Fellini’s Oscar-winning La Strada comes to The Lowry stage

Federico Fellini’s 1957 Oscar-winning film, La Strada, brought to life on stage in Salford

Mon 15 – Sat 20 May 2017

One of the true masterpieces of modern cinema, Federico Fellini’s 1957 Oscar-winning film, La Strada (The Road), will be brought to life on stage in a brand new adaptation. Directed by Olivier Award nominee Sally Cookson with music composed by Benji Bower. At The Lowry from Mon 15 – Sat 20 May

A soul-searching story filled with beauty, sadness, humour and acute observation, La Strada tells the tragic and tender tale of wide-eyed Gelsomina who is sold by her impoverished mother to the brutish strongman Zampano, a travelling sideshow performer. Their journey through the Italian countryside leads them to a ragtag touring circus where they meet Il Matto the free-spirited tightrope walker, who tries to rekindle Gelsomina’s broken spirit.

Director Sally Cookson says: “Felini’s iconic film has always fascinated me and the thought of using it as a starting point to make a piece of theatre was one I couldn’t resist. A folk-tale like odyssey – this story sees three lost souls travelling ‘the road’ and searching in different ways to find meaning in their lives. Using physical story telling, music and movement, we will be attempting to find a theatricality to re imagine this story of human suffering, longing and redemption.”

Featuring live music and original songs, La Strada brings together a multi-skilled cast of performers and musicians. Audrey Brisson (Cirque de Soleil’s Quidam, Kneehigh’s The Cast of the Flying Lovers of Vitebsk, Dead Dog in a Suitcase, The Wild Bride and National Theatre’s The Elephantom) plays Gelsomina, Stuart Goodwin (Sally Cookson’s Sleeping Beauty; Kneehigh’s Tristan & Yseult) plays Zampano and Bart Soroczynski(Cirque de Loin’s The Fool & The Princess; ENO’s Benvenuto Cellini; RSC’s The Merry Wives of Windsor) plays Il Matto. The ensemble cast includes: Matt Costain, Fabrizio Matteini, Sofie Lybäck, Niv Petel, Niccolo Curradi, Tatiana Santini, Luke Potter and Tee Jay Holmes.

La Strada is directed by Sally Cookson, with musical direction and music by Benji Bower, ‘writer in the room’ Mike Akers, set and costume design by Katie Sykes, lighting design by Aideen Malone and sound design by Mike Beer.

Director Sally Cookson is an associate artist of Bristol Old Vic. Together with long-time creative collaborator, composer and musical director Benji Bower, their many productions include: Jane Eyre (Bristol Old Vic and National Theatre), the Olivier Award nominated Hetty Feather (West End, National Tour & Florida USA), Peter Pan (National Theatre), Treasure Island (Bristol Old Vic), the Olivier Award nominated Cinderella: A Fairytale (Tobacco Factory Theatre) and Varmints (Sadler’s Wells).

Awarded the honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1993, Italian director Federico Fellini changed the face of film-making forever with his seminal films such as La Strada, La Dolce Vita, 8½, Nights of Cabiria and Satyricon. Marking 60 years since La Strada, starring Anthony Quinn, won the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ Academy award, Fellini’s cinematic masterpiece, hailed as “one of the most influential films ever made” (the American Film Institute), sees its first ever UK stage adaptation.

Multi Olivier award-winning producer Kenny Wax says: “I have been trying to mount a stage production of La Strada for many years. When Sally Cookson told me it was her favourite film, the stars seemed to align more perfectly than I could have ever dreamed. And that is only half the back story.”

Metamorphoses at The Bread & Roses Theatre 15th-20th May

METAMORPHOSES

15-16 & 18-20th of May at 7.30pm

Bread and Roses Theatre

68 Clapham Manor St, London SW4 6DZ

London’s first ever festival of visual & physical theatre inspired by Ovid’s ‘Metamorphoses’! The program consists of 5 fantastical, multi-layered and poignant short plays – stories of love (often unrequited), the power of arts, loss, the interactions of gods and mortals, consequences of hubris and, most of all, transformation! This original production featuring elements of visual, physical, devised and experimental theatre as well as live music will create a unique experience for the audience.

