Frank Sumatra Review

Theatre N16 9 – 18 May.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Frank Sumatra is basically Paddington Bear on steroids. Just imagine a kleptomaniac, chain smoking, web surfing, beer swilling Paddington, transformed into a 14 stone orang-utan.

Bev ( Hannah Walker) and Keith (Pip Chamberlain) are a nice middle class Geordie couple who are trying for a baby. This is put on hold when Frank suddenly appears on their doorstep. They realise that he is the cute baby orang-utan they sponsored years ago, who has come to live with them (he has google maps on his iPad – don’t ask) because his home has been burned down by loggers.

Bev and Keith take him in and soon find themselves suffering through all the worst parts of parenthood – coping with an orang-utan who at first acts like a stroppy toddler, and soon develops into a terrifyingly unmanageable teenage nightmare.

Performed as a live radio show, with Dean Logan as the hapless sound effects guy, and Frank, Mike Yeaman’s sharp script is full of absurd situations, Sinatra and laugh out loud moments. Chamberlain and Walker are fantastic as the unlucky couple, and Logan’s facial expressions as he produces the effects are wonderful. His Speak And Spell voice is quite possibly the most annoying sound on the planet, and makes Chamberlain’s frustrations even funnier.

Playing as part of Wandsworth Fringe Festival, Frank Sumatra is a play well worth seeing – even if you’ll only give one of those adopt a baby animal gifts to your worst enemies from now on.

THE TRIAL OF JANE FONDA – CASTING ANNOUNCED

THE TRIAL OF JANE FONDA

BY TERRY JASTROW

 

FULL CASTING ANNOUNCEMENT

OSCAR NOMINEE AND GOLDEN GLOBE WINNER ANNE ARCHER IS JOINED BY

CHRISTIEN ANHOLT, MARTIN FISHER, ALEX GAUMOND, PAUL HERZBERG,
AKO MITCHELL AND MARK ROSE

Casting has been announced for the brand new production of THE TRIAL OF JANE FONDA, written by seven-time Emmy award-winner Terry Jastrow, and directed by Joe Harmston, opening at Park Theatre on 13 July until 20 August, with a press night on 14 July.

As previously announced, Anne Archer (Fatal Attraction; Patriot Games; Clear and Present Danger) will return to the UK to star as ‘Jane Fonda’, having first developed the role at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014. Archer was last seen on the London stage making her West End debut as ‘Mrs Robinson‘ in The Graduate at the Gielgud Theatre in 2001, to critical acclaim.

Musical theatre star Alex Gaumond joins the company as ‘Larry Bonk’. Alex’s extensive West End credits includeMatilda, We Will Rock You, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Top Hat and Legally Blonde, for which he was nominated for the Olivier for Best Actor in a Musical. The Trial of Jane Fonda will mark not only his Park Theatre debut, but also his first major non-musical role in a play.

Alex Gaumond said, “I am very excited to take on the role of Larry in this fascinating play and to work with such a brilliant cast. If the auditions are anything to go by, the group dynamic on stage will be electric. In the few years since its opening, Park Theatre has quickly established a fantastic reputation for great work, so I am delighted to be performing there this summer.

They are joined on stage by Christien Anholt playing ‘Buzzy Banks’, Martin Fisher as ‘Reverend John Clarke’, Paul Herzberg – returning to Park Theatre after starring in The Dead Wait in 2013, directed by Joe Harmston – as ‘Joe Celano’, Ako Mitchell – returning to Park Theatre after starring in Klook’s Last Stand in 2014, with an Offies Nomination for Best Actor – as ‘Reggie Wells’, and Mark Rose – also returning to Park Theatre after starring inFrozen in 2015 – as ‘Tommy Lee Cook’.

Anne Archer said, “I am utterly thrilled to be working with such a dynamic and talented cast, and look forward to our creative journey together.”

