Saturday, December 6

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Birmingham Hippodrome and Turbine Theatre present New Musical Theatre Festival
NEWS

Birmingham Hippodrome and Turbine Theatre present New Musical Theatre Festival

Birmingham Hippodrome, Turbine Theatre and Paul Taylor-Mills have announced a new partnership which will present the highly celebrated annual festival of new musical theatre, MTFestUK 2021, running from Monday 31st May – Sunday 6th June. The online streamed performances of eight brand-new musicals will be part of a nation-wide ‘digital tour’ this spring, with tickets on sale now at birminghamhippodrome.com. MTFestUK. the new musical theatre festival, sets out to promote quality artistry, showcasing new musicals to UK audiences with a view to elevating them to full production, and give audiences an insight into the process of creating new work and the art of collaboration. Paul Taylor-Mills launched the inaugural MTFestUK season at The Other Palace in 2019, followed by a 2020 season in F...
Giles Terera in Black Matter – Fane Online
REVIEWS

Giles Terera in Black Matter – Fane Online

Black Matter is a new song cycle written and performed by Giles Terera, the Olivier award-winning star of Hamilton. It is centred on the streets of Soho, where Terera saw “people hurting each other, people helping each other” leading him to create “songs of protest, joy, anger and love”. This song cycle is both deeply personal and fiercely political, touching on friends, colleagues, the Black Lives Matter movement, growing up Black in London, the Grenfell scandal, the private and the public. These are songs which respond to the immediacy of a moment, and a summer like no other when the rush of central London is forced to stop. A gifted singer-songwriter, Terera has crafted this project for solo performance, and in the main, this is exactly that, a concert recorded at Crazy Coqs with ...
King’s Head Theatre announces its first ever digital season
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King’s Head Theatre announces its first ever digital season

Over a year since the King’s Head Theatre closed its doors due to Covid-19 (16th March 2021), it is delighted to announce Plays on Film: its first ever digital on-demand season, which brings together five smash-hit shows from some of the UK’s most exciting theatre makers, and combines the raw immediacy of live performance with high definition cinematography. Filmed on location at the King’s Head Theatre, Islington, by the award-winning Shoot Media, the shows will be available to watch on the venue’s new on demand platform, KHTV, from anywhere in the world, ensuring every seat is the best in the house. Over 50% of ticket sales will go directly to the artists and companies involved at this difficult time for freelancers across the entertainment industry, with the remainder helping to secu...
Pitlochry Festival Theatre to reopen with exciting outdoor Summer Season
NEWS

Pitlochry Festival Theatre to reopen with exciting outdoor Summer Season

• Pitlochry Festival Theatre to welcome audiences again with outdoor Summer Season of stage premieres, concerts, new adaptations, and family entertainment • 2021 will be the 70th anniversary Summer Season at Pitlochry Festival Theatre • Season to be performed in newly built 80-seater outdoor amphitheatre in the grounds of Pitlochry Festival Theatre • Season to feature Stage premiere of David Greig’s new play Adventures with the Painted People • New works from leading Scottish playwrights including a new adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde by Hannah Lavery and Jo Clifford and Lesley Orr’s new promenade production Requiem which will see the two celebrated playwrights devise a ceremony which will mourn and celebrate the lives of those lost during the pandemic and support the process of ...
It’s A Little Bit Funny at The Bowdon Rooms This Summer
NEWS

It’s A Little Bit Funny at The Bowdon Rooms This Summer

Elton John: It’s A Little Bit Funny tells the incredible story of Elton John’s rise and fall (and rise again) as one of the most successful singer/songwriters ever. What would you do if you got the chance to meet your all-time hero? That’s exactly what crossed the mind of Manchester’s Martin Kaye when he found himself performing in Las Vegas at the same time as Elton John a few years go – Kaye as Jerry Lee Lewis in Million Dollar Quartet and John in his The Million Dollar Piano show. It is this concept that has formed the basis for Elton John: It’s A Little Bit Funny, a new show starring Kaye that comes to The Bowdon Rooms in Altrincham from Monday 19th - Saturday 24th July 2021. The show tells the (imagined) tale of one extraordinary night in Las Vegas when Elton superfan Kaye bu...
Sophisticated Entertainment Ltd proudly present WONDERLAND!
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Sophisticated Entertainment Ltd proudly present WONDERLAND!