Program:

‘Passengers or what ever happened to Icarus’ by Daniel Julian ‘Until My Tears Turn Stones’ by Héloïse Thual ‘The Other Side’ by Christopher Moore ‘Io Restored’ by Christian Simonsen ‘The Riddle Pond’ by Michael Lluberes (book & lyrics) and Jared Dembowski (music)

Directed by Kasia Różycki

Produced by Off The Cliff (https://www.offtheclifftheatre.co.uk/)

Running time: 2h (including interval)

TICKETS ON SALE (£10/£8): www.breadandrosestheatre.co.uk/metamorphoses.html

Strictly Star at The Grand Theatre

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE NEXT WEEK

 

STARRING

STRICTLY COME DANCING’S JOANNE CLIFTON

 

Award winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie is set to tap its way into Leeds Grand Theatre next week for one week only.

World Ballroom Showdance Champion and Professional Dancer Joanne Clifton will take on the title role of Millie Dillmount, a Kansas girl determined to make it big in New York City.

Joanne’s credits include Face the Music, Burn the Floor, Strictly Live Tour and Marilyn Monroe in Norma Jean Musical.

Winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie is based on the 1967 Academy Award-winning film. Taking audiences back to the height of the Jazz Age in 1920s New York City, when ‘moderns’ – including a flapper named Millie – were bobbing their hair, raising their hemlines, entering the workforce and rewriting the rules of love.

Joining Joanne on stage is musical theatre actor Lucas Rush who takes the role of Mrs Meers, the evil proprietor of the Hotel Priscilla.

From explosive tap numbers to a ‘Fred and Ginger’ dance routine on a window ledge, and featuring hit songs including Gimme Gimme and Not for the Life of Me Thoroughly Modern Millieis a brilliantly funny and entertaining show for all the family.

 

Thoroughly Modern Millie is at Leeds Grand Theatre from Monday 17th to Saturday 22nd April

 

Tickets are priced from £22.50 to £41.50

 

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

Five renowned dance companies visit Salford this May

Two fairy tales, a tango dance party,
a love story and a reunion in
The Lowry’s season of Dance this May

The Lowry, home of Dance in the North West, will present work from five of the worlds acclaimed dance companies this May. The line-up includes renowned Arthur Pita & HeadSpaceDance, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Ana Morales Flamenco Company, Cas Public, Jasmin Vardimon.

Award-winning Director and Choreographer Arthur Pita, in collaboration with HeadSpaceDance, presents Stepmother/ Stepfather (Tue 9 May). A wickedly gruesome, darkly surreal double bill of dark dance where distorted familiar characters from Snow White to Hansel and Gretel are pursued by a force of monstrous and abusive stepmothers.

In Reunión (Fri 12 May), Ana Morales Flamenco Company teams up with guest artist David Coria- forging a partnership of two of the most celebrated and exciting flamenco performers dancing on world stages today. Both extraordinary dancers hail from the cradle of flamenco, Seville, where this unique form of dance, music and life was born in the streets to become one of the most celebrated forms of folk art worldwide.

Dance Consortium and celebrated contemporary dancer and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui open their UK tour of m¡longa (Tue 16 & Wed 17 May), a Sadler’s Wells production that is a seductive and fascinating exploration of tango for the 21st century.

Symphonie Dramatique (Tue 23 May) is a humorous look at the mythical couple of Romeo and Juliet. Cas Public’s adaptation is geared to audiences aged 10+. It draws from William Shakespeare’s romantic masterpiece to evoke notions of seduction, desire, unchained passion, and death.

Directed and choreographed by award winning choreographer Jasmin Vardimon, Pinocchio (Sat 27 & Sun 28 May) ends its world premiere UK tour at The Lowry. This adaptation of the classic fairy tale is based on the original book by Collodi and is performed by Jasmin Vardimon’s multi-talented dancers.

