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TWO WEEKS AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

 

Leeds Grand Theatre continues to bring an multitude of musicals, drama, dance, comedy and concerts to Leeds for 2017. Recently announcing Nativity! The Musical for Christmas and a World Premiere with Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends,  it will soon welcome the first UK tour of Mamma Mia! for a six week run (Tuesday May 30^th to Saturday 8^th July).

“With drama from The National Theatre’s, Jane Eyre musical classics like Cabaret and comedy from the great Adam Hills we really do have something for everyone,” says Ian Sime, General Manager of the theatre. “Today we are preparing to welcome the much-loved Evita.”

Telling the story of Eva Perón, the wife of former Argentine dictator Juan Perón, the classic musical Evita opens at Leeds Grand Theatre tomorrow, Tuesday 16^th May, for one week only.

Evita follows Eva’s journey from humble beginnings through to extraordinary wealth, power and iconic status which ultimately lead her to be heralded as the ‘spiritual leader of the nation’ by the Argentine people.

Featuring some of the best loved songs in musical theatre, including Don’t Cry for Me Argentina, On This Night of a Thousand Stars, You Must Love Me, and Another Suitcase in Another Hall Evita continues to entertain audiences 40 years on.

Evita is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday 16th to Saturday 20th May

On Sunday May 21^st – the platinum-selling Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter Shakin Stevens takes to the Leeds stage. Stevens holds the distinction of being the UK’s biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s; unforgettable chart toppers included such multi-million selling hits as This Ole House, Green Door and Oh  Julie in a dizzying career that stockpiled 38 hit singles in the  ’80s and early ’90s.

He brings his new album Echoes Of Our Times to The Grand for one night only.

Shakin Stevens is at Leeds Grand Theatre on Sunday 21^st May

The West End’s Olivier Award-winning box office hit, The Play That Goes Wrong, makes welcome return to Leeds from Monday 22^nd May.

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned farce and Buster Keaton inspired slapstick delivered with split-second timing and ambitious daring. The play introduces ‘The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ who are attempting to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call.

The Play That Goes Wrong is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 22^nd to Saturday 27^th May.

For ticket prices and to make a booking visit leedsgrandtheatre.com or call Box Office on 0844 848 2700

 

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
ORIGINAL CAST RECORDING
ON SONY MASTERWORKS BROADWAY

NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

THE NEW WEST END MUSICAL
PREVIEWS FROM 16 JUNE AND OPENS 29 JUNE
AT THE LONDON PALLADIUM

 

Producer Jamie Hendry and Sony Masterworks Broadway are pleased to announce the release of the original cast recording of new musical The Wind in the Willows with book by Julian Fellowes, music by George Stiles and lyrics by Anthony Drewe. The cast of the new West End musical, which begins previews on 16 June prior to an official opening on 29 June at the London Palladium, headed to the studio earlier this month to record the 20-track album.

The album is available for pre-order today here and will be released by Sony Masterworks Broadway mid–June (catalogue number: 88985447482).

With music and lyrics by Olivier Award-winners George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the album features the original West End cast of THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS, accompanied by a fourteen-piece band. The album is produced by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe and co-produced by Simon Lee. Tris Penna is the executive producer.

The original London cast is led by actor, comedian and presenter Rufus Hound as the amazing ‘Mr Toad’ with West End stars Simon Lipkin as ‘Rat’ and Craig Mather as ‘Mole’; EastEndersactor Neil McDermott as ‘Chief Weasel’; Coronation Street and Boy Meets Girl star Denise Welch as ‘Mrs Otter’ and West End legend Gary Wilmot as ‘Badger.  Also included are Chris Aukett, Joel Baylis, Jenna Boyd, Abigail Brodie, Abigail Climer, Jorell Coiffic-Kamall, Nicole Deon, Emilie du Leslay, Joshua Gannon, James Gant, Evan James, Michael Larcombe,Bethany Linsdell, Ryan Pidgen, Adam Vaughan, Georgie Westall and Natalie Woods. The cast album also features Dylan Mason, Patrick Sullivan and Karli Vale who recently appeared in the show’s pre-London tour.

