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THE NEW 20^TH ANNIVERSARY PRODUCTION OF JONATHAN LARSON’S PULITZER PRIZE- & TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

RENT

IS ON SALE NOW AT YORK THEATRE ROYAL.

 

York Theatre Royal is thrilled to be a venue from Tuesday 18 – Saturday 22 April 2017 for Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Limited, in association with Theatr Clwyd, 20th Anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical RENT.  After opening at Theatr Clwyd for a limited season from 21 October to 12 November 2016, RENT will go on a three-week tour, prior to a Christmas Season at St. James Theatre, London from 8 December 2016 to 28 January 2017 followed by a national tour. The new production will be directed by Bruce Guthrie.

Jonathan Larson’s musical, inspired by Puccini’s opera La Bohème, won four Tony Awards, six Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1996.  Ben Brantley’s New York Times review was a love letter to the show, calling RENT an “exhilarating, landmark rock opera”.  RENT ran on Broadway for 12 years, from 1996 to 2008.  The show premiered in London’s West End in 1998 at the Shaftesbury Theatre, where it ran for 18 months.  It was adapted into a film in 2005.

Larson’s world is inhabited by a group of bohemian artists who struggle to maintain their friendships and their non-conformist ideals in New York’s East Village.  Facing their problems head on, they make personal self-discoveries and find what really matters most in life.  The poignancy of the story was heightened when Jonathan Larson died of an aortic dissection on 25 January 1996, the night before the show’s first off-Broadway performance at New York Theatre Workshop.

The much-loved score features songs such as Seasons of Love, Take Me or Leave Me, One Song Glory, La Vie Bohème, Without You, I’ll Cover You, Out Tonight, I Should Tell You and the title song.

Director Bruce Guthrie said

I am delighted to be working with a truly world-class creative team on this new production of Jonathan Larson’s classic musical.  Our aim is to serve the fans of the show who have loved it so passionately since its ground-breaking premiere Off Broadway in 1996, while introducing it to a new generation of musical theatre fans.  We want to capture the essence of bohemian New York City at the height of the AIDS epidemic.  It’s a place of grime and excitement, where voices are fighting to be heard and the inhabitants are fighting to connect with one another, as well as fighting for their lives.  The musical is a celebration of life and living in the moment.  It’s blood and bone, sweat and tears, laughter and joy, despair, hate and love, all in this one remarkable year shared by a group of friends.  It is a privilege to be working on one of the great ‘moment’ musicals and to celebrate 20 years of RENT.

Tamara Harvey, Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, said,

RENT is a powerful and passionately life-affirming musical and we’re delighted to be working with Robert Mackintosh and Idili Theatricals Limited to bring it to a new generation in this, its 20th Anniversary year.

The new production of RENT will have Choreography by Lee Proud, Set Design by Olivier Award-winner Anna Fleischle and Costume Design by Loren Elstein, with Lighting Design by Olivier and Tony Award-winner Rick Fisher, Sound Design by Olivier Award-winner Mike Walker, Video Design by Andrzej Goulding, Musical Direction by Phil Cornwell and Casting by Will Burton Casting.

RENT has Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson, Musical Arrangements by Steve Skinner, Original Concept and Additional Lyrics by Billy Aronson, Music Supervision and Additional Arrangements by Tim Weil, and Dramaturg is Lynn Thomson.  RENT was originally produced in New York by New York Theatre Workshop and on Broadway by Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Alan S. Gordon and New York Theatre Workshop.

RENT is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Ltd.

