV and stage favourites Tom Chambers, Caroline Flack and Charlotte Wakefield are to star in the national tour of Crazy for You which plays Newcastle Theatre Royal Tue 12 – Sat 16 Sep ’17.

High energy, high kicking and gloriously glamorous, Crazy for You is the ultimate feel-good musical with a fabulous score from the Gershwin brothers’ songbook. Mistaken identities, plot twists, heartbreak, happiness and a wealth of memorable tunes, including I Got Rhythm, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, Nice Work If You Can Get It and Embraceable You, all feature in this exhilarating celebration of the great Broadway musicals.

Tom Chambers will play the role of ‘Bobby’.  Tom created the role of ‘Jerry Travers’ in the West End musical Top Hat, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. His other stage credits include a recent UK tour of Private Lives and White Christmas in the West End. Tom’s TV credits include the BBC dramas Holby City and Waterloo Road. He also won the 6^th season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008.

Fellow dance floor champion Caroline Flack will make her stage debut as ‘Irene’.  The 2014 Strictly Come Dancing winner can currently be seen hosting ITV’s Love Island and her previous presenting credits include I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here NOW! and The Xtra Factor. She has also presented The X Factor. Prior to presenting, Caroline trained in musical theatre.

West End star Charlotte Wakefield returns to Newcastle Theatre Royal and as ‘Polly’. She last appeared as ‘Laurey’ in Oklahoma! in 2015 and made her West End debut as ‘Wendla’ in Spring Awakening, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award. She played ‘Maria’ in the critically acclaimed production of The Sound of Music at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre receiving nominations for Best Actress in a Musical at both the Evening Standard and Olivier Awards. Her other theatre credits include ‘Sophie’ in Mamma Mia! in the West End and ‘Truly Scrumptious’ in the national tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

High energy, high kicking and gloriously glamorous, Crazy for You is the ultimate feel-good musical with a fabulous score from the Gershwin brothers’ songbook. Mistaken identities, plot twists, heartbreak, happiness and a wealth of memorable tunes, including I Got Rhythm, They Can’t Take That Away From Me, Nice Work If You Can Get It and Embraceable You, all feature in this exhilarating celebration of the great Broadway musicals.

Crazy for You plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 12 until Sat 16 Sep ’17 with evening performances at 7.30pm and matinees on Wed & Thu 2pm and Sat 2.30pm. Tickets from £17.50 can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21.  Calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge or book online at www.theatreroyal.co.uk

FOOTLOOSE: THE MUSICAL BOOGIES INTO SHEFFIELD THIS SUMMER

 

The smash hit production, Footloose: The Musical comes to the Lyceum Theatre stage from Tuesday 29 August – Saturday 2 September.

Based on the 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose: The Musical tells the story of city boy Ren, who moves to a rural backwater in America where dancing is banned. All hell breaks loose when Ren gets the whole town up on its feet dancing. Featuring classic ‘80’s hits including Holding Out for a Hero, Almost Paradise, Let’s Hear it for the Boy and of course the unforgettable Footloose, the production is bursting with dazzling dancing and electrifying music.

 

The cast features Maureen Nolan as Vi Moore, best known for performing with her sisters as The Nolans, before going on to a hugely successful career in musical theatre, most notably as Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers. Joining Maureen are Joshua Dowen (Cool Rider) as Ren McCormack, the role immortalized on screen by Kevin Bacon, Hannah Price (reprising her performance from the 2016 tour), Reuven Gershon (Let It Be), Lindsay Goodhand (Crazy for You), Laura Sillett (Grease), Connor Going (The Pirates of Penzance), Emma Fraser (The Vaudevillians), Gracie Lai (Avenue Q), Laurence Libor (American Idiot), Tomas Wolstenhome (Once), Alex Marshall (Buddy), Dominic Gee Burch, Luke Dowling, Grace Lancaster, Jamie Ross and Lauren Storer.

