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MINISTRY OF SCIENCE – LIVE!

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, please keep your head firmly on your shoulders and your arms and legs inside the ride at all times as Ministry of Science Live explodes onto the Darlington Civic Theatre stage on Saturday 6 June.

This is not your ordinary science show – it comes jam packed with fun, laughter and plenty of amazing science and history which includes a fully operational hovercraft, massive cannons with lots of bangs, a push bike that makes the best smoothie ever and look out for Darth Vader playing with plasma!

Investigating the inventors and engineers who have shaped the modern world we live in, the audience experience everything from liquid nitrogen flowers to hydrogen bottle rockets, Buzz Aldrin to Virgin Galactic, cat food tins to hovercraft and methane to the invention of the battery. Expect loud explosions and more!

Ministry of Science Live is a fully engaging interactive experience that explores energy and engineering using brilliantly designed demonstrations and historical references as a narrative. Combining stimulating live entertainment with the world of education the show’s primary aim is to inspire and educate young people through the medium of live theatre.

Ministry of Science Live was launched at Northern Ireland’s CultureTech festival in 2014 where it played to critical acclaim to over 7,500 people in a week. Since then the show has been to the United Arab Emirates before arriving back in the UK for 60 date national theatre tour. Produced by Mark Thompson with creative credits including Writer and Director of Brainiac Live, which made its West End debut in 2013, and national tours of Science Museum Live, Guinness World Records OA Science Live, Science Museum Live – The Highlights Show and BBC Hidden World Live!

Ministry of Science Live is at Darlington Civic Theatre on Saturday 6 June. Tickets are £14.50 for adults and £12.50 for children

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

Go West & Nik Kershaw Together in Concert

with special guest T’Pau

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Saturday 14 November at 7:30pm

The 80s are back as three critically acclaimed legends of the era join forces in this major new UK tour. Celebrating their 30th anniversary, Go West together in concert with Nik Kershaw and very special guest Carol Decker fromT’Pau are united for one night only at the Grand Opera House York.

With millions of albums sales and iconic hits such as We Close Our Eyes, Call Me, King Of Wishful Thinking, Wouldn’t It Be Good, The Riddle, I Won’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Heart and Soul and the classic China in Your Hand, this authentic eighties triple header is not to be missed.

Tickets: £29.50 & £31.50

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

 

TRIBUTE TO DIRTY DANCING SOUNDTRACK

ANNOUNCES 5TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR & FULL CAST

GRAND OPERA HOUSE YORK

Saturday 10 October 2015

Stage Acts Entertainment’s smash hit tribute to one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time, An Evening of Dirty Dancing: The Tribute Show this year reaches a milestone achievement. Celebrating 5 years of touring across the UK and internationally, and having visited over 100 theatres, the fully choreographed highly interactive celebration of the music from the iconic movie will embark upon the Hey Baby 5th Anniversary Tour in February

and continue through 2015.

Musical theatre stalwart Julian Essex-Spurrier will return to lead the production having played a number of iconic leading roles including Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever, Rocky in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Riff in West Side Story and Rusty in Starlight Express. He will be joined by Aimie Atkinson, winner of the BBC Radio 2 Voice of Musical Theatre who returns to the production for a third season having recently played the leading roles of Penny inCarnaby Street The Musical and Chloe in the Take That musical, Never Forget.  The cast also includes Christina Cuttell, Jamie Leigh Nelson, Alisha Dee-Flintham, Andy Rees, Ross Russell and Joseph Stribley.

An Evening of Dirty Dancing: The Tribute Show is directed by Paul Spicer with choreography by Leanne Harwood and pays homage to the greatest movie soundtrack of all time.  A high energy emotional roller-coaster with breathtaking choreography and buckets of nostalgia including the classic songs: Big Girls Don’t Cry, Hey Baby, Wipeout, Do You Love Me, Hungry Eyes and the Oscar-winning (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.

 

Paul Spicer said “The atmosphere is always electric. We totally encourage our audiences to get out of their seats and immerse themselves in the summer of ’63. People leave the theatre on a real high. I’ve seen someone burst into tears of happiness! This is a multiaward winning soundtrack steeped in nostalgia. I challenge anyone to come along andnot have a fantastic time.”