Darius Campbell joins Sheridan Smith in Funny Girl at Edinburgh Playhouse

Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis Productions, Chocolate Factory Productions, Dante Di Loreto

and

Michael Harrison

present The Menier Chocolate Factory production of

DARIUS CAMPBELL JOINS SHERIDAN SMITH IN

FUNNY GIRL AT EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE

««««« ‘Sheridan Smith is the greatest star by far.

Daily Telegraph

«««««Michael Mayer’s exhilarating embrace of a production.’ The Independent

 

FUNNY GIRL

Music by Jule Styne        Lyrics by Bob Merrill

Book by Isobel Lennart from an original story by Miss Lennart

Revised Book by Harvey Fierstein

Director: Michael Mayer; Choreographer: Lynne Page Set Designer: Michael Pavelka

Costume Designer: Matthew Wright; Lighting Designer: Mark Henderson

Sound Designer: Richard Brooker; Musical Supervisor and arrangements: Alan Williams

Orchestrations: Chris Walker; Tour Director: Richard Fitch

 

Darius Campbell will play Nick Arnstein opposite Sheridan Smith as Fanny Brice for performances at Edinburgh Playhouse (18 – 22 April) as part of the nationwide Funny Girl tour. They are joined by Nigel Barber (Florenz Ziegfeld), Zoë Ann Bown (Mrs. Meeker), Martin Callaghan (Mr. Keeney), Jennifer Harding (Emma), Rachel Izen (Mrs Brice), Joshua Lay (Eddie) and Myra Sands (Mrs. Strakosh); with Rhianne Alleyne, Kit Benjamin, Lloyd Davies, Flora Dawson, Joseph Dockree, Abigayle Honeywill, Brontë Lavine, David Mcintosh, Peter Nash, Gillian Parkhouse, Tom Partridge, Nova Skipp, Alexandra Waite-Roberts, Sam Wingfield and Alexandra Wright.

 

‘An unforgettable star turn.’ The Times

‘Smith is hilarious, glorious, touching. With a performance that is all-singing, all dancing, all-joking and, somehow, all-soul too.’ The Times

««««« ‘Don’t believe this five-star hype? Go see for yourselves… if you can get in.’

Daily Telegraph

Funny Girl brought global fame to Barbra Streisand 50 years ago and boasts some of the most iconic songs in film and theatre history, including People and Don’t Rain On My Parade. This ‘iconic, legendary, laugh-out-loud’ (The Times) musical tells the story of Fanny Brice, whose vocal talents and comedic ability see her rise from Brooklyn music hall singer to Broadway star.

‘A winningly exuberant performance. The most brilliant comic actress at work today.’

Sunday Times

 

‘Michael Mayer’s vivacious production has wit, charm and energy, sparkly choreography, and a strong, ebullient cast.’ Financial Times

 

Sheridan Smith reprises her smash hit performance in the role of Fanny Brice. Her other theatre work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), Flare Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, Evening Standard Theatre Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress), Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), The People are Friendly (Royal Court) and Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse). For television, her credits include The Moorside Project, Blackwork, The C Word, Cilla, The Widower, The 7.39, Dates, Mr Stink, Mrs Biggs (BAFTA Award for Best Actress), Accused, Scapegoat, Little Crackers, Jonathan Creek, Gavin & Stacey, Larkrise to Candleford, Grown Ups, Love Soup, Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps, The Royle Family and Wives and Daughters; and for film, The Huntsman, Powder Room, Quartet, Tower Block and Hysteria.

 

Following runs at the Menier and in the West End, Darius Campbell returns to play Nick Arnstein. His theatre work includes in the West End, Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Gone with the Wind, and From Here to Eternity; Carmen (Europe and 02) and The History of the Big Bands (tour). Also a recording artist, his first single Colourblind went to #1 in the UK singles chart.