Further casting announced for DREAMGIRLS starring AMBER RILEY

DREAMGIRLS
Savoy Theatre, London
Performances from 19 November
Dreamgirlswestend.com

  • Amber Riley will star in the role of ‘Effie White’ for 7 performances per week. Ruth Brown and Karen Mav will rotate performances on Wednesday evenings.
  • Singer/songwriters Ruth Brown and Karen Mav have been cast to support star Amber Riley playing the role of ‘Effie White’ for one performance per week between them.
  • Further casting for the production is still to be announced.

Sonia Friedman Productions announce today that Ruth Brown and Karen Mav will support  Amber Riley in the role of soulful singer ‘Effie White’ in Dreamgirls when the previously confirmed Ms Riley is not scheduled to perform (Wednesday evenings). Amber will star in the role for seven performances per week when the Tony Award-winning musical has its UK premiere at the Savoy Theatre with preview performances from 19 November and Opening Night on Wednesday 14 December 2016.

American actress and singer Amber Riley is best known for her role as ‘Mercedes Jones’ in the Golden Globe Award-winning musical comedy, Glee. Additional television appearances include playing ‘Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North’ in the NBC live performance of the musical,The Wiz and competing in Dancing with the Stars, which she won in 2013. Riley’s numerous theatre credits include Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Into the Woods andMystery on the Docks with the Los Angeles Opera. In November 2012, she made her New York stage debut to rave reviews in New York City Center’s Duke Ellington’s Cotton Club Parade.

Ruth Brown found fame in the first series of BBC’s The Voice, reaching the semi-finals under the mentorship of Sir Tom Jones. She has since gone on to release her first UK single ‘P.O.P.’ and is soon to debut her new album, Letters of Truth.

Karen Mav was recently a contestant on the 2015 series of ITV’s The X Factor where she wowed TV audiences and judges with her take on Etta James’s ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’ and the Whitney Houston version of the classic ‘I Will Always Love You’.

Sonia Friedman, Producer

“This is fantastic news for the production. Casting Amber Riley is of course thrilling as she is the most extraordinary talent to star in our show, but now to be able to announce that Ruth Brown and Karen Mav will be joining the show, to cover Amber and share performances on the night that Amber will not be on is just fantastic.”

Full information on performance schedules will be updated on the official websiteDreamgirlswestend.com

As previously announced, Dreamgirls will be Directed and Choreographed by Olivier and Tony Award®-winning Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Disney’s Aladdin and Something Rotten!), with Set Design by Tim Hatley, Costume Design by Gregg Barnes, Lighting Design byHugh Vanstone, Sound Design by Richard Brooker and Hair Design by Josh Marquette. The Musical Supervisor will be Nick Finlow, the Orchestrator will be Harold Wheeler, with Additional Material by Willie Reale.

Dreamgirls transports you to a revolutionary time in American music history. Dreamgirls charts the tumultuous journey of a young female singing trio from Chicago, Illinois called ‘The Dreams’, as they learn the hard lesson that show business is as tough as it is fabulous, and features the classic songs ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’, ‘I Am Changing’, ‘Listen’ and ‘One Night Only’ .

With Book and Lyrics by Tom Eyen and Music by Henry Krieger, the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, Directed and Choreographed by Michael Bennett opened in 1981 and subsequently won six Tony Awards®. The original cast recording won two Grammy awards for Best Musical Album and Best Vocal Performance for Jennifer Holliday’s ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.’ In 2006 it was adapted into an Oscar winning motion picture starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx.

LISTINGS:

Savoy Theatre, Strand, London WC2R 0ET

Performances

First Performance: 19 November 2016, 7.30pm
Press Performance: 14 December 2016, 7pm

Monday to Saturday evening performances at 7.30pm
Wednesday and Saturday matinee performances at 2.30pm
(No Wednesday matinee performance on 23 November)

Christmas Performance Schedule

Monday 19th December, 7.30pm
Tuesday 20th December, 7.30pm
Wednesday 21st December, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Thursday 22nd December, 7.30pm
Friday 23rd December, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Saturday 24th December, 2.30pm only
Sunday 25th December, no performances
Monday 26th December, 7.30pm
Tuesday 27th December, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Wednesday 28th December, 7.30pm only
Thursday 29th December, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Friday 30th December, 7.30pm
Saturday 31st December, 2.30pm only
Sunday 1st January, no performances

Box Office

Website:       Dreamgirlswestend.com
Telephone:    0844 871 7687
Prices:          From £20 (from £15 during previews)
At every performance there will be 100 accessibly priced seats, including £20 seats available in advance and £15 day seats available on the day of the performance.

