Latest Articles - Page 321 of 729

2Mar

By Greg HolsteadNo Comments

Scotland

Peak Stuff – Traverse Theatre

Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre’s reputation as the Capital’s go-to venue for cutting edge, experimental and thought-provoking new work can only be enhanced by this belter of a play from award-winning theatre company Thickskin. Touring England for the last month, the Scottish premiere tonight of Peak Stuff, by young writer Billie Collins fairly fizzes along with new ideas and brilliant acting not to mention superb lighting and set and spectacular video design. Stage centre, on a raised LED-edged plate Meg Lewis takes us on an often-overwhelming journey, through the eyes of three characters, Alice, Ben and Charlie. All consumers, and all consumed to varying degrees by the world we live in today. Teenager, Alice wants to poke a stick into the wheel of fast fashion, Ben is hiding from reality...

2Mar

By Michelle KnightNo Comments

London

Scarlett Sunday – Omnibus Theatre

Obsession and dark secrets of the infamous artist Ray Blackwood and what lay behind the enigma of a painting named Scarlett Sunday. Following the death of Blackwood, it was now left to his daughter Ava played by Camilla Aiko an introverted girl still living in the family home with her demons. This play was simplistic in its form and told the story of Yasmin, played by Sorcha Kennedy an excitable rather intense arts author curious to find out more about Blackwood, the man who inspired her career in the arts, a man she had feelings for and was hungry in pursuit to get the exclusive scoop on his unseen masterpiece Scarlet Sunday. The set is staged first in a coffee shop for their first meeting which sees both characters sparring with each other over childhood memories, the arts and a plan ...

Strictly TV Star Announced for Madagascar in Liverpool

2Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Strictly TV Star Announced for Madagascar in Liverpool

Popular TV presenter, theatre performer and Strictly finalist Karim Zeroual will lead the cast of the brand-new tour of smash-hit family favourite Madagascar the Musical as the hilarious King Julien. Karim Zeroual is a television presenter and theatre performer best known for anchoring CBBC and reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2019. Theatre goers may also know Karim from his numerous TV credits, including EastEnders, Da Vinci’s Demons and The Sparticle Mystery, alongside reality shows such as Celebrity Best Home Cook on BBC One and Celebs Go Dating. No stranger to the stage, Karim’s West End performances include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Lion King and Here Come The Boys. “I’m really excited, I love the film dearly, it’s one of my favouri...

New show Chisholm for President! celebrates the life of a civil rights legend

2Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

New show Chisholm for President! celebrates the life of a civil rights legend

New soul/funk musical Chisholm for President! tells the inspiring story of the first Black woman to be elected to Congress and to run for the nomination of the President of the United States. Through live music and performance, it recalls the life of Shirley Chisholm who struggled against the political machine and made her trailblazing run for the Democratic US presidential nomination in 1972. Shirley Chisholm was a trailblazer as the first Black woman to be elected to Congress in 1968 and was a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus, before making history as the first African American to make a serious bid for the Presidency of the United States of America in 1972. She was known for her advocacy on behalf of women and minorities, standing with the Gay com...

Tickets are now on-sale for Hamilton’s long-awaited run at the Liverpool Empire

2Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Tickets are now on-sale for Hamilton’s long-awaited run at the Liverpool Empire

Tickets are now on-sale for Hamilton's long-awaited run at the Liverpool Empire Theatre from Tuesday 6th May - Saturday 7th June 2025. Priced from just £15 (subject to availability), fans can now get their hands on the hottest tickets in town for this multi award-winning masterpiece by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton the musical is the winner of 11 Tony Awards - including Best Musical, 7 Olivier Awards, the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album. This is the story of America's Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and helped shape the very foundations of the America we know today. The score blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&...

Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette Takes Centre Stage in Liverpool

2Mar

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Hanif Kureishi’s My Beautiful Laundrette Takes Centre Stage in Liverpool

Based on Hanif Kureishi's Oscar-nominated screenplay, My Beautiful Laundrette stars Gordon Warnecke, who originally played Omar in the 1985 movie. Featuring original music composed by the Pet Shop Boys, this stage production is directed by Nicole Behan, Co-Artistic Director of Liverpool-based company Paperwork Theatre (Deep Blue at the Everyman). My Beautiful Laundrette is at the Liverpool Playhouse from Tuesday 26th to Saturday 30th March. Set in South London during the Thatcher years, My Beautiful Laundrette was nominated for Best New Play and Best Regional Production at the WhatsOnStage Awards 2020. The play tells the story of young British Pakistani, Omar, who transforms his uncle’s run-down laundrette into a thriving business. Gordon Warnecke, who played Omar in Stephen Fr...

Bhangra Nation: A New Musical – Birmingham Rep

2Mar

By Priya GuptaNo Comments

West Midlands

Bhangra Nation: A New Musical – Birmingham Rep

2024 starts with a bhang! Dancing just got serious! The Birmingham Rep presents the UK Premiere of Bhangra Nation. This is a sensational new show about finding your true self and explores the thrilling world of competitive Bhangra dancing. The story follows a university Bhangra dance team. When teammates Mary and Preeti's Bhangra team qualifies for Nationals, they set off on opposing quests to dance to their own beat. Preeti believes that the team needs to stick to tradition, but Mary is passionate about shaking things up to belong to today. Drawing from competitive Bhangra and mixing it with other Indian and Western dance forms, Bhangra Nation – A New Musical is a brash, intoxicating, and joyous musical comedy for today. Photo: Craig-Sugden We are instantly transporte...

Domingo Hindoyan’s Bruckner – Liverpool Philharmonic

1Mar

By Mark HumphreysNo Comments

North West

Domingo Hindoyan’s Bruckner – Liverpool Philharmonic

This week, Liverpool’s famous youthful talent took to a prestigious stage and celebrated great success with a charismatic grey-haired leader. No, not Carabao Cup-winning Liverpool FC with their academy starlets under Jurgen Klopp, but the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra under former percussionist and ‘the scouser in our team’ Sir Simon Rattle. But on Thursday night it was the seasoned pros of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra who celebrated the music of two composers who showed that talent can materialise at either end of the age spectrum. On the one hand, the Violin Concerto by prodigious child prodigy-turned-Hollywood-star-composer Erich Korngold, and on the other the monumental Seventh Symphony by Anton Bruckner, who was in his late 50s by the time he bega...

1Mar

By Eleanor HallNo Comments

London

Lucy and Friends – Soho Theatre

Dressed as a tree, Lucy McCormick takes the mic aside the tech box. She tells us that there’s a problem with the tech and that the show can’t go on. “Only joking!” she shouts. The fun has only just begun. ‘Lucy and Friends’ is an expectation-defying, fluid-splattering bonanza that leaves you gasping and giggling on repeat. It is a high camp meta-theatrical treasure. But heed the age rating and content warnings… this show is not one to see with the parents! McCormick is an outstanding performer and knows her audience well. Jokes about Arts Council funding requirements were met with bouts of laughter, as she asserted her ultimate goal: to create a community of ‘friends’ within the theatre. From here onwards, audience members were asked to represent people in her life, throw confetti wh...

Beautiful The Carole King Musical – Grange Theatre

29Feb

By Damian RiverolNo Comments

North West

Beautiful The Carole King Musical – Grange Theatre

This evening, I was lucky enough to visit The Grange Theatre in Hartford where The Zodiac are performing Beautiful – The Carole King Musical, the Northwest amateur premier, directed very well by Valarie Ball. After a wonderful greeting by the company and made to feel very welcome (thank you to Jude and Jessica), we take our seats ready for the show. The stage is set with a grand piano in the centre, with a spotlight on it. As the curtain goes up, we see the huge structure that is used to break the stage up, giving the piece levels and the 10-piece on stage band a home throughout the show. Beautiful follows the story of Carole Joan Klein, who takes on the stage name of Carole King at 16 when she pitches her first song ‘It might as rain well until September’, to meeting her future husband...