Director Michael Mayer’s West End credits include Spring Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith and Novello Theatre) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre). For Broadway his work includes Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award nomination for Best Director), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, American Idiot (Drama Desk Award for Best Director of a Musical), Spring Awakening (Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Drama Desk Award for Best Direction of a Musical) and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical).  For television, his work includes Smash and Alpha House, and for film his credits include A Home at the End of the World, Flicka and currently in post-production, Chekhov’s The Seagull.  He made his Metropolitan Opera debut with a celebrated new production of Rigoletto.

Listings:

Edinburgh Playhouse

Box Office: 18 – 22 April

0844 871 3014

www.atgtickets.com/edinburgh

Twitter: @FunnyGirl_UK                Facebook: /FunnyGirlUK               Instagram: @FunnyGirlUK

 

THE MENTOR AT USTINOV STUDIO, THEATRE ROYAL BATH STARRING F. MURRAY ABRAHAM

The Mentor stars Academy Award-winner F. Murray Abraham as Benjamin Rubin, Daniel Weyman as Martin Wegner, Naomi Frederick as Gina Wegner and Jonathan Cullen as Erwin Rudicek.

Directed by Ustinov Studio’s Artistic Director Laurence Boswell and translated by Christopher Hampton, this marks the first time a Kehlmann play has been performed outside of Germany.

In a dilapidated art nouveau villa, somewhere in the German countryside, two massive egos are set on a collision course in this perceptive and compelling comedy about art and artists and the legacy of fame.

F. Murray Abraham won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Salieri in Miloš Forman’s masterpiece Amadeus. His numerous other screen credits include Homeland, Mighty Aphrodite, Scarface, Finding Forrester, Star Trek: Insurrection, The Name of the Rose, The Good Wife, Inside Llewyn Davis and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Theatre credits include It’s Only A Play, Othello, Richard III and Uncle Vanya, for which he was awarded an Obie Award for Best Actor.

Daniel Weyman’s previous credits for Theatre Royal Bath include Kafka’s Dick and King Lear. Additional theatre credits include Sideways (St James Theatre), 4000 Days (Park Theatre) andThe Crucible (Bristol Old Vic). Television and film credits include Great Expectations, Foyle’s War and Silent Witness.

Naomi Frederick’s theatre credits include Hobson’s Choice (Theatre Royal Bath and West End),The Heresy of Love, Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It (Shakespeare’s Globe) and The Winslow Boy (Old Vic).

Jonathan Cullen starred in the Ustinov Studio’s production of Trouble in Mind. Additional theatre credits include Enemy of the People (Chichester Festival Theatre), Doctor Faustus(Shakespeare’s Globe) and Love the Sinner (National Theatre).

Daniel Kehlmann is a German-language author whose novel Measuring the World, sold three million copies in Germany alone and has been translated into more than 40 languages.

Christopher Hampton previously translated Florian Zeller’s play The Father for the Ustinov Studio, launching its international success. He won an Academy Award for the adaptation of his own play, Dangerous Liaisons.

Laurence Boswell is an Olivier Award-winner, Artistic Director of the Ustinov Studio and an Associate Artist of the RSC. His recent productions include A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Theatre Royal’s Main House, and Trouble in the Mind, The Mother, Intimate Apparel and The Spanish Golden Age Season in the Ustinov Studio.

 

LISTINGS

Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal Bath, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET
Box Office: 01225 448844
Website: www.theatreroyal.org.uk/ustinov 
Facebook: TheatreRoyalBath
Twitter: @TheatreRBath | @UstinovStudio

The Mentor
By Daniel Kehlmann
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Laurence Boswell
Dates: Thursday 6 April – Saturday 6 May 2017
Press Night: Thursday 13 April, 7pm
Performance schedule: Mon – Sat 7.45pm, Matinees Thu & Sat 2.30pm
(No matinee Thursday 6 April)
Tickets: £19.50 / £14.50 discounts (Preview Perfs and Mondays, all seats £12)
Post show Discussion: Thursday 20th April, after evening performance

This Is Not Culturally Significant. | The Bunker | May – June

Out of Spite Theatre and Eastlake Productions presents

This Is Not Culturally Significant.

