Hamilton

and Hammond heading for the Hippodrome

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced that internationally acclaimed musical Hamilton will play a 10-week season at the venue next summer.

The Olivier, Tony, Grammy and Pulitzer Prizewinning show will visit the Hippodrome from Tuesday 25 June to Saturday 31 August 2024.

The hit production, which blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway to tell the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, is widely considered to be one of the greatest musicals of

Penguins in Worcester...

The city of Worcester will next summer host a public art trail comprising 40 penguin sculptures (Monday 22 July - Sunday 15 September 2024).

The trail, which follows on from previous ones featuring giraffe and elephant sculptures, will be raising funds for St Richard’s Hospice.

To find out more, visit waddleofworcester.co.uk

all time...

In other Hippodrome news, the theatre has also revealed that The Great British Bake Off’s new Birmingham-born presenter, Alison Hammond, will star in its 2023/24 pantomime production of Jack And The Beanstalk.

The show will run from Saturday 16 December to Sunday 28 January.

For more information and to book tickets, visit birminghamhippodrome.com

Sky and Utilita roll out new VIP lounge

Sky will next month launch a new VIP lounge experience at Utilita Arena Birmingham (on Thursday 8 June).

The exclusive lounge boasts a number of benefits, including dedicated entrances and customer check-in, plus a private area to relax and dine in, as well as the VIP Star Bar.

Sky customers can sign up to visit the brand-new lounge via the MySky app on a first-come first-served basis... To find out more, visit sky.com/pages/vip

Coventry Cathedral Chorus celebrate summer

Coventry Cathedral Chorus will present a summertime concert at St Nicholas Church in Kenilworth next month (Saturday 17 June).

The programme features Baroque music by Monteverdi, Handel, Purcell and Bach, a selection of English madrigals, and settings of Shakespeare songs by Vaughan Williams and George Shearing.

For further details and to buy tickets, visit coventrycathedralchorus.com

Breakthrough exhibition continues at the cathedral

Coventry Cathedral is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating a group of veteran Scottish artists who were ahead of their time in responding to the threat of climate change. Titled This Fragile Earth, the exhibition is presented by the Fleming Collection of Scottish Art, whose director, James Knox, said: “This landmark show, installed in the modernist masterpiece of Coventry Cathedral... will open the eyes of the public to the prophetic sensitivity of Scottish artists to the threats and consequences of climate change as expressed through works of great beauty and force.”

This Fragile Earth is available to view at the cathedral until Monday 29 May.

Big Picture film festival in Stratford-upon-Avon

A festival celebrating local filmmakers is coming to Stratford-upon-Avon and surrounding villages this month. Taking place from Thursday 25 to Sunday 28 May, Big Picture Festival is run by local notfor-profit arts organisation Live & Local. Tickets to screenings are available on a paywhat-you-can basis.

To find out more, including details about the programme and individual films, visit the website tinyurl.com/BigPicFest23

By The Waters Of Liverpool... in Coventry

The stage adaptation of Helen Forrester’s 1930s-set bestselling book, By The Waters Of Liverpool, will stop off at Coventry’s Albany Theatre in the autumn.

Rescheduled from April, the production shows at the venue on 20 & 21 September. To find out more and book tickets, visit albanytheatre.co.uk

Belgrade announces its autumn/winter programme

A home-produced musical titled The Last Vampire, a musical adaptation of The Book Thief, and an all-female, non-binary version of Dracula are among the shows featuring in the Coventry Belgrade Theatre’s autumn/winter line-up of entertainment. Other programme highlights at the venue include productions of Heathers, Sister Act, Shrek, The Full Monty, Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis and the Olivier Awardwinning Life Of Pi (pictured).

Celebrating Elgar’s music

The Elgar Festival - the annual celebration of the life and music of legendary Worcester composer Sir Edward Elgar - makes a welcome return to the city at the end of the month.

