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Summer of fun is all the vogue
BIRMINGHAM Hippodrome will be helping to bring colour and excitement to the city centre this summer by presenting some of the best in outdoor theatre, opening with a spectacular Vogue Ball.
The events take place in four outdoor sites across the city as
artists and performers take to the streets fill lunchtimes and
evenings with a series of funny, outrageous, moving and plain weird
attractions and shows.
Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic Games, and part of the Cultural Olympiad Open Weekend, Come on, Vogue opens the new season on Saturday 24 July in the Arcadian Centre hosted by Stockport housewife mega star Barbara Nice, and the outrageous Twiggy and friends.
Stockport housewife and megastar Barbara Nice will be bringing her own take on life to the opening
Performers include the award winning Birmingham hip hop
dance crew Smash Bro’z (last seen at Birmingham Hippodrome in Breakin’
Convention); Stafford’s House of Nuvo (who recently performed on the
Hippodrome’s stage as part of U Dance England); and House of Wunderbar,
a comical theatrical duo from Newcastle, who play out the contemporary
love story of Top Gun!
Each act will be very different, competing for the title of
Most Inspiring Vogue to win a glittering £100 cash prize.
Originating in the 1980’s New York disco scene, Come on, Vogue is a
hybrid outdoor street party blending live performance with a high-low
fashion dance-off.
Full listings and times
www.sixsummersaturdays.com
Mind out!
Rosie Kay in Free Dance Show at the Hippodrome
Renowned choreographer and dance star, Rosie Kay, is joining forces with Moseley based company Community Vibe to produce two shows at the Patrick Centre at the Birmingham Hippodrome on Friday 23rd July.
The Rosie Kay Dance Company’s recent production “Five Soldiers” ,articulating the horrors of the Afghanistan War through dance, won national acclaim earlier in the year as it toured across the country, including the Hippodrome. But now she is returning with a new collaborative show.
This production, playing at 2.30pm and 7.30pm,entitled “Mind Out” is an exciting and groundbreaking exploration of mental health issues explored through the medium of dance. It combines professional dancers, actors and performers with volunteers drawn from mental health support groups. It runs for around an hour. As a rising star in Contemporary Dance this is an unique opportunity to watch Rosie lead a cutting edge dance show – free of charge.
Community Vibe itself is an Award winning Community Company that provides a range of arts and educational training projects through a range of artistic mediums, normally through theatre and film..
Community Vibe Director, Rachel Green , commented: “Securing the involvement of Rosie was a huge coup for this project. This show will appeal to mainstream dance fans as well as those involved in Mental Health support groups. Our aim is to not only put on a good show, but to expose misconceptions about Mental Health and also to show how dance can open doors to those interested in it. The professionals and amateurs in the show have rehearsed hard over many weeks and I am confident that the end result will entertain and be something that all involved will be proud of.
To reserve places visit www.communityvibe.co.uk or ring 07772572060
Children creating their own animal magic
MORE than 100 children from across Birmingham took part in a world premiere at Birmingham Hippodrome next month when the
birds and the beasts battle it out in song and music..
The project is called The Song Contest of the Birds and the Beasts
and is a newly commissioned work bringing together students aged from
eight to 13 from four Birmingham schools;Rookery School and Hamilton
Special School in Handsworth; Chivenor Primary and The Pines Special
Primary, Castle Vale; and young members of Ex-Cathedra Choir,
Birmingham.
The project is a collaboration between Welsh National Opera and
Birmingham Hippodrome and involves students working with singers from
the acclaimed opera company over two school terms developing the music,
the story and the performance.
The project culminated in the children performing on the
Hippodrome stage accompanied by the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera on
July 8 as part of the WNO July season at the theatre.
During the season Welsh National Opera also performed Die Meistersigner
Von Nurnberg, featuring Bryn Terfel, on 6 & 10 July and Rigoletto,
featuring Simon Kennlyside, on 7 & 9 July.
Summer in the sunshine at the RSC
During the summer month weekends, the Royal Shakespeare
Company’s outdoor theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, The Dell, will play
host to a range of lively student and non-professional productions.
Performances start on Sunday 6 June, and continue until Sunday 29
August.
This year, as well as performances of Shakespeare, The Dell offers
performances from English folklore to complement the RSC’s production of
Morte d’Arthur.
The Dell is situated in the Theatre Gardens on Southern Lane, just
across the road from The Courtyard Theatre.
