Birmingham Cover - May_Mids Cover - August 25/04/2014 15:31 Page 1
BIRMINGHAM WHAT’S ON ISSUE 341 MAY 2014
THE MIDLANDS ESSENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE BIRMINGHAM
’ What sOn www.whatsonlive.co.uk
ISSUE 341
MAY 2014
KATY PE RRY
BRINGS P RISMATIC W TOUR TO THE MIDL ORLD ANDS
LORD OF THE FLIES Matthew Bourne’s latest production lands in Brum PART OF MIDLANDS WHAT’S ON MAGAZINE GROUP PUBLICATIONS
ARDAL O’HANLON returning to stand-up after West End success interview inside...
DERREN BROWN @WHATSONBRUM WWW.WHATSONLIVE.CO.UK
master of psychological illusion back on the road interview inside...
grand_whatson FP May 1_Layout 1 25/04/2014 15:49 Page 1
GreatTheatre Theatre at the Great theGrand! Grand! SUN 18 MAY
MON 19 - SAT 24 MAY
SAT 31 MAY - SUN 1 JUNE
TUES 3 JUNE - SAT 12 JULY
TUE 13 - SAT 17 MAY BILL KENWRIGHT PRESENTS
AN AMATEUR PRODUCTION
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GLEN SLATER
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DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE AN AMATEUR PRODUCTION
IT’S BACK - AND IT’S GONNA LIVE FOREVER! BASED IN TOUCHSTONE MOTION PICTURE ‘SISTER ACT’ WRITTEN BY JOSEPH HOWARD
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SAT 22 MARCH MON 5 - SAT 10 MAY LESLEY JOSEPH
DERREN BROWN - INFAMOUS HOT FLUSH
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SUN 30 29 MARCH THURS MAY
THE HILARITY SOLID SILVER 60s SHOW THE CHARITY GALA ..............................................................................
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SUN 15 6 APRIL SUN JUNE
THE FAAABULOUS OLD. .MACDONALD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CERI . . . . . . . . . . DUPREE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SHOW ............................... ............................................................................................ MON 30 JUNE - SAT 5 JULY SUN 13 APRIL
20TH CENTURY BOY BEYOND THE BARRICADE
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MON 14 - TUES 15 APRIL SUN 13 JULY
TAP OF FACTORY MAGIC MOTOWN
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THE MIKADO ( S A T U R D A Y ) I O LA N T H E ( T H U - F R I ) The Pirates of Penzance
★★★★
FRI-18 APRIL TUE 15 WED 16 JULY
Daily Mail
(TU ES-W E D)
★★★★ Daily Express
THAT’LL BE MOB THE DAY FLASH
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SAT 19 APRIL
17 - SUNBROTHERS’ 20 JULY THE THU CHUCKLE SCOOBY DOO SPACE ODDITY ..............................................................................
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FROM 6 DECEMBER TUES 29 APRIL - SAT 3 MAY
THE PLAY THATCLARY GOESINWRONG JULIAN CINDERELLA
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Contents- Region One - May_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:17 Page 1
May Editor: Davina Evans
2014
INSIDE:
davina@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281708
Rock Of Ages
Editorial Assistants: Brian O’Faolain
West End musical arrives in the Midlands p29
brian@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281701
Lauren Foster lauren@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281707
Adrian Parker adrian.parker@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281714
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Chris Horton chris@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281704
Subscriptions: Adrian Parker adrian.parker@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281714
Ardal O’Hanlon
Managing Director: Paul Oliver
returns to stand-up... interview p8
paul@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281711
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Graphic Designers: Lisa Wassell Chris Atherton Accounts Administrator Julia Perry
The Electric Lady - Janelle Monae plays exclusive date in Brum, page 13
julia@whatsonlive.co.uk 01743 281717
Website Development: Jim Pallett Contributors: Graham Bostock: Theatre James Cameron-Wilson: Film; Anita Champaneri: Eating Out; Alev Dervish: Music Eva Easthope, Kate Evans, Jessica Aston, Patsy Moss, Jack Rolfe, Jan Watts, Reggie White Head Office: 13-14 Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, SY2 6AE
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Lord Of The Flies Matthew Bourne’s latest production in town p40
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News May region one_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:18 Page 1
News
A ROUND-UP OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Exhibition inspired by Islamic traditions opens in Brum The largest ever display of work by one of the UK’s most exciting British Pakistani artists opens in Birmingham this month. Zarah Hussain’s Symmetry In Sculpture features three-dimensional wall sculptures inspired by the complex patterns that emerge from simply repeating shape, as found in Islamic art. Hussain’s exhibition of contemporary works - supported by Arts Council England opens at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on 24 May and shows until 2 Zarah Hussain November.