Social Media

Website – Dreamgirlswestend.com
Twitter handle – @DreamgirlsLDN
Facebook page – DreamgirlsLDN
Instagram account – DreamgirlsLDN
Hashtag – #DreamgirlsLDN

First casting announced for SIDE SHOW at Southwark Playhouse

FIRST CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR

 

THE UK PREMIERE

OF BROADWAY MUSICAL

SIDE SHOW

From the composer of Dreamgirls

 

AT SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE

FROM FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER TO SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER 2016

 

First casting is announced today for Broadway musical Side Show, which will receive its UK Premiere in a brand new production at Southwark Playhouse, opening on Wednesday 26 October with previews from Friday 21 October.

Conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton will be played by Louise Dearman and Laura Pitt-Pulford.

Louise Dearman (Daisy) is best known for being the first actress to star as both Glinda and Elphaba in the hit musical Wicked, playing both roles to great acclaim in the West End. Her many other theatre credits include Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (UK Tour), Bianca in Kiss Me Kate (Royal Albert Hall), Mrs D in The Water Babies(Leicester Curve), Eva Peron in Evita (UK Tour) and Jan in Grease (West End).

Laura Pitt-Pulford (Violet) received a 2016 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Other recent credits includeFlowers for Mrs Harris (Sheffield Crucible), Nancy in Oliver! (Leicester Curve), The Smallest Show on Earth (UK Tour), Follies in Concert (Royal Albert Hall), Maria in The Sound of Music (Leicester Curve) and The Light Princess(National Theatre).

Further casting is to be announced.

Inspired by the true story of conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, Side Show is a remarkable musical about love, acceptance and embracing the unique.

We meet the Hilton Sisters as the headline act at a seedy side show, languishing under the rule of an oppressive ringmaster. But when spotted by a talent agent, they are thrust into the spotlight of the famed 1920’s Orpheum Circuit. They soon become the highest paid vaudeville stars of their time, but whilst Daisy relishes the spotlight, Violet wishes for a quiet life with a man she loves, and who loves her. Can they balance their individual dreams with their inescapable physical connection? Side Show is a heartwarming musical about the search for love and acceptance amidst the spectacle of fame.

 

Side Show first opened on Broadway in 1997, where it was nominated for four Tony Awards; Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, the only time a nomination has been shared by two actresses; Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner.

 

Side Show features a score by Dreamgirls composer Henry Krieger, with both shows making their London debuts a month apart from each other when Dreamgirls opens in the West End in November. Krieger was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Score for Side Show and Dreamgirls, won a Grammy Award for the cast album of Dreamgirls, and received three Academy Award nominations for the additional songs he wrote for the 2006 film.

 

It has a Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell, who received a Tony Award nomination for Best Book, and shared the nomination for Best Score with Krieger. Russell’s other musicals include Elegies for Angels and Punks and Raging Queens. Additional Book material is by Bill Condon, who reworked Side Show for its 2014 Broadway revival. Condon is an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director, best known for writing the screenplay for the 2002 film Chicago, and directing and writing the critically acclaimed films Gods and Monsters and Dreamgirls, for which he won a Golden Globe.

Side Show is presented by Paul Taylor-Mills, who returns to Southwark Playhouse following his acclaimed productions of In The Heights and Carrie: The Musical. In The Heights won three 2016 Olivier Awards for its transfer to King’s Cross Theatre, whilst Carrie: The Musical won the 2016 WhatsOnStage Award for Best Off West End Production.

