CINDERELLA WILL BE STEPS ABOVE THE REST

LEE LATCHFORD-EVANS ANNOUNCED AS PRINCE CHARMING IN ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL EASTER PANTO

Boot-scoot on down to St Helens Theatre Royal this Easter as Regal Entertainments are egg-static to announce that Steps pop-group member Lee Latchford-Evans will play the role of Prince Charming in their panto, Cinderella.

Guaranteed to be Steps above the rest, the show will be on stage from Saturday 24th March – Sunday 15th April, and tickets are on sale now.

Best known as one fifth of pop-phenomenon Steps, Lee has and still is achieving incredible success with the Brit award-winning band, selling in excess of 20 million records worldwide with famous hits such as Stomp, It’s the Way You Make Me Feel, 5,6,7,8 and recent iTunes Number 1 single Scared Of The Dark. The band recently released their fifth studio album, Tears on the Dancefloor last April which also hit Number 1 on the UK iTunes chart and has since gone Gold.  Steps recently completed their Party on the Dancefloor UK tour selling out 22 arenas across the UK and Ireland.

No stranger to panto, Lee has starred in Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast among others.

The star has also appeared on the St Helens Theatre Royal stage as love lothario Bob, in Regal Entertainments’ 2015 production of Rita, Sue and Bob Too! Other stage productions include Bill Kenwright’s All Creatures Great and Small, and the West End production of Grease the Musical.

Lee said: “I’m really excited to be back performing at St Helens Theatre Royal. I received such a warm welcome from audiences when I was there in 2015 in Rita, Sue and Bob Too! This time I’m playing Prince Charming, I absolutely love pantomime it’s a great fun way to give the audience some escapism and the atmosphere is always incredible. 

“What makes it that little bit more special, being from Ellesmere Port, it’s like performing to a home-town crowd. I cannot wait! I’ll be seeing you at Easter, St Helens!”

Chantelle Nolan, Theatre Manager added: “I am delighted to announce Lee Latchford-Evans is playing the role of Prince Charming in our magical Easter panto this year. We can’t wait to hear his fantastic voice, and see some of those classic dance moves he’s been showing off on tour this last year!”

The rest of the show’s STEP-tacular all-star cast will be announced in the coming weeks, so Lee will soon know who will be playing his Dancing Queen at the Grand Ball.

Cinderella tells the story of a beautiful girl who is reduced to a life of servitude by her 2 ugly step-sisters, but that will all change when an invitation to a grand ball at the palace arrives.

With a bit of magic and some help from her friend Buttons, Cinderella is transformed in to the belle of the ball. But what will happen at the stroke of midnight?

Enchanted pumpkins, glass slippers, a sparkling fairy-tale carriage and lots of fun to entertain the whole family, be sure to book tickets early. It would be a tragedy to miss it.

Cinderella runs from Saturday 24th March – Sunday 15th April and tickets are on sale now!

For more information, please visit: www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com

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LISTING DETAILS

Regal Entertainments Ltd Present: Cinderella

Dates: Sat 24 Mar – Sun 15 Apr

Times: Various

Tickets: From £13*

*All prices are inclusive of a £1 per seat transaction fee. On-line bookings are subject to an additional 50p per seat on-line processing fee.

THEATRE ROYAL BOOKING DETAILS

Book in person at the Theatre Royal Box Office, Corporation Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 1LQ (Mon–Sat 10am–5pm). Alternatively, call 01744 756 000 or log on to: www.sthelenstheatreroyal.com.

Alula Cyr: Hyena
UK Tour: Thursday 1st March – Tuesday 24th April 2018

Marrying precision and poignancy, Alula Cyr’s debut production celebrates female strength with awe-inspiring acrobatics and synchronised displays of sisterhood. Hyena is an exciting whirlwind of women, wheels, circus, dance and song. Here, the world’s first all-female Cyr wheel trio unveil inventive and previously untried forms of expression using the Cyr.

Hyena is a unique and profound experience that illuminates the thrill of physical ritual. Fiona, Jess and Lil trained in gymnastics, dance and music before studying together at the National Centre for Circus Arts from where they graduated in 2015 with a combined mission to bring more femalecentric circus to the UK.