 

Footloose: The Musical is at the Lyceum Theatre from Tuesday 29 August – Saturday 2 September. Tickets are priced from £17.00 and can be purchased by calling the Box Office on 0114 249 6000 or by visiting sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

 

IS DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE

THREE CONCERT-STYLE WORKSHOP PEFORMANCES OF

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER’S MUSICAL

STARLIGHT EXPRESS  

ON THURSDAY 14, FRIDAY 15 AND

SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER AT 7.30PM

TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY 11 AUGUST AT 12.00NOON

The Other Palace is delighted announce three concert-style workshop performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical STARLIGHT EXPRESS, in The Theatre at The Other Palace on Thursday 14 , Friday 15 and Saturday 16 September at 7.30pm. All tickets are priced £25 and go on sale at 12.00noon on Friday 11 August. Tickets are only available from The Other Palace Box Office, online at theotherpalace.co.uk or by calling 020 7087 7900.

Members of the original creative team of STARLIGHT EXPRESS will collaborate again, along with a group of carefully chosen actors and musicians to explore the piece. Focussing on the score and lyrics, and working for a week before the public showings, Andrew and the team will continue to work on the show in the daytime before evening performances, responding to audience reaction and feedback as they navigate the exciting process of revisiting this classic work.

STARLIGHT EXPRESS originally opened in the West End in 1984 where it ran for over 7000 performances, and continues to run in a purpose built venue in Bochum, Germany where more than 15 million people have seen it. The Bochum production celebrates its 30^th anniversary next year.

The Other Palace opened in February 2017 as a new home for musical theatre. The Other Palace workshops are a great way to utilise what The Other Palace is all about; a place to discover, develop, explore and reimagine work, whether that be new or existing and established pieces.

www.rawpr.co.uk      Twitter @RawPRTweets     Instagram @RawPRTheatre

LISTINGS

STARLIGHT EXPRESS

Tickets: £25

Online: www.theotherpalace.co.uk

Phone: 020 7087 7900

In person:  Box Office is open from 10.00am-6.30pm on show days and 10.00am – 6.00pm on non-show days.  Sundays and Bank Holidays may vary.

Address: 12 Palace St, Westminster, London SW1E 5JA

Cast announced for Talk Radio
Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ
Tuesday 29th August – Saturday 23rd September 2017
Press Night: Thursday 31st August, 7.30pm

 

Cel Spellman (Host of the Sunday Chart Show on Radio 1; Cold Feet, ITV; Cucumber, Channel 4), George Turvey (No Villain, Old Red Lion, Trafalgar Studios; Batman, Live arena tour; Artistic Director of PapaTango theatre company), Andy Secombe (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the
Clones; Mr Gillie, Finborough Theatre) and Molly McNerney will join Matthew Jure (Grantchester, ITV; Downton Abbey, BBC1; The Great Train Robbery, BBC1 and EIFF Best Actor in a Feature Film nominee 2017) to form the cast of Eric Bogosian’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated Talk Radio, thirty years after its inaugural production in New York.

Barry Champlain is abrasive and forthright, the ultimate devil’s advocate, willing to argue just about any point. He lives for his radio show and the minor fame it brings him but his on-air persona is just that: a persona. Barry despises the people he talks to every day; he loathes their views and he abhors their adoration.

His listeners think they know him but Barry is not even sure he knows himself. He is careless and cold with his lover Linda, downright ugly to his best friend and collaborator Stu and spiteful of his producer, the man who made him, Dan. But above all, he detests himself for the lie he is living.

While freedom of the press has always been viewed as important, Bogosian’s play highlights that, in the wrong hands, this freedom can be used to baffle and create prejudice. In a post-truth age of fake news and continued attacks against the press, this landmark hit has never felt more relevant.

Director Sean Turner comments, I’m elated by the cast we’ve put together. Cel is an extraordinary talent and having a bona fide radio guy in the cast helps too! Matthew is going to be a phenom in the central role and I’m thrilled to be building on previous work with George and Andy. Molly is a rare find – she’s going to be huge.

CASA 2017 announce five new shows by the UK’s
most exciting Latin American artists, free play
readings, celebratory parties, and much more
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, Dalston, London E8 3DL
Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD
Festival dates: 3rd September – 28th October 2017

‘Casa’, meaning home in Spanish and Portuguese is exactly what CASA is: a home for Latin American theatre and culture in the UK where artists, audiences and participants of all backgrounds are welcome. To celebrate their tenth anniversary this year, CASA will build a new home at Southwark Playhouse in the heart of London’s biggest Latin American community.

UK Week is an integral part of CASA’s programme, supporting, developing and celebrating the incredible talent of Latin American artists in the UK. The week kicks off with a repertory season of brand new full length works by some of the UK’s most exciting Latin American artists and will conclude with a super Saturday featuring new performances by CASA associate artists such as Victor Esses’s Where to Belong. It will also include a series of open professional development workshops led by Artistic Director Daniel Goldman.

