NEWS Archives - Page 83 of 87 - North West End UK

Oldham Coliseum puts their Flying Carpet into storage for 12 months due to Covid-19

14Aug

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Oldham Coliseum puts their Flying Carpet into storage for 12 months due to Covid-19

With a very heavy heart, Oldham Coliseum Theatre announced this week that its scheduled 2020 pantomime, Aladdin, has been postponed to Christmas 2021. Aladdin will now take place from 13th November 2021 – 8th January 2022. Artistic Director Chris Lawson commented: “A trip to the Coliseum’s annual pantomime has been a festive tradition for the people of Oldham and beyond for many generations and we’re incredibly disappointed that this year will be different. We have been working on Aladdin for months now with our amazing staff and creative team and we’re saddened that we’ll have to wait another year to share this with our audiences. “However, our first priority as an organisation is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our staff, audiences, cast and crew, and our second priority i...

BBC England’s Rozina Breen becomes Chair of Leeds Playhouse

9Aug

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BBC England’s Rozina Breen becomes Chair of Leeds Playhouse

BBC England’s Head of North Rozina Breen will be the new Chair of the Board at Leeds Playhouse leading the theatre’s recovery plans for when it reopens its doors after the pandemic. Rozina succeeds Sir Rodney Brooke, who steps down after a decade as Chair, and current board member Neil Adleman will be her Vice Chair As Head of North for BBC England, and previously Head of News for BBC 5 Live, Rozina Breen has been a real ambassador for the north. She thrives on telling untold stories in new and creative ways to amplify the narrative of the region. Neil Adleman is a Partner at market leading law firm Harbottle & Lewis, where he heads the firm’s theatre group. Neil was previously a Trustee and then Chair of Sheffield Theatres Trust until 2015, before becoming a Trustee at Le...

Children’s theatre makes a socially distanced return to Leeds

9Aug

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Children’s theatre makes a socially distanced return to Leeds

Leeds theatre-makers tutti frutti, Wrongsemble, Unlimited Theatre, 154 Collective, Blah Blah Blahs, Alive & Kicking, Interplay, Fidget Theatre and Slung Low joined forces to bring live theatre back to children across the city. Coming together under the Live Little Stories for Leeds they perform socially distanced theatre shows for free to pre-invited families and children at six locations in Leeds. This unique the collective was pulled together by tutti frutti as a pilot and all performances during Live Little Stories for Leeds took place outdoors to small audiences following strict social distancing guidelines. Other adaptations new to theatre makers included the provision of PPE equipment on site, one-way systems into locations and safety measures being incorporated in a fun wa...

Freedom Studios are looking for experienced Yorkshire writers for free playwriting course

31Jul

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

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Freedom Studios are looking for experienced Yorkshire writers for free playwriting course

Bradford theatre company Freedom Studios are looking for experienced writers to join Street Voices 8, the company’s popular free six-month playwriting course. They want to support distinctive voices who can offer new perspectives, but have an ability to write, and the potential to develop their skills. They will work under the guidance of playwright and previous course graduate Zodwa Nyoni, who went on to write Boi Boi is Dead for Leeds Playhouse, Tiata Fahodzi, & Watford Palace Theatre. Freedom are looking for writers who may have been writing creatively in other forms and are looking to broaden their practice. All applicants must have a willingness to take risks, and try out new ideas, along with a commitment to attend all course dates, which will run from 10th October 2020 til...

SLEEPLESS Musical To Begin Testing Backstage

27Jul

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SLEEPLESS Musical To Begin Testing Backstage

SLEEPLESS, A Musical Romance, which announced last month it would begin socially distanced indoor performances at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre from 25 August, will begin using a new accurate COVID-19 test on cast, musicians, crew and theatre staff on a daily basis during rehearsals and during the run of the show. The test is called FRANKD (Fast, Reliable, Accurate, Nucleic-based Kit for Covid19 Diagnostic Detection). Testing will be carried out on-site, since the FRANKD technology does not require a laboratory. Tests results will be sent directly to crew, cast and staff phones via a secure app within an hour of a swab being taken. Michael Rose and Damien Sanders, on behalf of Encore Theatre Productions, the producers of SLEEPLESS, said, “We are so excited to be leading the way fo...

