Frozen Light present 2065:The Multi-Sensory Movie for audiences with profound and multiple learning disabilities From 29th March 2021 Co-commissioned by Northern Stage and Attenborough Arts Centre, supported by Arts Council England
Frozen Light will premiere their first digital production 2065: The Multi-Sensory Movie, an innovative and engaging digital experience designed to bring theatre to the homes of those with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). The movie will be accompanied by a box of sensory props, allowing audiences to explore the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of the world of 2065 while watching the film.
2065: The Multi-Sensory Movie, which was filmed in person after its tour was postponed due to Covid-19, follows a group of rebels living in a country run by an oppressive regime. The rebels exist in the shadows, keeping music alive in their hidden Nest with the belief that one day things will change, if they just keep imagining. Audiences will be directed by Frozen Light’s ‘archivistrebel in residence’ who will signal when to use the ‘Rebel Pack’ of props to explore certain sensory moments throughout the film.
Covid-19 has exacerbated feelings of isolation for those with PMLD, with carers often feeling excluded from vital support. Frozen Light has created this production with the primary aim of making cultural experiences more accessible for audiences with complex needs; the film offers an escape while audiences can find joy in the sensory interactions. With repetition vital for people with PMLD, the ability to re-watch this production is an essential part of its accessibility.
Frozen Light are renowned for creating engaging and high-quality theatre for audiences with PMLD through combining multi-sensory moments, live music, signing and poetic language. 2065: The Multi-Sensory Movie has been carefully curated as a digital experience in collaboration with people with PMLD who, with the support of carers, provided invaluable feedback to ensure the utmost quality for the performance.
Amber Onat-Gregory, Co-Artistic Director of Frozen Light, comments, We’re delighted to be able to reach audiences during this challenging time in the pandemic. We hugely miss engaging with audiences within a theatre setting but hope this film can bring some Frozen Light magic to people’s own homes.
Lucy Garland, Co-Artistic Director of Frozen Light, comments, It’s been so exciting to explore a new medium. We hope that by working with film we will be able to share our productions with audiences we may not have met before.
Created by Ben & Max Ringham, Bea Roberts and Ed Stambollouian
From 13 March 2021
Shoreditch Town Hall today announces the world première digital production of Curse of the Crackles! an interactive audio adventure for children and families written by Bea Roberts, featuring innovative sound technology by Ben & Max Ringham. Ed Stambollouian directs Norah Lopez Holden and Sam Swann. Tickets are available via shoreditchtownhall.com from 9am on 9 March 2021 – audiences will have access to stream the show for 72 hours from the date and time of their booking.
Riff is a good dog and the most excellentist puppy, but she needs your help! The world is in chaos – listen… It’s the Crackles! Those annoying little bits of naughty have muddled up all the sounds in the universe and now it’s up to you and Riff the puppy to put them all back. Are you ready to go on an exciting mission?
Featuring innovative three-dimensional sound technology, Curse of the Crackles! is a hilarious interactive audio adventure that immerses you in a brilliantly chaotic quest – the perfect sensory journey that can be enjoyed from anywhere, in any space.
James Pidgeon, Director & Chief Executive Shoreditch Town Hall, today said “Whilst the doors of the Town Hall’s building remain closed to the public our work very much continues, and we’re delighted to be producing this new audio adventure for young people. This unique and inventive experience, made over the last month by a ridiculously talented team of freelance creatives and crew, will no doubt entertain and delight young listeners, transporting them to a place where they can escape the ongoing impact and challenges of the pandemic”
Audiences will need an internet connection and headphones to get the full effect of the sound technology. Listeners are encouraged to move around their space, but it is not essential to enjoy the production.
Throughout the run there will be a series of online Q&As with cast and creatives about the creation of the show, details of which will be announced soon.
Recommended Age: 7-11
Bea Roberts is a multi-award-winning scriptwriter and lyricist. Her writing credits include Sir F. Mother****ing Drake (My England at the Young Vic), The Borrowers (Tobacco Factory Theatres), Loam (Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama), Little Mermaid (Theatre Royal Bath – won Best Play for Children & Young People at the 2018 UK Theatre Awards), Infinity Pool: A Modern Te-telling of Madame Bovary(Edinburgh Festival – nominated for a Total Theatre Award) and And Then Come The Nightjars (winner of the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award and finalist for The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2015). In 2016 Roberts was awarded the J.B. Priestly Award for a young writer of promise by the Royal Literary Fund. She is currently under commission with the National Theatre, English Touring Theatre, Theatre Royal Plymouth, the Stephen Joseph Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Norah Lopez Holden’s theatre credits include Equus (UK tour/Trafalgar Studios), The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Almighty Sometimes, Our Town (The Royal Exchange), Othello (The Tobacco Factory) and Ghosts (HOME).
Sam Swann’s theatre credits include Skellig (Nottingham Playhouse), Jerusalem (The Watermill Theatre), Prom Kween (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Oil (Almeida Theatre), Pomona (National Theatre/Orange Tree Theatre), Primetime (Royal Court Theatre), Wendy & Peter Pan (RSC), Dr Korczak’s Example, A Winter’s Tale (Unicorn Theatre), Mercury Fur (Trafalgar Studios), The Kitchen, Greenland (National Theatre) and Dunsinan Boy (Hampstead Theatre/RSC). His television credits include The Five, Mr Selfridge, Jekyll & Hyde, Privates; and for film, Been So Long and The Current War: Directors Cut.
