Sleeping Beauty Archives - North West End UK

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire

8Mar

By Hannah WildeNo Comments

North West

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Liverpool Empire

Thanks to years of experience in dance and choreography (and with an MBE to boot), you know any production with an affiliation to Matthew Bourne will pack a punch. And Sleeping Beauty is no exception. This show was expertly performed by New Adventures, a multi-award-winning UK dance-theatre group, who have become synonymous in the world of dance for storytelling with a unique theatrical twist. Sleeping Beauty – now in its 10th year – was the fastest-selling production in New Adventures’ history, and it’s easy to see why. Described as “a gothic love story”, Sleeping Beauty clearly has many an inspiration across film, TV and literature. The main inspiration for the story is less Disney and much more original folklore, as the story weaves narrative strands from different iterations of ...

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Bradford Alhambra

22Feb

By Jo TillotsonNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – Bradford Alhambra

Once upon a time… All great fairy tales start with those immortal words, and this one is no different. However, what Matthew Bourne has done with this version of Sleeping Beauty is so much more than a standard fairy tale. And it’s definitely more than just a dance show. Bourne and his team, Etta Murfitt and Neil Westmoreland, have taken the story that we know and built on it to produce an epic visual tale of love and overcoming adversity. As the show opens, we meet baby Aurora, the result of a bargain Aurora’s parents made with Carabosse, the Dark Fairy. As in the traditional tale, Aurora receives gifts as a baby from various fairies. Carabosse’s threat of a short-lived life is once again mitigated by the King of the Fairies, who promises sleep over death; but just as Aurora is falling...

<strong>Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – The Lowry</strong>

24Nov

By Jan MellorNo Comments

North West

Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty – The Lowry

Wow! For the awesome stage set and evocative costumes (such creativity from Lez Brotherton). Wow! For the hauntingly beautiful music (composed by Tchaikovsky) Wow! To the director, choreography and scenario concept (the incredible Sir Matthew Bourne) Wow! To the amazing talent of all the company for their performance, of this sublime version of this well-known fairy tale of deception, passion and devotion. That could be the full scope of my review for the performance at the Lowry – WOW! but I want to share more …… Matthew Bourne is an advocate of the astonishingly beautiful works of the Russian composer Tchaikovsky, having already directed and created the ballets The Nutcracker! (Composed in 1891) and Swan Lake (1877) and now his latest gothic take on the masterpiece ...

Top Panto Star Steve Royle is a Grand Millennial with 1,000 performances!

4Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

Interviews

Top Panto Star Steve Royle is a Grand Millennial with 1,000 performances!

Much-loved panto star and stand-up sensation Steve Royle will celebrate an incredible 1,000 pantomime performances in this year’s seasonal spectacular Sleeping Beauty at Blackpool Grand Theatre Ever popular panto star Steve Royle will take his 1,000th bow on the beautiful Blackpool Grand Theatre stage this year as he once again delights thousands of families in the magical pantomime Sleeping Beauty this Christmas. Oh yes he will! Everyone’s favourite finalist from ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent will star as Silly Billy in this year’s fabulous, festive tale and it will be the thousandth time he has filled every member of his lucky panto audience with sheer joy and delight. In his millennial year, Steve Royle will be swapping lines with Dancing on Ice champion and Emmerdale star Hayley...

13Dec

By Morgan EvansNo Comments

Yorkshire & Humber

Sleeping Beauty – Sheffield Lyceum

Sheffield Theatres and Evolution Pantomimes have a rich reputation for their pantomimes, and this year’s edition is once again Damian Williams and his cohort on their finest form. Superbly directed by Paul Hendy, this is a tour-de-force of panto, and ultimately panto at its finest. Titular character Hannah Everest holds the role very well and is a very stable anchor for both the narrative and comedy within. The same can be said for her royal romantic counterpart played by Dominic Sibanda, who brings an appropriately friendly and fun sensibility to his role whilst playing the melodrama effectively. Janine Duvitski’s Fairy Moonbeam is at her best deployed in comedic ensemble sections, and Lucas Rush’s evil Carabosse delves delightfully into devilishly camp malevolence. Ben Thornton’s exc...