Tickets for RENT are on sale now priced £32 – £12 (£1.50 transaction fee per booking) from the York Theatre Royal box office in person, by phone on 01904 623568 or securely online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Fiery Angel presents
PLAYS AT THE GARRICK
KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY

THE ENTERTAINER NOW IN FINAL WEEKS AS YEAR-LONG
WEST END SEASON COMES TO TRIUMPHANT END

JOHN OSBORNE’S SEMINAL PLAY WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE
TO CINEMAS WORLDWIDE ON 27 OCTOBER

• KENNETH BRANAGH, GAWN GRAINGER, SOPHIE MCSHERA AND GRETA SCACCHI STAR IN ROB ASHFORD’S PRODUCTION

• BRANAGH THEATRE LIVE HAS NOW BROADCAST ITS PRODUCTIONS TO 340,000 PEOPLE ACROSS 37 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD

• THE ENTERTAINER IS THE FINAL PRODUCTION IN THE KENNETH BRANAGH THEATRE COMPANY’S SEVEN PLAY SEASON IN THE WEST END

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company in partnership with Picturehouse Entertainment invites dozens of countries around the world, including over 600 cinemas across the UK, to share one of The Entertainer’s final performances. John Osborne’s modern classic will be broadcast live to cinemas direct from London’s Garrick Theatre on Thursday 27 October, marking the final production in a year of unmissable theatre.

The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company has staged seven plays at the Garrick over the past eleven months featuring a total of 64 actors wearing some 286 costumes and 36 wigs. Eighteen cast members made their West End debuts in the acclaimed productions, playing opposite actors such as Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi, Zoë Wanamaker, Lily James, Richard Madden, Adrian Lester, Rob Brydon and Meera Syal.

The Plays at the Garrick season has now sold more than 30,000 theatre tickets for just £15, which included seats in the front row of the stalls via the Today Tix mobile and online lottery. Around the world, over 340,000 people have seen the Branagh Theatre Live broadcasts of Romeo and Juliet starring Derek Jacobi, Lily James and Richard Madden in July 2016 and The Winter’s Tale with Kenneth Branagh opposite Judi Dench in November 2015.

Set against the backdrop of post-war Britain, John Osborneʼs The Entertainer conjures the seedy glamour of the old music halls for an examination of public masks and private torment. Rob Ashford directs Kenneth Branagh as Archie Rice alongside Phil Dunster as Graham, Gawn Grainger as Billy Rice, Jonah Hauer-King as Frank Rice, Crispin Letts as Brother Bill, Sophie McShera as Jean Rice and Greta Scacchi as Phoebe Rice. Further casting also includes Lauren Alexandra, Yasmin Harrison, Pip Jordan and Kate Tydmanas dancers.

The cinema broadcast of The Entertainer is directed by Benjamin Caron, who also directed the broadcasts of The Winter’s Tale and Romeo and Juliet, and recently collaborated with Kenneth Branagh on the final series of Wallander (BBC). Caron has also directed two episodes of the greatly anticipated new Netflix series The Crown by Peter Morgan.

The Plays at the Garrick season for the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company featured productions of The Winter’s Tale, Harlequinade / All On Her Own, Red Velvet, The Painkiller, Romeo and Juliet and The Entertainer.

Participating cinemas and screening dates can be found at branaghtheatrelive.com

For more information and to buy theatre tickets for The Entertainer please seewww.branaghtheatre.com

LISTINGS INFORMATION

The Entertainer
20 August 2016 – 12 November 2016
Performances Monday – Saturday with 2.30pm matinee performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays excluding 20 August.

Garrick Theatre Box Office: 0844 482 9673
Online Theatre Bookings: www.branaghtheatre.com
Tickets from £15

International cinema broadcast of The Entertainer: 27 October 2016
Cinema ticket bookings: branaghtheatrelive.com

No booking fees or transaction fees on any ticket booked direct through branaghtheatre.com, nimaxtheatres.com, direct telephone bookings at the Garrick Theatre and to personal callers at the Garrick Theatre.

 TodayTix run a £15 Front Row Mobile Lottery via the TodayTix App for all productions of the Plays at the Garrick season. The Front Row Lottery will open from midnight for performances that day and close four hours prior to the chosen performance. Customers who share their entry via Twitter or Facebook will gain an additional entry into the Lottery. Every entrant has the potential of three entries per performance.