Entrance is free. Members of the public can find out more
under the What’s On section at
www.rsc.org.uk
LISTINGS INFORMATION
SUNDAY 6 JUNE
1pm
South Devon Steiner School
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2 hrs)
This version of Shakespeare’s lovely summer comedy, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream is performed by students from Class 8 (age 14) at the
South Devon Steiner School. The students have entered into
Shakespeare’s world of upturned hierarchies, mischief and magic with joy
and revelry and are delighted to bring this performance to The Dell.
The students have worked on the play as part of their curriculum and
have created everything within the performance themselves, including
masks, costumes and physical performance. It has been their first
opportunity as a class to study Shakespeare in depth, and they have
thoroughly relished the experience.
SATURDAY 12 and SUNDAY 13 JUNE
3pm
Playbox Theatre
The Tempest (1hr 15 mins)
There is a violent storm… a plane goes down and
the passengers find themselves on a strange and timeless island
inhabited by magicians, sprites and beastly creatures. Join the
YSC to encounter Shakespeare’s final play – an exciting and
unpredictable story about power, magic, revenge and first love. “The
Tempest meets LOST…” YSC return to The Dell following last
year’s double bill of The Taming of The Shrew and The Comedy
of Errors.
SUNDAY 27 JUNE
12noon
Once Upon A Story
The Bard’s Folk Tales (1 hr)
This summer, storytelling company Once Upon a Story will be
performing tales of old that could well have inspired Shakespeare's most
well known plays. These age old stories come from England and
beyond and echo tragedies such as Romeo and Juliet, King Lear
and Hamlet as well as comedies such as As You Like It, A
Midsummer Night's Dream and The Taming of the Shrew.
Once Upon a Story's lead storytellers Gemma Hannah and Niki Brown will
bring their dynamic fusion of traditional performance storytelling,
song, drumming and audience participation to the stage for family
audiences.
3pm
Warwick University
Other Arthurs (1 hr)
Caxton is busy in his print shop, King Arthur is worried for his
crown, Guinevere contemplates her impending marriage to Arthur, and the
Knights of the Round Table are looking for adventure. In
partnership with Warwick University’s CAPITAL Centre, Warwick students
will present their own take on various strands of the Arthur legend and
its aftermath as each character seeks to discover their own Holy Grail.
SUNDAY 10 JULY
12noon/3pm Root & Brand Theatre
Co
Dragon Tales (1hr 45 mins)
The year is 1614 at the White Horse Inn in Southwarke: we invite
you all to the trial of Young Nic, aka Flash the Dragon. Take a journey
with us through legend: from the timeless epic of Beowulf and the Death
Dragon, through the folklore of Sussex, to discover the truth behind the
myth of dragonlore. The play involves full audience participation as the
audience become the dragon and slayers in a dragon-slaying finale:
animal guising, storytelling, circus, physical theatre, Mummers’ plays,
dance and song.
SUNDAY 18 JULY
12noon
Once Upon A Story
The Bard’s Folk Tales (1 hr)
Details as 27 June
3pm
MDCC
Measure for Measure (1 hr)
MDCC Theatre Company presents Shakespeare’s
intriguing problem play, Measure for Measure, which mixes
elements of tragedy and comedy. Duke Vincentio abandons his
leadership duties in the corrupt, amoral city of Vienna and to appoint
the puritanical Angelo as governor. As “power changes purpose”,
the disguised Duke attempts to bring order and justice to an imbalanced
and shaken society and the audience becomes the jury. Our contemporary
concerns about corruption in high places and the dubious conduct of
those in positions of power resonate throughout. The play contains some
adult themes, but is suitable for older children. Directed by Charles
Harry.
SATURDAY 24 JULY
1pm
Oxford Uni Dramatic Society
The Teaming of The Shrew (1hr 30 mins)
Everyone in Padua wants to marry Bianca, but
Bianca isn't free to marry anyone until her shrewish sister finds a
husband. Petruchio, who has come to wive it wealthily, takes on the
challenge of taming Katherine, and a battle of wills ensues... For the
last thirteen years, the Oxford University Dramatic Society in
association with Thelma Holt has mounted an annual international tour of
a Shakespeare play. Spend the afternoon watching Shakespeare's
controversial comedy, presented by the best of Oxford's theatrical
talent as a quirky love story told by a troupe of strolling players.
SUNDAY 25 JULY
11am/3pm
Gloucestershire Youth Players A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2 hrs)
Gloucestershire Youth Players (GYP) perform for the fifth
consecutive season at The Dell. We invite you to enter a world of
extraordinary happenings, where nothing is quite as it seems, and where
love is torn asunder in a maze of misunderstandings and questionings.