Based on Kenneth Grahame’s treasured novel which has captivated generations of readers for over a century, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS has been adapted for the stage with a book by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

Tickets are on-sale from £15, with reduced price preview performances. Kids go free on Monday to Friday performances – terms and conditions apply. No additional booking fees or charges are applied to tickets booked via www.WillowsMusical.com.

Produced by Jamie Hendry, MJE Productions and Josh Gilinski, in association with Theatre Royal Plymouth, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh with choreography by Aletta Collins, set and costume design by Peter McKintosh, lighting design byHoward Harrison, sound design by Gareth Owen, wig and makeup design by Linda McKnight, orchestrations by Chris Jahnke and David Shrubsole and musical supervision by Simon Lee.

This riotous comedy follows the impulsive Mr Toad whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious trouble. With his beloved home under threat from the notorious Chief Weasel and his gang of sinister Wild Wooders, Toad must attempt a daring escape leading to a series of misadventures and a heroic battle to recapture Toad Hall. Featuring eye-poppingly beautiful design, exuberant choreography and a gloriously British score, The Wind in the Willows brings an explosion of anarchy, humour and heart to the world-famous London Palladium.

 

LISTINGS
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS
The London Palladium
Argyll Street, London W1F 7TF

First Preview:                            Friday 16 June 2017
Opening Performance:                Thursday 29 June 2017
Booking Until:                           Saturday 9 September 2017

Performance schedule:               Monday at 7pm
                                                 Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30pm
                                                 Tuesday & Saturday at 2:30pm

Tickets from:                             £15 *NO BOOKING FEES*

Kids Go Free:                            Subject to availability, valid Mon-Fri performances 16 June – 8 September. Band A, B and D only. 1 Free Kids ticket (16 and under) with every full price Adult ticket and up to 2 additional Kids (16 and under) at half price. Excludes tickets already purchased.

Book online:                             www.WillowsMusical.com
Book by phone:                         0844 874 0665
Groups:                                    0844 412 4650
Website:                                 www.WillowsMusical.com
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram:   WillowsMusical

York Theatre Royal – 12 May 2017.  Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

The Prestigious Birmingham Royal Ballet came to the York Theatre Royal, bringing three dances with themes of comedy and sensuality. The order of dances was the Solitaire first, then 5 Tangos and to finish the Pineapple Poll.  With a twenty minute interval between each dance you feel that you are spending a lot of time at the bar, instead of watching the ballet, but this is common with dance shows.

The first dance, Solitaire opened up the performance with a tale of one women wanting to fit in and find love. The dancing set the bar high and with such dedication and perfection it can be understood that they had to take that twenty minutes for the next dance. The quality stood up to name of the company.  I have to give a lot of note to the main dancer Arancha Baselga, who was dancing on stage for 28 minutes straight.

To follow was the 5 Tangos, this is where the lighting grew darker and the dancing became more personal and sensual.  To fit in the middle of the 3 dances it separates and creates the contrast very well.  A lot of the audience preferred the other dances, as they were much more upbeat and heartwarming, to say this doesn’t diminish the 5 Tangos as it was performed with just as much power and was as pristine as its previous partner.  At points during the dance the lighting felt too dark and it was hard to see the dancer in these times.

After the second interval we were greeted with the gem of the night, the Pineapple Poll, with a much more visual set of a coastal town and a ship, you can see why this was saved to last.  The dance would appeal to even those who dislike ballet, with women falling love with the ship captain so much, that they are willing to go to sea for him.  Now, I wouldn’t want to ruin this dance or the plot, but there is a moment on the ship which will make you jump out of your seat.

I loved spending my evening at the ballet, and I’m sure you will as well.  I would say bring some money for a drink, since the intervals may seem long.  I have to say a huge well done to all the dancers, as to have that level of commitment and finesse is beyond my mind and I can only think about how dedicated they are to their craft and the arts.



Dont miss your chance to have a taste of this larger than life show which will leave you happier then when you see an offer for Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream. It promises an abundance of belly laughs so what are you waiting for? ‘Come on in’ and witness this new British musical.

