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Grand Theatre, Leeds – 2 July 2015

Based on the 1988 movie of the same name, which starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels actually transfers quite well to the stage.

The audience at The Grand, on a UK tour after a successful run at the Savoy Theatre in the West End, were transported to the luxurious French Riviera resort of Beaumont-sur-Mer. There, sophisticated conman Lawrence Jameson, played superbly at the performance I attended by Kevin Stephen-Jones, revels in swindling cash, jewellery and just about anything from rich, upper-class women. He has the local police chief Andre (Mark Benton) in his pocket and all is going well. But his monopoly comes under threat from wide-boy Freddy Benson (Noel Sullivan), who wants a slice of the action. Beaumont-sur-Mer can’t accommodate them both, so they concoct a bet to be the first to scam millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate (Carley Stenson) out of $50,000. But the target of their affections and tricks is not all she is cracked up to be.

Stenson’s Christine is a delight from the moment she steps on stage; goofy but charming, clumsy yet loveable, as she reels in her two oblivious suitors.

Matching her in class is Geraldine Fitzgerald as wealthy divorcée Muriel Eubanks, who embarks on an hilariously exhausting tryst with Andre

Sullivan is not just vocally talented but surprisingly twinkle toed and his comedic timing lends itself nicely to the play’s witty asides, with some corpsing and what seems genuine enjoyment in the part

“Give Them What They Want”, we’re told is the golden rule of a con artist and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels certainly does – but far from feeling scammed, I walked out of the The Grand more tickled than Freddy’s poor feet, thanks to a slick, well-executed production that hits all the right notes.

In Leeds until Saturday 4th July and on tour around the UK

YORK SCHOOLCHILDREN TAKE TO THE STAGE AS PART OF ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY CELEBRATION.

Pupils from seven schools in York will tread the boards at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre next month as part of a national celebration of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Learning and Performance Network (LPN).

The Head That Wears A Crown takes place in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) on 8 July 2015 and will involve 100 pupils from 45 primary, secondary and special schools across Cornwall, Southampton, Birmingham, York, Hull and Middlesbrough. All of the schools involved in the celebration form part of the RSC’s LPN – a three year national partnership programme with 400 schools and 10 regional theatre partners throughout England that aims to transform experiences of Shakespeare’s work for young people in schools.

The afternoon will include six performances in total – one from each of the six regions. Over the past few months, each region has selected its cast from a number of local or ‘cluster’ schools and have been working with practitioners from the RSC and York Theatre Royal, to explore Shakespeare’s Henry’s plays. Each group has then chosen a scene to rehearse from Henry IV parts 1 and 2 or Henry V which tells the story of Prince Hal’s journey from errant prince to the victorious King Henry V. The final performances will see each ‘cluster’ performing their finished piece in front of a live audience in the RST.

In York, the cluster is made up of fourteen pupils from seven schools led by York High School and Julian Ollive from York Theatre Royal.

Julian Ollive, Education & Young Actors’ Associate at York Theatre Royal said:

The festival in Stratford is a wonderful way to close the three-year journey of our participation in the RSC’s Learning and Performance Network programme. By bringing together children and young people from all our seven partnership schools into a single performance augments the central theme of ensemble that is embedded in the project. The programme has been about bringing people together to learn and experience new ways of understanding and performing Shakespeare and there’s no better way to celebrate this than with our fellow regional partners on the RST stage on July 8th.

An estimated 500 people are expected to watch the performances including parents, RSC staff and invited VIPs.