Set in the seemingly liberated world of the 1960s and 1970s, there
nonetheless hangs over the hedonistic court a dark and ominous cloud,
discovered unintentionally by our star-crossed lovers. GYP
brings you a highly energetic ensemble production full of the beauty of
the language, of sound and movement.
SATURDAY 31 JULY
11am/3pm
Gloucestershire Youth Players A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2 hrs)
Details as 25 July
SUNDAY 1 AUGUST
12noon/3pm Pantaloons
Macbeth (1 hr 30 mins)
Killer lines, killer crimes and some seriously weird sisters.
Critically-acclaimed touring company The Pantaloons return to The
Dell to have a stab at Shakespeare’s tale of murder and madness!
Fun for all ages in the open-air with live music, audience interaction
and puppetry. Dress for the weather and bring a picnic and something to
sit on "Part alternative rock, part thespian, part performance
art...wholly charming" Ken Russell, The Times
5pm
A Play in 2 Days Company
As You Like It (45 mins)
Join the newest ensemble of young actors as they
perform As You Like It after only two days of rehearsal!
This group of 15 -18 year olds only met on Saturday and have been
working intensively to create a one off performance of one of
Shakespeare's greatest comedies this Sunday.
SATURDAY 7 AUGUST
3pm
Blacksun Theatre Company
The Shoemaker’s Holiday (1hr 30 mins)
BlackSun Theatre Company presents Thomas Dekker’s
The Shoemakers Holiday, his much loved Elizabethan romp.
The Shoemakers Holiday is a comedic masterpiece that centres upon
the City of London and follows the exploits of a merry band of
shoemakers. The drama’s main plot chronicles the meteoric rise to
fame and fortune by Simon Eyre, an ambitious, mad-cap entrepreneur who
through hard work, clever deception, and magnificent luck becomes lord
mayor of London. With a brand new original musical score written for the
production, come and see our actors perform the songs with live
instruments on stage.
SUNDAY 8 AUGUST
2pm/4pm
Blacksun Theatre Company
The Shoemaker’s Holiday (1hr 30 mins)
Details as 7 August
SATURDAY 14 AUGUST
2pm/4pm
Stagecoach
Hamlet (1 hr)
Stagecoach Leamington Spa, Warwick and Kenilworth students will
perform a 1 hour Hamlet edited by Julian Chenery and Matt
Gimblett. The Shakespeare 4 Kids version is a relatively new edition and
includes music and song throughout. Stagecoach has performed at
The Dell for the past 3 years; the students are busy rehearsing and
can't wait for what will be an RSC, The Dell debut for many. With the
beautiful tones of Ophelia, the strange and violent behaviour of Hamlet
and of course the 'ghostly goings on' you'll be on the edge of your
blanket for these productions!
SUNDAY 15 AUGUST
2pm/4pm
Stagecoach
Hamlet (1 hr)
Details as 14 August
SATURDAY 21 AUGUST
2pm/4pm
BMH Productions
Shakespeare Abridged (1hr 30 mins)
The Complete Works Of Shakespeare (abridged) has
been described as an epic of staggering proportions, a staggering
work of epic proportions, the greatest thing to come to Stratford since
Shakespeare himself: all of the Bard's works condensed in to one
90-minute show for your enjoyment! You won't want to miss this historic
undertaking, three of the handsomest, most sensual male visionaries,
that effortlessly embody every single one of Shakespeare's characters;
even the women. Brought to you by BMH Productions, the company that
brought you last year's acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet.
SUNDAY 22 AUGUST
2pm/4pm
BMH Productions
Shakespeare Abridged (1hr 30 mins)
Details as 21 August
SATURDAY 28 AUGUST
1pm/4pm
Shooting Stars
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1hr 30mins)
Returning for their 5th year running Shooting
Stars Theatre Company are proud to present their version of A
Midsummer Night's Dream. Set in the 1940's, with hippy fairies and a
mischievous young Puck to tell the well loved story. This young,
talented company of professional actors has built up a loyal following
through their high quality productions and promises to entertain you
with an enjoyable, energetic and quite frankly hilarious tale of this
popular and classic Shakespeare!
SUNDAY 29 AUGUST
1pm/4pm
Shooting Stars
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1hr 30mins)
Details as 28 August
Duo
tuning up for the Prince
WEST Midlands singers Chris King (right) and Michael Johns will stage a new variety show at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cannock, on Tuesday October 19.