Including never-before-seen set pieces such as the ‘Cyr Ball’ – a ball created with all the wheels to form a sphere in and around which the trio perform – Hyena is the boisterous and playful culmination of three years’ research into pioneering new ways of working with one of circus’s fastest evolving disciplines.

Co-creator Lil Rice explains, Hyena is a show about womanhood – it’s about beauty, power and the thin line we walk between being a human and a wild animal. We wanted to make a show that would inspire everyone, particularly women and girls, to find their voices and stand together.

The title Hyena references the matriarchal social system of brown spotted hyenas, which offered the company a reference point for the fierce and complex friendships formed between women that are explored in the show. Patterns of conflict and resolution draw from the trio’s own tribal solidarity.

Hyena screams girl power at the top of its lungs and, coincidentally, represents and embodies the essence of womanhood. A strong show that empowers and inspires (Miro Magazine).

Throughout the tour, Alula will be running workshops in partnership with each of the venues, aimed at inspiring young females to create socially aware work.

Hyena is supported by Arts Council England, Jacksons Lane, The National Centre for Circus Arts and SeaChange Arts and Produced by Alula Cyr.

Tour Dates
1st March Circomedia, Bristol, 7.30pm
St Paul’s Church, Portland Square, Bristol, BS2 8SJ

3rd March Deda, Derby, 7.30pm
Chapel Street, Derby, DE1 3GU

4th March Brighton TOM, Brighton, 7pm
The Old Market, 11a Upper Market Street, Hove, BN3 1AS

7th March Folkestone Quarterhouse, Folkestone, 7.30pm
Quarterhouse, Mill Bay, Folkestone, Kent, CT20 1BN

9th March Newbury Corn Exchange, Newbury, 7.45pm
Corn Exchange Newbury, Market Place, Newbury, RG14 5BD

21st March Harlow Playhouse, Harlow, 7.30pm
Playhouse Square, Harlow, CM20 1LS

23rd March Junction Goole, Goole, 7pm
Paradise Place, Goole, East Riding Yorkshire, DN14 5DL

24th March Barnsley Civic, Barnsley, 7.30pm
The Civic, Hanson Street, Barnsley, S70 2HZ

12th & 13th April The Albany, Deptford, 7.30pm, as part of Circusfest
Douglas Way, London SE8 4AG

24th April Forum Theatre, Malvern Theatre, Malvern, 7.45pm
Grange Road, Malvern, WR14 3HB

February 28th – March 4th, VAULT Festival

Coming to London after a barnstorming, critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015, Wound Up Theatre’s Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy, now has its London debut at VAULT Festival this Spring, exploring the strange new reality of youth in modern day Britain and examining social alienation, radicalisation, disenfranchisement and the rock band Queen.

“bold and thought-provoking” The Guardian

Dean joined the army, Danny joined the Islamic State. Bismillah! is their time together as captive and guard. Set in 2015 in a basement in Northern Iraq, Bismillah! uses humour and compassion to approach an incredibly vital discussion around the experiences of disenfranchised young people in modern Britain.

This hilarious and heartbreaking production examines the impact of racial, social, economic and religious politics on youth in society. It’s a show which tackles huge contemporary issues: from rising social tensions and the fall out of interventionist foreign policies to working in Weatherspoons and the ever-rising price of a standard meal deal.

★★★★★“brilliantly acted and superbly written(…) side-splitting and touching” Broadway Baby

Bismillah! stormed the Fringe during its critically acclaimed run at the 2015 Edinburgh Festival. It was listed for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and was endorsed by Nihal Arthanayake on the BBC Asian Network. Since its Fringe run, the show has been in development with Sevan Greene at London’s Theatre Royal Stratford East. VAULT Festival marks the show’s London theatrical debut.

Wound Up Theatre, joined by award-Winning producer Sofi Berenger and director Jonny Kelly, produce award winning theatre-maker Matthew Greenhough’s script. Wound Up produce social and politically aware theatre, which discusses seismic issues, through comedy – facilitating discussions and challenging ideas. The company’s first play, Delusions of Adequacy, explored youth unemployment, and #VILE: The Untimely Demise of a Manufactured Pop Star, exploring the impact of celebrity culture and social media on mental health in working class Northern Communities.