Theatre Twitter
@BranaghTheatre
#BranaghTheatre

Live Screening Twitter
@KBTCLive
#KBTCLive

Theatre Facebook & YouTube
Search: Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company

Live Screening Facebook
Facebook.com/BranaghTheatreLive
Search: Branagh Theatre Live 

Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle – 18 to 23 October.  Reviewed by Rebecca aged 10

When we arrived at Metro Arena all of the children were buzzing with excitement, everywhere you looked you could see mini Elsa and Anna’s ready and raring to see the show. Much to the audience’s surprise the first characters on the ice were NOT from Frozen, but there was an array of other Disney characters, from Princesses to Toy Story and lots of other characters too many to list, everyone cheered with amazement as they leaped and twirled around the ice.

Next to appear were Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Donald. Then they disappeared and we were suddenly transported into Elsa’s bedroom at Arendelle and the audience went into hushed silence as the story started to unfold before our eyes.

The special effects were very clever as the lights dazzled and the snow fell and a snowman was being built before our eyes, Olaf had been created. Then the story continued, the next highlight was when all of Frozen’s other awesome characters appeared such as: Sven, Kristoff and Hans. I liked the bit in “Let in go”, how the ice castle was created, icicles dropped down from the ceiling and the icy wonderland was formed.

As well as that, I liked how all of the cast got the children involved with the performance; clapping, dancing and singing along to all their favourite songs. The costumes were really good because Anna’s cape lit up with snow flakes and Elsa’s outfit transformed into a winter wonderland dress. Overall I think that the show was amazing and would recommend it for ages.

Grand Opera House York – 18 October 2016.  Reviewed by Michelle Richardson

Everyone knows the classic film so well, with its iconic music, dancing and stars. This tour of Dirty Dancing brings it to the stage. Now showing at the Grand Opera House, York until Saturday 22nd October, touring throughout 2016/2017.

We turned up at the Opera House, after battling heavy traffic and doing a good impression of powerwalking to get there on time, to find a mass of people queuing to get inside. It is certainly the biggest queue I have seen to any event we have attended. Everyone was excited to be there and were looking forward to getting in and the show starting. The queue quickly dissipated and we were there ready and waiting for the show to begin. The auditorium was packed, with predominately ladies over 40, including myself!

It’s the summer of 1963, when America was still innocent. Set in the Catskill Mountains at Kellermans we meet Baby, played by Katie Hartland, and the Houseman family. She manages to gatecrash a staff party, and yes the “I carried a watermelon” scene is included, and is memorized by Johnny Castle, played by Lewis Griffiths, who had the audience swooning from his first muscular appearance, and the raunchy dancing, which is more explicit than I remember. The dancers certainly deliver an impact and Carlie Milner as Penny is outstanding.

The story follows the film closely and we see the naïve Baby maturing into a young woman, and from a shy, clumsy dancer into someone who is confident and able to hold her own. I found some of the learning to dance section a bit of a disappointment, and silly, especially the lake scene, I’m sure it could have been done differently, though it did provide a giggle and the projection was pretty good to see.

The set was very good with moving buildings which created a seamless transition from scene to scene. The cast are a talented group, from the actors and the dancers with all the lifts and gyrating. Daniela Pobega and Simon Campbell, who stepped in as understudy for Billy, delivered great vocal performances.

For the first half of the show I was not convinced, but it did get a lot better the second half, and I started to feel the chemistry between Baby and Johnny. The audience certainly appreciated Johnny’s naked scene. Both Hartland and Griffiths put in admirable performances, but I was not blown away. The finale for me was the highlight of the show and that really made the whole play worth it.

Did we have “the time of our lives”? Maybe not, but it is still an exciting show to go and see. I did leave on a high with a feel good felling and I would certainly recommend to all.

I am now off to watch the film all over again!

