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Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre Bring It On this August

9Jun

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre Bring It On this August

Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre returns to the iconic venue's big stage this summer! Following on from the best-sales-ever success of Legally Blonde in 2023, the bitingly relevant, sprinkled with sass, and inspired by the hit film Bring It On The Musical will take audiences on a high-flying journey filled with the complexities of friendship, jealousy, betrayal and forgiveness this August. "These young people show so much talent, drive and passion," says Liverpool Empire Theatre trust chairman, David Morgan. "We remain very proud of the young adults who have studied and performed with the Liverpool Empire Youth Theatre." Uniting some of the freshest and funniest creative minds on Broadway, Bring It On features an original story by Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), music and lyr...

Suite in Three Keys – Orange Tree Theatre

9Jun

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Suite in Three Keys – Orange Tree Theatre

Comprised of the individual plays, A Song at Twilight, Shadows of the Evening, and Come into the Garden, Maud, the latter two offered as a double bill, this is a hefty theatrical event for both performer and audience. Directed by Tom Littler, the Orange Tree Theatre’s Artistic Director, this production makes thorough use of the theatre’s performance facilities, and even positions one of its actors in the bar during pre-show and interval to serenade audiences in dulcet Italian tones with songs of the plays’ era. Referred to in each script simply as “Felix, a waiter” this Mediterranean songbird, played with charming humility and buoyant grace by Steffan Rizzi, provides the melodic throughline linking each piece to the other. The set, designed by Louie Whitemore is also remarkably consiste...

First look at new West End musical Your Lie In April

8Jun

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

First look at new West End musical Your Lie In April

Zheng Xi Yong and Mia Kobayashi star in the new West End musical Your Lie in April by Frank Wildhorn, set in the highly competitive world of classical music competitions. Based on the manga worldwide sensation, it will open at The Harold Pinter Theatre for 12 weeks from from June 28th. Photo: Matt Crockett Kōsei Arima (Zheng Xi Yong) is a brilliant young piano prodigy, dubbed the “Human Metronome” for his mechanical accuracy, who has won many prestigious classical music competitions. But his mother’s sudden death leaves him bereft and unable to play music. He strikes a friendship with the brilliant violinist Kaori Miyazono (Mia Kobayashi), who slowly encourages him to perform again. As Kaori continues to lift Kōsei’s spirits, he realises that he loves her. But is their relation...

Scottish Opera: La traviata – Festival Theatre

8Jun

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Scottish Opera: La traviata – Festival Theatre

It is an under-reported fact that the 2001 Baz Luhrman jukebox musical Moulin Rouge is an adaptation of 1853 Verdi opera La Traviata, itself an adaptation of the 1848 novel La Dame aux Camelias, the most famous (and autobiographical) work of Alexandre Dumas Fils (son of the more well-known creator of the Three Musketeers). All three works take place in Paris and, in all three, a famous courtesan (here Hye-Youn Lee as Violetta Valery) with consumption falls in love with an idealistic young man (here Ji-Min Park as Alfredo Germont) with a disapproving father (Giorgio Germont as Phillip Rhodes). She then forsakes all others until convinced to leave him by a father figure, which she does reluctantly with a lie, for an aristocrat (either a Count, a duke, or here Baron Douphol, played by Nichola...

Relive the playlist of your life as Craig Revel Horwood brings NOW That’s What I Call a Musical to Liverpool

8Jun

By NewsdeskNo Comments

Interviews

Relive the playlist of your life as Craig Revel Horwood brings NOW That’s What I Call a Musical to Liverpool

Get ready to relive the playlist of your life at the brand new NOW That’s What I Call A Musical. Celebrating 40 years of the iconic and chart-topping compilations brand NOW That’s What I Call Music, which has sold an estimated 200 million copies worldwide, this fun-filled production is bursting with hits from Whitney Houston, Wham! Blondie, Tears For Fears, Spandau Ballet and many more. Written by award-winning comedian Pippa Evans, and directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing legend Craig Revel Horwood, the heart-warming and funny story takes audiences on an uplifting journey down memory lane Here, director and choreographer Craig Revel Horwood reveals all about the show... What sort of night are audiences in for when they come to see NOW That's What I Call A Music...