The pair, billed as The Bobby Dazzlers, have been building a strong reputation for the quality of their shows which include vocal tributes and a bit of mad cap comedy.
The pair have appeared at prestigious corporate events, leading golf clubs, hotels and variety clubs in the UK and abroad.
At the Prince of Wales Theatre the programme will also include singer Maggie O'Hara, one-man-band Bruce Thompson, female vocal entertainer Johannah plus the Viva Girls and Studio 5 Dancers.
Two performances will be given on October 29, at 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
Tickets can be booked through the theatre box office on 01543-578762, or by calling Michael Johns on 01543-500979 or Chris King on 0121-502-0213.
Birmingham Hippodrome has announced that Joan Collins will make her pantomime debut in the role of Queen Rat in this year's Christmas show, Dick Whittington.
Joining Joan on stage in
Britain’s biggest pantomime will be Julian Clary, Nigel Havers and Keith
Harris & Orville.
,Dick Whittington runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from Saturday 18 December 2010 to Sunday 30 January 2011.
Old Nick is looking for an angel
BIRMINGHAM’S Paul Henry – Benny in Crossroads – is preparing to appear on stage in his native city. . . as Birmingham’s Tony Hancock.
The reason is Hancock’s Finest Hour, by Colin Bennett, to be seen at the Alexandra Theatre from June 21-26 and jointly staged by Maverick Theatre and Nicholas Hennegan Limited. Nick Hennegan – only ever addressed as Nicholas by his mother, and only then when he was in trouble – says: “It’s a brilliant, funny play, directed by the award-winning Chris Hayes and designed by the equally glittering Douglas Hodge.”
Nick, the man at the helm of Maverick as well as Nicholas Hennegan Limited, is inviting anyone to become an angel – that is, to invest a minimum of £1,000 in the show and share the profits (or losses) by contacting him at nick@nicholashennegan.com for further details.
There is also the chance to spend £25 and attend the after-show parties arranged in Birmingham and elsewhere, with a credit in the programme. And for £49 you can have a VIP ticket for the best seat in the house plus champagne and the chance to meet the stars after the show.
Businesses are also invited to discuss sponsorship deals at nick@mavericktheatre.co.uk.
And it won’t cost anything to share your Hancock and Paul Henry stories at www.hancocksfinesthour.com.
Other dates and venues arranged so far are
April 29-May 1, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmonds. Tel 01284 769505, May 17 & 18, Key Theatre, Peterborough. Tel 01733 207239 and July 22-24, Middlesbrough Theatre. Tel 01642 81 51 81.
If the shoe fits . . . thank Michael
Heart and sole: Michael Clifford with just a fraction of the ballet shoes under his charge as the Birmingham Royal Ballet's Shoe Master
WHEN it comes to putting your best foot forward Michael Clifford
has plenty of choice as to what to wear - with something like 2,500
pairs of shoes tucked away in his wardrobe at any one time.
Not quite Imelda Marcos - she managed more than 3,000 pairs - but
its enough to be getting on with. Not that any of them are his, mind
you.
Michael is the Shoe Master of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, one of
those vital jobs never seen nor really thought about by audiences but which are
essential to the success of every performance.
Like the ballet he will be celebrating 20 years in Birmingham
having moved up from London as an assistant in the costume department
with what up to then had been the Saddler's Wells Royal Ballet.
Michael, now 46, was not a Londoner though. He is . . .
well, as he says, “I am an Army brat. I was born in Malaysia, lived in
Europe for most of my schooling and my family were from the Wirral so my
father decided to return there when he retired from the Army.
College was theatre school where he trained in technical stage
management which covered theatre, opera, musicals and . . . no
ballet.
“Ballet wasn’t part of it at all. I had been working in the West
End and I got an interview for the the wardrobe department for the opera
at the Opera House and when I got there they were interviewing for the
Royal Ballet as well and asked if I wanted to be interviewed for that as
well. I said fine but I didn’t think I would get it because I had no
knowledge of ballet at all. I ended up being offered the job in wardrobe
for Saddler’s Wells so I kind of fell into it.
*I was with the company about four years before we moved up here
and I had already had my fill of London so it was an opportunity to move
out with a job. A year after moving up here I was asked to apply for the
shoe job and it just went on from there.”
Michael, who has spent more than half his life working with the
Birmingham Royal Ballet, already knew Birmingham as the
ballet came two or three times a year to its No 1 touring venue and at
the time of the move the city was a vast building site with all the city
centre developments, the ICC, Symphony Hall, Victoria Square and so on
under way. “A lot
of people said I was mad but it has worked out fine.”