The Bunker 12 October – 5 November.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Brand new venue The Bunker opens its first season with Isley Lynn’s award winning Skin A Cat. Based on Lynn’s own sexual experiences, this funny and heart-warming play takes a candid look at the life of Alana (Lydia Larson) and her quest to lose her virginity.

Beginning with her first period at nine, Alana relates her early experiences with boyfriends and her decision to lose her virginity on prom night – “We wanted it to be… American!” Lots of fumbling and awkward encounters follow until Alana finds ways to enjoy sex other than actual penetration. She finally seeks medical advice and is diagnosed with Vaginismus – a psycho-sexual condition where her muscles spasm painfully and prevent penetration. But Alana still can’t talk about her problem, instead only apologising to her partners, blaming herself and abstaining from sex. This all changes when she meets Geri, an older man who annoys her so much that she blurts out the truth. They start a relationship and his spiritual outlook enables Alana to relax and, finally, lose her virginity.

Lydia Larson is natural and fearless as Alana – equally convincing as a nine-year-old, teenager and adult. Her nuanced body language and fine comedy timing are fantastic to watch in a fine performance that carries the narrative seamlessly. Jessica Clark plays the women in Alana’s story with energy and a fine ear for accents. Her portrayal of Alana’s mother and her hysterically inept explanations of menstruation were reminiscent of Victoria Wood at her best. The male characters are played by Jassa Ahluwalia, boyish and innocent as Alana’s early boyfriends (with brilliant deadpan delivery of overly polite text messages and email breakups) and measured and mature as Geri.

Although the set is basically a bed, the play a conveyor belt of sex scenes and the writing is full of jokes about bums, flaps and willies, this isn’t a sexy show. Larson spends the night in flesh coloured support underwear and pop socks, and when Ahluwalia takes off his dungarees, he is wearing long johns. There is no titillation at all – the sex is stylised and funny, making Alana’s pain and seizures even more shocking and creating a roller coaster of emotions as the play veers from fantastic physical comedy to heart-breaking despair without warning.

Blythe Stewart’s able and sympathetic direction enables Lynn’s story to shine. The play delivers its message about there being many different ways to enjoy sex apart from what society tells us is “normal” without getting too tub thumping, and Alana’s final realisation that she has actually been happy as she is all along is written and performed with touching simplicity.

Skin A Cat is a great play – sweet, filthy, thought-provoking and very, very funny. This is a very promising start at this exciting new venue. Go and see this play – and take your teenage sons and daughters along – this is the sort of sex education they should be getting in school.

Ye Olde Rose and Crown Theatre 12 – 30 October.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

All Star Productions’ Wonderful Town is one of those shows where everyone leaves with a big soppy smile on their faces.

This chamber production hits all the right notes and, under Tim McArthur’s inspired direction, celebrates the fact that this is an extremely corny and frankly bonkers story, and very much of its time.

Sisters Ruth and Eileen Sherwood arrive in New York from Ohio with ambitions to be a writer and actress. They rent an apartment in Greenwich Village and soon all the local men are falling for Eileen, whilst Ruth meets newspaper man Bob Baker, but just can’t stop herself from saying all of the wrong things. An array of bizarre neighbourhood caricatures complicate matters but the girls end up with the right guys in the finale. Ben Hathaway’s simple set design – all newspaper print and McArthur’s favourite hanging frames adds to the cartoon feel of the show and McArthur has created a slightly edgy but very nostalgic production that delivers all you could wish for.

With music by Leonard Bernstein, you’re on to a winner, and musical director Aaron Clingham is obviously having the time of his life on the piano playing (expertly) some of Bernstein’s more light-hearted tunes. Choreographer Ian Pyle has done a superb job, with the talented dancers doing things that shouldn’t be possible in this tiny space. Swing is a wonderful routine, with shades of the Jets and the Sharks having a party instead of a rumble. The rhythms created by the piano and the dancers’ bodies and voices are breath-taking. Give that man an Offie.

