Round up: Spookshow and Romany Diva of Magic at Showzam!

With Showzam! opening on Friday 15 February, you’ll be wondering which of the wonders on offer to book.  Allow us to assist in your decision-making by presenting two extraordinary shows guaranteed to leave you spellbound.

 

Spookshow

Jaw-dropping artistes Spymonkey are back – this year with their chilling version of the midnight Spookshow – a popular entertainment mash-up from 1930-1950s America.  The team behind Spookshow are promising to leave audiences aghast with their hauntings, hysteria and horror!

Co-Artistic Director Petra Massey says she can’t wait to get to Blackpool:

There is always a very warm feeling to be part of Showzam! and each festival is a special experience. It’s also fantastic for artists to be encouraged and supported to create new work. Spymonkey are very lucky this year to present the first stages of a brand new Spookshow. It’s a work in progress so each show will be slightly different as the piece evolves over the run. The audience will be a big part of the show’s development as we guage the reaction with each performance and feedback will be important.  It’s always a very exciting time creating a show from scratch and simply put, in Spymonkey land, anything can happen. There will be lots of screams, lots of laughter and an air of supreme insanity.

This is Spymonkey’s third year at Showzam! and they quite simply love performing in Blackpool. Petra added:

There is no other town quite like it especially for those in the entertainment and comedy business. It’s a town steeped in history. This year we have the honour of performing Spookshow in the Winter Gardens and also cabaret in The Blackpool Tower Ballroom. When I arrived inside The Tower Ballroom for the first time and saw folk dancing the fox trot and drinking tea I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Then to top it, the stage opened and a huge organ slowly appeared. I am still recovering from the experience. It’s a trip back in time and each time I visit I am mesmerised.

Spymonkey will perform Spookshow in the Winter Gardens Baronial Hall and Renaissance Suite from Friday 15th to Tuesday 19th February. The show is suitable for people aged 14+.

 

Romany Diva of Magic

One of the world’s few female magicians is set to wow audiences at Showzam!  Romany Diva of Magic, with her feathered and sequinned original magic show, is more than ready to entertain in the nation’s home of variety. Romany said:

This is my fourth year at Showzam! and I absolutely love it because Blackpool is the home of variety and still has the best collection of fantastic venues in the country. When you add Showzam! into that mix, it is just incredible. Showzam! is the most original, exciting collection of unusual and original artistes gathered under the eccentric wings of Professor Vanessa. I love it because the audiences are so enthusiastic and warm and each year just gets better. I’ve been playing this show all over the world in 1,000 seater theatres on cruise ships but what I love about coming to Blackpool is that it’s an opportunity to perform the magic up close.  Wonders will happen just a few feet away from the audience and it’s great to see the reaction on people’s faces as it’s a show full of beautiful visual magic with lots of comedy and mystery too.

Dreamtime with Romany – Diva of Magic will be at The Sands every evening from Thursday 19th  – Saturday 23rd February but Romany is no stranger to Showzam! audiences after previously compering at the festival’s hugely popular Carnival Ball in The Tower Ballroom.

She added:

The year I compered the Carnival Ball all my dreams came true. This year more dreams are fulfilled to perform my full evening solo show in The Sands and I can’t wait.

Romany has swept the board of all the highest accolades possible to win in the male world of magic. Romany is the first and ONLY woman to be named Magic Circle Stage Magician of the Year and is the only British performer ever to take first prize at the international Las Vegas World Magic Seminar competition.

Tickets for Dreamtime with Romany – Diva of Magic – can be booked via Visit Blackpool.

Prices are £12 for adults, £8 concessions.

 

Other events at Showzam! include the Wookey Hole Youth Circus, The Invisible Circus – with their specially commissioned piece, The Last Waltz, Spy Monkey, the increasingly popular Carnival Ball, a massive variety of street performers including Musical Ruth and The Grannies, and Mr Albert’s Big Finish.