NEWS Archives - Page 9 of 80 - North West End UK

Matthew Wolfenden stars in ELF at London’s Dominion Theatre

23Nov

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Matthew Wolfenden stars in ELF at London’s Dominion Theatre

After devoting almost two decades to Emmerdale, TV star Matthew Wolfenden will leave the hit soap opera and return to the stage by first starring as Buddy in the smash-hit musical adaptation of ELF at London’s Dominion Theatre for a strictly limited season until 6th January 2024. He will be joined by Tom Chambers, who reprises the role of Walter Hobbs. They join the previously announced Georgina Castle as Jovie, Rebecca Lock as Emily Hobbs, Nicholas Pound as Santa, Kim Ismay as Debs and Dermot Canavan as Store Manager. Ben Lancaster (POLICE COPS: The Musical, Edinburgh Fringe & Southwark Playhouse) will alternate the role of Buddy at certain scheduled performances. Photo: Matt Crockett Also in the cast are Rhys Batten (The SpongeBob Musical, UK Tour), Evonnee Bentley-Holder...

Covent Garden Street Performers Gone By Christmas?

21Nov

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Covent Garden Street Performers Gone By Christmas?

Anyone who has wandered through Covent Garden’s famous central London Piazza will be familiar with the sights and sounds of street performers who can always be found performing for the crowd, delighting tourists and regulars alike. Street performing in the square has been a tradition for 100s of years, dating all the way back to 1662, when Samuel Pepys’ wrote in his diary about a marionette show featuring the character Punch (later to become Punch & Judy). More modern day artists who cut their teeth as street performers in Covent Garden include Eddie (Suzy) Izzard, Alfred Molina, STOMP and Dynamo. And performers who begin in the hallowed square have gone on to perform in global extravaganzas including La Clique, La Soiree and Cirque Du Soleil. GONE BY CHRISTMAS? THE END OF STREET...

14Nov

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Babies the Musical plays Lyric Theatre

This new British musical is sure to be a hit with all ages. This musical took to the stage at this year’s West End Live in the Summer. Now, a concert semi-staged production of Babies is playing at the Lyric Theatre. This show has been in production for three years and has had a smashing debut. This one act musical and follows nine year eleven students tasked to look after babies, plastic simulator babies, for an entire week. While they discover what kind of parents they would be, these teens discover more about themselves. Friendships are tested, dreams are questioned, and the true meaning of responsibility is discovered. Photo: Pamela Raith This heart-wrenching comedy explores what it is to be a young adult and the challenges teenagers face, making mistakes and learning from them...

The Wind in The Willows at Shakespeare North Playhouse

10Nov

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The Wind in The Willows at Shakespeare North Playhouse

Trailer and rehearsal images have been released for The Wind in the Willows (24th November 2023 -13th January 2024) at Shakespeare North Playhouse. Set to captivate theatregoers throughout the festive season, The Wind in the Willows will showcase the magic and splendour of Kenneth Grahame's beloved children's classic. This delightful adaptation of the timeless tale will bring the magical world of Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger to life in an extraordinary theatrical experience for the whole family. Directed by the acclaimed theatre visionary Julia Samuels, The Wind in the Willows promises to be an unforgettable theatrical experience, transporting the audience into a world of captivating characters, whimsical adventures, and profound life lessons. "We are thrilled to present T...

Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien brings his journey as a refugee to Leeds Playhouse

17Oct

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Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien brings his journey as a refugee to Leeds Playhouse

Given how posh the arts are these days many performers easily graduate from public school to the stage, but Syrian artist Hamzeh Al Hussien took a very different route. His family were displaced during the brutal Syrian civil war meant he spent six years in a refugee camp before this disability made him a priority for resettlement in the UK, and he came with his brother to the North East In his new show Penguin aided by some simple props in the rehearsal room, he conjures a vision of an idyllic village in Syria, a place with a backdrop of mountains, a river and a waterfall, and with caves. There are orchards where as a young boy he once stole lemons, and was shamed by his brother into giving them back. It’s also a place he lived with his parents, two brothers and three sisters, a...