Nicola Chang is a composer/sound designer for stage and screen. Her theatre credits include Miss Julie (Chester Storyhouse), Funeral Flowers (Camden Roundhouse/Hackney Empire), Wild Goose Dreams (Theatre Royal Bath), Little Baby Jesus, The Tempest (Orange Tree Theatre), White Pearl (Royal Court theatre), The King of Hell’s Palace (Hampstead Theatre), The Death of Ophelia (Shakespeare’s Globe), Summer Rolls (Park Theatre) and A Hundred Words for Snow (Arcola Theatre). She is a member of the 2020/21 Old Vic 12 cohort (Composer/Sound Designer), BFI x BAFTA Crew (Film Composer) and a Composer and Musical Director attached to British Youth Music Theatre UK.
Ben and Max Ringham’s previous theatre credits for Composition and Sound Design include Blindness, Teenage Dick, Berberian Sound Studio, Cyrano de Bergerac, Pinter at the Pinter, Betrayal (West End), The Seven Ages of Patience, Pass Over (Kiln Theatre), Ugly Lies the Bone (National Theatre), Pygmalion, Dial M for Murder (UK tour), Party Skills (Shoreditch Town Hall), The Meeting (Chichester Festival Theatre), Machinal (Almeida Theatre), Love and Information (Sheffield Theatres), and Gloria (Hampstead Theatre). In 2019 they co-created Anna a headphone based show at the National Theatre.
Ed Stambollouian’s forthcoming productions include Animal Farm (NYT and Royal & Derngate)and KENREX (Out of Joint). Previous theatre credits include: Night School (Harold Pinter Theatre), Max and Ivan: The Straight Man (BAC), BLUSH (Soho Theatre, UK tour, Edinburgh Festival Fringe), That’s The Way Aha Aha Joe Lycett (Edinburgh Festival and National Tour), Joe Lycett: Some Lycett Hot (Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh), Prince of the River (Old Vic 12), Don’t Waste Your Bullets on the Dead (VAULT Festival), Dan & Phil: The Amazing Tour is Not on Fire (London Palladium, UK and international tour), Feathers in the Snow (Unicorn Theatre), Awkward Conversations with Animals I’ve F*cked (Edinburgh Festival Fringe), Wedding (Shoreditch Town Hall, Forest Fringe), Blacktop Sky (Talawa Studio), I Started a Fire (Arcola Theatre), Family Voices & Victoria Station (Trafalgar Studios), Finer Noble Gases/ Lobby Hero (Masterclass Showcase at Royal Theatre Haymarket), The Aliens (Trafalgar Studios 2), and Elegy (Shunt Vaults).
Created & Written by Bea Roberts;Created & Directed by Ed Stambollouian; Created, Sound Designed & Composed by Ben & Max Ringham andAssociate Sound Design & Composition by Nicola Chang.
A Shoreditch Town Hall production with support from the DCMS Culture Recovery Fund and Arts Council England.
The Time Traveller’s Wife, the best-selling novel by Audrey Niffenegger and the New Line Cinema film screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, will become a new musical and premiere in the UK in late 2021/early 2022. With a book by Lauren Gunderson, original music and lyrics by Joss Stone and Dave Stewart and additional lyrics by Kait Kerrigan, the production will be directed by Bill Buckhurst, with musical supervision & arrangement by Nick Finlow and illusions by Chris Fisher. Casting is by Stuart Burt CDG. It will be produced by Colin Ingram for InTheatre Productions, by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures.
Henry and Clare’s love story is like no other and yet like all others; they meet, flirt, fight, love, marry… but all out of order. Henry is often and uncontrollably ripped out of time, because he suffers from a rare condition where his genetic clock periodically resets, pulling him into his past or future, vanishing before one’s eyes, never knowing where or when he’s going next. Except he knows he’ll always come back to Clare, whether she’s 5 years old playing in a field or 85, dreaming of her time-travelling husband.
Lauren Gunderson said of adapting the novel, “I will never forget reading the last chapter of Audrey Niffenegger’s book over ten years ago and being floored by its thunderous emotion and potent humanity. I knew this love story belonged on stage with music and vision that matches its emotional punch and soaring feeling. I know this musical will lift, delight, hearten and exhilarate.”
The Time Traveller’s Wife: The Musical weaves a heart-breaking and soaring original musical score by multi Grammy Award-winning composers Joss Stone and Dave Stewart with one of the most beloved novels of the last 50 years. All couples ask how to truly know one another, to trust, to commit, to build a family, to work at something bigger than ourselves. Not all of us are time travellers. How do you love across time?
Dave Stewart and Joss Stone said of working together on the new musical, “We have been on many crazy adventures together but we’ve never ‘Time Travelled’ till meeting Lauren Gunderson. Writing these songs together whilst being in different locations on different time zones has been a trip (literally), throwing us into an eddy of emotive melodies and heart-wrenching lyrics to go with the push and pull of this unusual love story. We all time travel in our relationships and in our lives in general, but to write something that people will see and hear happening live on stage is thrilling to imagine, and hearing Bill Buckhurst’s interpretations of Lauren’s script for stage as we went along has been so inspiring.”