From the technical side of the ballet’s point of view the move has
not turned out too badly either. “Space is the biggest change. In the
building where we were, the old Saddler’s Wells, the technical
department was just squidged in to this tiny building. Everyone else was
based at the Opera House, we didn’t see them. Here the whole ground
floor is technical and lighting, wardrobe and wigs take a huge section.”
In London, where storage space is expensive, he said that
costumes were spread far and wide and a trip to bring costumes back
meant a whole day out of the office. Now, with all the costumes in
Dudley it is just a short trip up and down the road. “You can do what
you want to do and soon be back in the office.”
Even the dancers are on call. “We have the studios on the top
floor so the dancers are nearby if we need them for anything.”
And when it comes to the dancers Michael’s knowledge is essential
from knowing who wears out shoes quickly, which dancers are light as a
feather in pointe work so can keep shoes wearable longer, who is . . .
awkward, or wants regular adjustments - in short knowing all the dancers
and as far as possible keeping them both happy and well stocked with
shoes.
“With the girls, at any one time, I have about 60 pairs each. It
fluctuates a little, it depends on how quickly they wear out their shoes and
if I can get their shoes fairly quickly. If it is a bespoke shoe then I
do like to have a certain amount in.
“The girls can use about 10 pairs a month. If their maker gets
injured, particularly with Freed of London where it is an individual
person making their shoes - and we have had people go off with broken
arms, broken legs or something like that - it means they can’t make
shoes.
“So by the time the maker comes back the dancers can be down to their
last ten pairs so that is my safety margin.
“We have 35 girls. With the boys I can have lower stocks because they tend to be stock sizes and we can buy off the shelf. I don’t think there is a company in England now that we use for the boys, they are now mostly from Thailand, North Africa via France, Brazil and China nut there are warehouses in Europe carrying large stocks.
“Traditionally they are not so difficult. The boys, we have 27,
tend to have twenty pairs each, ten black and ten white.
“They are canvas so they don’t wear out as much - and the men are
lazy and don’t like sewing them.”
When it comes to price a girl’s shoe comes in at about £32 while a
boy’s shoe is a snip at about £7 (remember, though, bulk buying would be
a tad of an understatement) although in the BRB’s Edward II when
the men all wore thigh length leather boots - three yards of leather
each - they were coming in at £500 - that’s £250 a leg!!!
PREPARED
Michael’s job is not just a question of keeping shoes in stock,
like a glorified branch of Clarks though. When new girls join Michael
draws and measures their feet and keeps one copy for his records and
sends the other to their chosen maker which could be in London, Germany,
Russia, Australia . . . anywhere.
Shoes also need to be prepared for performance as you can see with Michael painting pairs right.
For the Rites of
Spring more than 200 pairs had to be painted by hand in red and
yellow patterns and shoes are routinely sprayed to go with costumes.
On top of that Michael has to check the status of orders which have been placed with makers all over the world. He also has to check his stocks of shoes to see what has been used and what needs to be ordered and then, because the Birmingham Royal Ballet also has to run as a business, once a month there is a full stock take so the finance department can be told how many shoes have been used “so they can keep tabs on it”.
“There are always orders going through and then there are the girls, it
is almost always the girls that you deal with, who are always fine
tuning their shoes so it is contacting the factory and saying can we
change this measurement or try that measurement.
“I usually order in units of 20 so it might be a case of can you
hold off on 15 and just do five with this alteration and see if that
works.
“Then we are always working towards shows, looking at the
castings, costumes, fitting people, if shoes don’t fit ordering remakes
from theatrical shoe companies. It is always fluid. Even last week we
had an amended Sleeping Beauty casting and they are on stage this
afternoon. We are constantly updating and changing things. No pun
intended but you are kept on your toes.
“We are not just working on Sleeping Beauty, we are working on
other shows as well and in the midst of this we are also beginning to
pack to go off on our tour to America. That stuff goes off in April just
after we come back from our Spring tour.
“I will be sending ten pairs for each girl. It is Swan Lake so
there is lots of pointe work and they will need shoes for rehearsals
and, if the weather gets hot then it has an effect on the shoes. In
Norfolk last year it was very warm and in hot weather the shoes
break down quicker.”
The BRB American tour takes them to Norfolk, Virginia again with performances from May 7-9 and provides another opportunity for travel which has also taken the Shoe Master to China with the ballet as well as tours of Britain.