Have you ever looked at a cheese cake and put on half a stone? Do you ever wonder why diets can only ever start on Mondays? Have you ever been described as: bubbly, bonny, voluptuous or well? Helen has! One New Years Eve she decides enough is enough and proves that her heart is ¬one size fits all!`Join Helen and her `Fatbuster` pals on their quest to believing in themselves and achieving their dreams 0ne thing is for sure: You shall walk away with a warm heart, sore cheeks and a few new tunes to hum as you walk to your fridge. A real guilty treat!

The team that brought you the UK revival of Personals is staying true to its ethos and is bringing you something new and exciting! Ain`t No Other productions has teamed with writer Joshua Coley to bring FatBusters to life. This new British comedy springs to the stage at St. Giles in the Fields Church in Tottenham Court Road from the 29th of May. After all, what says weight loss group more than a church hall! We believe that this is a show for everyone. Everyone can relate to this story. Whether it is you that has been to Weight Watchers, or you’ve sat in the hairdressers listening to Linda discussing the sin level of the Indian take away she had last night.

Venue – St. Giles in the Field Address – 60 St Giles High St, London WC2H 8LG Dates – 29th of May to 10th of June 7.30pm. Saturday Matinees at 2.30pm. No show Sundays. Opening night 31st of May. Last show 10th of June 7.30pm. First preview 29th of May

The Cast (in order of appearance)

Fiona – Yvette Robinson

Patricia – Christina Meehan

Sue – Kate Playdon

Nigel -Ian Parkin

Lyn – Frankie Jones

Barry – Mark Bools

Greg – Paul Bradshaw

Saskia – Shani Cantor

Helen – Tiffany Parker

Tom – Danny Knott

Ensemble – Joanna Gregory, Samuel Bailey

Creative Team

Rebecca Westberry – Director

Cameron Hall -Choreographer

Writer/co Director-Joshua Coley

Musical Director/Orchestration Sonum Batra

Set Designer – Justin Williams

Lighting Designer-Hector Murray

Casting – Harry Blumenau at Debbie O’ Brien

Producer – Ain’t No Other Production

Please find the link for tickets to FatBusters the Musical : https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/fatbusters-the-musical

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre 9 – 28 May.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

If you don’t leave All Star Productions revival of 110 in the Shade with a soppy smile on your face, you must have a heart of stone. Director Randy Smartnick has ensured that this musical gem, last staged in the West End in the 1960s, is still full of warmth and joy.

As the townsfolk wilt and worry about the drought, one family has more important things on their mind – finding a husband for Lizzie. Although she loves Sheriff File, neither of them will risk admitting their true feelings; and, brought up by her father to be forthright and honest, and unable to flirt and fuss like the other girls, Lizzie fears becoming an old maid. When conman Starbuck rolls into town with promises of ending the drought, his razzamatazz brings hope to the people, but Lizzie sees right through him.

Based on his own 1954 play, The Rainmaker, N. Richard Nash’s book is full of sharp and funny lines, and Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones’s songs are full of charm and wit. Under Aaron Clingham’s assured musical direction and with Kate McPhee’s well-judged choreography; from the haunting “Everything Beautiful Happens at Night” to the down-home country “Poker Polka”, there are no duds in this production. The standout comedy number is “The Little Red Hat” with the fantastic Julian Quijano and Rebecca Withers almost stealing the show.

Laurel Dougall is full of ticks and frustration as Lizzie, in a wonderful performance that adds real emotional punch to her songs. Daniel Urch gives Starbuck a real sense of loneliness behind the slick bravado, and Nick Wyschna is in fine form as the stiff and reserved File.

This is a story about loneliness, love, and having the faith to follow your dreams – no matter how big, or small, they may be. The music and innocence of 110 in the shade may have fallen out of fashion, but this show still has a lot to offer modern audiences. Any show that makes you feel this good deserves a wider audience. Funny, warm and ridiculously entertaining, this is well worth a look.