The Bunker, 53A Southwark Street London SE1 1RU

Monday 15th May – Saturday 3rd June 2017

Following a highly successful run at VAULT Festival, where it was awarded ‘Show of the Week’, Out of Spite Theatre presents the transfer of the critically acclaimed, Edinburgh Fringe sell-out, This Is Not Culturally Significant

Written, directed and performed by Adam Scott-Rowley (Anna; Macbeth; Lady Anna: All at Sea, Park Theatre and National Tour), This Is Not Culturally Significant. is a brutally intense, darkly comic one-man show that reveals the bizarre, compulsive and eccentric nature of humanity. This thunderous, high energy piece of theatre combines dark clowning and deeply grotesque buffoon to create a sharp political comment on contemporary society.

Performed entirely nude, Scott-Rowley has created a show for thrill-seekers, putting himself in an eye-opening state of vulnerability. It is both uncomfortable to watch and mesmeric, leaving audiences’ emotions balancing on a knife edge. From a mendacious Spiritualist Lecturer to a despondent American Porn Star on the brink of her retirement, over 10 characters take the audience on a journey from emotional despair to helpless laughter.

Adam Scott-Rowley comments, I am utterly thrilled to be bringing This Is Not Culturally Significant. to The Bunker Theatre after a successful run at VAULT Festival. An old repurposed underground car-park is the perfect setting for the ‘gallery of grotesques’ who make up the show.

This Is Not Culturally Significant. probes the relevance of theatre as an art form and pokes through the fourth wall to mock its audience. It is darkly comic; a play with a twisted sense of humour that dares its audience to laugh. (West End Wilma)

This Is Not Culturally Significant. is not just a surreal and hilarious piece; this is political theatre at its best. (London Box Office)

Exchange Theatre return to the Drayton Arms with bilingual production of Moliere’s Misanthrope

Exchange Theatre presents:


MISANTHROPE
June 13th – July 8th 2017, Drayton Arms Theatre

Exchange Theatre returns to the Drayton Arms Theatre with Misanthrope, by Moliere, as part of their yearly Bastille Festival – a celebration of French theatre, performed in English and French.

In a time of ‘alternative facts’ and ‘fake news’, Misanthrope finds unanticipated echoes in the world today. Alceste, the most loyal man in the world, lacks only one virtue: indulgence for other’s behaviours. His search for genuineness against hypocrisy, special interests and treachery calls for a new London production in 2017. With his unique touch, Off West End Best Director nominee David Furlong returns to direct, fresh from his stint at the Royal Opera House.

“how poignant that this Anglo-French collaboration should be staged right here, right now – bravo et merci” Broadway World

David Furlong says: “After last year’s recognition from our peers, the press and the audience, and following the conversation we started in a post-Brexit UK, it seems that we have found our place as ‘outsiders’. Ten years after our first steps into translations of rare French-speaking plays, we are so proud to produce bold double productions in two languages and hold an annual festival for migrants and multi-lingual theatre makers. And it’s only logical that we will carry on exploring our unique language of diversity and the variety of processes that make ours as a company. We’re thrilled to follow last year’s success with another passionate effort at making theatre for our time.”

**** “rock and roll Moliere (…) masterful comedic style, clever and very funny” The Upcoming

Exchange Theatre is an international company established in 2006 in London in order to translate and produce unknown or rare French-speaking plays in English. Led by David Furlong and Fanny Dulin, the company translates plays from major French playwrights for the first time in London and off Broadway) before being resident at the French Institute from 2010 to 2012.