Mad As Hell
Jermyn Street Theatre, 16b Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6ST
Wednesday 7th February – Saturday 24th February

Documenting the scandalous relationship between Peter Finch and Eletha Barrett in Hollywood, Cassie McFarlane’s Mad As Hell will continue Jermyn Street Theatre’s Spring Scandal Season. A battle between race and prejudice and the courage of love, Mad As Hell will reveal for the first time how the backdrop to Finch’s iconic performance was as fiery as the role he played.

This explosive play will star Stephen Hogan (Redwater, BBC; Transformers, The Last Knight, Paramount; Peer Gynt, National Theatre), Vanessa Donovan (forthcoming films include I Love London and The Marker) and Alexandra Mardell (Mine, The Courtyard theatre; Vera, ITV).

Inspired by her mother’s retelling of the story of Finch and Barrett and the Jamaican reaction to Finch’s relationship with a local woman of the ‘wrong class’, Cassie McFarlane has researched and revisited Jamaica for Mad As Hell. Recipient of the Evening Standard Most Promising Newcomer for her role in the pioneering Black British film Burning an Illusion, McFarlane found a lack of roles for Black British actors at the time led her to instead write and produce short films for the BFI, Channel 4, and ZDF in Germany, and to direct plays at theatres including Soho Theatre.

A bar in Jamaica. The early 1960s. When womanising, hell-raising film star Peter Finch meets Eletha Barrett, a charismatic island girl, they both get more than they bargained for. As Finch begins his Oscar- winning performance in Network, racial and class tensions threaten to upstage the on screen narrative.

Writer and director Cassie McFarlane comments, Like many Jamaicans, I have known the story of Peter and Eletha since childhood. I think it will speak to many people about Hollywood, about prejudice, and about mixed-race relationships. I am excited to be bringing their amazing story to life in Mad As Hell, and to direct its world premiere in the middle of the West End.

Dai Fujikura Portrait
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP
Saturday 17th February 2018, 7.30pm

Following the successes of previous years’ ‘Avex Recital Series’, Avex now launch their 2018 programme with a special Dai Fujikura Portrait concert featuring musicians from around the world, performing works for shamisen (a traditional Japanese instrument), toy piano, violin, saxophone, and a quintet comprising oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano. This evening of beautiful sound colours and contrasting sonority will also mark several UK premières as well as a world premiere of a piece for solo piano.

The incredible artists who will be performing at Wigmore are Mei Yi Foo (piano and toy piano), HONJOH Hidejiro (shamisen), Yu Kosuge (piano), Rie Koyama (bassoon), Masanori Oishi (saxophone), Enno Senft (double bass), Philippe Tondre (oboe), Bartosz Woroch (violin), Makoto Yoshida (clarinet) and Teunis van der Zwart (horn).

Dai Fujikura is acclaimed worldwide and has been awarded many important prizes throughout his career including the Royal Philharmonic Society Award, Otaka Prize, Akutagawa Composition Award, WIRED Audi Innovation Award, the Paul Hindemith Prize, and The Silver Lion Award from Venice Biennale 2017. His works include operas, orchestral pieces, ensemble works, chamber music, and film scores that cross over into the contemporary world with strong connections to experimental, pop, jazz and improvisation.

Having received numerous international co-commissions, Dai Fujikura’s music has been performed in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He recently held the composer-in-residence position at Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra. In the UK, he has received two BBC Proms commissions, his Double Bass Concerto was premiered by the London Sinfonietta, and in 2013 the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave the UK premiere of his Atom. Recently, Dai has been named the artistic director of the Born Creative Festival in Tokyo Metropolitan Theater for 2017.

Hiroyuki Nakashima, President at Avex Classics International, comments, Avex Classics International is committed to nurturing the best young musical talent and giving them an international platform. From intimate recitals to huge multimedia presentations, we engage audiences of all ages and nationalities in the unique power that defines the best musical performances and artists. Our return to Wigmore Hall demonstrates the best of Japanese talent and we are delighted to be back at this renowned hall.