Hull Truck Theatre – until 27 May 2017.  Viaduct Theatre, Halifax  30 May to 3 June.  Reviewed by Marcus Richardson

 

In the 2017 City of Culture the famous Shakespeare play Richard III is being performed at Hull Truck theatre. The play follows the life of Richard III a villain who works his way up into power using betrayal and lies. Now we all know the story and where he ends up, and if you don’t, history is a fun thing to learn. We are given this deformed figure who is described as the devil and is constantly mocked for his appearance, shouldn’t we feel sorry for this man? Not with the acts he commits, killing boys and his brother.

The original story has him with a hunchback, but our actor Mat Fraser, has underdeveloped arms from thalidomide, lending to this attribute he owns the role bringing a comical aspect that a lot of the times you wouldn’t normally see in the play. We see him commit these horrific acts yet I couldn’t find myself hating him with a passion, even until the end he still had a joke or two, he took on the role with such passion and made it his own. Through out the play there is comedy which I really liked as most of his historical play are political and can become a drag, however with the added element of comedy I found that I wasn’t bored at any point in the play. The whole cast was absolutely amazing with various actors taking different roles and reacting to tragic events, which believe me they did very well, mostly on the female part with Ruth Alexander-Rubin being the poor Elizabeth who has bad news every scene pretty much.

The stage and audience was very much like the classic amphitheatre seat and you felt very close to the stage and action, I loved how close we were as none of the actors had microphones and relied on the power of their voices. The stage was incredibly large and the actors made great use of this aspect. If I could sum up the play without talking about the actors I would say drums, this is a play of many drums, and this was absolutely chilling and blows you away.  In the final scene where Richard III goes to war and the stage opens up to its full potential and we are given this drumming band that controls the whole tempo and feel of the scene.

If you love Shakespeare and even if you’ve seen this play before, I would urge you to see this play and experience the power of the drums, the corruption of Richard and the tragedy of every character. If you’re scared that you don’t understand the classical text, don’t worry the actors do an amazing job of making sure you know what is happening, and the language isn’t an issue whatsoever. The show will be at Hull Truck theatre until 27th May, I would say go and see this show and even spend a day in the City of Culture, where arts is booming and spirits are high.

PARK90

Buckland Theatre Company in Association with Park Theatre presents

THE UGLY ONE

By Marius Von Mayenburg

Translated by Maja Zade

Directed by Roy Alexander Weise

1 – 24 June 2017

Press Night: 9 June,

7pm www.parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/the-ugly-one

Tue – Sat Evenings: 7.45pm

Thu and Sat Matinees: 3.15pm

ABOUT BUCKLAND THEATRE COMPANY

The Ugly One is Buckland Theatre Company’s third production at The Park Theatre. Buckland was formed in 2015 by Charlie Dorfman to create high quality productions in intimate spaces.

www.bucklandtheatreco.com

Twitter: @BucklandTheatre

Instagram: @ bucklandtheatreco

Facebook: www.facebook.com/Buckland-Theatre-Company-1616221355330770

Natalie Dormer and David Oakes in

Venus in Fur

By David Ives

Directed by Patrick Marber

• Natalie Dormer and David Oakes to star in David Ives’ play Venus in Fur at Theatre Royal Haymarket for a strictly limited run from 6 October.

• Directed by Patrick Marber with designs by Rob Howell and lighting designs by Hugh Vanstone.

• Tickets are on sale now here

 

TRH Productions will present Natalie Dormer and David Oakes in the West End premiere ofDavid Ives’ hit Broadway play Venus in Fur this autumn for a strictly limited nine week engagement at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. This critically-acclaimed two-hander will run from 6 October to 9 December with opening night for press on 17 October.

Enigmatic actress Vanda Jordan appears unannounced for an audition with director Thomas Novachek. She’s determined to land the leading role in his new production – despite seeming wrong for the part. Over one evening in downtown Manhattan their charged meeting becomes a seductive dance to the end.

Directed by Patrick Marber, designed by Rob Howell with lighting by Hugh Vanstone andcasting by Executive Producer Ilene Starger, Venus In Fur is an intoxicating dark comedy of desire, fantasy and the innate love of fur.

