Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

13Sep

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Interviews

Musical Theatre Returns to Cheshire

Mid Cheshire Musical Theatre Company are back! After a 2-year enforced absence from the stage due to Covid restrictions, Sunshine on Leith is set to become one of the first full scale musicals to be produced in Cheshire. North West End UK spoke to director Louise Colohan ahead of the show to discuss, amongst other things the challenges they have faced bringing theatre back to Cheshire. You directed the last Mid Cheshire production of Evita which was an unbelievable two years ago. Are you glad to be back at the helm for Sunshine on Leith? Mid Cheshire are a fantastic society and under the chairmanship of Sarah Sherwood are looking to putting on some really exciting productions. It is great to have some of the same creative team and crew return once again and we hope to be able to repl...

Twice Nightly – Liverpool Theatre Festival

8Sep

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North West

Twice Nightly – Liverpool Theatre Festival

Liverpool Theatre Festival is about halfway through its run of nightly performances that boosts everything from music to drama, comedy and lots more. The same can be said for tonight’s performance ‘Twice Nightly’ which served up all of the above and more in one show! ‘Twice nightly’ is a 70-minute show which was not only written by and directed by Maria Lovelady and Michael Alan Bailey but it also stars these two talented performers as the double act Don & Madge. The show opens with Don & Madge singing a duet with the catchy words ‘what did we steal?’ This opening number leaves the audience wondering what they are in for, who are these pair? Is the show about mastermind criminals? is it all sung? and to add to the curiosity, Don’s moustache kept falling off- was this supposed to...

25th Anniversary – BURN THE FLOOR – The Reunion

3Sep

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NEWS

25th Anniversary – BURN THE FLOOR – The Reunion

Strictly MEGASTARS join forces for reunion performances… The original Broadway production of Jason Gilkison’s BURN THE FLOOR is being recreated for a strictly limited tour in July 2022. “This Burn the Floor 25th anniversary will be such a one-time event for us - all our stars back on stage together again where they all began!” Jason Gilkison THE REUNION features some of the most celebrated alumni of Burn the Floor including Strictly Come Dancing’s Aljaž Škorjanec, Kevin Clifton, Janette Manrara, Karen Hauer, Dianne Buswell, Joanne Clifton, Luba Mushtuk, Kai Widdrington and Robin Windsor, plus more names to be announced. “To get this ‘dream team' back together on stage for a Burn the Floor reunion will be an event not to be missed.” Jason Gilkison BURN THE FLOOR is a breathta...

3Sep

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NEWS

Noir Goes Stateside!

After a successful streaming run in the UK and Europe, the new play NOIR inspired by 40s and 50s black and white movies, will finally be available in America and the rest of the world as it joins the fantastic theatre streaming site OVERTURE+. Produced by the award-winning UK theatre company Vertigo Theatre Productions, NOIR tells the story of Veronica Smart (Emma Morgan), a beautiful 40-year-old woman with dreams of stardom and a 16-year marriage to Cliff Smart (John Tueart), a successful New York businessman. Now bored with life and the marriage decaying, she wants out, and she will do anything to make that happen. Meeting a group of teenagers at the local school where she works, including the rebellious but broken Jimmy Flynn (Richard Allen), sets in motion a plan that will include ...

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

29Aug

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NEWS

Magic Goes Wrong at the Opera House Blackpool this November

Olivier award-winning comedy favourites, Mischief, today announce hit comedy Magic Goes Wrong is set to head to the Opera House Blackpool this November from Wednesday 24th – Saturday 27th November 2021. Mischief’s biggest and most daring comedy catastrophe to date, Magic Goes Wrong follows a hapless gang of magicians as they stage an evening of grand illusion to raise cash for charity. As the magic turns to mayhem, accidents spiral out of control and so does their fundraising target! The show premiered in the West End at the Vaudeville Theatre in December 2019 and is set to resume performances in London this October. Created with magic legends Penn & Teller, the touring cast presents: Daniel Anthony (Mickey), Valerie Cutko (Eugenia), Sam Hill (Sophisticato), Kiefer Moriarty (The ...