 

Side Show will be directed by Hannah Chissick (Down the Dock Road, Royal Court Liverpool, Brass, NYMT,Marry Me a Little, St. James Studio), with choreography by Matthew Cole (Footloose, UK Tour), design by takis(In The Heights, Southwark Playhouse/King’s Cross Theatre) and sound design by Dan Simpson. Casting is byWill Burton. Side Show has music by Henry Krieger and Book and Lyrics by Bill Russell, with additional Book material by Bill Condon.

 

Twitter @Side_ShowUK

 

For Southwark Playhouse press enquiries please contact Susie Safavi

on 07875277913 or [email protected]

LISTINGS

 

FRIDAY 21 OCTOBER – SATURDAY 3 DECEMBER 2016

SOUTHWARK PLAYHOUSE, The Large

77-85 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BD

Nearest Tube:               Borough / Elephant and Castle

Press Night:                   Wednesday 26 October, 7.30pm

Performances:               Monday – Saturday 7.30pm, Saturday 3.00pm (additional perf Tues 29 November 3.00pm)

Tickets:                         £14 previews / £25 standard / £20 concessions

Box Office                     020 7407 0234 | www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

ON SALE NOW

Note: Southwark Playhouse has introduced allocated seating in The Large space. Patrons can pick their seats online or will be given best available seats when booking over the phone.

BalletBoyz to become Artistic Directors for bbodance


MICHAEL NUNN OBE, WILLIAM TREVITT OBE AND KERRY WHELAN TO BECOME ARTISTIC DIRECTORS FOR BBODANCE (BRITISH BALLET ORGANIZATION)

bbodance, formerly known as the British Ballet Organization, has today announced the appointment of Michael Nunn OBE, William Trevitt OBE and Kerry Whelan as the new Co-Artistic Director consultants of the organisation. Nunn, Trevitt and Whelan, the team behind internationally renowned dance company BalletBoyz join bbodance to provide artistic direction, help grow membership and introduce innovative and exciting projects.

Of their appointment Nunn, Trevitt and Whelan commented: “We are thrilled to be invited to take up the artistic reigns at bbodance at such an exciting time in the organisation’s long history. The heritage and legacy of the British Ballet Organization is second to none and resonates with so many. We feel honoured to be part of that history.

This is a time of significant change for bbodance; a move to state-of-the-art premises, the introduction of a smart new brand identity and a major overhaul of the teaching syllabi. The British Ballet Organization has always stood for excellence, quality and a belief in the shared enjoyment of dance – values that we pursue in our own company, BalletBoyz. 

We are ambitious and excited for the future of bbodance and look forward to helping deliver a bigger and better bbodance, without losing any of the intimacy or qualities that have defined the organisation over the last 86 years.”

Their appointment coincides with a rebrand for the organisation and a move to state of the art studios and offices overlooking the River Thames in Battersea.  The change is part of bbodance’s commitment to improving its services, events and membership benefits across the broad scope of dance services provided by the organisation.  As part of bbodance’s commitment to innovation it also announced the launch of a new musical theatre dance syllabus in 2016.

Nicholas Espinosa, Executive Chairman of bbodance commented: “The foundations for a modernised bbodance are now firmly in place. Our magnificent new riverside headquarters and the ground-breaking vision of our award winning Artistic Directors provide a secure platform to inspire and promote excellence in dance training while retaining the bbodance traditional values. Our brand new headquarters include studios, a library and classrooms in a fantastic location, not to mention the fabulous views overlooking the Thames. These facilities will provide the space to hold bbodance teacher training programme on-site, a base for all future syllabus development and a home for all bbodance members, creating a lasting legacy for future generations. I am excited to see our plans for the future implemented.”

Short-list for new Director Award announced by Royal Theatrical Support Trust and Sheffield Theatres

Short-list for new Director Award announced by Royal Theatrical Support Trust and Sheffield Theatres

 

The Royal Theatrical Support Trust (RTST) and Sheffield Theatres are delighted to announce the shortlist for the RTST Director Award 2016.

 

The new RTST Director Award Scheme offers the chance for an emerging director to create and direct a fully-funded production of a play by an internationally renowned dramatist at a selected regional theatre. The inaugural Scheme is being run by the RTST in collaboration with Sheffield Theatres. The emerging director who wins the RTST Director Award 2016 will be given the exciting opportunity to direct a play at the Crucible Studio Theatre as part of Sheffield Theatres’ 2017 spring season.