STRIVING FOR PERFECTION
Amid all of this Michael also has to deal with dancers who are
striving for perfection - and that includes their shoes.
“The funniest line you hear is a dancer who comes in and says I
haven’t any shoes and you look around and they have 40 pairs. What they
mean is they haven’t got shoes that they want to wear.
“You can be dealing with some difficult personalities but then you
have to understand that they have to go on stage and perform because I
would not be able to do what they have to do.”
With bespoke pointe shoes Michael works closely with
Michelle Attfield of Freed who will tell him which maker is available, unless it
is a Principal where the hierarchy of theatre comes into play and a
specific maker is requested. “With Corps de Ballet you try to steer them
to makers who are perhaps not quite so busy.
“If you are a company abroad, in the USA for example, there is
sometimes a six month waiting time from when the order is placed to when
the shoe is made and you get them after seven months. We can get them in
six weeks which is one of the privileges of being an English company.
“I don’t know what some of the girls would be like if they had to
wait seven months - they think six weeks is too long. They can be
very impatient.
“If the shoes are right I won’t see them again if they are wrong .
. . I will see them three times a day every day until the get what they
want.
Roger Clarke
Does my Brian look big in this?
WHEN popular entertainer Brian Conley returns to the West Midlands - almost his adopted home - in June, his legion of fans will hardly recognise him.
The star will not be appearing in his one-man show or headlining a pantomime this time. His latest stage success sees him appearing in the hit musical, Hairspray . . . as a woman!
Brian dons wigs and frocks to play Edna Turnblad, overweight mother of chubby teenager Tracy who goes out to prove that appearances should be no obstacle to becoming a success in showbiz as her personality and sheer determination lead her to triumph in a TV talent show.
The musical comedy, already a big hit in the West End, runs at
Wolverhampton's Grand Theatre from June 1-19.
Conley has rubbed shoulders with pantomime dames in Birmingham for years, but his latest role doesn't mean he will be looking to pull on a dress and become Widow Twanky when Christmas comes.
He told me this week: "I just love what I normally do . . . playing roles like Buttons or Aladdin is what I prefer. It frees me up for the type of comedy I enjoy.
"But my kids (Amy, 12 and Lucy, 8) like the part I play in Hairspray. They have seen the show about ten times, along with my wife Anne Marie, and they wear T-shirts with 'My dad's Edna' on the front.
LOVED THE SHOW
"I remember going to see the show with my family when Michael Ball - Bally, as we call him in the business - was playing this part, and I just loved the show. Then I had a phone call asking if I would be interested in joining. I thought they meant playing Wilbur, but they said 'No, Edna'.
"That's what I love about this game. One minute you can be sitting around, the next you are playing a woman from Baltimore."
Conley points out that in addition to being great fun, Hairspray sends out a message about the discrimination against certain people and colour in the 1960s.
Tracy Turnblad, a young girl with big hair, battles to succeed and win the young man of her dreams despite her plump figure, and she campaigns for coloured dancers to get a better deal on TV.
To play laundress mum Edna, Conley has to wear plenty of padding, and he says: "In those days the feeling was that people like us shouldn't be on telly, so this show gives hope to so many people.
"I just think it's a great musical with an important message, and gallons of energy. We shall engulf that lovely theatre at Wolverhampton."
I was invited to see the show at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End, and the packed matinee audience applauded and cheered with terrific enthusiasm.
A REAL NATURAL
Bubbly Chloe Hart, who grew up in Cornwall, was a joy as Tracy on her professional and West End debut, A real natural as an actress and singer.
Conley delivered his usual brand of humour as Edna, with Micky Dolenz impressive as Tracy's dad, Wilbur and Liam Tamne the ideal heartthrob, Link Lartin...the boy of Tracy's dreams.
This musical is warm-hearted, colourful, packed with good songs and has that feel-good factor the audiences love. Plus a happy ending.
Conley, a regular at Birmingham theatres, can't remember playing Wolverhampton Grand before. It should be a debut to remember.
Hairspray will also run at Birmingham Hippodrme from October 25 to November 6.
Paul Marston
CALENDAR GIRLS might have to move
up from buns to muffins with the new cast for its retrun to the
Birmingham Hippodrome in June.
The show
has been the fastest selling tour ever selling out
three months before ir’s February dat in Birmingham.
The new cast lined up for summer
includes Elizabeth Bennett, Anne Charleston, Gemma Craven, Charlie
Dimmock, Letitia Dean, Su Holderness, Hannah Waterman and Dean Gaffney
as the photographer
The play is based on the true story of a group of ordinary women, members of a very ordinary Yorkshire WI, who sparked a global phenomenon by persuading one another to pose for a charity calendar with a difference!