Please note this production is not affiliated with Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage in the West End or on tour in the UK or worldwide.

 

“A thoroughly entertaining, visually stunning extravaganza” – The Public Reviews

“All singing, all dancing, highly watchable entertaining” – The Stage

 

Tickets: £18.00, £19.00, £22.00

Box Office: 0844 871 3024

Online Booking: www.atgtickets.com/york

 

www.aneveningofdirtydancing.com

Twitter – @HeyBabyUKTour

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AnEveningofDirtyDancing

King Charles III

A future history play by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rupert Goold

Robert Powell will take on the role of King Charles in the Almeida Theatre’s Olivier Award-winning production of King Charles III, which will embark on a UK tour this autumn following sell-out runs at both the Almeida Theatre and in the West End.

King Charles III previews at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from Friday 4 September. The full tour schedule will be announced shortly.

The Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne.  A future of power.  But how to rule?

Mike Bartlett’s play explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.

Directed by the Almeida Theatre’s artistic director Rupert Goold with Whitney Mosery, King Charles III is designed by Tom Scutt, music composed by Jocelyn Pook, with lighting by Jon Clark and sound by Paul Arditti.

King Charles III is co-produced by Birmingham Repertory Theatre and the Almeida Theatre.

Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 May, McQueen had 2 press night performances and after parties at St. James Theatre. Principal cast members Stephen Wight, Dianna Agron, Tracy-Ann Oberman, David Shaw-Parker and Laura Rees were joined by a host of special guests including the family of the late great Alexander McQueen.

This year’s summer season at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre kicks off with Peter Pan which runs until 14 June with opening night for press on 21 May

George Llewelyn Davies, killed in action in WW1, was one of the children who inspired this iconic character. Remembering him, and a generation of lost boys, Timothy Sheader and Liam Steelrediscover J. M. Barrie’s original stage play. Alongside Hiran Abeysekera in the title role is David Birrell as Captain Hook, Beverly Rudd as Smee and George Bukhari as Nibs. Flying scheme created byWired Aerial Theatre.

Hiran Abeysekera takes off as Peter Pan using a series of wires and bungee ropes: “When you’re flying high up there” says Hiran, “it’s the most amazing feeling. But you are constantly reminded that you’re not a bird, you’re just a human. My life is totally in the hands of the counter weight, and they’re all solid – they’re brilliant guys! They have to know what the rhythm of the scene is, what the rhythm of my character is, I have to feel them as well. It’s not me flying, it’s them flying me and we have to understand each other’s bodies and rhythms to make it work. It’s quite minutely specific. But it’s really thrilling. You feel like a superhero for a bit, a little jump can take you 30 feet up in the air!”

 

 

Rosie Kay Dance Company, the international award-winning dance theatre company headed by artistic director and choreographer Rosie Kay, will be visiting York with its thought-provoking and extremely moving 5 SOLDIERS: THE BODY IS THE FRONTLINE on Friday 5 – Saturday 6 June.

With the commemorations of WWI in the news, 5 SOLDIERS shows how the human body is still central to all conflict, the impact and injuries lasting long after the headlines fade.

The tour, the first of its kind in the UK, will see the company working in partnership with theatres, military bases and the Army Welfare Service, bringing the production to a specially created theatre off site at Imphal Barracks.

On Friday 5th June the show will be followed by a post-show talk with the choreographer and company. On Saturday 6th June local groups who are part of the 5 SOLDIERS Community Engagement Programme will perform short pieces before the main show. They have been rehearsing for this with York based choreographer Sam Lawrence. Artistic Director Rosie Kay said

The Community Engagement aspect of this tour of 5 SOLDIERS is hugely important to Rosie Kay Dance Company. Education and outreach work has been a passion of mine, teaching now for over 20 years, and with a particular passion that dance can help people to understand complex ideas and to help transform ideas of themselves and ideas about the world.