 

After a successful national call-out for entries for the 2016 Award, an official short-list of seven candidates has now been chosen by the prestigious Selection Panel.

 

The shortlisted director candidates are: Marieke Audsley, Rebecca Frecknall, Max Gill, Kate Hewitt, Sean Linnen, Jonathan O’Boyle and John Wilkinson.

 

The seven now go forward to the final stages of the Award selection process. They must demonstrate their directing skills in workshops with actors, which will take place in London over the weekend of 28/29 May. The Selection Panel will observe and judge each candidate’s performances in these workshops, and select and interview finalists in order to determine the Award winner and an official runner-up. The winner will be announced shortly after the workshop weekend. There will be an Award ceremony in London later in the year.

 

The Selection Panel, chaired by Daniel Evans, the Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres and Artistic Director-designate of Chichester Festival Theatre, comprises Sir Ian McKellen, Dawn Walton, Richard Wilson and Penelope Wilton.

 

For more information, visit the RTST website at rtst.org.uk/directoraward2016/

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill PERFORMANCES POSTPONED

  • Performances of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill in London are postponed
  • Star Audra McDonald announces pregnancy
  • Plans for revised dates will be announced soon

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL

Today it was announced at 6pm GMT that this summer’s season of Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill will be postponed as the show’s star Audra McDonald has announced that she and her husband, actor Will Swenson, are expecting a baby.

Speaking from New York where she is currently starring in the Broadway production of Shuffle Along, Or The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed, Audra McDonald said:

“Who knew that tap dancing during perimenopause could lead to pregnancy? Will and I are completely surprised—and elated—to be expecting a new addition to our family. I am so very grateful to everyone in New York and London for allowing me to rearrange my schedule to accommodate this little miracle. Of course, I’m disappointed I have to postpone my West End debut in Lady Day, but I look forward to rescheduling as soon as possible.”

The couple married in 2012. While this is their first child together, she is mother to a daughter, and he is father to two sons, from their previous marriages.

Ticket purchasers should contact the Box Office or their supplier to arrange a refund

LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL WAS DUE TO RUN AT

Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London
First performance: 25 June 2016
Final performance: 3 September 2016
Press Performance: 5 July 2016

Box Office
Website:       LadyDayWestEnd.com
Telephone:    0844 482 5120

Bush Theatre launches ‘Project 2036’ and opens calls for applications

BUSH THEATRE LAUNCHES ‘PROJECT 2036’AND OPENS CALLS FOR APPLICATIONS

The Bush Theatre has been awarded a grant by the Leverhulme Trust to offer nine year-long bursaries of £10,000 each to BAMER associate artists – three playwrights, three directors and three producers – over the course of three years. Applications for the bursaries are invited now.

The Bush Theatre’s new Project 2036 programme, with the support of the Leverhulme Trust, will offer a series of year-long £10,000 bursaries to Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and Refugee (BAMER) artists, starting this year.

Census data suggests that by 2036 half of all young people in London will be of dual heritage. The Bush Theatre aims to create opportunities for this rich diversity of artists and redefine the canon of British theatre.

Every year, for three years, a BAMER playwright, director and producer will each receive a bursary of £10,000. As well as financial support, they will be assigned a mentor, and experience the day-to-day workings of a modern theatre. Under the guidance of their mentor, the producer will work as Assistant Producer on a Bush Theatre production on which the director will be Assistant Director. The playwright will be given time to write their own piece of work with extensive dramaturgical support. At the end of the three-month placement, the artists will be invited to programme, develop, produce and showcase their own mini-season in the Bush Theatre’s new Studio, financed by the Bush Theatre.

From 2010-2014, the Bush Theatre offered an Annual Associate Playwright position funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The final Leverhulme Playwright was Omar El Khairy whose placement ended in March 2014.

