Paul Downham, Author at North West End UK

Three New Summer Shows Announced For Liverpool’s Waterfront Venue

11Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Three New Summer Shows Announced For Liverpool’s Waterfront Venue

Shone Productions have announced three new shows – including a pantomime – heading for The Auditorium stage at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena this Summer to mark the venue’s post lockdown reopening. The shows will form the first live programme taking place at the waterfront venue when Covid-19 restrictions are eased in the coming months. Liverpool-based producer James Shone is delighted to reveal that X-treme Magic, Sleeping Beauty and Circus Spectacular will thrill audiences young and old. The line-up includes singer Gareth Gates, magicians Richard Cadell and Pete Firman, Peppa Pig’s Emma Grace Arends, Britain’s Got Talent’s Elizabeth Best, and comedy performer Bippo. Organisers are keen to reassure theatregoers that all necessary safety measures – including social distancing ...

York Theatre Royal want love letters for its grand re-opening

11Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

York Theatre Royal want love letters for its grand re-opening

York Theatre Royal wants love letters from poets, writers, performers, singers, dancers, digital artists to help celebrate its re-opening on May 17th. Under the umbrella title Love Bites the 20 five minute pieces will be performed on the opening night of The Love Season. The commissions on the theme of love will then be presented across the following fortnight as a prelude to the theatre production playing each night. The successful artists will be offered £1,000 a commission plus £150 every time it is performed. “We want local artists working in any form or medium and currently living in York to join forces with us in celebrating the start of live performances when restrictions lift in May,” says Creative Director Juliet Forster. “We are looking for artists to create lo...

10Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

REVIEWS

Gatsby A Musical – Cadogan Hall

A digital concert revival of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic Jazz Age tale brought to life, Gatsby – A Musical returns due to popular demand. Fitzgerald’s masterpiece is my favourite book, so I was excited to see the story adapted into a staged performance. The production stars an incredible cast of West End performers, including Ross William Wild (Million Dollar Quartet) as the title character Gatsby, Jodie Steele (Six) as Daisy Buchanan, Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill) as Nick Carraway and four-time Olivier nominee Emma Williams (Zorro) as Myrtle Williams. The plot mostly follows Steele as Daisy, seven years after the events of the book, as she revisits her memories with the mystical Gatsby by going to his mansion. The show jumps between different time periods, both in and out...

Spotlight on Lucie Jones – Treason The Musical

10Mar

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Interviews

Spotlight on Lucie Jones – Treason The Musical

We were delighted to catch up with Lucie Jones ahead of the online filmed concert of ‘Treason The Musical’ which runs from 12th March to 14th March 2021. Follow the link to buy tickets https://treasonthemusical.com/ The gunpowder plot and its celebratory derivative Bonfire Night is so popular in Britain. Can you tell us about your character Martha Percy and how she fits into the overall gunpowder plot? Martha is the wife of Thomas, one of the plotters. She is a simple woman who wants nothing more than to live a humble Catholic life with her husband and children. Martha doesn’t recognise Thomas when he returns from a trip to London (when the plot was hatched) and we see her battle with her emotions about this and her husband’s new ‘gang’, led by Catesby. ‘Tr...

9Mar

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NEWS

Tim Minchin is back Encore Tour 2021

Tim Minchin, award-winning comedian, actor and composer, has confirmed new UK dates of his BACK tour this autumn heading to the Opera House Blackpool on Saturday 20th November 2021. Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10am Friday 12th March at www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk BACK is billed as “Old Songs, New Songs, F*** You Songs”, with a set list of material from all corners of Minchin’s eclectic – and often iconoclastic – repertoire. First performed in the UK in 2019, BACK was Tim’s first UK tour in 8 years and the 80,000 tickets sold out over a year in advance. The long-awaited return to the stage received rave reviews and saw Tim pick up a prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Australian Contemporary Concert. Picture: Damian Bennett Minchin has been celebrated glob...