Taking place across a number of venues, the festival comprises concerts performed by the English Symphony Orchestra and guest artists. This year’s Gala Concert in Worcester Cathedral features Elgar’s Symphony No1 and his choral masterpiece, The Music Makers, with the Elgar Festival Chorus and mezzosoprano Jess Dandy. The festival runs from Tuesday 30 May to Sunday 4 June. For more information, visit elgarfestival.org

The Play’s The Thing...

After being closed for three years, popular Shakespeare-related exhibition The Play’s The Thing has reopened in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The reopening of the exhibition coincides with the launch of a new artwork titled Three Gold Threads. The new work aims to elevate

Commenting on the season, the Belgrade’s chief executive, Laura Elliot, said: “We are so excited to bring these brilliant shows and companies to Coventry. We want to be a home for world-class, transformative, entertaining theatre & musicals that are truly distinctive, exciting and momentumbuilding, and which bring that moment where you go ‘I just saw something extraordinary!’” For further information and to book tickets, visit belgrade.co.uk stories by Black people, Indigenous people, and people from the global majority who have interacted with Shakespeare’s First Folio throughout history.

Rock on, Tommy! Telly funnyman back on stage

Familiar television face Tommy Cannon will return to the stage in Coventry next month, two years after losing his long-term doubleact partner Bobby Ball.

In what’s been described as ‘a fun-packed variety show’, Tommy will look back on his career with ‘stories, songs and laughter’, recalling the days when Cannon & Ball were showbiz royalty.

The one-off afternoon performance is part of the Belgrade Theatre’s Midday Variety season and takes place on Wednesday 7 June at 1.30pm. For more information and tickets, visit the venue’s website: belgrade.co.uk

by Steve Adams

“If you are interested in a space to connect, emotionally, with the people in your community in relation to thinking about climate change, this is the play for you.”

Holly Rose Roughan, of award-winning theatre company Headlong, is giving me the lowdown (and maybe a little hard sell) on the company’s latest co-production - A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction - and she’s definitely on a roll.

“It’s a love letter to live theatre. It’s not a show that could happen on televisionyou’ve got to be in the room. It’s a heartbreaking play but also genuinely funny, moving and human.”

The new drama, which visits the Coventry Belgrade Theatre this month, is a call to arms about the climate crisis by American writer Miranda Rose Hall. It comes with an innovative - cynics might suggest gimmickyback story that complements the play’s content but also has the potential to overshadow it.

Not only will the eco-friendly show be powered by bicycles, but an innovative touring model means the only element that actually tours is the script - people and materials do not. In each city a blueprint of the show will be brought to life by local creative teams as part of a ground-breaking experiment in making theatre more ecofriendly.

“Come and be part of an exciting experiment in sustainability, as this has never been done before in the UK,” urges Holly, who took over as Headlong’s artistic director last August, having joined the company in 2019. “Come and be part of innovative live art and connect with your community in a real way.”

The Belgrade’s version of the show will be helmed by local director Nyasha Gudo. Associate director on the recent Birmingham Rep hit, Spitting Image, Nyasha is one of the first cohorts from Headlong’s Origins programme, which supports and nurtures artists outside of London.

Local actor Kimisha Lewis will play the lead role, with support from a community choir and four volunteer cyclists who will power the off-grid production.

The latter might sound like a gimmick, but Holly believes it will bring a fascinating dynamic to the production.

“There’s a moment in the show where you go from the national grid into a bike-powered circuit. The audience will see that transition, see electricity created in real time and see volunteer cyclists powering the remainder of the show.

“There’ll be a real sense of how we power the projectors used in the play, how we power the lights, how we power the sound and how much electricity that all takes.”

As well as demonstrating the arbitrary way resources are used - and in some cases wasted - the local angle of the production is also designed to reflect how communities will ultimately lead the fight against the climate crisis.

“We have to collaborate across industries and across countries in the face of the climate emergency. Everything has got to be bespoke and for the community, so the model of the tour replicates the model of how we’re going to rise up to the challenges we face.”

Community is the central theme of the production, and even though the play is a one-woman show - essentially a monologue from frazzled theatre worker Naomi - Holly believes it transcends that categorisation by creating genuine engagement with the audience.