Natalie Dormer is to play Vanda Jordan. Dormer is known globally for film and television roles including Margaery Tyrell in HBO series Game of Thrones, Anne Boleyn in The Tudors for Showtime, Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2, Focus Features’ The Forest, Ron Howard’s Rush, and Ridley Scott’s The Counselor.  Upcoming, Dormer stars opposite Sean Penn and Mel Gibson in The Professor and the Mad Man, and the independent thriller In Darkness, which she also co-wrote. She is currently in production on FremantleMedia’s Picnic at Hanging Rock in Australia. Venus in Fur sees Dormer reunite with Patrick Marber, who wrote After Miss Julie (Young Vic) for which she received widespread critical acclaim in the title role. Her other stage credits include Sweet Nothings (also at the Young Vic) and .45 (Hampstead Theatre).

David Oakes is to play Thomas Novachek. Oakes is best known for portraying Juan Borgia in the Emmy Award-winning Showtime Original series The Borgias, for playing William Hamleigh in Emmy Award-winning mini-series The Pillars of the Earth, for BBC’s The White Queen in the role of George, Duke of Clarence and, most recently, on screen as Prince Ernest in ITV’s Victoria, for which he is currently filming the second series. Stage credits include Kit Marlowe in Shakespeare In Love (Nöel Coward Theatre) and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre). Oakes will also appear in the film adaptation of Albert Sánchez Piñol’s thriller Cold Skin set for release later this year.

Patrick Marber is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, actor and director. His productions of his own work includes Dealer’s Choice (NT & Vaudeville), After Miss Julie (BBC TV), Closer (NT, Lyric & Music Box NY) Howard Katz (NT), Three Days in the Country (NT) Don Juan in Soho (Wyndhams). His other directing credits include Travesties (Menier Chocolate Factory/ Apollo Theatre) The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre), Blue Remembered Hills  (National Theatre), ‘1953’ (Almeida) and The Old Neighborhood (Royal Court Theatre). Other plays include The Red Lion, The Musicians, The School Film (all for NT) and Hoop Lane (BBC Radio 3).His film credits include Closer (directed by Mike Nichols), Notes on a Scandal (directed by Richard Eyre), Old Street and Love You More. For television his co-writing credits include The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge.  More recently Ivo van Hove directed Marber’s version of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler for the National Theatre starring Ruth Wilson. His plays have won Evening Standard, Olivier, Time Out, New York and London Critics’ Circle and Writers’ Guild Awards. His TV work has received BAFTA, British Comedy and Royal Television Society Awards. His screenplays have been nominated for Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Awards. He received the British Independent Film Award for Notes on a Scandal.

David Ives was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play for Venus In Fur, which has been produced all over the country and the world, and was turned into a film by Roman Polanski. He is also well known for his evenings of one-act comedies All In The Timing and Time Flies. Other plays include New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza; The Liar (adapted from Corneille); The School For Lies (adapted from Molière); The Metromaniacs (adapted from Alexis Piron); Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain); Ancient History, and Polish Joke. A Chicago native, he lives in New York City.

Rob Howell has worked extensively in costume and set design in theatre and opera within the UK and abroad including at the Royal Court, Almeida, Donmar Warehouse, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Welsh National Opera, Royal Opera House and Metropolitan Opera, New York as well as at numerous other West End and Broadway Theatres. Recent credits includeThe Ferryman (Royal Court) and Groundhog Day (UK and Broadway). He has received three Olivier Awards and multiple nominations for Tony and Olivier Awards for both Set and Costume Design, including the Olivier Award for Best Set Designer for Troilus and Cressida, Vassa andRichard III in 2000 and for Hedda Gabler in 2006. He received an Olivier Award in 2012 and a Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Tony Award in 2013 and for his designs forMatilda the Musical in New York and London.