Some of the musical numbers’ lyrics don’t showcase Comden and Green at their best, but One Hundred Easy Ways To Lose A Man is the song you’ll recognise from this show, performed by the fabulous Lizzie Wofford as Ruth – making the most of a rare leading role for the lower register. Wofford and Francesca Benton-Stace, as Eileen, are an enchanting double act – playing their roles with knowing humour and plenty of gusto. Aneurin Pascoe is charming as Baker, with a beautifully judged and delivered rendition of A Quiet Girl being his standout moment. Hugo Joss Caton as Frank is delightfully clumsy and sweet, and Simon Burr and Francesca Pim are a hoot as footballer Wreck and his fiancée Helen.

The entire cast give energetic and funny performances, with pastiche Greek, New “Yoik” and Irish accents aplenty. The Irish policemen are hysterical in the scene where they serenade Eileen after arresting her, with Jon R Harrison seemingly modelling his character on Rory Brown – brilliant!

I can understand why Wonderful Town isn’t revived very often, as its plot and lyrics haven’t aged well. But when it is given the Tim McArthur treatment and performed with such joy, the show is simply fantastic.

Go on, take a selfie as you leave the theatre – Wonderful Town will turn you into a grinning loon.

Matthew Byam Shaw, Nia Janis and Nick Salmon for Playful Productions,
Tom Kirdahy and Hunter Arnold present
Damian Lewis in
Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?
Directed by Ian Rickson

• Damian Lewis returns to the London stage to appear in Albee’s black comedy about a family in crisis

• Ian Rickson directs Albee’s TONY® Award Winning play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket with a first preview on 24th March 2017 and opening night on 5th April 2017

• Tickets are now on sale for this strictly limited 12 week season fromwww.TheGoatPlay.com

Ian Rickson will direct Damian Lewis in a new production of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? which will open at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 24th March 2017 with an official opening night on 5th April 2017.

A darkly comic and disturbing view on the collapse of familial relationships, Edward Albee’s The Goat has all of Albee’s characteristically witty tones as well as being a deeply tragic portrayal of a couple and their teenage son in crisis when the father embarks on an improbable and impossible love affair from which there is no return. Widely regarded as his late masterpiece, Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia is brought back to the London stage following Albee’s recent death.

Damian Lewis was last seen on the London stage in a production of David Mamet’sAmerican Buffalo, he now returns to play Albee’s central character Martin. Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning Lewis is best known for his roles on screen in Homeland andWolf Hall and most recently Billions. He has also regularly returned to the stage performing at the National Theatre and the Almeida as well as in the West End.

Ian Rickson is a prolific and multi award-winning director whose recent work includesEvening At The Talk House and The Red Lion at the National Theatre, Jerusalem, Mojo,Old Times and Betrayal in the West End and Hamlet at The Young Vic.

EDWARD ALBEE was born on 12th March 1928 and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include The Zoo Story (1958), The Death of Bessie Smith (1959), The Sandbox(1959), The American Dream (1960), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961-62, Tony Award), Tiny Alice (1964), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer Prize; 1996, Tony Award),All Over (1971), Seascape (1974, Pulitzer Prize), Listening (1975), Counting the Ways(1975), The Lady from Dubuque (1977-78), The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981), Finding the Sun (1982), Marriage Play (1986-87), Three Tall Women (1991, Pulitzer Prize),Fragments (1993), The Play about the Baby (1997), The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (2000, 2002 Tony Award), Occupant (2001), At Home at the Zoo: Act 1, Homelife. Act 2, The Zoo Story. (2004), and Me, Myself & I (2008). Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980.  In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.  In 2005 he was awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

DAMIAN LEWIS OBE won unanimous international acclaim for his role in Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama Homeland. Lewis starred as ‘Sergeant Nicholas Brody’ opposite Claire Danes and was awarded the 2013 Golden Globe for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series’ and a 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series’ among other accolades for his role. Most recently Lewis can be seen starring in the Showtime series Billions opposite Paul Giamatti. With an expansive list of diverse film, theatre and television credits Damian Lewis has evolved into one of this generation’s most respected and sought-after actors.