St Helens Theatre Royal Announce Their Easter Streamed Pantomime

9Mar

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NEWS

St Helens Theatre Royal Announce Their Easter Streamed Pantomime

St Helens Theatre Royal has announced that its Easter pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk will be streamed online to watch at home. Producers Regal Entertainments had previously announced that Goldilocks would be staged during half-term for audiences visiting the theatre. However, given the Government’s recent roadmap to ease restrictions, plans to stage the panto have now been revised as it is not yet permitted to open the venue’s doors to the public. Instead, Jack and the Beanstalk will be filmed and streamed online during the Easter break, enabling families to still enjoy the experience of pantomime during the school holidays but from the comfort of their own home. Jack and the Beanstalk will be streamed online for 17 performances between Friday 2nd April and Sunday 11th April ...

The curtain rises again at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

9Mar

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NEWS

The curtain rises again at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

Birmingham Repertory Theatre has become the first major venue in Birmingham to announce the return of live performances this May. The venue will see two productions which were postponed due to local restrictions and lockdowns finally take to the stage. Both productions are created and performed by Birmingham artists; Rosie Kay’s Absolute Solo II on Wednesday 19th May 2021 and Lightpost Theatre’s Constructed from Thursday 27th – Saturday 29th May 2021. Tickets are on sale now at www.birmingham-rep.co.uk Customers with tickets for previously scheduled dates for both productions will be contacted direct by the box office Sean Foley, Artistic Director of The REP said; “It’s been almost twelve months since we closed our doors and ceased almost all live performance. It’s been a...

Spotlight on Ricky Allan, Composer and Co-writer of Treason The Musical

9Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews

Spotlight on Ricky Allan, Composer and Co-writer of Treason The Musical

Remember, remember the 5th of November, for its gunpowder, treason, and plot We're here to tell you the rest of the tale, the one that history books forgot Guy Fawkes remains an anonymous figure, we have more to bring to the table It's time to meet the rest of the plotters, in our fiery musical fable We caught up with Ricky Allan to find out more about his new musical ‘Treason The Musical’. Filmed at Cadogan Hall, this concert version is available to watch from 12th March to 14th March 2021. To buy tickets go to https://treasonthemusical.com/ What inspired you to write/compose ‘Treason The Musical’? I have always been fascinated by the story and felt it had a natural theatrical flair to it which deserved to be explored. Whilst working on the Strand...

HUNCHtheatre – An extract from ‘Second-Hand Time’ by Svetlana Alexievich

8Mar

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NEWS

HUNCHtheatre – An extract from ‘Second-Hand Time’ by Svetlana Alexievich

In support of the people of Belarus, HUNCHtheatre present this short video of an extract from ‘Second-Hand Time’, written by Svetlana Alexievich, and performed by acclaimed British actress Kristin Milward. HUNCHtheatre is an internationally acclaimed company based in London, set up by Vladimir Shcherban and Oliver Bennett three years ago. They launched a department in Minsk, HUNCHtheatre Belarus, run by independent artists and LGBTI+ activists. Their first show was an underground performance of ‘Left Dissidents’ which started life in a private living room in 2018. It was listed as one of the top five theatre performances in Belarus by an independent jury. They have since conducted numerous readings, including a play about the murdered Soviet director Meyerhold at ‘Theatre.doc’, the most...

Free masterclasses for young actors In Leeds

8Mar

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NEWS

Free masterclasses for young actors In Leeds

Leeds Actors in Training (LAIT) is offering free online masterclasses for young adults aged 18-25 who are serious about an acting career throughout March 2021. In anticipation of theatres reopening LAIT Intensive is a series of five evening sessions run in collaboration with Leeds Grand Theatre over three weeks by professional artists, and overseen by LAIT with Leeds Grand Youth Theatre Director Lizi Patch. Running from 6-8pm on Tue 16th, Wed 17th, Tue 23rd, Wed 24th and Tue 30th March, the sessions will cover everything from physical and vocal health and flexibility, to clowning and presenting their talents at an audition. Guest artists include Dawn Holgate, Course Leader Foundation Dance Degree, Leeds City College, writer, composer, teacher Sam Kenyon, Clown Space’s James Lewis-...