As interest snowballs, the Calendar Girls find
themselves revealing more than they’d ever planned…
Elizabeth Bennett’s long career includes
stints working on both sides of the Atlantic though she’s probably best
known in the UK as Enid Thompson in Home to Roost and for her
regular appearances on Heartbeat. Anne Charleston is best
known as Madge in Neighbours. More recently, she’s been back on
our screens as Lily Butterfield in Emmerdale. Gemma Craven
shot to fame as Cinderalla in the film The Slipper and the Rose
in which she starred opposite Richard Chamberlain. Other credits include
Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven as well as appearing in the
long running Irish television series The Clinic.
Charlie Dimmock makes her stage debut in
Calendar Girls having become one of the nation’s favourite gardeners
through her appearances on Ground Force, The Joy of Gardening and
Charlie’s Garden. Letitia Dean, who returns for the June date,
is best known as Sharon Watts in Eastenders a role she played
from the opening episode for over ten years. Since leaving the show she
has continued to make regular appearances back in Walford Square. In
2007 she was a much loved contestant on Strictly Come Dancing
making it through to the quarter final. Another Eastender,
Dean Gaffney stars as the photographer. Dean played Robbie Jackson
in the soap for eleven years and, more recently, appeared on I’m a
Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Su Holderness was Marlene Boyce in the BBC’s hugely popular Only Fools and Horses as well as the spin off series The Green Green Grass. On stage, Su’s credits include Alan Ayckbourn’s Relatively Speaking and How the Other Half Loves. Hannah Waterman, who returns for the June date, is probably best known as Ian Beale’s long suffering wife Laura in Eastenders. She joins the tour of Calendar Girls direct from the West End production. Tracy Briggs, Mikyla Dodd, Su Douglas, John Labanowski and Colin Tarrant complete the cast.
Calendar Girls
runs at Birmingham Hippodrome from 28 June – 3 July. Perf times.
Eves 7.30pm; Wed mat 2pm; Sat mat 2.30pm. tickets £15
- £32.50. Book
online at
www.birminghamhippodrome.com or telephone 0844 338 5000.
(Calls vary from 5pm per min, transaction charge 6% phone and counter,
3% online.
Four into one is just fine
Getting the bird: Chris Simmonds gets to grip with a whole flock in the RSC property workshop
THE Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford upon Avon has taken on four new apprentices as part of its Craft Apprenticeship Scheme.
This is just part of the RSC’s new Think Theatre initiative, which encourages more people to consider theatre as a career..
Chris Simmonds, aged 18, from Lower Quinton, near Stratford upon Avon, and a former pupils at Chipping Campden School, has joined the property workshop on a three year apprenticeship after A-levels in Product Design, Media Studies and Psychology.
Chris works with Head of Props, John Evans, and recently made 25
collapsing roses for Twelfth Night and is currently working on a latex
screen for Arabian Nights.
Chris has always had an interest in theatre and has enjoyed every second
of his apprenticeship so far.
Paul Riddle, aged 28, from Birmingham, (pictured left) has joined the Scenic Art Department as a paintshop apprentice. He is originally from Santiago in Chile and moved to Glasgow with his mother when he was 17.
He studied multi-media design and production and his subsequent jobs in Glasgow and Birmingham have included working in the music and creative industries, in call centres, offices, comedy clubs, clothes shops and pubs. To date, Paul has worked on Twelfth Night, A Tender Thing and the Julius Caesar floor. He started during one of the department’s busiest times as they were working from 9am to 6pm on Twelfth Night. Paul is also a musician and enjoys photography and graphic design.
JOINERY SHOP
Will Fagan, aged 19 from Leamington Spa is an apprentice in the Scenic Workshops. Will had settled on a career in carpentry and was working in a joinery shop
Apprenticed to the scenic workshop, Leamington Spa born and bred Will is 19 years old.
After attempting A Levels, Will settled on a foundation course in carpentry, and then found a job in a joinery workshop. So far he’s worked on making big flats, panels and stairs. He is surprised at the amount of steel-work that is involved in sets and is looking forward to have a go at that.
In the same workshop is Sam Reynolds, also 19, seem below, left, with Will) from Leamington who previously worked for Paul Dyer, a Stratford upon Avon based landscape gardener. The job took him to Scotland for six months when he worked on JK Rowling’s garden.