The Bush Theatre’s brand new Studio is being created as part of the Bush Theatre’s 2016 Capital Redevelopment plans.

Entries can be submitted via the Bush Theatre website: bushtheatre.co.uk/project2036

Five candidates for each discipline will be selected to attend an interview with a panel including Madani Younis (Artistic Director). Successful candidates will be chosen based on their genuine interest in new writing, their potential as assessed in the interview and from the strength of their portfolio. The Bush Theatre will seek to place three creatives each year who can learn from one another and form a successful creative relationship during the course of their time working together at the Bush.

In 2016, as part of Madani Younis’ stated aim of creating a theatre that truly reflects the community in which it sits, the Bush Theatre is undergoing a major redevelopment of its building, creating a new second space, improved backstage facilities and a new front-of-house area, and making the whole building fully accessible and more sustainable. During the building works, the Bush Theatre’s programme is moving out into the local community, embracing the buildings and people of West London.

For more information on the Bush Theatre’s programme, visit www.bushtheatre.co.uk

MILES JUPP ANNOUNCES UK TOUR

RBM presents

MILES JUPP: SONGS OF FREEDOM

 

Astronauts. Regrets. The sexes. Social Media. Hipsters. Poo. Rage. Medicine. Manners. Identity. Lost stuff. Other stuff.

 

Miles Jupp, (Stand-up, actor, writer, thinker, father, husband, worrier, fool, star of Rev. and host of The News Quiz) hits the road in a freshly-ironed shirt and some robust trousers and tries to make some bloody sense of it all. 

 

A very British tour-de-force of comedy” Daily Telegraph

 

Miles Jupp has appeared in many of the genre-defining British TV comedy shows of the past decade such as the cliché smashing BAFTA Award-winning Rev. and Armando Iannucci’s artful skewering of Westminster The Thick of It.  He has also made numerous appearances on Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week, as well as Eight Out Of Ten Cats and Never Mind The Buzzcocks. He has performed stand-up on both Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and Live At The Apollo.

 

Last year he became the host of BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz, and he also contributed to a huge number of other shows on the station including Just A Minute, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue and The Unbelievable Truth. He also hosted three series of the panel show It’s Not What You Know. He also wrote and starred as Damien Trench in four series of In And out Of The Kitchen for the station, as well as a TV version on BBC4. He is currently writing a Damien Trench book.  He has also starred in two series of Boswell’s Lives, written by Jon Canter. The first series won The Prix Europa 2015 for Best Radio Fiction Series.

Miles started performing stand-up comedy in 2000 and quickly gained recognition, winning both the ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ and ‘Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year’ awards in 2001. He went on to become a regular performer on BBC Scotland’s Live Floor Show. His first solo show at the Edinburgh Fringe, Gentlemen Prefer Brogues, earned him a nomination for the Perrier Best Newcomer award in 2003. In 2010 he performed his sixth solo show, the critically acclaimed Fibber In The Heat. The show toured the UK in 2011 and 2012 culminating in a sell out performance in London’s West End. The book was published by Ebury Press in May 2012 and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book Of The Year.

Miles has acted in two plays at the National Theatre; People by Alan Bennett in 2012 and Sam Holcroft’s Rules For Living in 2015. He has also appeared in Neville’s Island  in the West End and A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg at the Glasgow Citizens. He has been seen in a number of fims too including George Clooney’s The Monuments Men, Jon Stewart’s Rosewater and Michael Winterbottom’s The Look Of Love. He is also in this summer’s The Legend of Tarzan, directed by David Yates.

A new level of middleclass angst in comedy” Chortle

 

His last tour in 2014 Is The Chap You’re Thinking Of  was a critical and commercial hit selling out over seventy shows ,it is now available as a DVD from Go Faster Stripe.