Prior to his role in Homeland, Lewis first came to the attention of international audiences in 2001 with his Golden Globe-nominated performance in the award-winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced by Tom Hanks. He also starred as Soames Forsyte in the acclaimed British production of The Forsyte Sagaand Charlie Crews in Life. In 2015 Lewis starred as Henry VIII in Wolf Hall opposite Mark Rylance in the BBC Two television miniseries adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Booker-Prize winning novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies.

Prior to American Buffalo in 2015, Lewis starred as Alceste in Martin Crimp’s 2009 adaptation of The Misanthrope opposite Keira Knightley. After training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lewis joined the British theatre community and appeared in a number of plays between 1993-98, primarily as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. During that time, he starred as Laertes in Jonathan Kent’s Broadway production of Hamlet opposite Ralph Fiennes. In 2003, Lewis returned to the London stage opposite Helen McCrory in Five Gold Rings at the Almeida Theatre. In 2005 he starred in the National Theatre’s production of Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community.

In addition to his illustrious work on stage, Lewis has appeared on film in Julian Fellowes’ adaptation of Romeo and Juliet which starred Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld in the titular roles, The Sweeney, David Gordon Green’s Your Highness, and Werner Herzog’sQueen of the Desert opposite Nicole Kidman.

IAN RICKSON was the artistic director of the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, where he directed Jerusalem (also West End at the Apollo Theatre), The Winterling, The Night Heron and Mojo (also Chicago), all by Jez Butterworth; Not Not Not Not Not Enough Oxygen and This is a Chair by Caryl Churchill; Dublin Carol and The Weir by Conor McPherson (also Dublin, Chicago, West End and Broadway); The Seagull by Anton Chekhov (also Broadway); Krapp’s Last Tape by Samuel Beckett; Alice Trilogy by Tom Murphy; The Sweetest Swing in Baseball by Rebecca Gilman; Fallout by Roy Williams; The Day I Stood Still by Kevin Elyot; The Lights by Howard Korder; Pale Horse and Some Voices by Joe Penhall; Ashes and Sand by Judy Upton; Killers by Adam Pernak; Sab by Michael Cook andWildfire by Jonathan Harvey.

In the West End Rickson directed Kristin Scott Thomas, Rufus Sewell and Lia Williams inOld Times (Harold Pinter Theatre); Betrayal, also with Kristin Scott Thomas, and Keira Knightley and Elizabeth Moss in The Children’s Hour (both Comedy Theatre); and at the National Theatre, Evening Talk at the Talk House by Wallace Shawn and The Red Lion by Patrick Marber. Productions at the Young Vic include Hamlet starring Michael Sheen, Now We Are Here and in autumn 2016 Rickson will direct The Nest.

Work on screen includes Fallout (Company Pictures for Channel 4) and Krapp’s Last Tapeby Samuel Beckett (BBC4) and on radio includes In Therapy with Susie Orbach (BBC Radio 4). Rickson also works with PJ Harvey and Kate Tempest on their music and poetry shows.

REVIEW: FOOTLOOSE (Sunderland Empire) ★★★★

October 14, 2016 

For: West End Wilma 

https://www.westendwilma.com/review-footloose-sunderland-empire/

Footloose tells the story of Ren McCormack, who leaves Chicago with his newly separated mother to move in with his uncle in Bomont, West Virginia. Ren clashes with the locals, especially Rev Moore, who oversees the town council. Following a fatal accident, dancing is banned in Bomont, but Ren takes his friends, including Rev Moore’s daughter Ariel, to a dance hall out of town, and they decide to hold a dance of their own. They need the council’s permission though, and Ren must try to find common ground with Rev Moore.