“The play is as big as there are people in the room. In the Barbican, where the tour begins, it will feel like a 1,000-person play. At the Belgrade, it will feel like however many people are in the room on the night [the Belgrade’s B2 space can hold almost 250 people].

“It’s a story about how we can feel so alone in the context of the climate crisis, but it’s also a story of hope and catharsis, and a place of reconnecting with community. In the words of Miranda Rose Hall, it’s partly a space to come and emotionally process what living through a climate crisis feels like. I think that’s part of what theatre’s role is - it’s not necessarily a consciousness-raising play, it’s a play to come and unpack our feelings towards this big immovable thing.”

But if all that sounds a bit, well, heavy… Holly is quick to point out that the play is also sharp, smart and very funny.

“Miranda is a writer with brilliant line-byline writing, in the same way that many American playwrights who have grown up with sitcoms are very good at witty oneliners. It’s got real intellectual integrity and heft, but it’s people-centred and really acknowledges who’s in the room. There are moments of gentle interaction with the audience.”

The production, which has already ‘toured’ internationally, is Headlong’s second major touring experiment. During the Covid pandemic, the company created Signal Fires, a national festival that saw more than 40 theatre companies telling stories to audiences around fires. It’s hoped that A Play For The Living will create similar community connections, as well as push the envelope in terms of how touring theatre can be made greener.

“There’s a shared aesthetic, a shared heart and a shared set of sustainability guidelines in terms of how we create it, but each production is going to be of that community and will speak to those audiences in a much more specific and bespoke way.

“This is an experiment in a different touring model, but I think what Headlong have been brilliant at in the past, and I hope will continue under my leadership, is being innovators. We’ll always find innovative ways of reaching large numbers of people and audiences, and this is another one of those.

“Our currency as an arts organisation is imagination. It’s really important that we keep deploying that and going, look, we’re capable of creating alternative ways of doing things. This is an experiment; it doesn’t mean we’ll replicate it forever, but it will shape the system and inspire ourselves and the organisations we work with.

“Theatre allows us to collectively imagine an alternative future, and I believe touring companies can be pollinators of that national imagination.”

A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction shows at

13 May

Food news from across the region...

New dining experience in cathedral quarter

No Ordinary Hospitality Management is launching a new evening menu at St Mary’s Guildhall - bringing a unique dining experience to Coventry’s historic cathedral quarter.

Visitors to Tales Of Tea, which is located in the Guildhall’s Undercroft, will be able to enjoy high-end à la carte dining - ‘offering twists on classic British cuisine using quality ingredients’ - on Saturdays from 13 May.

Latin eatery opens in Solihull’s Touchwood

Flagship restaurant Tio Latino has opened in Touchwood Solihull. The eatery’s menu includes ‘vibrant Mexican tacos, flavourful burritos, tangy Peruvian ceviche and crispy Argentinian empanadas’. Bottomless brunch, two-for-one cocktails and live music events also feature.

Grace & Savour wins coveted Michelin star

Grace & Savour at Hampton-in-Arden’s Hampton Manor now boasts a Michelin star. The coveted accolade is awarded to restaurants that provide outstanding cuisine.

Set within a Victorian walled garden and under the leadership of Head Chef David Taylor, the venue offers a 15course tasting menu that places farmers and growers ‘at the forefront of dishes served and stories told’.

Since opening, Grace & Savour has certainly made a significant splash. As well as the Michelin star, the eatery has also received four AA Rosettes, been included in The Good Food Guide’s Top 20 Most Exciting Restaurants for 2022, and this year been named the UK’s Best Restaurant in the SquareMeal Awards.

Event specialists Digbeth Dining Club (DDC) have unveiled details of their summer tour around the West Midlands.

The tour runs until September and visits some of the most idyllic settings across Birmingham, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country. Traders taking part include the award-winning Greidy’s, Beef On The Block and Fat Snags. Resident DJs and special guests will also be in attendance.