Running alongside UK Week will be an eight-week festival, in partnership with Out Of The Wings, of free play readings by Latin America’s most exciting contemporary voices, showing every Saturday across Arcola and Southwark Playhouse. CASA 2017 will culminate with Here we cook with love by award-winning chef Martin Morales who steps out of the kitchen to share heartfelt
stories from his childhood.

CASA have also released exclusive details of their all day and night opening party on Sunday 3rd September, celebrating the UK’s Latin American connection at Lost Rivers Elephant, and the Arcola’s CASA late night mid-festival party on Saturday 30th September.

The powerful programme for UK Week and beyond is as follows:

Autoreverse by Florencia Cordeu
(Wed 11th Oct, 8pm; Fri 13th Oct, 9.30pm; Sat 14th Oct, 8pm)
Malena returns from Chile with a box of old cassette tapes. Back in the 70s, when her family were political exiles, these tapes were their only way to communicate with relatives back home. Now, alone in London on her 40th birthday, Malena dares to listen to the tapes again in this moving piece about the fragility of memory. Will Malena find the key to her future in the voices from her
past?

Stardust by Miguel Hernando Torres Umba & Blackboard Theatre
(Wed 11th Oct, 9.30pm Thurs 12th Oct, 8pm; Sat 14th Oct, 9.30pm)
Colombian artist Miguel Hernando Torres Umba and Blackboard Theatre invite audiences on a journey into Latin America’s heart of darkness in this brand new visually stunning physical theatre performance that looks at the human cost of the chain of events that turns the sacred coca leaf into a line of cocaine. Combining powerful visual imagery and incredible physicality, Stardust
questions his and the western world’s responsibility in a trade that kills thousands back home in Latin America.

I Occur here by Oh Dear! (Mariana Aristizabal & Malena Arcucci)
(Thurs 12th Oct, 9.30pm; Fri 13th Oct, 8pm, Sat 14th Oct, 6.30pm)
Four performers embark on a journey to start over. But is that even possible? As they pack up their belongings, say goodbye to the past and step forward towards the opportunity to reinvent themselves, and become someone entirely new, can reality match their expectations? I Occur Here gathers from the experiences of London-based international artists to redefine the notion of home and explore our seemingly unending capacity for adaptation.

Where to belong by Victor Esses
(Sat 14th Oct 3.30pm)
What does belonging mean to you? In January 2017, Victor visited his parents’ homeland of Lebanon for the first time. Nine months later, here he is standing before you as a Jewish Lebanese Brazilian gay man with a gentle, tender hour of funny stories, multimedia and future planning. You’ll feel transformed, challenged and hopeful. Are you willing to make your world a better place? An hour for us all to feel hopeful, challenged and transformed. Are you willing to make your world a better place?

Here we cook with love by Martin Morales
(Saturday 28th Oct, 3.30pm)
Award-winning chef Martin Morales steps out of the kitchen to share heartfelt stories from his childhood in 1970s Peru while he prepares a series of delicious Andean dishes for you to taste. This is a work in progress showing of what promises to be delicious collision of food and stories, cooked and told with love. Travel with Martin on a captivating autobiographical journey as he recounts growing up and learning to cook con mucho cariño against the backdrop of Lima’s food markets, the death trap mountain roads of the Andes and the ever-present danger of the Shining Path.

CASA Latin American Play Reading Festival
(9th Sept, 16th Sept and 23rd Sept, 1pm at Arcola)
(30th Sept, 7th Oct, 14th Oct, 21st Oct and 28th Oct, 1.30pm at Southwark Playhouse)
For 2017, CASA have partnered with Out Of The Wings to present stage readings of eight English language translations of incredible Latin American plays from across the entire continent. Every Saturday throughout the festival, audiences will be invited to discover some of Latin America’s most exciting voices and all the play readings are free to attend. For more information, visit www.casafestival.org.uk.

CASA 2017’s programme at Southwark Playhouse also includes:

Otelo by Viajeinmóvil, Chile (26th – 30th September)
This fast, darkly funny and politically-charged puppetry reimagining of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy focuses on Desdemona’s murder to explore Latin America’s horrific record of femicide. Taking the beginning of Act 4 of Shakespeare’s play as its starting point, Iago and Emilia join forces and minds to manipulate full-size mannequins, disembodied heads and Othello’s jealous heart
with terrifying results. Performed in Spanish with English surtitles.