The most acclaimed new play of the decade transfers to the West End for 8 weeks only

THE FATHER

Wyndham’s Theatre, London 30th September – 21st November 2015

★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★

Guardian Observer Times Financial Times

★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★ ★★★★★

Mail on Sunday Evening Standard Sunday Times Daily Mail

By Florian Zeller in a new translation by Christopher Hampton

Directed by James Macdonald

Following successful runs at the Ustinov Studio in Bath and the Tricycle Theatre in London, Theatre Royal Bath Productions and the Tricycle Theatre will transfer Florian Zeller’s Moliere award-winning play, THE FATHER, starring Kenneth Cranham and Claire Skinner, to London’s Wyndham’s Theatre for a limited season, Wednesday 30th September – Saturday 21st November. In the two weeks prior to the transfer, the production will play a very limited run at Cambridge Arts Theatre, 15th – 26th September.

“As playful as it is painful… unforgettable acting” Dominic Maxwell, The Times

Now 80 years old, Andre was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter Anne and her husband Antoine. Or was he an engineer whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new lover, Pierre? The thing is, he is still wearing his pyjamas, and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he’s losing control.

“My play of the year…. Devastating drama” Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday

Nominated for a Tony Award for Stephen Daldry’s An Inspector Calls on Broadway, Kenneth Cranham’s numerous stage credits also include The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre, The Homecoming at the Almeida and West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, The Birthday Party and Gaslight. Screen credits range from the title role in Shine On Harvey Moon to Layer Cake, Maleficent, Hot Fuzz, Oliver! and Hellbound: Hellraiser II.

“Kenneth Cranham is quite simply shattering” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times

For her role in The Glass Menagerie at the Donmar Warehouse, Claire Skinner won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress and the Time Out Award for Best Performance Off West End, as well as earning an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance. Her theatre credits also include performances at the National Theatre, RSC, Almeida, Liverpool Everyman and the West End. Television credits include a BAFTA nominated performance in five series of ‘Outnumbered’, as well as ‘Silk’, ‘Homefront’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Lark Rise To Candleford’, while in film she has appeared in ‘When Did You Last See Your Father’, ‘Strings’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’.

“Stunning… quietly devastating” Henry Hitchings, The Evening Standard

The cast also includes Rebecca Charles with additional casting to be announced.

Director James Macdonald has worked extensively off Broadway where he was recently the winner of the 2014 Obie Award for Best Director for Love and Information. He was Associate Director of the Royal Court from 1992 to 2007 and his credits include Cock, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You, the European and US tours of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, Exiles at the National Theatre, and Glengarry Glen Ross in the West End.

Florian Zeller is fast becoming one of France’s most well-known contemporary playwrights. His 2010 play The Mother was the winner of the Moliere Award, France’s highest theatrical honour. The Mother received critical acclaim at its UK premiere at the Ustinov Studio in June 2015, starring Gina McKee.

Translator Christopher Hampton’s own work includes The Philanthropist, Savages, Tales From Hollywood and Les Liaisons Dangereuse. He has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, Chekhov and Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3).

Designed by Miriam Buether; lighting designed by Guy Hoare; sound designed by Christopher Shutt.

LISTINGS

Venue: Wyndham’s Theatre, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0DA

Dates: Wednesday 30th September – Saturday 21st November 2015

Times: Monday – Saturday, 7.30pm; Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm

Press night: Monday 5th October, 7pm

Tickets: £20 – £49.50 Box Office: 0844 482 5120/ www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk

Venue: Cambridge Arts Theatre, 6 St Edward’s Passage, Cambridge, CB2 3PJ

Dates: 15th- 26th September 2015

Times: Monday – Saturday, 7.45pm; Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm

Prices: £15-£35 Box Office: 0 1223 503333 / www.cambridgeartstheatre.com

The incredible Irish step dance show Rhythm of the Dance to perform at Darlington Civic Theatre on Friday 24 July

Amazing! Breath-taking! Inspiring! Wonderful!

These are reactions from audiences and critics alike upon experiencing the exciting performances of the rousing Rhythm of the Dance.

This incredible live show celebrates the rich history of Ireland and the art of Irish dance. Rhythm of the Dance creates a new ere in Irish entertainment, presenting thirty dancers, a traditional Irish band and the handsome Young Irish Tenors. Internationally rated as one of the most popular and successful Irish step dance shows on tour, critics, audiences and millions of fans around the world hail this live stage show as a must see.