Originally a 1984 film starring Kevin Bacon, Footloose was one of a clutch of coming-of-age films such as Flashdance, Dirty Dancing and, earlier, Grease where teenagers fought against the small-minded oppression of the adults that surrounded them through the power of dance. First adapted for the Broadway stage in 1998, it doesn’t have the romantic power of Dirty Dancing, nor the unadulterated nostalgia of Grease but what it lacks in story, it makes up for in energy and passion.

This production has a real star in Luke Baker who is an outstanding dancer but also portrays Ren as the epitome of cool. Ren’s dancing helps him let off steam and Baker’s skills, not to mention the choreography by Matthew Cole, make the dancing in Footloose its most dynamic storytelling agent. Baker and Hannah Price who plays Ariel Moore make engaging leads and carry the audience along on a tide of passion. As well as teenage angst, Footloose, is all about fun and the carefree nature of being a teen, which of course is never fully appreciated at the time. As the comedy lead Willard, Gareth Gates gives a good performance, he has great comic timing and charm.

In the pivotal role of Rev. Moore, David J Higgins showed his acting range and sang so well on his solo “Heaven Help Me.” As his wife Vi, the wonderful Maureen Nolan worked her stage magic. Other cast members included Nicky Swift as Ren’s mum, Ethel McCormack; Alex Marshall as Ren’s Uncle, Wes Warnicker; Ariel’s friends Miracle Chance as Urleen, Natasha Brown as Wendy-Jo and Willard’s love interest the amazing Joanna Sawyer as Rusty.

Music is fundamental to Footloose, so restructuring the story into a musical should be a sure-fire win. The music in the show is loud, for sure, with a beat designed to set toes tapping and fingers snapping. The score is peppered with flashy dance tunes from the movie that have boomed over disco floors for years. And there’s a young, eager, hard-working cast of dancers, somersaulting, back-flipping, wriggling to the beat of the band. Certainly, director Racky Plews’ production cleverly uses its ‘80s soundtrack: every actor is also a skilled musician and the core band remain on-stage at all time.

I have seen Footloose in other venues on this tour and whilst before there was an element of something missing, this show in Sunderland had everything I wanted to see. Technically excellent, vocally brilliant and full of energy and fun. So kick off your Sunday shoes and just cut loose for Footloose.

York Theatre Royal – 12 to 15 October 2016.  Reviewed By Marcus Richardson

When Football meets Theatre, it can be an amazing success like Bend it Like Beckham: the Musical; this show however neither wowed me or made me hate it.

The play set in Gateshead follows two young lads, who have a passion for football and will do anything to get season tickets to see Newcastle United. The play shows a working class family who are in protective care from an abusive father and husband.

For me the most impressive this was the set, it was amazing how it showed the steel city vibe, the the use of girders and estate like flats, just blew me away when I walked into the theatre, the certain walls would ride up and review a house, this gave a great sense of setting without having to change the whole entire set itself, the football commentator that was done over the speakers made for great use of the passage of time and also kept the audience of the struggle of the two lads.

The acting was pretty good on most part, the only thing that let it down for me is that Gerry (Niek Vergsteeg) the main character was hard to understand as he was doing a geordie accent that was hard to hear and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what he was saying, that said his physicality was amazing and I couldn’t falter.

The actor who stood out for me was Victoria Elliot who played the mother Dee she was equally funny and serious, she had so much stage presence and made for some scenes to be very impacting and other very funny with her pineapple jokes. I also loved Will Graham who played the best friend Sewell, and Kevin Wathen who played Dan, Dees new partner. Some of the multi role was hard to understand as two of the character were very similar and I had trouble telling the two apart.

It seemed very strange to have such a football heavy and urban place in a city like York and it seems that it would be suit to other cities like Manchester and Sheffield which have a football history and following. The themes of the play didn’t appeal to me because I’m not too fond of football and it didn’t draw my interests in.

The play premiered in Newcastle with the Northern Stage group, it will also be at York Theatre Royal until the 15th October and it will go to Winchester from the 20th to the 22 of October and make its last stop at Dundee where it will open 25th and close 27th October.