Osmo by Movicena, Brazil (3rd – 7th October)
Based on a short story by one of Brazil’s leading female writers Hilda Hilst, this is the tale of Osmo, a serial killer with literary pretensions. Directed by acclaimed Susan Damasceno, Osmo features a masterful performance by Donizeti Mazonas who delivers the show fully naked in an open aquarium. This hilarious and deliciously macabre show has shocked and rocked audiences across Brazil. Performed in Portuguese with English subtitles.

The only thing a great actress needs is a great play and the desire to succeed by Vaca 35, Mexico
(18th – 21st October)
Inspired by Genet’s The Maids, two Mexican servants get ready for the day ahead. They cook breakfast, wash, dance and tell stories in a sharp and revelatory piece that shines a light on marginalisation, stereotyping and those who live in poverty with no hope of escaping their circumstances. Performed in Spanish with English subtitles

Mendoza by Los Colochos, Mexico (24th – 28th October)
An earthy, radical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth set during Mexico’s War of Independence in the early 19th Century. Inspired by Juan Rulfo and Elena Garro and deeply connected to the Mexican soil, this thrilling fast-paced and blood-soaked ensemble production exposes Mexico’s downward spiral into the gruesome violence that exploded into the world’s consciousness with the massacre of the 43 students of Ayotzinapa. Performed in Spanish with
English subtitles.

Join in the celebrations with CASA 2017’s fun-filled parties:

Happy Cumple CASA (Sunday 3rd September, 12pm – 11pm)
Lost Rivers Elephant, Elephant Rd, London SE17 1LB

CASA 2017 opens with a celebration of its 10-year anniversary at Lost Rivers in Elephant and Castle. This will be an all day and night party, celebrating the UKs Latin American connection, featuring children’s activities including mask making and face painting from 12pm till 3pm, arts and craft stalls, London’s best arepas from Guasacaca, a Brazilian Sarau Open Mic Artist event, dance workshops and live music from amazing bands Choro Alvorada and London’s favourite LatAm hip-hop collective Ministros de la Habana featuring Lolo MC.

Arcola CASA party (Saturday 30th September, 10.30pm – 3am)
Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin St, Dalston, London E8 3DL

Dance the night away at the Arcola at CASA’s late night mid-festival party, featuring live music from celebrated Afro-Venezuelan funk psychedelic band Tonto Malembe, followed by extended DJ sets from Colombian sensations Maricumbia and CASA resident DJ, DJ Chilango.

CASA Latin American Festival has joined forces with two of London’s leading off-West End theatres Southwark Playhouse and Arcola Theatre. It will commence at Arcola with Sergio Blanco’s highly-acclaimed Thebes Land returning for a five-week run from Wednesday 6th September – Saturday 7th October 2017.

CASA is supported by an Arts Council England Grant for the Arts

THE LITTLE GREATS: AN UNMISSABLE FESTIVAL OF SHORT OPERAS AT THE LOWRY

• Short operas, huge emotions: iconic Italian opera in Pagliacci and Cavalleria rusticana
• Family-friendly matinee of The Child and the Magic Spells
• Leonard Bernstein’s 1950s satire on the American Dream, Trouble in Tahiti
• Trial by Jury: Gilbert and Sullivan’s hilarious courtroom farce
• A rarely-performed operatic gem, Janáček’s Osud (Destiny)

Love comes under the microscope on stage this Autumn, as a festival of short operas with huge emotions heads to The Lowry, Salford Quays. Award-winning opera company Opera North returns to the North West with innovative pairings of six brand new productions; each a powerful operatic experience in miniature. Love and hate, joy and sadness, courage and fear, trust and jealousy, kindness and cruelty – this is an opera season like no other.

In a festival that celebrates the amazing variety that can be found in even the shortest operas, The Little Greats gives people the opportunity to experience a double dose of Italian passion and tragic revenge one evening, and to opt for 1950s glamour and style followed by hilarious courtroom antics the next. There is also a magical childhood fantasy from Ravel, which can be watched either as a stand-alone matinee or paired with a rarely-performed gem by Czech composer, Janáček. With choices to appeal to both opera lovers and newcomers, every production is either sung in English or has an English translation displayed on surtitle screens.