Hugh Vanstone has designed the lighting for over 200 productions and worked extensively with UK national companies and on Broadway. He has received many awards including three Oliviers, a Tony and a Molière. As associate artist at The Old Vic, he has recently lit Art, No’s Knife, Groundhog Day (UK and Broadway), The Caretaker, The Master Builder and  Future Conditional. Other work includes: Dreamgirls (Savoy), Welcome Home, Captain Fox and  Closer (Donmar);The Red Lion (National Theatre, Dorfman); Closer (Donmar and in New York); An Act Of God(New York & tour); Matilda (RSC and internationally); Strictly Ballroom (Australian tour);  Don Quixote (Royal Ballet); Tanz Der Vampire (throughout Europe & Russia); Shrek The Musical (New York, West End & UK tour); Ghost (London and internationally).

Ilene Starger is a Casting Director and Producer. West End theatre credits include The Libertine(as Casting Director/Executive Producer for TRB and TRH); Breakfast at Tiffany’s (as U.S. Casting Director for 2009 TRH production; also for 2016 UK tour.) Broadway credits includeWaiting for Godot, No Man’s Land, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Casting Director & Associate Producer), Marlene, The Elephant Man, Dance of Death, The Diary of Anne Frank, Dirty Blonde, Closer (Artios Award.) Film credits include Custody (also Associate Producer), The Rewrite, Pink Panther 1 & 2, Music and Lyrics, Two Weeks’ Notice, Night at the Museum (Artios Award),School of Rock (Artios Award), Sleepy Hollow, A Simple Plan, The Parent Trap, First Wives’ Club, Marvin’s Room, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, No Way Out. TV credits include: Witness to the Mob, The Great Gatsby, Earthly Possessions. Starger is a former VP of Casting for Walt Disney and Touchstone Pictures.

An adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel Venus in Furs that inspired the term masochism, Venus in Fur was first performed off-Broadway, New York in 2010 with Nina Arianda and Wes Bentley, before transferring to the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway with Nina Arianda reprising the role of Vanda Jordan alongside Hugh Dancy as Thomas Novachek. Both productions were directed by Walter Bobbie and won Arianda multiple awards including the 2011/12 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play. In 2012, Roman Polanski directed a film version of the play, in French, starring Emmanuelle Seignerand Mathieu Amalric.

 

LISTINGS

Website: www.VenusOnStage.com
Twitter: @VenusOnStageLDN
Facebook: facebook.com/VenusOnStageLDN

Theatre Royal Haymarket, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4HT

www.trh.co.uk
Box Office: 020 7930 8800

First performance on 6 October
Final performance on 9 December
Opening Night for Press on 17 October

Performances
Monday – Saturday at 7.30pm
Thursday and Saturday at 3pm

Prices
From £15
For full details either visit www.trh.co.uk or call 020 7930 8800

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NO

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR

GRAND OPERA HOUSE PANTOMIME

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

LYNNE McGRANGER (Home and Away) ANTONY COSTA (Blue) DEBBIE McGEE (TV personality) KEN MORLEY (TV’s Allo Allo & Coronation Street)

STUART WADE (York’s favourite for the 5^th year) STEVE WICKENDEN (Britain’s classiest Dame returns) AUDREY LAYBOURNE (One of Les Dawson’s Roly Polys)

and CHARLOTTE MACLACHLAN (as Beauty)

And introducing ERAGON of YORK, Yorkshire’s only flying dragon.

Friday 15 December 2017 – Sunday 7 January 2018

 

BLUE singer Antony Costa and Home And Away soap star Lynne McGranger will join Stuart Wade, Debbie McGee and dame Steve Wickenden in the Grand Opera House pantomime, Beauty And The Beast, this winter in York.

Presented by producers Three Bears Productions in their second year at the Cumberland Street theatre, the show also will feature Ken Morley, from the television series ‘Allo ‘Allo! and Coronation Street and assorted double-glazing adverts; Audrey Laybourne, formerly one of Les Dawson’s Roly Polys, and Lincoln musical actress, model and singer Charlotte Maclachlan.

Three Bears Productions, the company run by writer-producer Chris Moreno, co-producer Russ Spencer and actor-director Stuart Wade, made their Grand Opera House debut last Christmas with Aladdin and now return with another spectacular pantomime, with lots of surprises.  Beauty And The Beast is sure to be the Biggest and the Beast in Yorkshire. Expect new flying special effects with Eragon of York, Yorkshire’s only flying dragon, a truly horrorflying experience!  Plus a scary haunted bedroom scene with ghosts, ghoulies and goblins.