8Jun

By Paul ClarkeNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

My Fair Lady – Leeds Playhouse

For many My Fair Lady is the ultimate big screen version of a musical, but famously the vocals of one of the leading actors was overdubbed and the other talked his way through the whole thing. This Leeds Playhouse co-production with Opera North offers a return to the original hit musical that featured a young Julie Andrews, and here both leads are great singers who do full justice to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe’s classic score packed with showstoppers. My Fair Lady is based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion that took its inspiration from a Greek myth where a sculptor fell in love with one of his creations. Lerner’s book turns it into a fable where an arrogant phonetician Henry Higgins takes on a bet he can turn any woman into a lady, so he plucks Cockney flower seller Eliza ...

8Jun

By Kira DanielsNo Comments

London

Marie Curie – Charing Cross Theatre

A woman scientist!? The woman scientist. Marie Curie, a new musical written by Seeun Choun and Jongyoon Choi fleshes out the story of a scientific pioneer who put her own body on the line in order to secure both a scientific and feminist legacy. Whether or not this was her intention or merely a by-product of her inexhaustible efforts to unearth more information about radioactivity is not a question this play entirely answers over the course of its approximately hour and forty minute run time. Narrated by Marie (Alisa Davidson) but seen from the hazy imagined perspective of her daughter Irène Curie (Lucy Young) this play is very much concerned with the legacies passed between mothers and daughters and the value of role models. With English lyrics, new musical arrangements and musical dir...

Diva! Live from Hell! – King’s Head Theatre

8Jun

By Zain RussellNo Comments

London

Diva! Live from Hell! – King’s Head Theatre

Diva: Live from Hell! is a one-man musical performed by the sensational Luke Bayer. If you're anything like me, you might be sceptical about how one person can pull off a musical solo. Well, brace yourself to be engulfed by the flames of hell as you dive into a story that's unbelievably hot and laugh-out-loud funny. Bayer is an absolute menace on stage, seamlessly shifting between characters and embracing the role of an extravagant diva with exceptional ease, all while belting out great and catchy songs. This show is incredibly camp and nothing short of enjoyable from start to finish. The story starts off with a high school musical vibe, complete with catchy songs and energetic dances. It touches on themes of self-discovery and sexuality before spiralling down a devilish path, where the...

7Jun

By Jackie FoottitNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Give Us A Sign – Bilton Theatre

Talk about life imitating art! On Thursday evening, as my sister and I tried to follow directions to Bilton Theatre (in between house numbers 17 and 19, Main Road), to watch its amateur dramatic production of Give Us A Sign, I mentally prayed for a sign. Lo and behold, a gentleman appeared carrying a huge sign with the theatre’s details on. Phew! Surely a good omen? Turns out it was. Members of Bilton Amateur Dramatic Society (BADS) tread the boards in the village of Bilton, a short distance, east, from the city of Hull. Taking our seats in this cosy little venue, reached via a narrow lane off the Main Road, we perused the printed programme thoughtfully left on our chairs and waited for curtain up. At 7.30pm sharp the heavy stage curtains parted to reveal a suburban sitting ...

7Jun

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

The Last Pearl – Traverse Theatre

This is the last stop on the ’24 tour for The Last Pearl, via Sligo, Dublin and Glasgow. It is a unique show which almost defies review in the theatrical sense, with no words at all but still plenty to relish. The Blue Raincoat Theatre Co.’s voyage started in 2016, hailing from Sligo, Ireland, clearly with an eye to the horizon, devising, amongst others, new works on explorers Shackleton and Darwin. This is a dreamy production which feels at times more like a yoga session for the senses than a theatrical experience. Some exquisite visual memories await the viewer, enhanced by appropriate sound affects; the quiet sea, the sandpiper, the whisper of wind or, in the turn of a moment, the howling gale and the lashing waves. Here, in the opening scene a long strip of fine silk cloth is tra...