Friends with Benefits... As we embark on another brand new season, here’s a quick reminder of the benefits of being a Friend of the Belgrade Theatre.
We’ve also teamed up with some local organisations to enable you to keep receiving excellent discounts outside of the theatre including:
• 20% off selected shows (see diary below)
• 10% off food and beverages at Coombe Abbey Hotel
• 10% off at the theatre’s Signatures restaurant, café and bars
• 10% off food and beverages at Stresa Restaurant and Bar at Ramada Hotel & Suites, Coventry
• 4 8 hours advanced notice and priority booking at the start of every season
• 10% off food and beverages at Wroxall Abbey Estate
• NEW – Friends can now book their tickets online
Issue Eleven Spring 2012
Exclusive Friends of the Belgrade Theatre Events
New Year, New Season – Hamish Glen looks ahead to Spring 2012
As part of your Friends of the Belgrade Membership, you are entitled to 20% off the following shows. * Discount is valid on 1 ticket if you have a Single Membership and 2 tickets if you have a Joint Membership.
Dates
Overview
Nora
Sat 28 Jan – Sat 18 Feb
Nora is the celebrated director and writer Ingmar Bergman’s acclaimed adaptation of Isben’s A Doll’s House, one of the best loved drams in literature.
Tues 31 Jan
The Rat Pack is Back perfectly captures the music, comedy and personalities of Frank Sinatra, Sammy David Jr and Dean Martin – the original Las Vegas legends, playing the classics I Got You Under My Skin, Lady is a Tramp, The Candy Man and many more.
The Rat Pack is Back
Chinese State Circus: Yin Yang
Weds 1 & Thurs 2 Feb
With evocative sets, a soaring musical score and extravagant new costumes, this stunning production features the most daring, breathtaking and thrilling artists to tour the UK. Take a new look at the world’s greatest circus.
Yes, Prime Minister
Tues 7 – Sat 11 Feb
The stage version of the classic BBC TV series Yes, Prime Minister comes to Coventry following two sell out West End seasons. “The audience loved it! A hit” Daily Mail.
Swallows and Amazons
Tues 14 – Sat 18 Feb
An action packed musical adventure for the whole family. A story of an idyllic era of endless summer evenings and the beauty of youthful imagination. Suitable for six years and above.
Carnival du Vampires Rock
Tues 28 Feb
Steve Steinman plays the supremely evil Baron Von Rockula, owner of the Live and Let Die Club, in search of a new bride.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Tues 6 – Sat 10 March
Retelling the Biblical story of Joseph, his eleven brothers and the coat of many colours, this magical musical is full of unforgettable songs including Those Canaan Days, Any Dream Will Do and Close Ev’ry Door To Me.
Stars in the Morning Sky
Sat 17 March – Sat 7 April
The Olympic torch is approaching Moscow heralding the start of the 1980 Olympic Games. In a bid to show the world a cleaned up version of life in the Soviet Union, the authorities have swept the prostitutes out of Moscow along with the other undesirables.
The Father
Sat 31 March – Sat 14 April
“Am I – or am I not – the child’s father?” An uneasy stand off exists between the Captain and his wife, Laura. But a disagreement over the future of their daughter Bertha, triggers an all out war.
Tues 17 – Sat 21 April
We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead! Using actors and ground breaking 3D special effects, historical figures and events will come alive on stage and hover at your fingertips.
Horrible Histories:Terrible Tudors and Vile Victorians
Check our What’s On Guide or visit www.belgrade.co.uk for more details.
Signatures at the Belgrade at the Belgrade C a fé B ar & Rest au r a n t
Friends of the Belgrade can now also take advantage of a special Friends only offer at the Signatures Restaurant. If you
visit the restaurant (and buy a full priced meal) four times you can get your fifth meal free.
For more information, call Signatures Dining on 024 7684 6762.
Book Now 024 7655 3055 or via www.belgrade.co.uk
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year and also tell you a bit more about the shows that we’re producing and presenting in the Spring Season. The battle of the sexes and the role of women in the family is explored this season in our productions of Nora, which
is writer Ingmar Bergman’s spellbinding adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Strindberg’s The Father, which was written as a response to A Doll’s House. Starting with an explosive power-struggle between a married couple, both plays move towards equally devastating but radically different outcomes. Nora will run in B2 from 28 Jan to 18 Feb followed by The Father on the Main Stage from 31 Mar to 14 Apr. As we welcome the 2012 Olympics to the UK I will be directing a brand new production of Stars in the Morning Sky, which tells the story of a group of prostitutes who find themselves banned from the streets of Moscow during the 1980 Olympic Games. In B2 from 17 Mar - 7 Apr. Following a hugely successful run in 2010, our FA Cup drama, We Love You City, returns from 8 - 26 May to celebrate the
25th Anniversary of Coventry City FC’s historic win. We’re also welcoming some fantastic touring productions to the theatre this season such as the stage version of the classic BBC TV series Yes, Prime Minister from 7 to 11 Feb, family musical Swallows and Amazons from 14 to 18 Feb, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat from 6 to 10 March and award-winning psychological thriller, Equus from 24 to 28 Apr.
Hamish Glen, Artistic Director
Exclusive Friends of the Belgrade Theatre Events Moscow Ballet Warm Up Class The Belgrade Theatre is a registered charity, no. 219163
Shows
Date: Thursday 1 March 2012 Time: 4pm Meeting Place: Box Office Moscow Ballet – La Classique has thrilled ballet lovers across the world and gained international acclaim. Now you get to see their warm up routines. Moscow Ballet will use their warm up “to get to know their spacing and get a feel of the stage” before their first night at the Belgrade Theatre.