Producer Colin Ingram said, “Bringing this book to the stage was my wife’s idea, as, for her and so many others, The Time Traveller’s Wife has been a significant and deeply cherished story. Having Henry constantly appearing and disappearing throughout the story (with his age changing each time, backwards and forwards) requires this stellar creative team, and this show promises to be an incredibly emotional experience for the audience. Lauren’s adaptation is truly wonderful and the soulful sound of Dave and Joss’s music will lift everyone’s spirits as a truly wonderful tonic in post-pandemic world.“
Lauren Gunderson has been one of the most produced playwrights in the US since 2015, topping the list twice, including 2019/20. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She co-authored the Miss Bennet plays with Margot Melcon.
Grammy and Brit award-winning singer-songwriter, Joss Stone, has released seven studio albums since she secured a record deal at 15 and released her critically acclaimed debut album, The Soul Sessions, in 2003. Performing alongside many legendary artists such as James Brown, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Sting, Van Morrison and Melissa Etheridge, she has collaborated with and contributed to albums for many of the world’s finest musicians, including Jeff Beck, Mick Jagger and Damien Marley. In 2015 her album Water for Your Soul was released, achieving the spot of the number-one reggae album upon release and voted best reggae album by Billboard. In 2019, she completed her most audacious project to date, The Total World Tour, in which she has performed a gig and collaborated with local artists in over 200 countries around the world.
Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician, producer and Eurythmics co-founder, Dave Stewart is recognised as one of the most respected and accomplished talents in the music industry today with a music career spanning four decades and over 100 million album sales. Stewart co-wrote and produced each Eurythmics album in his world-famous duo with Annie Lennox, and has also produced albums and co-written songs with Mick Jagger, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Gwen Stefani, Jon Bon Jovi, Stevie Nicks, Bryan Ferry, Katy Perry, Sinead O’Connor, Joss Stone and many others. Along the way, his work has garnered numerous awards, including 26 ASCAP and BMI Awards for the most-performed songs; four Ivor Novello Awards for Best Songwriter; four BRIT Awards for Best Producer, including a Lifetime Achievement Award; The Silver Clef Award; The Clive Davis Legend in Songwriting Award; a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award and he was inducted into the UK Hall of Fame. In 2018, Eurythmics was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Most recently, they were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) and they will be inducted into The Songwriters Hall of Fame in June 2021.
In 2001, Stewart was approached by Nelson Mandela to help the fight against the Aids epidemic. Stewart developed a Global Campaign using Mandela’s prison number 46664. Stewart then went on to help organize the biggest concert ever staged in South Africa, appearing on stage with Beyoncé, Bono and Edge, Queen and many others, as well as bringing his long-time partner, Annie Lennox, on stage to perform together as Eurythmics. The concert was broadcast live to over 1 billion people. Stewart, along with songwriter/producer Glen Ballard, wrote the music for the musical adaptation of the 1990 Jerry Zucker film Ghost. With Mick Jagger, he wrote and produced the score for Alfie, starring Jude Law, which won the pair a Golden Globe for Best Original Song. More recently, Stewart created and is Executive Producer of the hit TV show for NBC, Songland.
Bill Buckhurst’s theatre directing credits for Tooting Arts Club include Sweeney Todd (West End, Harrington’s Pie and Mash Shop & Off-Broadway; Best Musical Off-West End Awards, Outstanding Revival of a Musical Lucille Lortel Awards, Best Musical Revival Off-Broadway Alliance, Best Off-Broadway Musical Theater Fans’ Choice Awards, Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Director of a Musical), Barbarians, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tinderbox. Directing credits for Shakespeare’s Globe include Omeros, Hamlet (and International Tour), King Lear (and International Tour), Twelfth Night, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth (Playing Shakespeare).
Chris Fisher is a member of the Magic Circle and works worldwide as international illusions and magic consultant for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. His theatre credits as illusion consultant include Back to the Future the Musical (Manchester and West End), The Prince Of Egypt (West End), Company (West End and Broadway), Big – the Musical (Plymouth, Dublin and West End), Peter Gynt (National), A Very Very Very Dark Matter (Bridge) and Angels in America (National and Broadway).
Colin Ingram’s producing credits include Billy Elliot, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Ghost the Musical, Grease and Back to the Future the Musical. The latter will open in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre in Summer 2021. Colin worked for Cameron Mackintosh for six years, general managing Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera and Oklahoma! (starring Hugh Jackman). He then joined Disney Theatrical to be Managing Director and General Manager, overseeing the London productions of The Lion King and Beauty And The Beast. Colin then joined the Old Vic as Executive Producer for the first two years of the Old Vic Theatre Company and on the West End premiere of Billy Elliot – the Musical, after which he joined Madison Square Gardens in New York to run their Productions division including the Radio City Rockettes Spectaculars.
Digital concert revival of Gatsby A Musical returns due to popular demand Streaming: Thursday 11th – Sunday 14th March 2021
Due to popular demand the recent concert revival of Gatsby A Musical will return to streaming for a limited time only. Bringing together an incredible West End cast including Jodie Steele (Heathers; Six The Musical) as Daisy Buchanan, Ross William Wild (Million Dollar Quartet) as Gatsby, and four-time Olivier Award nominee Emma Williams (Mrs Henderson Presents; Zorro) as Myrtle Wilson, the captivating production was filmed at the historic Cadogan Hall for a socially-distanced spectacular.