Second Midlands date for award-winning musical Avenue Q, the Tony Award-winning musical featuring some of the most outrageous puppets ever to appear on stage, has added a Birmingham date to its forthcoming tour. Focusing on subjects such as dating, racism, being gay and finding a purpose in life, Avenue Q is often controversial and not for the easily offended. This latest tour, visiting the region courtesy of Sell A Door Theatre Company, stops off at Birmingham’s New Alexandra Theatre from 16 to 20 September. The show also visits Lichfield Garrick from 24 to 26 July.
Birmingham REP to host BE Festival A festival which celebrates the best of European theatre is making a welcome return to Birmingham this July - and for the first time will be hosted by the city’s Repertory Theatre. Birmingham's fifth BE Festival will feature over twenty performances from eleven European countries, as well as live music, exhibitions, workshops and discussions. The eleven-day event will also see the Birmingham Repertory Theatre building being turned back-to-front, as festival-goers step backstage to experience The REP in a brand new way. Commenting on the festival, Roxana Silbert, Artistic Director at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, says: “I’m delighted that The REP will be home to this brilliant, creative festival, where you can enjoy and engage with a diverse programme of European theatre no matter what language you speak. And it’s particularly nice to be able to allow audiences backstage to enjoy and explore spaces where usually our carpenters, metalworkers and scenic artists create and build sets.” BE Festival takes place at Birmingham Repertory Theatre from 2 to 12 July. For tickets, ring 0121 236 4455, or book online at Birmingham-rep.co.uk Jamaican favourites such as jerk chicken from Sharian’s Cuisine, and warming sweet treats from Platinum Pancakes.
Run away to the circus with Playbox Theatre
Food glorious food at the Custard Factory A new Fine Food Market and Urban Street Fair makes its debut in Digbeth this month. A collaboration between the Custard Factory and Sketts Quality events, the new attraction will see the streets around Birmingham’s cultural hub filled with stalls selling fresh produce, street food and original arts & crafts. The launch event on 3 May (10am - 4pm) showcases live music and forty pop-up urban fashion stalls in the new Market Hall event space. Food stalls feature a wide range of sweet and savoury selections, including puddings, pies and cheeses from Cotswold Pudding & Pie Company, hot 4 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Warwick-based Playbox Theatre has announced plans to create a series of circus shows over the next two years. Describing itself as ‘moving into a very exciting new phase’, Playbox is inviting youngsters to fire their imaginations and take part in a series of skill-based workshops. So if you’re interested in learning how to walk a tightrope, be part of a human pyramid, or maybe indulge in some clowning around, check out the courses on offer at www.playboxtheatre.com
Fans’ Thursday at Silverstone To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Silverstone Grand Prix, organisers have announced that they’ll be opening the Formula 1 Pit Lane to fans on the Thursday of this year’s event (4 to 6 July). Accessible to those holding a Three Day Ticket to the British Grand Prix, this new initiative gives fans a chance to get closer than ever to their favourite teams. Five Pit Lane walkabouts
over the course of the day are also on offer, with a limited number of tickets available for each. Silverstone’s managing director, Richard Phillips, said of the decision to open the Pit Lane: “Our loyal fans are incredibly important to us and we’re constantly looking at ways to give them an even better experience. The introduction of Fans’ Thursday is part of our plans to make our fiftieth anniversary celebrations really special.”
Comedy clubs join forces Birmingham’s Highlight Comedy Club on Broad Street is this month reopening (2 May) as Jongleurs, to create the UK’s largest stand-up comedy brand. The format of the comedy shows will remain the same as before, with Jongleurs continuing to provide a platform for both established and up-andcoming comedians. The shows will take place on Fridays and Saturdays, with the venue being used for live music, club nights and private hire the rest of the week. Check out our comedy section on page 25 to find out who’s appearing at Jongleurs in May.