Rhythm of the Dance is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Friday 24 July. Tickets* are £23 and £25.

*Includes £1 restoration levy

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

Following the last-minute postponement of Sarah Cracknell’s City Varieties appearance on Sunday June 21^st (due to a throat infection) a rescheduled date of Sunday 26^th July has been confirmed.

All ticketholders will be contacted regarding the new date and anyone unable to attend will be offered a refund from point of purchase.

Sarah, known as the voice of Saint Etienne, has recently released her highly acclaimed second solo album, Red Kite, available from Cherry Red Records.

Sarah Cracknell is at City Varieties Music Hall on
Sunday 26th July at 7.30pm.

Tickets are still available and priced from £20.60

Book online at cityvarieties.co.uk or call box office on 0113 243 0808

This big, bold and beautiful musical comedy will begin its UK tour at Leicester’s Curve theatre on 9 September 2015 and will then tour to more than 25 venues across the UK, including a Christmas residency at Birmingham Alexandra Theatre in December 2015.

Hairspray will star Tony Maudsley (ITV1’s Benidorm) as Edna Turnblad, TV and stage actress and presenter Claire Sweeney (Educating Rita, Guys and Dolls) as Velma Von Tussle, Olivier Award nominated actor and much-loved Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan (BBC1 Tumble) as Wilbur Turnblad and British singer and West End performer Brenda Edwards (Chicago, We Will Rock You, The X Factor) as Motormouth Maybelle.

Freya Sutton will reprise the role of Tracy Turnblad alongside established musical theatre performerJon Tsouras (A Chorus Line) who will play the role of Corny Collins. Dex Lee (The Scottsboro Boys) will play Seaweed, Ashley Gilmour (Miss Saigon) will play Link Larkin, Lauren Stroud (Wicked) will play Amber, Monique Young (Top Hat) will play Penny, Karis Jack (Urinetown) will play Little Inez, Adam Price (Hairspray) will play Male Authority Figure, Tracey Penn (Made in Dagenham) will play Female Authority Figure and Layton Williams (Bad Education, Billy Elliot) will play Duane.

It’s Baltimore 1962, where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, is on a mission to follow her dreams and dance her way onto national TV. Tracy’s audition makes her a local star and soon she is using her new-found fame to fight for equality, bagging local heartthrob Link Larkin along the way.

Hairspray is a musical based on the 1988 film of the same name which starred Divine and Ricki Lake by cult filmmaker John Waters. With music and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman and book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray originally opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 2002 and subsequently won eight Tony Awards. The production opened in London at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 2007 and won four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical. Proving to be an international success, Hairspray has also opened in South Africa, Japan, South Korea, China and Dubai. Following the musical’s phenomenal success on stage, a film of the musical was released in 2007 which starred John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Marsden.

Hairspray is produced by Mark Goucher and Laurence Myers, Tom O’Connell for QNQ, Just for Laughs Theatricals, Gale King Productions and Curve theatre, Leicester.

Joan Armatrading is to perform at Darlington Civic Theatre on Thursday 23 July as part of her final major world tour.

Three times Grammy nominated, Brit award nominee and Ivor Novello winner, producer and musician Joan Armatrading MBE is recognised as one of the world’s leading singer / songwriter / guitarists.

This is a fantastic opportunity to see Joan perform songs spanning the whole of her career including Love and Affection, Willow, Drop the Pilot and Me Myself I.

Joan said “I will never retire but this will be the last major tour that I will undertake. For the first time these concerts will be me solo on stage playing the guitar and piano and singing. I want these concerts to be a special, lively, interactive one to one experience. I have absolutely enjoyed the last 42 years of performances but now, with my final major tour, I want to capture a unique memory for both myself and the audience.”

Joan Armatrading is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Thursday 23 July. Tickets* are £28.50 and £30.50.