 

For full tour information please visit www.rbmcomedy.com.  tbc

 

 

2016/ 2017 TOUR SCHEDULE

 

September 2016     

                                   

Wednesday 7th          Milton Keynes Stables

Friday 9th                     Hertford Theatre

Saturday 10th             Hertford Theatre

Tuesday 13th               Epsom Playhouse

Wednesday 14th        Swindon Wyvern

Friday 16th                   Stafford Gatehouse

Wednesday 21st         Newbury Corn Exchange

Friday 23rd                   Henley Kenton

Saturday 24th             Durham Gala

Sunday 25th                Leeds City Varieties

Wednesday 28th       Northampton Royal Theatre

        

October 2016           

                                     

Sunday 2nd                   Bristol Redgrave

Monday 3rd                 Colchester Mercury

Wednesday 5th          Westcliff on Sea Palace Theatre

Friday 7th                     Portsmouth Theatre Royal

Saturday 8th               Taunton Brewhouse

 

 

 

Tuesday 11th               St Albans Arena

Wednesday 12th        Margate Theatre Royal

Tuesday 18th               Nottingham Playhouse

Wednesday 19th        Salisbury Town Hall

Friday 21st                    Yeovil Octagon

Saturday 22nd            Medina Theatre, Isle of Wight

Sunday 23rd                Wimborne Tivoli Theatre

Wednesday 26th       Bromley Churchill Theatre

Friday 28th                   Buxton Opera House

Saturday 29th             Birmingham Town Hall

 

January 2017

Wednesday 4th          Andover Lights

                                                                                               

Monday 9th Norwich Theatre Royal

Wednesday 11th         Swansea Grand Theatre

Friday 13th                   Canterbury Marlowe

Saturday 14th             Oxford Playhouse

Friday      20th            Taunton Brewhouse

Friday 27th                   Peterborough Quay Theatre

Saturday 28th             Scunthorpe Plowright Theatre

 

February 2017

Wednesday 1st           Guildford G Live                           

 

Friday 3rd                     Brighton Dome

Saturday 4th               Dartford Orchard

Sunday 5th                   Lowry Manchester

Monday 6th                 Newcastle Tyne and Opera House

Tuesday 7th                Leeds City Varieties

Friday 10th                   Chelmsford Civic Theatre

Sunday 12th                Exeter Northcott

Wednesday 15th       Bury St Edmunds Theatre Royal

Friday 17th                   Shrewsbury Severn

Saturday 18th            Leamington Spa Royal Spa Centre

Tuesday 21st               Crewe Lyceum

Friday 24th                  Aldershot Princes Hall

Darlington Civic Theatre – Gangsta Granny

DAVID WALLIAMS’ BEST SELLER TO HIT THE STAGE

Watch out! The cabbage-crunching, criminal master-mind, Gangsta Granny is coming to Darlington Civic Theatre later this month.

Birmingham Stage Company, the acclaimed producers of Horrible Histories, are bringing their world premiere of David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny to Darlington Civic Theatre from Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28 May, prior to a West End run.

Walliams, who is one of the judges on the popular Britain’s Got Talent TV show and creator of the ground-breaking comedy series, Little Britain, is now the best-selling author for children in the country.

David began his publishing career at Harper Collins in early 2008 with his debut novel The Boy in the Dress. Then, after writing two other popular stories, in 2011 he published Gangsta Granny, which was shortlisted for both The Red House Children’s Book Award and for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. In 2013 a TV version of Gangsta Granny was shown on BBC One with an all-star cast including David Walliams himself. Gangsta Granny went straight to number 1 in the children’s book charts and his books have been translated into no fewer than 30 languages.

David Walliams said at the first night of Gangsta Granny from the stage at Birmingham New Alexandra Theatre : “What a fantastic show! Superb! And so much better than the book!”.

It’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny! There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure – it’s going to be sooooooooo boring! But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny!

Gangsta Granny is a must for all families as the show will be enjoyed by everyone from 5 to 105! It’s both laugh out loud funny with some brilliant comic scenes but also has some very moving and truthful things to say about family relationships..

Gangsta Granny is at Darlington Civic Theatre from Tuesday 24 to Saturday 28 May. Tickets* are £16.50 and £14.50 for adults, £13 and £11 for children, family ticket £50, schools £8.50 plus one free with every ten booked.

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk *All ticket prices include a £1 restoration levy