Commenting on the tour, DDC co-founder Jack Brabant said: “For 11 years we have grown and expanded our offering to make the events that we put on as accessible as possible for as many people as we can. This year is no exception, taking in more sites and hopefully delivering fun to even more people across the region. “We go where the people are, and the new sites - Sutton, Sandwell and Bearwood - came off the back of public requests. So we spoke to the people in charge of the sites, and we all agreed it was a good idea to explore these and give people what they want.”

For full event listings and to buy tickets for any of DDC’s summertime stop-offs, pay a visit to: digbethdiningclub.com

Glynn Purnell has opened a new café & bistro at Charterhouse - one of Coventry’s most historic buildings.

Purnell’s Café & Bistro At Charterhouse offers ‘an all-day menu centering around simplicity and seasonality, taking the very best ingredients and respectfully combining them to deliver the most incredible flavours’.

Freshly made cakes, pastries, snacks and hot drinks are on offer for those wishing to enjoy elevenses or a mid-afternoon treat.

The café & bistro also offers a ‘small plates’ menu, with wine, champagne and other drinks available.

The 14th-century Charterhouse features a recently revitalised garden.

Classical music from across the region...

Estonian National Symphony Orchestra

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tues 16 May; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 18 May

Making a first-ever stop-off in Birmingham before heading to Coventry two days later, the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra open proceedings in both concerts with a performance of one of their countryman Arvo Pärt’s best-known works: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten.

Orchestra of the Swan: Red Sky At Sunrise

Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, Wed 31 May

Inspiration for this show of words & music is provided by author Laurie Lee’s muchloved trilogy of novels: Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, and A Moment Of War.

Featuring the music of Vaughan Williams, Walton, Holst, Elgar, Britten, Grainger, Albeniz, Turina and De Falla, the programme transports the audience from the lush Gloucestershire countryside of

Armonico Consort

Malvern Theatres, Worcestershire, Sun 14 May

Founded by organist and conductor Christopher Monks in 2001, Armonico are one of the largest organisations of their kind in the UK. Using authentic period instruments, the baroque consort regularly perform with some of the best solo musicians in the world.

This Malvern concert sees them presenting their internationally acclaimed rendition of Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas alongside the Pergolesi masterpiece, Stabat Mater, a work here brought to life by countertenor William Towers and soprano Eloise Irving.

Lee’s childhood, to the ‘dry landscapes of Spain’, where he fought against Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War. Alongside music by the Orchestra of the Swan, the production sees Royal Shakespeare Company actors Anton Lesser and Charlie Hamblett taking on the role of Lee. The show opens Live At The RSC, a five-day festival of live comedy and music.

Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra

Worcester Cathedral, Sat 13 May

Worcester Cathedral is certainly a suitably magnificent setting in which to perform one of the greatest symphonies of all time: Mahler’s Second.

Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra are joined by the singers of WSO Chorus and soloists Claire Prewer-Jenkinson and Jennifer Mugleston for a concert experience that should live long in the memory.

BCMG: TREE Concert

Birmingham Town Hall, Fri 12 May

This exploration of the connections between nature and humankind sees Birmingham Contemporary Music Group performing a programme which includes the world premiere of Christian Mason’s new Sound Investment commission, The Singing Tree. The textural ‘Concertini for ensemble’ by Helmut Lachenmann also features...

The concert is part of a wider project that includes multiple activities and workshops for young musicians.

In their Coventry concert, they then turn their attention to Thea Musgrave’s Song Of Enchanter and Sibelius’ Symphony No5. The evening’s programme is completed with a performance by Barry Douglas of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No2. The Gold Medal winner at the 1986 Tchaikovsky Piano Competition, Barry is here stepping in for Freddy Kempf, who has had to pull out of the orchestra’s UK concert tour for personal reasons.

Martinů Quartet

Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, Sat 13 May

Formed in 1976 by students of the Prague Conservatoire and here performing as part of a Leamington Music season for a 13th time (a record for quartets), Martinů present programmes of work which combine music by legendary composers with neglected compositions and world premieres.

This latest concert sees them performing three compositions, including their very own String Quartet No5 and a work by recently rediscovered Czech composer Josef Beneš. Dvořák’s String Quartet No 14 in A flat completes the bill.