The company are joined by Liam Doyle (Wicked; Legally Blonde) as Tom Buchannan, Joe Frost(Jersey Boys; An Officer and a Gentleman) as George Wilson, and Blake Patrick Anderson (RENT; Be More Chill) as Nick Carraway. Further casting includes Chanice Alexander-Burnett (Motown the Musical; Beautiful – the Carol King Musical), Lauren Chinery, Robert Grose, Oliver Mawdsley, and Tristan Pegg.
Adapted by director Linnie Reedman, and with music and lyrics by Joe Evans, this unmissable piece brings F Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel to life for a semi-staged concert experience. Vibrant characters, popped corks, and infectious rhythms collide with personal conflicts and lost loves in this tragedy of the vanishing jazz era.
Reedman comments, We’ve been overwhelmed by the positive response to the concert and are thrilled to be able to bring it back for more people to enjoy. It’s been a pleasure to work on this project with such a talented cast, during what has been such a strange time for the arts. We hope to be able to bring a fully staged version to you someday soon!
When Daisy Buchanan revisits Jay Gatsby’s mansion seven years after leaving that world behind, she is trying to confront her past by reliving the dream she shared with Gatsby. But where is he? With themes of loss, disappointment and ultimately hope for a better tomorrow, Gatsby, is surprisingly resonant with the ‘roaring twenties’ we find ourselves in once again.
A glamorous and engaging way to experience the story unfolding. Filled with great characterisations and spirited music (★★★★ Love London Love Culture)
Creative teams, principal cast and orchestra partners announced for Nevill Holt Opera outdoor summer festival Nevill Holt Opera, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 8EG 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 10th August 2021 (La traviata) 19th, 21st, 22nd, 24th and 25th August 2021 (Don Giovanni)
Shadwell Opera’s Music Director Finnegan Downie Dear (First Prize Winner at the Mahler Conducting Competition 2020) and Nevill Holt Opera’s own Artistic Director Nicholas Chalmers will conduct Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Verdi’s La traviata this August in NHO’s bold new outdoor festival.
The glorious music of La traviata will be brought to life by orchestral partner Manchester Camerata who were due to work with Nevill Holt Opera for the first time in 2020. La traviata will be directed by Jamie Manton (Eugene Onegin, Buxton International Festival; UK Premiere of The Day After, ENO; Olivier Award nominated Paul Bunyan, ENO), designed by Camilla Clarke (Paul Bunyan and Trial by Jury, ENO; The Afflicted, groupwork) and conducted by Nicholas Chalmers. The production will showcase a cast of fantastic young British-trained singers with three former Jette Parker Young Artists reuniting for this tale of tragic love; Susana Gaspar will be the beautiful courtesan Violetta Valéry, Luis Gomes performs as Alfredo Germont and Michel de Souza sings Giorgio Germont. They are joined by a chorus of NHO Young Artists – exceptional singers at the start of their careers.
Don Giovanni is the much anticipated third opera in Nevill Holt Opera’s Mozart – Da Ponte cycle. Conducted by Shadwell’s Music Director Finnegan Downie Dear, it will be performed by Shadwell:Ensemble, a newly-formed group founded on the principles of inclusivity, education, player empowerment and a commitment to open door rehearsals. They will perform alongside a cast of outstanding young singers in a new production directed by Shadwell’s Artistic Director and rising star Jack Furness and designed by Alex Berry (Make Joy, Fortnum & Mason, 2021; The Rape of Lucretia, The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). The creative team is completed byJenny Ogilvie as Movement Director.
Seán Boylan, winner of Garsington Opera’s Helen Clark Award, will perform the dangerous title character. He will be joined by Dingle Yandell as Il Commendatore, Aoife Miskelly as the vengeful Donna Elvira, Nicholas Crawley as the servant Leporello, Joshua Owen Mills as Don Ottavio and Olivia Warburton as Zerlina.
For this summer festival, Nevill Holt Opera will build an outdoor stage and seating enabling each performance to play to a socially distanced audience of up to 650 people. At the same time, Nevill Holt Opera has worked to make its pricing more affordable, with tickets starting from just £35 and free for under-18s. Three seating zones will enable audiences to choose to relax on picnic blankets or beat the weather in a covered grandstand.
The stage set-up will frame the sensational valley views from Nevill Holt, and to celebrate NHO’s location in Leicestershire and the East Midlands. The outdoor stage will highlight the breath-taking views and enable visitors to truly immerse themselves in the landscaped gardens adorned with outstanding British sculpture.
NHO is an independent charity and festival run by its board, Artistic Director, Nicholas Chalmers, and Managing Director, Annie Lydford. More than 55% of its income is generated from ticket sales, 25% from fundraising and membership, 10% from other activity such as catering, merchandise and theatre hire, and 10% through an annual grant from the David Ross Foundation. NHO has received vital support this year from the Cultural Recovery Fund and from the Garfield Weston Foundation, both of which have played a crucial role in the organisation’s ability to mount a festival this summer.
A new live event venue for the North West has been launched – and is ready to welcome audiences and visitors this Summer as soon as lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
The Bowdon Rooms in Altrincham, Cheshire, was already established on the live entertainment circuit. But since being taken over by new owners 12 months ago, like many other venues it has remained closed to the public.
The team seized the opportunity and embarked on an extensive refurbishment – and now the Grade II Listed venue is set to further establish itself as a real asset within the region’s live event scene.
The venue’s opening programme for Summer 2021 is brimming with high-profile entertainers from music, comedy and dance.