*Includes £1 restoration levy

To book contact the Box Office on 01325 486 555 or visit www.darlingtoncivic.co.uk

Mark Benton and Noel Sullivan stopped off for a quick pic as they arrived at Leeds Grand Theatre yesterday (Tuesday 30^th June) for the opening of the West End Hit Show Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

The pair are clearly enjoying each other’s comedic company – jostling for the camera, exchanging banter and jovially endorsing a Noel Sullivan album on sale at the theatre as part of the show’s merchandise.  “It’s great to be back in ‘Costa del Leeds’’ joked Sullivan as they stepped out into the heatwave on Briggate.

Based on the legendary 1988 film Dirty Rotten Scoundrels with Michael Caine and Steve Martin the comedy-musical is at Leeds Grand Theatre until this Saturday 4^th July.

Starring Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood), Noel Sullivan (Hear’Say, We Will Rock You), Carly Stenson (Hollyoaks, Spamalot, Shrek) and Mark Benton (Waterloo Road, Doctor Who, Hairspray), audiences will be transported to the luxurious lap of the French Riviera where the decadent world of sophisticated conman Lawrence Jamieson (Praed) is set to come crashing down with the arrival of larger-than-life Freddy Benson (Sullivan) – a conman of an entirely different order. 

Soon realising the town ain’t big enough for the both of them, the two find themselves going head to head in the con of their lives, pulling out all of the stops in a bid for the affections of millionaire soap heiress Christine Colgate (Stenson).  Little do they know what they’ve let themselves in for.

Noel Sullivan was last in Leeds with We Will You Rock You also at The Grand. He said:

“Leeds Grand is such a beautiful theatre … I like playing up north because in places like Leeds people go out for a good time and you really feel the difference down south where I think people are a bit more reserved.”

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is at Leeds Grand Theatre until  Saturday 4^th July

Tickets are on sale now at £25

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

Civic Theatre, Darlington – 30 June 2015

Arnold Ridley’s Ghost Train arrives in Darlington this week in a tense thriller.

Telling the tale of a very mixed group of passengers reluctantly  spending the night in the bleak Fal Vale station in Cornwall because there is no train to the next stop, Truro, for nine hours.  Sam Hodgkin (Jeffrey Holland) is hugely-believable as the grumpy station master who regales them with spooky tales, with a warning that the place is haunted, and anyone who sees the ghost train will die.

Ben Roddy as Richard Winthrop and Corrinne Wicks as his wife Elsie excel as they argue their way towards a separation while Chris Sheridan and Sophie Powles are perfectly cast as newly weds Charles and Peggy Murdock.   Judy Buxton is the eccentric Miss Bourne, who has a parrot in a cage, and for someone supposed to be teetotal can knock back her spirits, and spends the majority of the play comatose on the table.  However,  Tom Butcher stealing most of the laughs as upper class twit Teddie Deakin, who seemingly pulled the communication cord as a joke but we learn that there’s more to him than the nitwit in waistcoat, loud tweeds and plus-fours jumping about like a jack in a box.

Liz Garland as Julia Price, along with David Janson (her brother Herbert Price)  and John Hester as Dr Sterling introduce a sinister note to the proceedings, while William Towler as a small but important part as police officer Jackson.

The waiting room set is simple yet effective, and there is excellent use of light to suggest the passing of trains outside, and of sound to convey the raging storm.  And the costumes, Wicks and Powles in particular, are glorious and beautiful.

To be honest, time has not been kind to some parts of The Ghost Train script and it’s interesting to consider how much of the phraseology which would have been commonplace 90 years ago, now sounds simply comical, creating far more laughter than would have originally been intended.  But the story has suspense and tension with more than one jump-out-of-your-seat moment, and a twist in the tale.  Its then such a shame that such a well written play seems to end so suddenly, as if Ridley ran out of time and idea’s.  An extra ten minutes and the ending could have been so much better.

In Darlington until Saturday 4th July