Rock of Ages opens UK Tour in Birmingham

26Aug

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NEWS

Rock of Ages opens UK Tour in Birmingham

Following a sell-out tour in 2018/2019, the producers of the smash-hit ROCK OF AGES are delighted to announce the cast and Kevin Clifton’s return in the role of Stacee Jaxx. The tour will open at The Alexandra, Birmingham from 9th September 2021. Full dates and casting can be found at the website www.rockofagesmusical.co.uk Kevin Clifton thrilled audiences as Stacee Jaxx on the 2018/2019 ‘Rock of Ages’ UK tour and he is so excited to be back, reprising the role in 2021. Kevin is best known for being a professional dancer on BBC1's 'Strictly Come Dancing’. In seven years on the show Kevin reached the final a record five times - winning four glitter balls including the main show Glitterball trophy in 2018 with Stacey Dooley - before leaving in 2019. Since then, Kevin has gone on to appear...

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience Returns to London

26Aug

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NEWS

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience Returns to London

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience, the critically acclaimed international immersive phenomenon that celebrates its tenth birthday in London’s West End in October 2021, will resume full capacity performances at the Radisson Blu Edwardian in Bloomsbury from 2nd September for a limited run this autumn. Closed for much of 2020 due to the pandemic, the show reopened last autumn in a new socially distanced format, before closing again due to the December lockdown. The producers are pleased to announce that they will be bringing back the original version of the pre-pandemic show, in a newly refurbished space in the hotel, which has extremely high-quality ventilation. A loving tribute to the BBC’s classic TV series, the show has been seen by over a million people worldwide since it was born i...

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Manchester Cathedral

12Aug

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North West

The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Manchester Cathedral

Gargoyles watch gargoyles as Manchester Cathedral becomes Notre Dame. Who needs scenery when you can stage a musical about a gothic cathedral in a gothic-style cathedral that was built over 600 years ago? National Youth Music Theatre, all members aged 23 or under, have done just that this week for their production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at Manchester Cathedral. So many little touches were added throughout the evening to blend the building and the show together, like George Dennett as Frollo using a censer to spread incense across the auditorium as the last entrants were taking their seats. And the chorus of gargoyles (the Hunchback’s imaginary friends) singing under the cathedral’s own magnificent gargoyles (be sure to look up if you see the show as those sitting ...

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC – Mary Poppins flies back into the West End

12Aug

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NEWS

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC – Mary Poppins flies back into the West End

Based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the original Walt Disney film, Cameron Mackintosh and Disney’s Olivier award-winning production of Mary Poppins resumed performances at the Prince Edward Theatre on 7th August 2021 and is currently booking to 13th February 2022. The principal cast comprises Zizi Strallen as Mary Poppins and Charlie Stemp as Bert with Charlie Anson as George Banks, Amy Griffiths as Winifred Banks, Petula Clark as Bird Woman, Liz Robertson as Miss Andrew, Claire Machin as Mrs Brill, Jack North as Robertson Ay and Paul F. Monaghan as Admiral Boom and Bank Chairman. Katie Cox, Rose Dawson, Megan Donovan, Megan Judge, Ellie Kit Jones and Maddison Thew will alternate the role of Jane Banks with Logan Clark, George Hamblin, Charlie Murphy, Frankie Treadaway and Fred ...

A Simple Tale of Love to play Camden and GM Fringe Festivals

12Aug

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NEWS

A Simple Tale of Love to play Camden and GM Fringe Festivals

Rude Raven Productions is a new production company set up by writer Sasha Ravencroft and this play will be its professional debut. Ravencroft has been involved in the arts for many years as a writer, actor and producer of a puppetry theatre company. A Simple Tale of Love is directed by Nicole Roberts Ryder for the digital recording for Greater Manchester Fringe, the live shows at Camden Fringe, and as it goes on its premiere tour. The play follows the relationship between Molly and a sinister stranger, JD, who holds a terrifying secret, and her life is never the same again. It is a story about a woman who has lost not only her confidence but also herself along the way. Cheated on by her vicar husband and bullied at work, Molly is broken and yet clutches on to hope. In order to carry ...