At the helm of The Bowdon Rooms are Cheshire-based brothers Anthony and Edward Prophet, who took over the venue in March 2020 just two weeks before the first Covid-19 national lockdown.
Now the vaccination programme has been rolled out and the Government has announced a roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions, the Prophet brothers are now delighted to formally announce the relaunch of The Bowdon Rooms and their exciting plans for 2021 and beyond.
The Bowdon Rooms’ opening programme already includes red carpet gala dinners with Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Sir Lenny Henry and Brian Blessed; and an in conversation evening with Shaun Ryder.
Live music performances already include Big Country, Brian McFadden, Heatwave, James Taylor Quartet, Odyssey, Space, The Blow Monkeys, The Christians, The Manfreds, The Real Thing, The Three Degrees, and Toploader.
The full programme is available online at the venue’s new website – www.thebowdonrooms.co.uk where visitors can also sign up to receive the latest news and announcements direct through a newsletter. A new dedicated booking website has also been launched at www.bowdontickets.co.uk
Dating back to 1903, The Bowdon Rooms boasts striking Edwardian architecture and authentic character. With more than 125 years of history, charm and grandeur, the venue also offers four conference and event spaces to accommodate groups – from the intimate lounge area to the impressive ballroom. The Bowdon Rooms is also a fully licensed wedding venue.
Running alongside the vast live events programme and conference offering, The Bowdon Rooms will continue its strong community presence hosting a range of classes including pilates, yoga, acting, dance, singing, and a choir for people with dementia.
Anthony and Edward Prophet bring a wealth of events, production and hospitality experience to lead a creatively strong team at The Bowdon Rooms.
Anthony’s background is predominantly in events and hospitality, having worked across the UK and internationally on a range of large events. He was based in Dubai for almost a decade, with career highlights including working alongside Phil Collins and Shakira, and launching world-class motorsport events throughout the Middle East and North Africa region.
Anthony commented:“Like many live event venues, it’s been a very challenging 12 months. Within days of taking over the lease, we found ourselves under the constraints of the first national lockdown – not the start we had envisaged. However, instead of productions taking place on the stage, we took the opportunity to be productive behind the scenes to ensure we are ready to welcome guests back to The Bowdon Rooms once it’s safe and we are allowed to do so.
“Our mission is to realise the full and true potential of The Bowdon Rooms, appreciate its history and character, and showcase just how special the venue really is. We have refurbished all public spaces and completed a technical upgrade of the stage, sound and lighting equipment – making the venue one of the most technically advanced in the area. Having being born and raised locally, we are proud to further grow our roots and give something back to our local community.”
Edward is a trained actor in musical theatre and has worked in the hospitality industry across the world. His passion for live performance led Edward to start producing musicals in 2020, and he was nominated for two best musical productions in the Off West End Awards – scooping an award for his production of The Last Five Years in association with Aria Entertainment.
Edward added:“We are thrilled and delighted to announce this exciting new-look venue for the local community, Altrincham, and the North West. We’ve not yet opened our doors in this time of the ‘new normal’, yet after lots of hard work we’re most definitely on the live event radar, already attracting high-profile performers and national touring shows. We are ushering in a new era of events at The Bowdon Rooms – and we look forward to welcoming visitors very soon.”
Programme highlights include An Intimate Evening black tie gala dinner featuring stars of stage and screen. First of their kind in the area, places are limited to just 200 tickets and the red carpet event includes a champagne reception, three-course dinner, audience Q&A, live entertainment, charity auction, and an exclusive photo opportunity with the evening’s special guest. Special guests already include Sir Lenny Henry, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, and Brian Blessed.
Another unique event is Allo Allo! Audiences will experience their own first-hand experience of the hit television comedy featuring some of the original TV cast. The show includes dinner of French cuisine, replica sets, audience Q&A, and iconic scenes will be recreated.
The Bowdon Rooms neighbours Saint Mary’s Church in the parish of Bowdon, which is featured in the Doomsday Book.
Famous faces who have previously tread The Bowdon Rooms’ boards include Rowan Atkinson and Victoria Wood.
Rowan Atkinson famously made his first public performance as Mr Bean on stage at The Bowdon Rooms following performances at the Edinburgh Fringe. Victoria Wood enjoyed performing there so much in the 1980s, that the venue was chosen as the backdrop for her directorial film debut of That Day We Sang starring Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton in 2014.
UK PREMIERE OF NEW EPISODIC MURDER MYSTERY MUSICAL A KILLER PARTY TO BE STREAMED IN 9 EPISODES DIGITALLY ON-DEMAND FROM 19 APRIL – 16 MAY 2021 ON STREAM.THEATRE. TICKETS ON SALE NOW.
WITH BOOK BY FOUR-TIME EMMY AWARD-WINNER RACHEL AXLER AND KAIT KERRIGAN, LYRICS BY NATHAN TYSEN AND MUSIC BY GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER JASON HOWLAND, EACH EPISODE IS FILMED INSIDE THE PERFORMERS’ HOME AND CAN BE PURCHASED AS ONE PACKAGE FOR £25 OR INDIVIDUALLY AT £2.99 PER EPISODE.
THIS RIOTOUS MUSICAL WHODUNIT IS PRODUCED BY KATY LIPSON FOR ARIA ENTERTAINMENT, TANISHA SPRING FOR BLUE MAHOE PRODUCTIONS AND ILAI SZPIEZAK.