“very funny (…) playful in its use of multilingual delivery ” Everything Theatre

Jack Ellis, Karina Jones & Oliver Mellor star in National tour of WAIT UNTIL DARK

JACK ELLIS, KARINA JONES & OLIVER MELLOR

STAR IN THE 2017 NATIONAL TOUR OF

FREDERICK KNOTT’S THRILLER

“WAIT UNTIL DARK”

NATIONAL PRESS NIGHT TUESDAY 5 SEPTEMBER 2017

The Original Theatre Company is delighted to present the national tour and a major revival of Frederick Knott’s gripping thriller, WAIT UNTIL DARK, directed by Alastair Whatley and starring Jack Ellis as Mike, Karina Jones as Susy and Oliver Mellor as Sam Henderson. The tour will begin at Devonshire Park Theatre in Eastbourne on 24 August 2017, with a national press night on Tuesday 5 September 2017 in Richmond. Further casting is to be announced.

Set amidst the social turbulence of 1960s London, the play follows the story of Susy, a blind woman who, left alone in her apartment, becomes the victim of an elaborate scam hatched by a group of conmen. Susy is left to fend for herself, and eventually finds a way to turn the tables on the conmen and give them a taste of life in the dark.

Frederick Knott, best known for writing Dial M For Murder, wrote WAIT UNTIL DARK in 1966. Audrey Hepburn starred as Susy in the 1967 film adaptation, for which she was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress. The film is often ranked as one of the top 100 scariest films of all time.

Jack Ellis is best known for starring as Jim Fenner in ITV drama Bad Girls and played regular Harry Mason in Coronation Street from 2007 to 2008. His extensive TV roles include Vera (ITV 1), New Tricks (BBC 1) and regular Robert Ashford in Where the Heart Is (ITV 1). Jack’s theatre credits include Warden Stammas in the UK tour of Shawshank Redemption, Hastings in Richard IIIat The Old  Vic and Horatio in Hamlet, Orsino in Twelfth Night & P.R Deltoid in A Clockwork Orange, all for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Karina Jones has an extensive range of theatre, TV and radio credits to her name and is an international aerial circus performer and trained belly dancer! Karina has worked with National Theatre of Wales, The Roundhouse Camden, the Half Moon, Citizens Theatre Glasgow, the Tron, Frantic Assembly, Soho Theatre, Graeae and Paines Plough, and her credits include Soloparentpals.com (BBC Radio 4), The Vagina Monologues (Graeae) and Thomasina in Crystal Clear (Lowry Theatre), for which she was nominated for a Manchester Theatre Award.

Karina has a degenerative sight condition and is visually impaired. She is associate director of Invisible Flash Theatre Company and works as a visually impaired access consultant for many companies, including Graeae and Ramps on the Moon. She was part of the 2012 Paralympics Opening Ceremony team. Karina recently belly danced for the world’s press outside 10 Downing Street to highlight disability rights issues.

Oliver Mellor is best known for playing the role of Dr Matt Carter in Coronation Street from 2010 to 2013. Oliver also played Walter MacMurray in Father Brown (BBC 1) and Julian Woodley in Midsomer Murders (ITV 1). He has toured the UK playing Tony Wendice in Frederick Knott’s Dial M For Murder, James Herriot in All Creatures Great & Small and Edward Raynor in Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee.

WAIT UNTIL DARK will be designed by David Woodhead, with lighting by Chris Withers, sound and music by Giles Thomas, fight coordination by Rc-Annie and casting by Ellie Collyer Bristow. The national tour is produced by Tom Hackney for The Original Theatre Company.

Website: www.originaltheatre.com

Facebook: TheOriginalTheatre 

Twitter: @OriginalTheatre

2017 TOUR SCHEDULE

24 August – 2 September        Devonshire Park Theatre, Eastbourne        01323 412000

                                                www.eastbournetheatres.co.uk                        On sale soon

 

5 – 9 September                      Richmond Theatre                                         0844 871 7651           

                                                www.atgtickets.com/richmond                          On sale soon

 

12 – 16 September                  Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham                   01242 572573

                                                 www.everymantheatre.org.uk                          On sale

 

25 – 30 September                  Salisbury Playhouse                                      01722 320333                                                                                                                     www.salisburyplayhouse.com                          On sale 13 May          

 