2022 Pantomime announced for Blackpool Grand Theatre

2Dec

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

2022 Pantomime announced for Blackpool Grand Theatre

It’s never too early to book your seats for next year’s magical family pantomime Sleeping Beauty at Blackpool Grand Theatre. Oh no it isn’t! And so, says the limited availability for this year’s incredible production! Wakey Wakey…. Don’t miss out on the spellbinding tale of Sleeping Beauty starring Grand panto favourite Steve Royle. Tickets go on sale on Friday 3rd December at 2pm… A beautiful Princess pricks her finger on a spindle wheel which has been cursed by the evil Carabosse at her 18th Birthday party. Can the Good Fairy's magical spell break the curse? The Princess can only be awoken by true love's kiss. Will she find her true love and live happily ever after? The fabulous family pantomime at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre is always a laugh-a-minute extravaganza with stunni...

Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh King’s Theatre

2Dec

By Oliver GigginsNo Comments

Scotland

Sleeping Beauty – Edinburgh King’s Theatre

Allan Stewart and Grant Stott star in the King's Theatre Panto as Queen May and Carabosse. with Jordan Young as Muddles; Sia Dauda as Princess Beauty, Nicola Meehan as The Good Fairy and Clare Gray as Narcissa. It was written by Alan McHugh and directed by Ed Curtis. The programme says that production company Crossroads Pantomimes has spent £1.5 million on sets and costumes (which necessitated 20 makers) for this year's London Palladium pantomime, which will be seen in cities such as Birmingham, Wimbledon and Bristol in the years to follow. In the King's Theatre's Sleeping Beauty the budget is definitely on show through its multicoloured costumes (by Mike Coltman), lavish sets (designed by Ian Westbrook) and the odd Giant Flying Vampire Bat, motorcycle and pyrotechnics (special effects...

Sheffield Theatres announce Sleeping Beauty Casting

3Oct

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Sheffield Theatres announce Sleeping Beauty Casting

Sheffield Theatres and Evolution Pantomimes announce a new cast member for Sleeping Beauty at the Lyceum Theatre: comedy great, Janine Duvitski. Catherine Tyldesley has made the choice not to appear in panto at this time due to personal reasons, and Sheffield Theatres and Evolution Pantomimes fully support her in this decision. Janine Duvitski will be playing the role of Fairy. Best known for the memorable role of Jacqueline Stewart in Benidorm, Janine is adored by British comedy audiences. Janine will be joining Sheffield’s legendary Dame, Damian Williams, alongside actor, presenter and comic Ben Thornton (Cinderella), Lucas Rush (Damian’s Pop-Up Panto!, Rock of Ages), Hannah Everest (Gypsy) and Dominic Sibanda (Hairspray). The cast will be supported by a brilliant ensemble. ...

31May

By Luke StephensonNo Comments

North West

Sleeping Beauty – M&S Bank Arena

Live theatre is back after over. A year of wanting and hoping it was amazing to be in an auditorium waiting for the curtain to rise. Sleeping Beauty at the M&S Bank auditorium until the 6th of June. The show had Gareth Gates (Les Miserable and Pop Idol), Bippo who is the comedy relief in the show, and Emma Grace Arends as Beauty amongst a small chorus. The show is approx. 2 hours long with one interval. Watching the show I felt it was rather flat, it’s opening weekend energy is meant to be high but I just felt underwhelmed. The music over shadowed the microphones so some parts of the vocals were lost. Moving on some lines were muddled up and Gareth Gates entered too early for his scene. Bippo however, rescued it well. It came to a point where it was a live rehearsal not an opening ...

Three New Summer Shows Announced For Liverpool’s Waterfront Venue

11Mar

By Paul DownhamNo Comments

NEWS

Three New Summer Shows Announced For Liverpool’s Waterfront Venue

Shone Productions have announced three new shows – including a pantomime – heading for The Auditorium stage at Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena this Summer to mark the venue’s post lockdown reopening. The shows will form the first live programme taking place at the waterfront venue when Covid-19 restrictions are eased in the coming months. Liverpool-based producer James Shone is delighted to reveal that X-treme Magic, Sleeping Beauty and Circus Spectacular will thrill audiences young and old. The line-up includes singer Gareth Gates, magicians Richard Cadell and Pete Firman, Peppa Pig’s Emma Grace Arends, Britain’s Got Talent’s Elizabeth Best, and comedy performer Bippo. Organisers are keen to reassure theatregoers that all necessary safety measures – including social distancing...