SUSPECTS TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY
The UK premiere of A Killer Party will be released as a series of 9 episodes to watch on-demand, at home or on the go, bringing the very best of British stage and screen directly into your living room. This side-splitting new musical, fueled by a contemporary pop score, will be available to watch on stream.theatre from 19 April – 16 May. A Killer Party was a hit in the US last year, where it was written and developed in response to the closure of theatres. Filmed entirely in each artist’s home, viewers are invited to experience the joy of theatre in an entirely new way. Suspects for the UK premiere to be announced soon.
The show has been adapted for UK audiences and will be directed by Benji Sperring (The Toxic Avenger, Night of the Living Dead – Live!, An Act of God and Shock Treatment) with a Book by Rachel Axler (four-time Emmy award-winner as a writer on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show” and supervising producer on“Veep”) and Kait Kerrigan, Music by Jason Howland (Grammy Award winner for Best Musical Theatre album of “BEAUTIFUL: The Carole King Musical”, Broadway musical “Little Women”) and lyrics by Nathan Tysen. The show is produced by Katy Lipson for Aria Entertainment, Tanisha Spring for Blue Mahoe Productions and Ilai Szpiezak.
When Varthur McArthur, failed West End actor and current artistic director of Blackpool’s smallest regional theatre calls a read-through for his latest murder mystery play, the cast of local actors arrive at the party with anything but theatre on their minds. But when Varthur ends up face down in his soup (a gluten-free cheese bisque), it’s up to Traffic-Police-Officer-turned-Detective Justine Case to piece together what happened. If only the ensemble of suspects would stop singing…
Director Benji Sperring said: “The world has never needed fun, joy and laughter quite like it does at the moment, and A Killer Party provides this in abundance – a delight of a show, with incredible performers and a world-renowned writing team – couldn’t be better timed to remind people of the joy, whimsy, and healing power of theatre that we can look forward to returning to very soon.”
Producer Katy Lipson said: “As soon as I heard the score for ‘A Killer Party’ and learnt about its episodic nature, I wanted to be part of creating its UK premiere. We have all had to evolve the way we make theatre right now and the idea of involving a brilliant cast and creating this in such a non-traditional way really attracted me to the piece.”
Producer Tanisha Spring said: “While we were talking about creative ways to bring work and joy to an industry that had effectively been closed down, Jason (Howland) came up with the concept of ‘A Killer Party’, A murder mystery musical. Seeing our peer’s livelihoods and dreams stripped away, Jason went away and using all of the limited resources available created something new, intelligent, exciting and utterly hilarious. From that conversation and with the strength of that purpose I knew I couldn’t just watch but had to be involved. I am now proud and excited to collaborate with Aria Entertainment and Ilai Szpiezak to bring our version of this ridiculously funny, & catchy show to screens across the UK. A brand-new take on something that’s been missing for what feels like a long time.”
Producer Ilia Szpiezak said: “Finding a new piece of theatre created especially for a world in lockdown brings both new challenges as well as a new way for audiences to enjoy entertainment in a different way. I’m extremely delighted to bring this production to the UK and put together the very best of British Theatre in a new medium to enjoy. All that, topped up with a stunning, modern and classy pop-infused soundtrack, makes it a unique project to be involved with.”
Birmingham Hippodrome partners with Rambert to present innovative new live streamed production
ROOMS
Birmingham Hippodrome have partnered with dance powerhouse Company, Rambert to host the streaming of an innovative new production, Rooms.
A premiere from Norwegian choreographer and theatre and film director Jo Strømgren, the production will be created specifically for the camera and will be performed and broadcast live, with a cinematographer and camera crew relaying the productions in real-time to audiences across the world from 8-10 April 2021. Tickets are on sale now at birminghamhippdrome.com.
Like catching miniature scenes through a train window, or cycling through the streets and peering into apartments, we all love to glimpse into other lives and the homes they’re lived out in. Rooms will involve 17 dancers, 36 scenes and100 characters. Rambert’s brilliant dancers invite audiences into wildly different worlds and surprising set-ups. People trying to live their lives, navigate dilemmas, swerve mishaps and survive their mini-dramas. Rooms is an ambitious dance-theatre-film that is performed live.
Rooms follows on from the success of Birmingham Hippodrome’s acclaimed stream of their co-production with Curve, The Color Purple – At Home and Rambert’s inaugural livestream commission of Draw From Within (Wim Vandekeybus).
Birmingham Hippodrome’s Artistic Director and Chief Executive, Fiona Allan said; “It was very easy to agree to partner with the innovative team at Rambert to bring this performance into the homes of our audiences. Personally, I’ve long been a fan of both Rambert and Jo Strømgren, plus Birmingham Hippodrome has a history of supporting and presenting the very best of international contemporary dance. I am quite sure that Rooms will be quite unlike any other streaming experience audiences have had this year- in a good way!
“This new announcement continues the Hippodrome’s strand of streamed performances, which have included so far The Color Purple- At Home in partnership with Curve, and forthcoming live broadcasts of UniSlam and TEDxYouth@Brum in partnership with DRPG Studios.”
Jo Strømgren combines the skills of a choreographer with those of a cinematographer and has won prestigious awards for his work as film director. Also an established playwright, his work spans over 150 productions performed in 64 countries.