Antony Costa, who will play the Prince/Beast, will be making his second appearance of 2017 at the Grand Opera House. From October 16 to 21, he will star in the The Classic Thriller Theatre Company’s touring production of Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement In Stone.

Lynne McGranger is cast as Wizadora Crabapple after playing the Wicked Queen in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs in 2009-2010 and Witch Blackweed in Jack And The Beanstalk in 2003-2004.

Stuart Wade, in his fifth Opera House panto, will take the daft lad role of Hudson, The Beast’s manservant; Debbie McGee will be in fairy mode as Adorabella Marigold Angelpie, and classy dame

Steve Wickenden will play Mirabelle, Belle’s sister. Ken Morley will be Maurice, Belle’s father; Audrey Leybourne, Potty T Potts, and Charlotte MacLachlan, Belle, alias Beauty.

Mr Moreno said: “Three Bears Productions were thrilled that all panto box-office records at the Grand Opera House were broken last Christmas with Aladdin. We’re pleased to announce a brand new production of Beauty And The Beast with some very exciting special effects and fabulous sets and costumes.”

General manager Lizzie Richards said: “This pantomime title is a first for the Grand Opera House and we’re all looking forward to this year’s star cast.”

BOOK NOW FOR A BEAST OF A PANTOMIME AT

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

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

Schools and Family rates available.

 

Mamma Mia! is getting ready to shimmy its way into Leeds as part of its first ever UK tour.

The Grand Theatre will fling open its doors at the end of May to welcome the hit show for six weeks.

Shall we re-run those stats one more time? At the last head-count, Mamma Mia! has been seen by 60 million people worldwide. There have been 50 productions of the show fashioned from the ABBA songbook. It has been seen in 16 different languages (including Swedish). Plus, of course, there was the massively successful movie starring Meryl Streep. And yet for all its 18 years trotting around the globe, Mamma Mia! has never once toured the UK. Until now. Why is that?

“Partly the success of the show in London,” explains the show’s producer Judy Craymer. “When we opened I asked someone’s advice about what should I be doing re. a UK tour. They said, ‘Watch your midweek matinee because when that begins to go soft then you should think about touring. It never did go soft.’

Instead the show went to Canada and Australia, then toured the US and took up residence in Las Vegas before landing on Broadway the month after 9/11. It stayed for a dozen years. More recent conquests have been of China in Mandarin, while a vast cruise ship tours the Caribbean with a Mamma Mia! that can be seen by 1000 seafarers at a go. Craymer has seen the show on every continent but has yet to be lured aboard the Royal Caribbean. “I was asked when they did the technical rehearsal between Hamburg and the Solent in November,” she recalls wryly.

Craymer is one of the least demonstrative super-producers on either side of the Atlantic. Hers is the only mega-musical to have proved itself unstoppable without any assistance from anyone called Lloyd Webber or Mackintosh or Nunn or be affiliated in any way to Disney or any other film franchise. Or indeed get any help from men at all (unless you thank Bjorn and Benny for the music). The three queens of Mamma Mia!, aside from Craymer, are director Phyllida Lloyd and book writer Catherine Johnson.

The show has been going since 1999, but its producer first had the idea for a film or a stage show based on Abba’s songs many years earlier when she was Tim Rice’s assistant on Chess, the musical he wrote with Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson. “I started talking to them about it in the mid-80s, and then in about 1995 Bjorn said, ‘If you can get the right story, maybe.’”

By then she had worked as a producer in television and come across Johnson, a scriptwriter who had also written a couple of sparky hit plays. One of them was Shang-a-Lang, about three women from Chipping Sodbury who hit 40 in a holiday camp where their girlhood idols the Bay City Rollers are playing.

“I explained my thoughts and Catherine said, “What about a mother-daughter story?” and that was it. We have tentatively pitched it to Bjorn and Benny and it kind of worked from there. They trusted me. They weren’t saying, ‘Bring in a star team. We’ll only do it with Tom Stoppard and Hal Prince.’ They let us nurture it. I think timing was everything. It probably wouldn’t have worked ten years before in the same way.”