Final casting announced for ‘Fanny and Stella’

27Jul

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Final casting announced for ‘Fanny and Stella’

Final casting announced for the first London Fringe show since Lockdown, a new version of the acclaimed musical ‘Fanny and Stella’ by Glenn Chandler and Charles Miller and Directed by Steven Dexter. Final casting is announced for the first London Fringe production since Lockdown, a brand new socially distanced open-air production of ‘Fanny And Stella’, a musical with Book and Lyrics by Glenn Chandler, the creator of ‘Taggart’, and Music by Charles Miller. Joining the previously announced Jed Berry as Ernest Boulton/Stella and Kane Verrall as Frederick William Park/Fanny are: Kurt Kansley (Lord Arthur Clinton) was Coalhouse in ‘Ragtime’ at Regents Park and Shultz in ‘Miss Saigon’ in the West End. In Australia, he was twice nominated Best Actor in a Musical, as Che in ‘Evita’ and Co...

24Jul

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‘Cheap and Cheerful Outdoor Show’

I am sure by now all theatre/entertainment lovers are in need of some much needed ‘Live’ performance. A chance to enjoy the outdoors and to sit back and enjoy live cabaret to brighten up your Sunday afternoon. OPEN AIR THEATRE SHOW AT INGLENOOK FARM SUNDAY 30th AUGUST ‪2pm & 5pm showings (1hr) Bring your own picnic! Come rain or come shine! Its Tommy Cooper meets Bruce Forsyth in this brand new, jam packed cabaret show! Join double act Mr Mac Cheap and Mr Jerry Cheerful as they whirl through non-stop gags, routines and showbiz tunes from Gershwin and Fred Astaire to Frank Sinatra and Barry Manilow. All in the company of their live travelling band. Young or old, this charming homage to Vaudeville and Variety is bound to have your feet tapping and your belly laug...

New 2021 Dates for UK and Ireland tour of Grease

22Jul

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New 2021 Dates for UK and Ireland tour of Grease

The producers of the first new production in 25 years of Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey’s iconic musical Grease, are delighted that the show will tour the UK and Ireland in 2021. The musical was due to tour in 2020 but had to be postponed due to COVID-19. The 2021 tour will begin at Theatre Royal Plymouth, running from 22nd – 30th January, and will then play Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff from 1st – 6th February, Bristol Hippodrome from 8th – 13th February, Edinburgh Festival Theatre from 16th – 20th February, Norwich Theatre Royal from 22nd – 27th February, Milton Keynes Theatre from 1st – 6th March, Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin from 16th – 27th March, The Alhambra Theatre, Bradford from 29th March – 3rd April, Liverpool Empire from 5th – 10th April, Sheffield Lyceum from 12th – 1...

Pitlochry Festival Theatre launch four months of online premières

22Jul

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Pitlochry Festival Theatre launch four months of online premières

As part of their response to lockdown Pitlochry Festival Theatre is launching four months of online premieres as part of its three-year Shades of Tay project, The series of new digitals works under the banner of A Love Letter to Scotland launch on August 7th and are written by an exciting line-up of British playwrights and poets including Timberlake Wertenbaker, Jo Clifford, Hannah Khalil, Peter Arnott, Abi Zakarian and Chinonyerem Odimba. They are being brought to life by the theatre’s 2020 Summer Season ensemble and form a vital part of the theatre’s tri-daily, digital series #PFTLightHopeJoy, which launched just before lockdown began. Inspired by the River Tay and its surrounding landscape the works will be performed as audio dramas, podcasts, short films. The cast will also pe...

BAFTA-nominated Ruth Madeley leads cast for new season of monologues from Bolton Octagon

22Jul

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BAFTA-nominated Ruth Madeley leads cast for new season of monologues from Bolton Octagon

This summer Bolton Octagon are producing a season of 10 new audio recordings of monologues written by local writers. The monologues were penned by winners of the ‘One Night In Bolton’ writing competition inspired by the play which was due to be the opening performance at the theatre as it reopened after 2 years of construction. Due to the impact of COVID-19 the reopening of the theatre has been delayed, and instead the Octagon decided to inspire creativity in lockdown by running a creative writing competition. The monologues will be released online over the summer and a selection broadcast on BBC Radio Manchester. Bolton actor and BAFTA nominee Ruth Madeley, known for her role in the BBC’s critically acclaimed drama Years and Years, who will be performing The Queen of Bolton Baths...