Talking about Rooms, Jo Strømgren said; “Diversity is a bouquet of different colours and I love it, but I think the discussion has been limited to certain issues whereas diversity is so vast – diversity of age, diversity of social status, diversity of ethnicity, religion, politics. Rooms offers glimpses through the windows of different people’s lives, to create a kind of mosaic of the cityscape environment. Its like the unfinished narrative you create in your head as you pass by windows on a bike ride; you get to peek into people’s lives and you realise there is so much going on but you have no idea what is happening or why… I’d like to think that Rooms is funny as well as dark. I often set out with quite pessimistic ideas but somehow there’s always humour within the darkest of material”
Rambert have pledged its long-term commitment to the commissioning of new work for the small-screen with a series of other real-time livestream premieres planned for Spring, Summer and Autumn 2021. With its new Rambert Home Studio web platform, the Company is keen to use this moment to bring their work to a wider audience and offer a variety of ways for viewers to connect with the Company and its work.
Rooms will stream online on 8 Apr at 12pm, 9Apr at 8pm and 10 Apr at 8pm – for tickets and further information visit birminghamhippodrome.com.
Without Walls leads the way for cultural recovery, announcing its biggest Outdoor Arts programme to date
In the time of Covid, Outdoor Arts provide important opportunities to reinvigorate our cultural lives whilst supporting the creative economy. To lead the way, Without Walls has announced 21 new projects to receive support in 2021. This ambitious and exciting programme brings together up-and-coming companies, established street artists and those making their first foray into creating work for the public space.
This new outdoor art programme from Without Walls will bring audiences together in a safe way to share moments of global empathy and joy. From the epic and spectacular, to the intimate and emotional, the Without Walls 2021 commissions offer a timely moment to explore social justice, family relationships, environmentalism, identity, and much more. The programme includes the fourth large-scale outdoor alternative dance performance from Requardt & Rosenberg, Black Victorians from Jeanefer Jean-Charles which uses dance to tell the story of those whose stories were previously airbrushed from history, Hip Hop collective Far From The Norm who aim to empower marginalised young people under the artistic direction of awardwinning choreographer Botis Seva and Kaleider’s massive mural of faces drawn by robots!
With the outdoor sector most likely to be leading the way in cultural recovery, this programme shows the power and resilience of Outdoor Arts to invigorate communities back together in towns, cities and rural areas. The works in the 2021 programme will appear at festivals including Brighton Festival, Norfolk & Norwich Festival, City Encounters by Wiltshire Creative, Timber Festival, Just So Festival, Greenwich+Docklands International Festival (GDIF), Ensemble Festival, Hat Fair and more.
Physical theatre and dance have a strong presence in the programme this year as artists explore ideas of connection and support. Bonded is Alleyne Dance’s ambitious new dance production exploring the construct of human dependency. Performed by twin sisters, Kristina and Sade, the work uses abstract narrative, West African dance aesthetics and language, as well as circus skills and impressive athleticism. Also exploring relationships is IRMÃ-sisters from DamaeDance which portrays an intricate journey of conflict and vulnerability, tenderness and anger, misunderstanding and support. This powerful yet attentive duet aspires to be a celebration of women’s strength and complexity. Good Youtes Walk from Far from the Norm is a chaotic and frenzied Hip Hop dance theatre work that explores how divided we are as a nation. It unravels how young adults are trying to address this divide by creating a unity and empathy which transcends race, class, gender and geography.
Also using dance, MayFly explores how our survival is inextricably linked to our environment; Kapow Dance Circus Theatre harnesses the power of water on a bespoke set which fires choreographed jets into the air where two women dodge, play, dance. The climate crisis is also addressed by a trio of clowns in astounding costumes in MEarth Mothers. Through dance, physical comedy, music, and shamanic ritual, Beady Eye asks why we are wrecking the world and what we’re going to do about it? Black Victorians is a dynamic dance piece inspired by the discovery of hundreds of portraits of Black people in England during the Victorian era. Through movement, text and music, it gives voice and body to the characters in the portraits. Continuing the theme of ‘invisible people’, Altered States’ The Invisible Man takes inspiration from H. G. Wells’ famous novel to raise awareness of issues including d/Deafness, homelessness and aging.
Future Cargo is an alternative dance show from Requardt & Rosenberg which bridges grand visual spectacle and an intimate fly-on-the-wall experience. Audiences experience a sci-fi world carried on a shipping container fitted with a travelator while listening in through binaural headphones
Advances in digital tech are continuing to reveal new ways for audiences to engage with art and culture. Using sound to create immersive audio experiences in outdoor environments, The Hidden Music of Trees forms compositions harvested entirely from plant, tree and fungi biodata, Augmented Reality (AR) and binaural (3D) sound. In this exciting work, Jason Singh seeks to celebrate a deeper awareness of the natural world around us. Using digital technology, Up My Street is an immersive promenade performance/installation from The Cultural Assembly. This augmented and virtual reality performance arts trail brings neglected high streets to life. Blurring the boundaries of reality, audiences are guided on a journey across their city through a combination of spoken word and both real-life and digital performers, all viewed with mobile devices. The Lost Opera allows audiences to use their phones to play along with the performance, even as Ashley Peevor and Nikki Watson present an unusual spectacle as three huge bewildering beasts twist themselves through the cityscape, ready to perform a unique musical composition.