3 – 7 October                           Exeter Northcott Theatre                              01392 726 363

                                                 www.exeternorthcott.co.uk                              On sale

 

10 – 14 October                       Lichfield Garrick Theatre                             01543 412121

                                                 www.lichfieldgarrick.com                                 On sale 1 May

 

24 – 28 October                      Malvern Festival Theatre                              01684 892277

                                                www.malvern-theatres.co.uk                            On sale soon

 

31 October – 4 November       Palace Theatre, Southend                            01702 351135

                                                www.palacetheatresouthend.co.uk                  On sale

 

6 – 11 November                     New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich                      01473 295900

                                                www.wolseytheatre.co.uk                                On sale 15 April

 

14 – 18 November                   New Theatre, Cardiff                                     029 2087 8889           

                                                www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk                           On sale soon

 

20 – 25 November                   York Theatre Royal                                        01904 623568                                                                                                                     www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk                            On sale soon

28 November – 2 December    Yvonne Arnaud, Guildford                           01483 440000
www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk                               On sale soon

The Royal Shakespeare Company announces Matilda The Musical UK & Ireland Tour

  • THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ANNOUNCES UK AND IRELAND TOUR OF MATILDA THE MUSICAL FROM MARCH 2018 – AUGUST 2019
  • LAUNCHING AT LEICESTER CURVE ON 5 MARCH 2018, THE RSC’S MATILDA THE MUSICALWILL VISIT DUBLIN, SUNDERLAND, MILTON KEYNES, BIRMINGHAM, MANCHESTER AND CARDIFF. FURTHER DATES AND LOCATIONS TO BE ANNOUNCED IN DUE COURSE
  • THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTION WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY IN THE WEST END AS WELL AS ITS TOURS IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND NORTH AMERICA

Today, the Royal Shakespeare Company announces that its multi award-winning production of Matilda The Musical will embark on a UK and Ireland tour in 2018-2019.

Winner of 85 international awards, including 16 for Best Musical, the RSC’s touring production of Matilda The Musical will open at Leicester Curve, playing from 5 – 24 March 2018, followed by Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre (4 April – 28 April), Sunderland Empire (8 May – 2 June), Milton Keynes Theatre (5 June – 30 June), Birmingham Hippodrome (3 July – 8 September), Manchester Palace (18 September – 24 November) and Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre (4 December – 12 January 2019).

Tickets for Leicester, Dublin, Sunderland, Milton Keynes, Manchester and Cardiff will go on sale to the public on 26 April following a priority booking period between 19 and 25 April. Tickets for Birmingham go on sale on 9 May, after a priority booking from 25 April to 8 May. Further dates and venues are to be announced in due course. The West End production continues at the Cambridge Theatre, currently booking until 17 December 2017.

The production will be accompanied in each location by a new education programme to engage young people, inspired by Matilda The Musical. From a travelling library of stories led by Mrs Phelps, to whole school takeovers of Matilda, the RSC aims to reach over 15,000 children, in collaboration with touring theatre partners. Further details to be announced.

Dennis Kelly, (book) said:

“It’s been a long time coming but I’m delighted that we get to take Matilda around the UK and to Ireland. We have some fantastic theatres in this country and in Ireland, supported by smart, engaged audiences and we can’t wait to bring this crazy, messy, anarchic explosion of a show to them.”

Tim Minchin (music and lyrics) said:

“I – like millions of others – feel like Dahl is in my blood, because I grew up with his books. So to have contributed to a piece of work that brings one of his most famous stories to life is one of my life’s great joys. I’m utterly thrilled that audiences in cities all across the UK and Ireland will now share and be part of Matilda’s story.

Catherine Mallyon, RSC Executive Director said:

“We are thrilled our home-grown miracle, which started life after a seven year gestation in Stratford-upon-Avon, has grown into a bit of a global phenomenon. Following Matilda’s successful run on Broadway, our current tours around North America, Australia and New Zealand, and continuing into our sixth year at the Cambridge Theatre in London’s West End, it is fantastic that we can share Matilda with audiences around the UK and in Ireland. In collaboration with our touring partners we will also deliver a programme of ground-breaking interactive education projects to enable young people to emulate Matilda, sharing the extraordinary power of story-telling and the boundless creativity of their imaginations.”