Rosie continues:

For military groups we have approached this very sensitively, and we are clear that this project is about humanising the subject with dignity and respect.  We’ve found that people, once we have gained their trust, appreciate the fact that we are trying to bring this subject to the general public

No-holds-barred, 5 SOLDIERS delivers Kay’s trademark style of intense physical and athletic dance theatre. The work received audience and critical acclaim in 2010 and 2011, and has been endorsed as ‘getting it’ by its military audiences.

Says General Sir Nick Parker, KCB, CBE:

Rosie Kay’s use of dance to help create a complex and nuanced picture of conflict is one of the most innovative and compelling initiatives that I have experienced in the aftermath of Iraq and Afghanistan. It demonstrates how art can be used as a powerful tool in the healing process, how it can touch the extended family of those who have been caught in the horror of battle and how it can send a universal message about the soldier. It is an extraordinary achievement which will make a difference to many people.

Supported by Arts Council England and Army Benevolent Fund, The Soldiers’ Charity, 5 SOLDIERS is a moving, dramatic and unique work that looks at how the human body remains essential to war, even in the 21st century.

A visceral ‘tour de force’ of the senses, 5 SOLDIERS provides an intimate view of the training that prepares our soldiers for the sheer physicality of combat, for the possibility of injury, and the impact conflict has on the bodies and minds of everyone it reaches. The piece has a powerful physicality, moments of humour and is full of honesty, all inspired by input from serving and former soldiers.

Kay’s moving exploration of war was made following an intense period of field research when she joined The 4th Battalion The Rifles for two weeks and experienced full battle exercises on Dartmoor and Salisbury Plain. Kay then visited the military rehabilitation centre, Headley Court, to see the effects of conflict and training on the soldiers’ bodies.

New to the company are five outstanding dancers – Duncan Anderson, Chester Hayes, Sean Marcs, Oliver Russell and Shelley Eva Haden – during the intense six-week rehearsal period they participated in a weeklong military exercise with The 4th Battalion The Rifles on the Salisbury Plain.

5 SOLDIERS brings together an exciting mix of collaborators: designer Louis Price, composer Annie Mahtani, Dramaturg Ben Payne, lighting designer Mike Gunning and visual artist David Cotterell.

Kay is one of the world’s leading female choreographers with a reputation for making strong, intelligent work that tackles interesting subjects with exciting collaborations. In 2012 the company was nominated as Best Independent Dance Company by the National Dance Awards, Critics Circle. Kay choreographed the 2013 feature film Sunshine on Leith, directed by Dexter Fletcher, with songs by The Proclaimers. In 2013, Kay was the first choreographer to be appointed the Leverhulme Artist in Residence at the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford.

5 SOLDIERS runs on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 June at Imphal Barracks at 7.30pm. Due to the strict security measures at this live military venue audience members need to bring photo ID and note that bags may be searched. Free parking is available and the venue is fully accessible but tickets must be pre-booked. Book tickets by calling 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

 

Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Perfect Pitch present

THE HOUSE OF MIRRORS AND HEARTS

A new British musical by Eamonn O’Dwyer and Robert Gilbert

AT ARCOLA THEATRE FROM THURSDAY 2 JULY TO SATURDAY 1 AUGUST 2015

Casting is announced today for the World Premiere of The House of Mirrors and Hearts, a new British chamber musical which will open the Summer/Autumn Season at Arcola Theatre from Thursday 2 July to Saturday 1 August, with a press night on Tuesday 7 July at 7.30pm.

The cast features Gillian Kirkpatrick as Anna, Graham Bickley as David, Grace Rowe as Laura, Molly McGuire as Lily and Bart Edwards as Nathan.

 

Gillian Kirkpatrick’s many musical theatre credits include Mrs Bateman in American Psycho at the Almeida Theatre, Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd at Chichester Festival Theatre and Adelphi Theatre, Velma Von Tussle in the UK Tour ofHairspray, alternate Mrs Wilkinson in the original cast of Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre and Mrs Lyons in Blood Brothers at the Phoenix Theatre.