Dai Fujikura Portrait looks back across Fujikura’s whole career as far as some works from his time at college. He describes Frozen Heat for Solo Piano (1998) like meeting an old friend.

Neo for Solo Shamisen (2014) was Fujikura’s first composition for the shamisen. Until this point he had always associated Japanese instruments as the clichéd music heard in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. When this work was commissioned he cast aside these preconceptions and carried out extensive research into the history of the instrument. His attraction to the shamisen was the concept of adding ‘noise’ to the sound, something unthinkable in western classical music; he treated this piece like a guitar solo in a rock concert.

While many of the works have been composed specifically for the artists who will perform them at Wigmore, every few years Fujikura composes for himself which allows him to go back to basics and experiment with new methods and systems. SekSek and Ayatori for Solo Piano (2011) is one such work. With works like this, Fujikura imposes strict limits on the piece. For instance, he might develop a rule where ‘no more than three notes can be played at the same time’, or ‘no pedal’, or ‘right hand and left hand always move together’.

Bringing together an incredible range of award-winning musicians from around the globe, Dai Fujikura Portrait offers an opportunity to celebrate the work and achievements of this incredible composer.

Dai Fujikura comments, I am delighted to have a portrait concert at the renowned Wigmore Hall with all-star musicians from all over the world. Many of the works have been specially written for these musicians, for both traditional Japanese and western instruments. I am curious to hear 20 years of my music played together at this concert which includes compositions dating back to 1998 as well as a world premiere. What a way to celebrate my 40th!

The second concert in Avex’s 2018 series will held on Saturday 2nd June. This Rachmaninov programme will be performed by Yuki Ito (cello) and Sofya Gulyak (piano)

Darlington Hippodrome – until 20 January 2018.  Reviewed by Lindsay Sykes

3***

New Jersey Nights is a concert style production which takes the audience through a celebration of greatest hits by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. With a distinct party atmosphere, there is no story line, making this a show purely about the music. It has a very different feel to the hit musical Jersey Boys, and as far as tribute acts go, these boys are up there with the best.

Opening in Ruby’s Bar with the six dancers evoking the era of the late 50’s and early 60’s with their costumes and dancing, they remain on stage for most of the show embellishing it with their enthusiasm.  The set comprises of a bland makeshift bar set-up (backboards on wheels portraying the walls, a bar and to the right a table and chairs), it doesn’t look particularly inviting. However as the four piece band take their places, initially behind the bar walls while a lone barman fiddles with the vintage radio for a signal, the stage soon becomes alive.

Lead vocals are shared between the four performers – Joshua Dever, William Hazel, Duncan Heather and Ricky Rojas – who have all toured extensively with the production previously. Kicking off the show with Oh What a Night and continuing with hits including Sherry, Walk Like a Man, Big Girls Don’t Cry, Let’s Hang On, Grease and Who Loves You. This is balanced with slower numbers such as My Eyes Adored You and Fallen Angel and a beautifully sung acapella version of Silence is Golden.

Aside from the main Valli numbers the girls in the show perform two songs from Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound. As they are the dancers it is obvious that they are lip-synching which is a shame in a live show.  However it is a nice nod to one of the musical influences of the Four Seasons and allows the three girls to take centre stage.

A show like this, with few unscripted moments, thrives on banter and all four are excellent at creating a rapport with the audience. It’s a smart move, as the format of the show – songs followed by a short piece of narration – could feel quite sterile without that spark.  All four performers seems to be having a good time and it shows in their enthusiasm

On a snowy January evening this show is well worth the effort of going to see to banish the post Christmas blues.  The evening came to a close with a megamix which brought almost the entire audience to their feet. Everybody was dancing and singing without a care in the world and I noticed some truly impressive moves. The singers produce a fine performance of the Four Seasons including all of the falsetto and harmonies. If you love the music of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and are prepared to take New Jersey Nights for what it is you will have a fun-filled night. In Darlington until January 20th and on tour around the UK

Mayflower Theatre Southampton – until 20 January.  Reviewed by Jo Gordon

4****

Set in the Golden era of Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard shows us the desperate, seedy and needy lives of those who want to make it big and those who have faded from the limelight – grasping hard on to the little glimmer of fame they still have. Joe Gillis  is a struggling writer trying to make it to the top at Paramount Pictures and failing, trying to dodge the debt collectors he finds himself broken down outside an old mansion, 10086 Sunset Boulevard, and knocks the door for help. Confronted with a creepy looking butler, Max Von Mayerling,  Joe is invited in where he meets the once, silent movie Goddess, Norma Desmond, a larger than life, velvet clad turban wearing Diva who demands to be adored like the superstar she believes she still is.