Now in its sixth year in London’s West End, Matilda The Musical is the longest running production at the Cambridge Theatre where it continues to play to packed houses.

With book by Dennis Kelly, original songs by Tim Minchin and direction by Matthew Warchus,Matilda The Musical is the story of an extraordinary little girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny.

Inspired by the incomparable Roald Dahl’s beloved book, Matilda The Musical was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and premiered at the RSC’s The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2010, before transferring to London’s West End in October 2011, where it opened to rave reviews.

The New York production of Matilda The Musical opened in April 2013 at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre and was celebrated on 10 “Top Ten” lists for 2013, including TIME Magazine’s #1 Show of the Year.

Matilda The Musical has been seen by more than 6.5 million people worldwide. Having swept the board at the 2012 Olivier Awards, with a record-breaking seven awards, and winning four Tony Awards and a Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theater for the four girls sharing the title role on Broadway, Matilda The Musical has now played in 50 cities worldwide and continues to delight audiences in London, Australia and on tour around North America.

After winning a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Musical in 2015, the Australian production played a sold-out season at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. In July 2016, the production broke further records by winning all 13 Helpmann Awards for which it was nominated. The tour continues in Perth and Adelaide and will premiere in New Zealand at The Civic in Auckland in August 2017 for a strictly limited season.

Matilda The Musical is produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company with André Ptaszynski and Denise Wood as Executive Producers. The production was developed with the support of Jeanie O’Hare and the RSC Literary Department.

Matilda The Musical is written by Dennis Kelly, with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, and direction by Matthew Warchus. The production is designed by Rob Howell, with choreography by Peter Darling, orchestrations, additional music and musical supervision by Christopher Nightingale, lighting by Hugh Vanstone, sound by Simon Baker and the special effects and illusions are by Paul Kieve.

 

TOUR LISTINGS

Leicester Curve
Monday 5 – Saturday 24 March 2018
Box Office: 0116 242 3595
www.curveonline.co.uk

Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre
Wednesday 4 – Saturday 28 April 2018
Box Office: +353 (1) 677 7999
www.bordgaisenergytheatre.ie

Sunderland Empire Theatre
Tuesday 8 May – Saturday 2 June 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 3022*
www.atgtickets.com/venues/sunderland-empire

Milton Keynes Theatre
Tuesday 5 – Saturday 30 June 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 7652*
www.atgtickets.com/venues/milton-keynes-theatre

Birmingham Hippodrome
Tuesday 3 July – Saturday 8 September 2018
Box Office: 0844 338 5000**
www.birminghamhippodrome.com

Manchester Palace Theatre
Tuesday 18 September – Saturday 24 November 2018
Box Office: 0844 871 3019*
www.atgtickets.com/venues/palace-theatre-manchester

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff / Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru
Tuesday 4 December 2018 – Saturday 12 January 2019
Box Office: 029 2063 6464
www.wmc.org.uk

* Calls cost 7p per minute, plus your phone company’s access charge.
** Calls cost 4.5p per minute plus your phone company’s access charge.

www.matildathemusical.com
#matildaontour

WEST END LISTING

MATILDA THE MUSICAL
Cambridge Theatre, Earlham Street, WC2H 9HU
Booking until 17 December 2017
Tuesdays 7pm
Wednesday – Saturday 7:30pm
Wednesday & Saturday 2:30pm
Sundays 3pm

Box Office: Cambridge Theatre* 0844 412 4652 / RSC Ticket Hotline 01789 403493
No booking fee. *Calls cost 7p per min plus your telephone company’s network access charge.

Twitter: @MatildaMusical
Facebook: @MatildaTheMusical
Instagram: @MatildaTheMusical