NEWS Archives - Page 78 of 87 - North West End UK

Imitating the dog are the first company to get back on the road

5Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews, NEWS

Imitating the dog are the first company to get back on the road

If you had to put your money on any company having the balls to get back on the road in the midst of a pandemic a strong favourite would be imitating the dog. Over the last 20 years they have never been afraid of a challenge and they have been busy devising a new outdoor show Dr Blood’s Old Travelling Show that kicks off a national tour at Leeds Playhouse. Co-Artistic Director Pete Brooks is hard at work with the cast at the Playhouse but says that a company famed for their innovative use of technology are taking inspiration from an ancient theatrical tradition for their latest adventure. “It’s not set in mediaeval times, but it’s a sort of mediaeval morality tale when groups of traveling players told stories,” says Pete in a break from final rehearsals. “The idea is that there is...

North West End UK set to go LIVE in rescheduled Covid secure concert

4Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS, NWE UK Live

North West End UK set to go LIVE in rescheduled Covid secure concert

We are thrilled to announce that we are performing as part of the inaugural Alty Fringe which is to be staged at the Altrincham Garrick Playhouse from the 12th - 28th March 2021. The show, and festival has been rescheduled from November 2020. Alty Fringe has teamed up with the Altrincham Garrick to produce a 17 day long festival of Covid secure theatre designed to appeal to all tastes with comedy, dance, drama and music all featuring during an action packed month. North West End UK go LIVE with an exciting concert celebrating musical theatre on the 21st March at 7:30pm. Featuring three of the very best female vocalists in the North West, all award winning performers, we'll serve you up a mixture of old and new musical theatre anthems. Full details and casting for the show, as ...

Leeds City Varieties makes early announcement of panto for 2021

3Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Leeds City Varieties makes early announcement of panto for 2021

Leeds City Varieties Music Hall have made a very early announcement that Beauty and the Beast will be its Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto for 2021. The historic city centre venue closed its doors on March 17th and like most venues were forced to cancel their 2020 panto which in their case is now the hugely popular Rock ‘n’ Panto where the cast do all the classic slapstick for the kids, and innuendos for the adults, but also pick up their instruments to play a lively set of classic pop tunes too. “Like so many other theatres across the country, we are absolutely devastated that this year’s panto won’t be going ahead, but we’re thrilled to be able to bring Beauty and the Beast, a brand new production from the enchanted pen of Peter Rowe, to The Varieties in 2021,” says Varieties General Manager Ia...

28Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Insulted.Belarus(sia) – Slung Low

Protests continued this week in Belarus, after newly elected Alexander Lukashenko was sworn in as President. Playwright Andrei Kureichik, has penned a piece of verbatim theatre in which Slung Low and more than 40 theatre companies from more than 10 countries, have organised readings of the play in order to shine a spotlight and metaphorically join hands with the people of Belarus. Kureichik’s play consists of a series of monologues communicating the feelings and plight of several Belarusian’s who experienced the protests, the alleged rigged election voting system and were the victims of the over-zealous arrests of the protestors. Many theatres in Belarus are controlled by the state, much the same as Russian theatres, so their artists are ultimately controlled by a need to earn money....

Liverpool Irish Festival returns with a virtual programme in 2020

24Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Liverpool Irish Festival returns with a virtual programme in 2020

Liverpool Irish Festival 15th – 25th October ● Ten days of music, performance and conversation shifts online for 2020 ● Patrick Kielty spearheads programme exploring theme of “exchange”. Liverpool Irish Festival returns with a virtual programme in 2020, celebrating the connections between Liverpool and Ireland. In a year of change and turbulence, the Festival explores exchange through art, conversation, music and history, how it connects communities and crosses borders. A series of events examine how exchange has played out through conflict, cultural exchange and artistic practice, while diverse conversations expose dual-heritage lives, reconciliation and collective trauma. Irish Comedian and TV presenter Patrick Kielty headlines the programme with a special event, Har...