Craymer is resistant to the idea that Mamma Mia! is just another jukebox musical. “To me those songs were written by Bjorn and Benny for Mamma Mia!” In fact they were increasingly written about their own failing marriages to the band’s two singers, Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. “’The Winners Takes It All’ was the inspiration for me. I kept thinking, that is a great 11 o’clock number, as they say on Broadway. It’s ‘Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina’. But what’s the story?”

The story centres on the search for a father. Twenty-year-old bride-to-be Sophie has grown up on a Greek island where her mother Donna runs a rackety taverna. Sophie doesn’t know who her father is, so rummages through her mother’s diary from twenty years back and secretly invites three potential candidates. As a feel-good plot it is a long way from the doom-laden blockbuster musicals which dominated in the 1980s and 1990s and Craymer thinks that helps explain its longevity.

“The show has a big heart and people love it so they return. In the audience sometimes one member will turn to the other and say, ‘Is this your first time?’ It’s like ‘welcome to the club’. It’s also a show that people like to see in a community atmosphere. They like to bring friends and family. Kids are brought up on the DVD of the movie and now’s their chance to see the show.”

The film – which also starred Julie Walters, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan – came out in 2008. At the time it felt like a final frontier for the show and Craymer looked about for alternative inspiration. It came in the idea of doing a Spice Girls musical. Viva Forever!, with a book written by Jennifer Saunders, opened in the West End in 2012. Alas it did not live up to its title and closed after six months.

“Although I do think it had potential’ she concedes, ‘there’s all kinds of reasons why it didn’t work, but I was very proud of it.” One thing that has changed is the power of social media to make or break a show. Mamma Mia! had good reviews but it mainly conquered the world by word of mouth – and, of course, wonderful songs. The show’s creators had no real idea how deep those songs are in all our bloodstream until they first launched them upon an audience.

“They stood up and cheered at the end and everybody was dancing. Somebody said to me, ‘This is just the first preview audience. Don’t expect this to happen again.’” People have been dancing at the end of the show ever since to “Waterloo” and “Dancing Queen”, sung by Donna and the Dynamos in wonderful Seventies spandex outfits. One night the audience proved so immovable that the front of house staff had to make an announcement that ‘the Dynamos had left the building’ otherwise the audience would have stayed all night. On another occasion they were joined onstage by Anna-Frid Lyngstad. “Frida came quietly one night, she wanted no fuss. She loved the show so much that she asked if she could go onstage at the end with cast, she did and she sang ‘Dancing Queen’ in front of the audience. And that was her quiet night out’.

Although the show has grown and grown, Craymer travels a great deal less than she used to. “Ten years of being on a plane all the time, I used to get remembered by the staff at BA quite a lot.” What spare time she can muster she spends reigniting her original passion for equestrianism. She was a “goodish” showjumper who competed at Hickstead as a junior. Now she is an ambassador of the British showjumping team and owns five baby National Hunt horses. One has gone off to Ireland to stud. Another is called Rock Chick Supremo.

“I’ve got ambitions to do dressage. I feel that’s more controlled and stately. I don’t really want to be charging over fences. I’m always joking that I will be a stable girl again.”

In the mean time there just may be another twist in the Mamma Mia! story in the shape of a second film. “I think it would be a companion piece. It would only happen if we all agreed it was the right thing. People love that film and those characters and love being in that moment of escapism on the Greek island. It’s good for us to always be thinking.”

The Mamma Mia! UK Tour opened at the Bristol Hippodrome in March 2016, and has continued onto Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Cardiff, Southampton, Edinburgh, Plymouth and other UK venues.

“Mamma Mia! has been thrilling audiences of all ages all around the world, and now the party comes to Leeds Grand Theatre for the first time,” says the theatre’s General Manager, Ian Sime. “It promises to be a sensational feel-good show.”

Mamma Mia is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Tuesday May 30th to Saturday 8th July

Tickets are priced from £26 to £59.50

Book online at leedsgrandtheatre.com or call Box Office on 0844 848 2700