Theatre, Dance & Performance Archives - Page 41 of 72

08 Sep

Review: Jekyll & Hyde

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

Robert Louis Stevenson’s tale of Jekyll and Hyde comes to Blackpool Grand Theatre this week in talking Scarlet’s rendition of the book. While following the life of central character Mr Gabriel Utterson, Nicholas Briggs' adaptation tells of the internal struggle between Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and his hypothesis that man has two distinctive sides; good and evil. In his quest to separate the two he unleashes his alter ego ‘Hyde’, the perverse and uncontainable part of himself. The production promises the ‘fright of your life’ however, on this count and others it fails to hit the mark. The cast…

31 Aug

1966 and All That

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

Fans of Blackpool Football Club have different views on how to show their support as the Seasiders slide down the leagues. Some think it is best to stand by the team, others protesting against the owners have temporarily transferred allegiance to at least three different local teams. But one thing that all who are old enough to remember agree on is that Alan Ball is one of the greatest players to wear the tangerine shirt and grace the Bloomfield Road turf. And on September 8 Lowther Pavilion is hosting ‘Ball of Fire’, a play celebrating the life of the Blackpool…

24 Aug

Three Comedy Reasons to Visit Twelve

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

Fans of quality live stand up in Wyre haven’t had a lot of options of late. Jongleurs have a couple of events each year at the Marine Hall in Fleetwood and that’s about it. But that’s about to change with Twelve introducing comedy nights in their newly refurbished restaurant at Thornton. Mushy Pea Comedy kicks off on Tuesday 13 September. As the title suggests the evening gets underway with a fish and chip supper, not forgetting green vegetable accompaniment. There will then be three acts for the audience to enjoy – Lewis ‘Big Lou’ Jones, Steve Royle and Phil Walker.…

23 Aug

Mysterious ABSENT Opens Doors on Winter Gardens Hotel

Melanie Whitehead0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

The adverts for dreamthinkspeak’s piece ABSENT tell us of the audience experience ‘In 1958 a young woman wins the jackpot on the Premium Bonds and celebrates by checking into the exclusive Pavilion Suite at the fashionable Winter Gardens Hotel. Over 50 years later, she is still living there. Now the new owners of the building say they are redeveloping the hotel to make it more affordable for working people, creating jobs and prosperity. They have a reputation to maintain and they want her out. But what are they really up to? What's really going on inside the once darkened corridors…

22 Aug

Tread The Boards With Some Community Theatre

Sean Payne0 CommentsLocal News, Theatre, Dance & Performance

Blackpool's one woman theatrical powerhouse Melanie Whitehead is back again to get the towns creative juices flowing and giving a chance for people to tread the boards. Melanie has a proven track record of surprising, challenging high quality projects that are always a pleasure to watch but more importantly look like a real blast to be part of. Whether it's the varied mix of performers in the highly popular Scratch nights or shaping intense focused performances such as in the brilliant Gouch, Melanie has a way of drawing the best from any of the participants involved in her projects. So,…

18 Aug

Interview with ABSENT Creator Tristan Sharps

Melanie Whitehead0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

Tristan Sharps is Artistic Director of dreamthinkspeak, the company responsible for Blackpool’s latest large-scale artistic event; ABSENT. I spoke to him in the lead up to the opening of the show this Saturday (20 August) at the Winter Gardens and asked him about this piece and his process in making work generally. The Winter Gardens Hotel was, for years, the best hotel in town, many famous guests have stayed there over the years including Frank Sinatra and Maggie Morgan. You’ll remember Maggie, she was one of the first local winners of a big premium bonds pay out. She attracted an enormous amount…

16 Aug

Dirty Dancing Goes Down A Storm

Stephen Dunstan1 CommentTheatre, Dance & Performance

Someone who knows these things told me there were 2,400 people due in the audience for the Dirty Dancing premiere. So when we entered the Winter Gardens auditorium it wasn’t surprising to see a packed and expectant house. But given the high expectations many would have brought from watching the film could this major production deliver? The short answer is yes. Briefly for those who don’t know – the action is set in 1963 America, in an age of relative innocence and economic prosperity. A girl on holiday with her family falls for a dashing dancing instructor from the wrong…

12 Aug

Grand Theatre Unveils New Season

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

It was standing room only in the space at The Grand Theatre known as, erm, The Space for the launch of the 2016/17 programme. Hyperbole is often the order of the day at events like this, and it’s easy to get carried away when there are slick Ellie Goulding backed promos to watch. But it isn’t overstating it to say that the offer is probably the strongest and most diverse the theatre has ever delivered. Tony Stone, Chair of The Grand Theatre Board, set the scene with his opening remarks. He demonstrated the pride of everyone involved in securing dreamthinkspeak’s…

11 Aug

Fylde Coast Youth Dance Seeks Director

Stephen Dunstan0 CommentsOpportunities, Theatre, Dance & Performance

Are you passionate about developing local youth dance? Are you a Fylde dance practitioner looking to develop your career? Are you free on Sundays over the next year or so, or able to make yourself so for the right opportunity. An exciting position has come up as Director of Fylde Coast Youth Dance Company. But you need to get a quickstep on as initial expressions of interest have to be submitted within a fortnight. Fylde Coast Youth Dance Company needs a dedicated and experienced Company Director to guide the young dancers in developing excellent contemporary dance technique, creative skills, developing innovative…

03 Aug

Omid Djalili is ‘Schmuck for a Night’

David Simper0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performance

I don’t think that it’s just that Omid is one of our very few British-Iranian comedians that I’ve always found his style and material refreshingly unique (after all we also have Shappi Khorsandi, whose style I also enjoy, even when floundering on ‘Just a Minute’). After substituting ‘Mr Farsi’ for ‘Mr D’Arcy’ in a take off of the Pride and Prejudice ballroom scene I would probably forgive Omid anything. He also features in ‘Black Books’, one of the last TV series I actually found funny. A quick search shows just how much this man has done, including the Shaun the…