Hope Mill Theatre announces its long-awaited cast of RENT

24Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Hope Mill Theatre announces its long-awaited cast of RENT

The cast and full creative team has been announced for Hope Mill Theatre’s hotly anticipated revival of the classic rock musical RENT, directed by Luke Sheppard. RENT will play at Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester from Friday 30th October to Sunday 6th December 2020. The 12 company members, who were originally cast back in February are finally getting the opportunity to come together for this special revival of the much-loved musical. The cast will receive a Covid-19 test prior to being placed in one household (bubble) for the length of the run in Manchester. Jocasta Almgill (& Juliet, Dreamgirls – West End) will play Joanne; Blake Patrick Anderson (Be More Chill – The Other Palace, Closer to Heaven – Off West End/Above the Stag) will play Mark; Tom Francis (Arts Ed 2020 g...

The Curtain Rises on Live Performance at The Dukes

24Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

The Curtain Rises on Live Performance at The Dukes

Following a successful reopening of their cinema back in August, Lancaster arts organisation The Dukes have announced that audiences will be able to enjoy the return of live performance at their venue this autumn. The season of live theatre and comedy will be housed in Moor Space, The Dukes’ second site on Moor Lane, beginning with a hop back on board the hilarious and heart-warming comedy-drama Ladies That Bus from Tuesday September 29th – Thursday October 1st. Inspired by the passengers, travels and tales of the Route 555 bus between Lancaster and Keswick, and originally borne out of a collaborative project between The Dukes, Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre and Theatre by the Lake, the popular play made its debut at The Dukes in February this year to critical acclaim. Audiences wil...

Northern Ballet dance back to Leeds Playhouse

24Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Northern Ballet dance back to Leeds Playhouse

After seven months away from the stage Northern Ballet are back with two shows at Leeds Playhouse. The Leeds based company will perform three different hour-long mixed programmes from 21st – 24th October followed by four full-length performances of Artistic Director David Nixon’s Dangerous Liaisons last performed a decade ago from 28th – 31st October. Government guidelines now permitting indoor performances with socially distanced audiences so working with Leeds Playhouse the team have been able to establish a viable programme to get performing again. With the exception of Contemporary Cuts, all performances will include live music played by members of Northern Ballet Sinfonia. All performances will be performed in full costume but ‘black box style’ without sets. Photo Merlin H...

Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake perform Talking Heads in Leeds and Sheffield

23Sep

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NEWS

Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake perform Talking Heads in Leeds and Sheffield

In a massive coup for Leeds Playhouse and Sheffield Theatres two of the nation’s best actors Imelda Staunton and Maxine Peake will be performing two of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads monologues in his native Yorkshire. The transfers of Staunton in A Lady of Letters and Peake in Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet from the Bridge Theatre are a show of solidarity with the two Yorkshire venues by the performers and the creative teams of these two pieces. For these performances, as at the Bridge, Alan Bennett has generously waived his royalty. During April and May while the Bridge Theatre was closed the London Theatre Company worked with the BBC to produce two of the iconic monologues, which were then broadcast on BBC One in June. Leeds Playhouse has already announced Connecting Voices, a colla...

Critically acclaimed Noir goes online this Winter

22Sep

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Critically acclaimed Noir goes online this Winter

Multi award winning Vertigo Theatre Productions have been at the forefront of the fringe theatre scene in Manchester since 2007, now in these troubled times, the company are thinking outside the box and are premiering a BRAND NEW production of their hit play NOIR online this December. Rather than just showing a copy of the original try out production from 2017, Vertigo and the cast and crew will film this brand new production this November at The Empty Space Theatre without an audience, meaning you can see the premiere before the show ever goes in front of a live audience. This December you can be at the world premiere from the comfort of your own home. NOIR transports you back to a time of black and white movies of the 30s, 40s and 50s. It's New York City, a single spotlight illuminate...