Taking the recognisable form of an arrivals and departures board, Arrivals + Departures from Yara El-Sherbini and Davina Drummond is a public artwork about birth, death and the journey in-between. They invite audiences to share names of people who have arrived and departed as a way to acknowledge, celebrate and commemorate in this time of COVID-19, climate crisis and social upheaval. Emergency Exit Arts with leading artist and poet Robert Montgomery will present Recovery Poems – a light-based installation looking at the impact of Covid on our society. Also part of the programme is Robot Selfie; at a time when we are distanced from each other, Kaleider’s wall-drawing robots create a massive mural of strangers to bring us together in unity.
Food is an important way to bring communities together and many of us have an increased focus on healthy eating after so much time at home. TOAST is Pif-Paf’s ambitious beautiful, growing, communal celebration of food, song, story, dance and fire performed on, and around, their ever-moving mobile kitchen cart. It includes a mixture of songs, stories and recipes from musicians and cooks all around the world. Join LAStheatre for The Rascally Diner, which gently explores food provenance, sustainability, and healthy eating in a silly, song-filled, riotous performance that is perfect for children aged 5+. A feast of food fusion and storytelling across geography and generations, Do What yah Mama told yah! is an immersive and vibrant comedy circus show. International contemporary circus artist Blaze and touring circus chef and performer Fatina’s plate-spinning, food-juggling, fire-blazing show brings the family kitchen and recipes from across the globe to life
Strong Enough from Strong Lady Productions also uses circus to create a powerfully optimistic show. Using circus physicality, comedy and feats-of strength, it celebrates stories of finding strength in unexpected places; in these difficult times, it is a powerful declaration that we are ‘strong enough’. Simple Cypher is an exciting young company featuring graduates from the National Centre for Circus Arts. Their new show Roll Play sees three performers blur the boundaries between Hip Hop and circus by using intricate moves and agility to give a captivating, cheeky and effortlessly cool performance. Exploring themes of life, loss, surrender and acceptance comes Why?, an aerial duet performed using climbing harnesses and abseil lines. The performers flip the stage floor through 90 degrees for a ‘vertical dance’ so they’re actually dancing on the wall! Breaking the boundaries of physicality, What Happened to You? uses three raggedy puppets and real-life stories to promote the importance of access and inclusion. Nikki Charlesworth explores our preconceptions about disability in a playful way that is fun for the whole family.
Outdoor work has never been more important as the entire arts industry seeks to rebuild confidence in audiences wanting to attend events. Having recently welcomed several new partners to its network, Without Walls is more committed than ever to collaborate with the very best artists and companies and bring fantastic outdoor arts to people across the UK.
ACCLAIMED WRITER, ACTOR AND MUSICIAN NICK CAVE JOINS THE CAST OF DREAM
Dream – live, online performance leads the way in future audience experience
Performance: Friday 12 March – Saturday 20 March 2021
Booking: dream.online –Lobby opens Mon 8 Mar #DreamOnline21
Acclaimed musician, writer, film score composer and occasional actor, Nick Cave joins the cast of Dream (12 – 20 March 2021), a live online production created in collaboration between the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra.
Pre-recorded during lockdown, Nick Cave is the Voice of the Forest – a strange and beautiful character we never see but who is all around us. Audiences are invited to illuminate flowers, trees and streams in a virtual midsummer forest. Entering the forest at dusk the audience are invited to interact with a cast of seven actors. Guided by the forest itself, they must explore and regrow the forest before dawn.
Nick Cave has been performing music for more than forty years and is best known as the songwriter and lead singer of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, his latest album, ‘Carnage’, written and recorded with Warren Ellis was released in February 2021. Cave’s body of work also covers a wider range of media and modes of expression including film score composition and writing of novels. His Red Hand Files website have seen Cave exploring deeper and more direct relationships with his fans.
The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), in collaboration with Manchester International Festival (MIF), Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF) and Philharmonia Orchestra will stage a live performance of Dream using motion capture as the culmination of a major piece of cutting-edge research and development (R&D). The pioneering collaboration explores how audiences could experience live performance in the future in addition to a regular visit to a performance venue.
Dream was due to open in Spring 2020 as an in person and online live performance and has been recreated during the pandemic for online audiences whilst theatres remain closed. The project is one of four Audience of the Future Demonstrator projects, supported by the government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund which is delivered by UK Research and Innovation.
Dream is inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and gives a unique opportunity for audiences to directly influence the live performance from wherever they are in the world. Audiences will experience a new performance environment easily accessed on their mobile, desktop or tablet via the dream.online website. The performance uses the latest gaming and theatre technology together with an interactive symphonic score that responds to the actors’ movement during the show.
The live performance is set in a virtual midsummer forest. Under the shadow of gathering clouds at dusk, lit by the glimmer of fireflies, Puck acts as the guide. Audiences are invited to explore the forest from the canopy of the trees to the roots, meet the sprites, Cobweb, Mustardseed, Peaseblossom and Moth, and take an extraordinary journey into the eye of a cataclysmic storm. Together with Puck they must regrow the forest before the dawn. When day breaks, the spell breaks.
The 50-minute online event will be a shared experience between remote audience members and the seven actors who play Puck and the sprites. Audiences can choose to buy a £10 ticket to take part and at key points in the play directly influence the world of the actors, or to view the performance for free. The ten Dream performances are scheduled so that audiences across the world can join the event.