19 year old Sam is from Leamington Spa and is on a bench joinery course at Morton Morrell, Warwickshire College. He is finding his apprenticeship ‘brilliant’.
Sam was expecting to be treated as a labourer, sweeping up and picking
up after people but has found himself thrown in at the deep end.
He is constantly observed, but he has found much more trust in
his abilities and work than he has found in his experience on a building
site.
So far, he has worked on a few different floors – including the Twelfth Night floor, and helped make the trap door used by Richard Wilson and James Fleet.
Vikki Heywood, RSC Executive Director said: “It’s great to welcome Chris, Paul, Will and Sam to the RSC. It’s a win-win situation for us: we get to benefit from the skills they will develop here, and the apprentices get to start their careers working with our highly talented craftspeople.
THINKING THEATRE
“The Scheme illustrates perfectly our new campaign Think Theatre. We feel very passionately about promoting the theatre industry to school, college and university leavers, and we want to build a more diverse workforce here in Stratford, drawn from right across the West Midlands region. Our campaign kicks off with a specially commissioned film trailer, created by RSC actor and film director, Chris McGill, which we will be sharing with schools, careers services and via social media. The film encourages those making career choices to consider the enormous range of jobs in the theatre industry – not just acting, but everything from finance to carpentry and costume-making.
“This new Apprenticeship Scheme is just one of the many career development opportunities we offer. Last year over 150 schoolchildren and young people joined us at our Open Doors and A Taste of Theatre events, or on one of the work placements we regularly offer across many areas of the company.”
More information about Think Theatre can be found at www.rsc.org.uk/thinktheatre
Since they started, the apprentices have been working on RSC productions including Twelfth Night, Arabian Nights, Julius Caesar and A Tender Thing.
Each of the apprentices receives an annual salary, plus funding for all training and development, as well as financial support towards travel and accommodation arrangements.
Details of other career opportunities
A Taste of Theatre
A week-long work experience opportunity in
Open Doors
Open to students in Years 12 and 13 (16-18 year-olds), this careers day
gives students the chance to take part in a number of workshops run by
various departments across the whole organisation, demonstrating how
they contribute to the running of the RSC.
Undergraduate Placement Schemes
The RSC offers student placement opportunities in well over twenty RSC
departments (and that number is still increasing). These spells of
practical work experience, ranging from two weeks to three months, offer
those aged over 18, who have usually begun their theatre-related studies
on a university course, an opportunity to put their learning into
practice alongside more experienced colleagues.
These unpaid internships are advertised in much the same way as
other RSC vacancies, with applicants shortlisted after declared closing
dates, interviewed and subsequently supervised by the relevant
department head.
Further details of these can be found via
www.rsc.org.uk/jobs
Nutcracker
off the menu until 2011
BIRMINGHAM Royal Ballet's acclaimed version of The
Nutcracker will become the notcracker next Christmas when it fails to
take to the stage at the Hippodrome for the first time in several years.
But before fans start spluttering in their sprouts amd choking on the
turkey its absebnce is because BRB will be perfomaning a completley new
version of CInderella
choreographed
by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Director
The full-length, narrative ballet reunites the design team behind The Nutcracker.
MAGICAL DESIGNS
John Macfarlane’s extravagant and magical designs are currently enthralling audiences of all ages at Birmingham Hippodrome in The Nutcracker which is one of the post popular ballets in the company's repertoire and a firm Christmas favourite.
"The announcement of a new production shows the company continues to go from strength to strength in this great city."
Meanwhile The Nutcracker runs until Sunday 13 December and will not appar at the Hippodrome again until 2011.
*Friday 11 –
Sunday 13 December performances are now sold out
Biggins set for 2010 Twanky role
This year he appeared on Channel 4’s popular programme Come Dine With Me, along with Philip Olivier with his dinner party crowned overall winner. But behind all that is a performer who has appeared in panto for almost 40 years and Widow Twankey will be no stranger to him.
My own children more than 20 years ago, used to be taken to the Theatre Royal, Brighton, by their grandfather to see Biggins in some panto or other as a Christmas treat for several years.
Biggins said: “I am delighted to confirm that next year I will be treading the boards (and donning Widow Twankey’s frocks) in Wolverhampton!
This won’t be my first performance at the Grand, but it is my first pantomime there so I’m incredibly excited to be performing in one of the country’s biggest and best-loved venues.”
Roger Clarke.
Purchase online at www.grandtheatre.co.uk or via the Box Office on 01902 42 92 12.