The Turbine Theatre is ashamed to present The Nutcracker: A Very Adult Pantomime

14Oct

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The Turbine Theatre is ashamed to present The Nutcracker: A Very Adult Pantomime

Forget what you think you know about the Christmas classic, and this year be taken to distant lands (like Winter Wonderland…and M&M World!) by way of the Turbine Theatre. For a limited time, this Christmas, audiences will get to enjoy the very adult pantomime, The Nutcracker. Written by Joshua Coley (Elf The Musical, The Wind In The Willows), this new pantomime is, for audiences 18+, the perfect Christmas tale about learning to love after heartbreak …and seeking revenge. Carlie’s had a terrible year: her love rat ex has ghosted her, her father died in a collision with a Just Stop Oil protest and now her Mum is insistent on still throwing their annual festive party. A typical year in the 2020’s some may say, but thanks to a prezzie from her inappropriate, local drunk uncle - t...

Common Wealth stage a fashion show with a difference

14Oct

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Common Wealth stage a fashion show with a difference

Fast, Fast, Slow is a unique performance that Common Wealth Theatre company says will explore the complexity of our personal relationships to fashion, fast fashion and waste. Presented as part of British Textile Biennial 2023, the show has been conceived with community members in East Lancashire, which is an area built on a now almost defunct textile industry where an online fast fashion distributor is now one of the major employers. Fast, Fast, Slow is presented on a full-scale catwalk constructed from used clothing bales in Blackburn Cotton Exchange, which was completed in 1865 to sell cotton grown and picked by enslaved labour from Africa in the plantations of the American South. The catwalk will come to life in this multi-media performance featuring video art, cinematic ...

The Nutcracker dances his way to Leeds Grand for a feast of dance

14Oct

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The Nutcracker dances his way to Leeds Grand for a feast of dance

Northern Ballet’s acclaimed version of The Nutcracker returns home to Leeds Grand Theatre this November after its hugely successful run last year. It’s the classic tale of Clara and her wooden Nutcracker doll that is much more than it seems. As the clock strikes midnight Clara finds herself being whisked away on a magical adventure through a winter wonderland filled with dancing snowflakes and a whole host of colourful characters. Photo: Kyle Baines The Nutcracker is the perfect introduction to classical ballet that has something for everyone, from the iconic dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy to an epic battle between the Nutcracker Prince and the villainous Mouse King. The ballet is set to Tchaikovsky's iconic music that is played live by the Northern Ballet Sinfonia. ...

Out Of The Margins – Good Chance Theatre & Christie’s

30Sep

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Out Of The Margins – Good Chance Theatre & Christie’s

Good Chance Theatre are hosting an online auction of some of the greatest scripts, annotated by their playwrights, in a bid to raise money for displaced artists. Their event, Out Of The Margins in collaboration with Christie’s, brings marginalised people and their stories into the light with the clever double meaning referring to the authors notes around the text. Good Chance is full of theatre-makers and theatre-lovers with a huge interest in how plays are made, from writing processes to the writer’s anxieties, which sparked the idea for the auction. The project has been a year in the making, reaching out to various playwrights, and has resulted in 60 taking part. Many of the scripts were annotated post performance, giving a rich insight into the life of the play; the rehearsal process...

Leeds Playhouse becomes foodbank collection point for I, Daniel Blake

21Sep

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Leeds Playhouse becomes foodbank collection point for I, Daniel Blake

As the world premiere stage adaptation of I, Daniel Blake comes to Leeds Playhouse they are turning themselves into a foodbank collection point. The film focusing on the struggles of people on the margins in our country has been adapted by actor and comedian Dave Johns, who won the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Awards and Best Newcomer at the EMPIRE Awards for his role in the film. The proliferation of foodbanks across the UK is a central theme in the play, so the Playhouse is becoming a collection point for South & East Leeds Food Bank, which is part of the Trussell Trust Network with distribution points in Harehills, Beeston, Gipton, Seacroft, Morley, Hunslet, Halton, Rothwell and Belle Isle. The South & East Leeds Food Bank supported more than 14,000 ...