After convincing Joe to edit a script she has written for a film that will be her big return to the silver screen, Joe becomes a kept man and eventually Norma’s lover in the hope this is his chance to be the high flying writer he dreams of. Meanwhile he continues working on a script with  Molly Lynch whose friendship begins to blossom into something more. Tired of Norma’s melodramatics, controlling ways and her spiral downwards into madness he realises that his new way of life is destroying him and tries to leave to be with Molly ending in fatal consequences.

The orchestra play the 1950’s inspired musical score sublimely, carrying off the big numbers in a way that makes you forget they are not high in numbers and the set has been incredibly well designed, placing you in various locations back in the day.  The whole cast are a talented and energetic bunch. Dougie Carter played a superb Joe Gillis, portraying the young writers at all costs desperation with feeling and depth, whose singing hits the mark every time. Ria Jones took my breath away as Norma Desmond, a veracious, melancholic, expressive performance who on delivering the big show tunes left the audiences excitement palpable! I imagine I am a rarity in having never seen this production before, whether on stage or indeed the film, thinking the all singing dialogue would ruin it for me…. how wrong I was… I adored it! “Those wonderful people out there in the dark” were on our feet left wanting more.

LATEST SHOWS TO GO ON SALE AT LEEDS GRAND THEATRE

Priority tickets on sale from Wednesday 17 January / General from Wednesday 24 January 2018

CILLA THE MUSICAL *** SIXTIES GOLD *** RAIN MAN *** MOTOWN ***

*****

Tuesday 16 to Saturday 20 October 2018

CILLA THE MUSICAL

Based on the critically acclaimed ITV mini-series, Cilla The Musical follows the story of the extraordinary life of the ordinary teenage girl from Liverpool, Priscilla White, and her rocky, yet incredible rise to fame.

At just 25-years-old, Cilla Black was one of the most internationally recognised singing stars, who later went on to become one of Britain’s favorite television entertainers headlining multiple series of Blind Date, Surprise Surprise and many more.

The musical score is the ultimate soundtrack to the sixties, including ‘Anyone who had a heart’, ‘Alfie’ and‘Something tells me’.

*****

Sunday 28 October

SIXTIES GOLD

Following 2017’s successful tour, Sixties Gold returns with an even stronger line-up of artists that, between them, scored over 50 UK Top 30 hits: The Searchers, The Merseybeats, The Fortunes, PJ Proby, Love Affair’s Steve Ellis and Vanity Fare.

*****

Monday 29 October to Saturday 3 November 2018

RAIN MAN

Bill Kenwright presents the inaugural Classic Screen to Stage Theatre Companies production of Rain Man – based on the Oscar-winning film starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.

Rain Man tells the story of two brothers, Charlie Babbitt, a self-centered salesman, and Raymond, Charlie’s long-lost elder, autistic brother. When Charlie discovers that Raymond has inherited the family’s multi-million-dollar fortune, he sets out to get ‘his half’ by ‘borrowing’ Raymond from the institution where he has spent most of his life and embarking on a trip across America.

*****

Tuesday 6 to Saturday 17 November 2018

MOTOWN THE MUSICAL

The sensational hit West End musical is bringing its unique sound to Leeds and is guaranteed to having audiences ‘Dancing in the Street’.

With just $800, Berry Gordy founded Motown Records and launched the careers of multiple legendary artists, including Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and The Temptations.

Featuring over 50 classic hits, including ‘My Girl’, ‘I Heard It Through the Grapevine’ and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’, Motown The Musical tells the thrilling tale of the man who broke barriers and fought against the odds to create something more than a record label.

*****