Sophisticated Entertainment Ltd proudly present WONDERLAND! This incredible cast of Characters will take you on an immersive journey through Wonderland from the second you arrive at the DriveInside Theatre! At The Trafford Centre in Manchester. With beautiful original music by Williams & Reynolds this is a show not to be missed! Give your family the special treat they deserve. Join the Mad Hatter at his incredibly mad tea party, take part in our super speedy caucus race, join the ever so silly Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee as they create mischief throughout Wonderland and help Alice find her way home with your help! A fully Covid compliant production! An all singing all dancing extravaganza! The perfect family day out that will have you up on your feet and laughing your...
Romeo and Juliet – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse
North West

Romeo and Juliet – Altrincham Garrick Playhouse

"We are two worlds apart."  Joseph Meighan's melding of 1990s pop culture with the 16th century tale of two tragic young lovers is a bold and innovative take on what is probably Shakespeare's best-known play.  As with much of Shakespeare's work, the story of Romeo and Juliet is timelessly malleable and has been retold in countless formats, including as musicals, opera and on film, since it was written in around 1595. It has been set in any number of time periods and situations with the deep-seated hatred between the Montague and Capulet families reflecting every conflict throughout history, as the cast movingly reference at the end of the play. Everyone knows the plot: Romeo, a Montague, sneaks into a Capulet masked ball and it's love at first sight when he sees the young and bea...
Hair The Musical set to play London and Southampton this Summer
NEWS

Hair The Musical set to play London and Southampton this Summer

Following a sell-out run as part of The Turbine on the Jetty season, Hair The Musical (In Concert), directed by Arlene Phillips, will now play two performances at the London Palladium on Sunday 13th June, and two performances at Southampton Mayflower Theatre on 27th June 2021. The performances were originally planned for earlier this year, but were delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions. Hair The Musical (In Concert) has book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado, music by Galt MacDermot, musical direction by Paul Schofield, design by David Shields, lighting and video design by Andrew Exeter and sound design by Dan Samson. Hair The Musical will once again be directed by Arlene Phillips. The cast are Luke Bayer (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Nicole Raquel Dennis (Dear Evan Hanse...
First look at the revamped Octagon Theatre in Bolton
NEWS

First look at the revamped Octagon Theatre in Bolton

The creative team at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre have released the first photos of their new building revamped after a £12 million redevelopment programme. Over the last two years the town centre theatre has been completely modernised with updated performance spaces, brand-new participation facilities, improved front-of-house experience and expanded backstage facilities. Like all other theatres the space has been dark for the last year, and they will confirm a reopening date in the coming weeks following the recent announcement of the Government’s roadmap of when theatres can reopen their doors. “The reimagined Octagon benefits from more internal space, is more environmentally friendly, has vastly improved accessibility and enhanced customer and backstage facilities for everyone’...
Dream – Royal Shakespeare Company
REVIEWS

Dream – Royal Shakespeare Company

What do you do if you're rehearsing a live performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream when suddenly a deadly global pandemic derails your plans? This is the highly unusual and unwelcome scenario that the Royal Shakespeare Company was faced with last year, as well as the wider question of what a virus that thrives on human interaction means for the future of live performance. It's this consideration that led to last night's production, which was unique, engaging and really rather beautiful. Dream is inspired by, rather than an adaptation of, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and is an immersive online experience that uses the technology we see in online gaming to create a virtual world that can be inhabited by both actors and audience. After waiting in the interactive lobby which acts as a kind o...