Graham Bickley is a WhatsOnStage and OIivier Award nominee whose career spans four decades. He is perhaps best known for playing Joey Boswell in the BBC series Bread from 1989-91. Graham has performed in the West End since 1981 in productions including They’re Playing Our Song, The Pirates of Penzance, The Pajama Game, Les Misérables,Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, High Society and the London Premiere of Ragtime, for which he received Olivier and WhatsOnStage Award nominations. Recent credits include Anything Goes with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall, the Les Misérables 25^th Anniversary Concert at The O2, and Light in the Piazza at Leicester Curve.

Grace Rowe played the lead role of Estella in the recent West End production of Great Expectations at the Vaudeville Theatre, with other credits including Phyllis in The Railway Children at Waterloo Station, To Kill a Mockingbird at York Theatre Royal and The Way of the World at Barons Court Theatre.

Molly McGuire is currently making her professional debut in the London Premiere of Carrie – The Musical at Southwark Playhouse. Credits whilst training include Bring It On – The Musical and Into the Woods.

Bart Edwards recently finished playing Sky in the International Tour of Mamma Mia!. Other theatre credits include Next Thing You Know at the Landor Theatre and Constance at the Kings Head Theatre, with television credits includingCasualty and EastEnders for BBC.

Keeping secrets is a kind of art…

When Anna’s husband is killed in a tragic accident at their home, her family’s life is changed forever. Seven years pass and, torn apart by grief, Anna has drunk herself numb. Her daughters, Lily and Laura, exist in a world of secrets and lies. They spend their days in bitter silence and suspicion, until Nathan, a new lodger studying the works of a forgotten poet, forces them to confront their past. Tensions within the family build, threatening to shatter this already broken household once and for all.

 

A timeless, atmospheric and intoxicating musical, The House of Mirrors and Hearts is a contemporary British story about a dysfunctional family haunted by their past.

The House of Mirrors and Hearts is presented by Aria Entertainment (Jerry’s Girls, From Page to Stage) and Perfect Pitch (Lift, The Go-Between), two companies dedicated to the development of original British musicals. Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Andy Barnes for Perfect Pitch said today: “We are so thrilled to be joining forces on this beautiful British chamber musical. Both our companies are known individually for our work with emerging British composers and new writing but The House of Mirrors and Hearts is the first project we have had the wonderful opportunity to partner on. We both feel positive about the current climate of new musical theatre with more and more great initiatives and opportunities arising for new writing. Collaborating with like-minded people has to be the way forward in supporting the evident array of emerging talent.”

The House of Mirrors and Hearts will be directed by Ryan McBryde, whose credits include the current UK Tour ofSaturday Night Fever, Angus, Thongs and Even More Snogging (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Hamlet The Musical(Northampton Royal & Derngate) and A Day at the Racists (Finborough Theatre).

The musical director is David Randall, with set and costume design by David Woodhead, lighting design by Matt Haskins and sound design by Leigh Davis.

The House of Mirrors and Hearts is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment and Perfect Pitch, and was developed by Perfect Pitch in association with Sell A Door Theatre. It is licensed by Perfect Pitch. The House of Mirrors and Heartsis proud to be supported by Grant For The Arts.

Listen to music from The House of Mirrors and Hearts:

http://www.perfectpitchmusicals.com/HOMAH/music.html

 

Twitter: @HOMAH2015

LISTINGS

THURSDAY 2 JULY – SATURDAY 1 AUGUST 2015

ARCOLA THEATRE, STUDIO ONE, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL

Press Night: Tuesday 7 July, 7.30pm

Performance Times: Monday – Saturday 7.30pm, Saturday 3.00pm

The upcoming tour of West End Men has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. The concert show had been due to commence its latest UK tour later this month.

The cast included former X Factor star Marcus Collins, alongside Glenn Carter, James Bisp and Alexis Gerred.

A statement from producers said: “It is with regret that owing to situations beyond our control we have taken the decision to cancel the forthcoming tour of The West End Men.

“We want to thank everyone who has booked to see us and reassure you that the Men will back in the not too distant future. Please contact your point of sale for refunds.”