Stars in the Morning Sky Dress Rehearsal Date: Saturday 17 March Time: 2pm Meeting Place: Box Office Sit in on the first hour of the first dress rehearsal before Stars in the Morning Sky opens to the public. Enter the hidden world of Moscow during the 1980 Olympic Games.
To book for either of these events please call 024 7684 6758 or email friends@belgrade.co.uk Don’t forget... there is a post show discussion with the director of Nora, Patricia Benecke on Thursday 16 February.
Friends of the Belgrade Theatre benefit from receiving 20% off individual tickets. See back page for season diary.
Step Back in Time…
Meet the Team
Just recently we stumbled across some fantastic old production photographs featuring some very well known faces and a vast selection of old show programmes. We will soon be taking them to the Herbert Art Gallery’s History Centre, which is where the rest of our archive is stored but we thought we would share some of them with you first.
Tia Guest Community and Education (C&E) Apprentice What is your role at the Belgrade Theatre?
Famous Faces
I am the Community and Education (C&E) Apprentice. That means that I work a lot in the C&E office helping with admin work and going to meetings with other members of the department to observe how they work. I also get to support some of the Youth Theatre and Acting Out programme workshops.
Acting legend Sir Ian McKellen started his acting career here at the Belgrade in End of Conflict in 1961.
How long have you worked here? I started in September. I have an eleven month contract which will give me an NVQ Level 2 when I finish in July. During his time at the Belgrade Clive Owen also appeared in The Prisoner in 1982.
Before he became an acclaimed theatre director Laurence Boswell appeared on stage here in 1979 in Bartholomew Fayre, alongside Hollywood star and Coventry kid Clive Owen.
In 1968, EastEnders’ favourite landlady, Barbara Windsor appeared on stage here in The Wind in the Sassafras Trees.
Before landing a role as Dorien in Birds of a Feather, Lesley Joseph was treading the boards here at the Belgrade as Edith Piaf in Piaf in 1981.
Past Show Programmes
This is what the programme cover looked like for Journey’s End when it came to us in 1973.
The programme cover for Much Ado About Nothing in 1962, starring Ian McKellen.
Here’s the cover of the 1970 show programme for Cinderella.
This is the programme for The Wind in the Sassafras Trees starring Barbara Windsor.
To see more of this type of thing head along to the Herbert’s History Centre, which holds a treasure trove of information on the history of Coventry and its citizens from medieval times to the present.
How did you get into your job? I have been part of the Belgrade’s Youth Theatre since I was seven and through that I heard that the Belgrade have been offering apprenticeships for the last couple of years, but although I was very interested, I was too young to apply. So when it was advertised this year that they were offering more placements, I applied straight away and was lucky enough to be offered the post. What are the most exciting and challenging parts of your job? My favourite part of the job is supporting the youth groups. The young people in the groups have a variety of personalities and backgrounds but are all really enthusiastic and dedicated to their work. I find it exciting working with the young people because I get to see them develop and grow as performers. Sometimes I am asked to plan parts of the sessions and run warm up games and activities. This can sometimes be challenging as I need to think of things that are relevant to the session and beneficial for the group. It is sometimes difficult to control a group of twenty excited teenagers but I still find it really enjoyable. Have you ever experienced any real disasters? Luckily, no. Everyone in our department is organised and efficient and the youth theatre participants are all sensible and professional so nothing disastrous has a chance to happen.
Make Theatre Your New Year’s Resolution
Spot a st r in the Cafébar
If you like going to the theatre but don’t get around to it as much as you’d like then we may have found a solution for you. I Like Theatre is a simple initiative from local theatre makers, in which you fill in a Resolution Card promising yourself to go to the theatre more often. People who like theatre are encouraged to promise themselves that they will attend three or six times each year. There are extra challenges to help you get more from your visits, such as taking friends and sharing opinions on the shows.
Did you know that on the first night of a week long tour the theatre’s management team host a drinks reception for the cast and crew of the show in the Cafébar?
At the end of the year those who have completed their pledges will be invited to the West Midlands Theatre Awards, a novel ceremony that will reflect the initiative’s broad inclusive approach to this highly social art form. I Like Theatre resolution cards can be picked up from the Belgrade’s Box Office or downloaded from www.iliketheatre.co.uk.
Why not stay for a drink after the show and see if you can spot a star.
What are your favourite shows that you have seen at the Belgrade Theatre? I have seen many shows at the Belgrade, and even been in some of them. Some of my favourite in recent years have been One Night In November, the first time it was performed in B2, Propeller’s Richard III and most recently The Pitmen Painters. What shows are you most looking forward to seeing in the new season? I am really looking forward to seeing Nora in January as I am very familiar with Ibsen’s A Dolls House and I am really interested in seeing how it is adapted. I am also looking forward to Propeller returning to the theatre with their new productions of The Winter’s Tale and Henry V. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is another production I don’t want to miss! Can you tell us something we might not expect about your job? It’s fun. Most people probably think that sitting behind an office desk all day is boring and teaching teenagers every evening is tiresome, but I genuinely enjoy every minute of it. I am learning new things about theatre everyday which is what I wanted from my job, so I am really happy with it.
Yes, Prime Minister – Tues 7 Feb Swallows and Amazons – Tues 14 Feb All the Fun of the Fair – Mon 20 Feb Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – Tues 6 March Horrible Histories: Terrible Tudors and Vile Victorians – Tues 17 April 3