Annabel Arden, Director, L’enfant et les sortilèges and Osud:

“The Little Greats aren’t stuffy or about big sets and costumes; what they are about is telling a story with music, and moving our audience to tears — and laughter.”

Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana

An iconic Italian double bill fuelled by fatal passion and filled with gorgeously lyrical melodies.

Wednesday 15 and Saturday 18 November

The Little Greats festival opens with a double bill of Italian verismo opera which shows that normal people have opera-sized emotions too. Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (The Clowns) is a short, sharp shot of thrilling drama, raw passion and gritty realism. Directed by Charles Edwards, who is also the set designer for all six productions, this is a tale of adultery and revenge played out amongst a troupe of travelling actors. Everything might be falling apart but, as Canio’s (Peter Auty) celebrated aria ‘Vesti la giubba’ (‘Put on the costume’) says, the show must go on.

Pagliacci is partnered with Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana, a red-blooded tale of jealousy and revenge given an unusual twist by Polish director, Karolina Sofulak. When Turridù (Jonathan Stoughton) returns from the army, he discovers that his lover (Katie Bray) has married someone else. He consoles himself by seducing another girl, Santuzza (Giselle Allen), even though he is still consumed by desire for his previous passion. For many, this is the very essence of Italian opera in miniature.

L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells) and Osud (Destiny)

An emotional rollercoaster pairing Ravel’s magical childhood fantasy with Janáček’s rarely-performed gem.

Thursday 16 November (double bill)

Saturday 18 November, matinee at 2.15pm (L’enfant et les sortilèges only)

When a young boy refuses to do his homework and flies into a tantrum, everything around him starts to come to life including his nursery furniture and even his arithmetic. So begins L’enfant et les sortilèges (The Child and the Magic Spells), Ravel’s most enchanting work. Dazzling, witty and surreal, this 45-minute production is directed by Annabel Arden and is offered as a Saturday matinee for adults and children (7+) alike.

In addition to the matinee on the Saturday, L’enfant et les sortilèges will be performed as a schools’ matinee introducing opera to hundreds of young people from the North West with a free cross-curricular resource pack available for teachers.

L’enfant et les sortilèges is also paired with Janáček’s Osud (Destiny) for one evening performance on Thursday 16 November. Míla (Giselle Allen) is in love with the composer Živný (John Graham-Hall), but her mother (Rosalind Plowright) forces her to take a rich suitor instead. Four years later, the couple are reunited and living together but, as Živný wrestles with the opera he is writing, a tragedy occurs which changes everything. At 80 minutes, Osud (Destiny) is the longest of The Little Greats and contains some of Janáček’s most glorious music, transporting the listener from the heights of romantic ecstasy to the depths of despair.

Trouble in Tahiti and Trial by Jury

Two musical theatre classics coupling a witty satire on the American Dream and a delightful courtroom farce.

Friday 17 November

A heady mix of hilarity, glamour and vintage style, the last pairing takes a witty look at both love and marriage.

Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti is the perfect introduction to opera and to Bernstein in his centenary year, expertly capturing the spirit of the 1950s with its dazzling fusion of opera, Hollywood, musical theatre and jazz. Set against the unattainable perfection of the American Dream, a couple in suburban America are dismayed at the emotional emptiness of their marriage. Canadian mezzo-soprano, Wallis Giunta, and Dutch baritone Quirijn de Lang, who both charmed audiences in Opera North’s production of Cinderella earlier this year, return to the stage as Dinah and Sam.

The evening continues with a hilarious courtroom farce which follows the fortunes of Angelina (Amy Freston) as she brings a case against her intended husband Edwin (Nicholas Watts), when he jilts her after coming to the ghastly realisation that she bores him intensely. Trial by Jury is the first operetta composed by Gilbert and Sullivan and includes all their trademark features: satirical wit, catchy tunes and an ingenious plot which refuses to turn out quite as expected. This new production is cast entirely from the Chorus of Opera North and conducted by Opera North Chorus Master, Oliver Rundell.

The performance of Trouble in Tahiti and Trial by Jury will also be audio-described and captioned, with a free touch tour for visually impaired patrons before the show (book via Box Office).

#LittleGreats

Performance Diary: The Lowry, Salford Quays

Box Office: thelowry.com or 0843 208 6000

Wed 15 Nov Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana 7.15pm

Thu 16 Nov L’enfant et les sortilèges 12.00pm – schools only

Thu 16 Nov L’enfant et les sortilèges / Osud 7.15pm

Fri 17 Nov Trouble in Tahiti / Trial by Jury 7.15pm

Sat 18 Nov L’enfant et les sortilèges 2.15pm

Sat 18 Nov Pagliacci / Cavalleria rusticana 7.15pm

 

The kookiest clan in musical theatre takes to
The Lowry stage

Samantha Womack, Les Dennis and Carrie Hope Fletcher will star as Morticia, Fester and Wednesday Addams in the UK & Irish premiere of The Addams Family, a musical comedy, with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, based on the characters created by Charles Addams.

The UK & Ireland Tour will run at The Lowry, Salford from Tue 29 August until Sat 9 September.

Samantha Womack will take on the role of Morticia Addams fresh from leaving BBC1’s EastEnders after nearly a decade as Ronnie Mitchell.  Samantha has also played Tanya Dawson for three series of the hit comedy Mount Pleasant (Sky1) and, on film she will be reprising her role next summer as Michelle Unwin in Kingsman: The Golden Circle.  Her stage credits include Nellie Forbush in the Lincoln Center Theater’s Tony Award-winning production of South Pacific (Barbican Theatre & UK Tour), Michael Grandage’s West End production of Guys & Dolls opposite Patrick Swayze (Piccadilly Theatre) and Peter Hall’s production of Pinter’s Betrayal (Theatre Royal Bath).

Les Dennis spent the last three years playing burglar-turned-Romeo, Michael Rodwell, in ITV’s Coronation Street.  Immediately prior to starring in The Addams Family, he appeared at the Menier Chocolate Factory in the musical She Loves Me.  Les’ other stage credits include the musicals Me & My Girl, Chicago, Monty Python’s Spamalot and Hairspray.  He took a hit one-man play Jigsy, to the Edinburgh Fringe and, in 2016, produced and starred in the sell-out 40^th anniversary production of Alan Bleasdale’s Down the Dock Road at the Royal Court Liverpool.

Carrie Hope Fletcher’s recent theatre credits include Eponine in Les Misérables (London and Dubai), Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (UK & Ireland Tour), Beth in Jeff Wayne’s Arena Tour War of the Worlds, and Wind in the Willows (Regent‘s Park Open Air Theatre).  In 2015, Carrie released her first book, All I Know Now: Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully, and her second book, On the Other Side, was released in July 2016.

Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family! Now, Gomez Addams must do something he’s never done before — keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia.  Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday’s “normal” boyfriend and his parents.  All the usual clan are present – Uncle Fester, Lurch, Pugsley et al.

Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice co-wrote the book for the multi award-winning Jersey Boys.  Marshall wrote or co-wrote the film screenplays for Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Manhattan Murder Mystery, For the Boys and Intersection, and was head writer for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.  Rick’s play, Peter and the Starcatcher, received nine nominations and won five 2012 Tony Awards.  Andrew Lippa wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical, Big Fish, the music for the Broadway production of Aaron Sorkin’s play The Farnsworth Invention and the book, music and lyrics for the Drama Desk award-winning musical The Wild Party.  He wrote the song called ‘Evil Like Me’, which was sung by Dove Cameron and Kristin Chenoweth in the 2015 Disney film Descendants.

The UK & Ireland Tour is directed by Matthew White, who recently directed She Loves Me at the Menier Chocolate Factory, where he also directed Candide, Sweet Charity (and West End) and Little Shop of Horrors (and West End).  Other recent directing credits include the UK Tour of The Producers and the UK Tour and West End run of Top Hat.  Choreography by Alistair David, who directed and choreographed Robbie Williams’s worldwide concert tour Swings Both Ways, and whose recent theatre credits include Two Noble Kinsmen (Royal Shakespeare Company), Show Boat (Sheffield Crucible Theatre and New London Theatre) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre).  The production has been designed by Diego Pitarch, with musical supervision by Richard Beadle, lighting design by Ben Cracknell and musical direction by Andrew Hilton.

The Addams Family UK & Ireland Tour is produced by United Theatrical, Aria Entertainment and Music & Lyrics Limited, in association with the Festival Theatre Edinburgh, and is presented through special arrangement with Theatrical Rights Worldwide.