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Artists announced for Summer Sunday KAL Music, the organisers of Eastnor Castle’s Summer Sunday concert, have announced former X Factor finalists Union J as the event’s headline act. The popular boyband will be supported by Foxes, Elyar Fox and Tich at the Herefordshire venue on Sunday 27 July. Summer Sunday also features funfair rides, Battle Zone inflatables, hair and make-up stalls, face-painting and a grand firework finale. The event forms part of a music weekend that also sees boogiewoogie master Jools Holland and his eighteen-piece orchestra performing at the venue on the Saturday. For details of all KAL Music events, visit www.kalmusic.co.uk
Birmingham Hippodrome welcomes more bumper shows Union J
The HOLI ONE in Brum Digbeth’s Rainbow Arena is set to host one of the world’s most ‘unique, fun and exciting’ festivals this summer. Fusing music, dance, performance art and visual stimulation, HOLI ONE is a touring festival set against a backdrop of dance and DJ music, and invites revellers to throw powders into the air to create ‘an explosion of colour and excitement’. The festival is currently in the planning phase, with organisers asking for anyone interested in performing on 28 June to get in touch.
V Festival announces additions to 2014 line-up Fourteen new acts have been added to the line-up for this year’s V Festival. The annual dual-location event takes place at Staffordshire’s Weston Park and Hylands Park in Chelmsford on 16 and 17 August. Sponsored by Virgin Media, V Festival features Justin Timberlake as its headline act, and recently added Tinie Tempah, Childish Gambino, CeeLo Green, John Martin, Pixie Lott, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Josh Record, Jess Glynne, Icona Pop and Howling Bells to its line-up. Tickets are on sale now from www.vfestival.co.uk
Tinie Tempah
Pixie Lott
Following a record-breaking year which saw paid admissions rise to over six hundred-andtwenty-five thousand tickets in the 2013/14 financial period, Birmingham Hippodrome has announced the addition of further bumper shows to its programming for 2014/15. Blood Brothers, Brazilian dance company Grupo Corpo, a twentieth anniversary production of Slava’s Snowshow, an autumn season of productions from Welsh National Opera, and Birmingham Royal Ballet’s staging of Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker take the theatre through to the Christmas season, during which Jack And The Beanstalk will be keeping audiences entertained. Gary Wilmot, Paul Zerdin and Matt Slack will all be making a welcome return to the Hippodrome to star in the lavish pantomime, the trio having scored a big hit in last Christmas’s version of Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs. A major revival of Matthew Bourne’s dance production of Edward Scissorhands (10 to 14 February) kickstarts the Spring 2015 season, with Shrek The Musical (31 March to 26 April) further cementing the Hippodrome’s reputation as a venue which attracts the biggest and best national and international shows. Tickets for Shrek go on sale to Friends on 6 May and to Groups on 12 May, then go on general sale on 14 May.
IN BRIEF Soap star to join panto cast Wolverhampton Grand Theatre has announced that Hollyoaks actor Joe Tracini is to join Julian Clary in the theatre’s 2014/15 panto version of Cinderella. Tracini, the son of Joe Pasquale, became a household name playing Dennis Savage in the Channel Four soap. Following in his father’s footsteps as a comedy entertainer, Joe earned a nomination for Best Comedy Performance at the British Soap Awards, and has also garnered plenty of plaudits for his talents as a magician. Joe will play Buttons in the Qdos production of Cinderella, which shows at the Grand from 6 December to 18 January. Tickets are available from the box office on 01902 429212, or online at grandtheatre.co.uk
World Congress at Warwick University The University of Warwick and Warwick Arts Centre has announced it’s to host the International Federation for Theatre Research (ITFR) World Congress in July. Last year’s event attracted over eight hundred speakers from more than sixty countries, a number which has already been exceeded for this summer’s event. Over nine hundred speakers and an estimated one thousand delegates are expected to descend on the campus between 28 July and 1 August, making it the largest event of its kind. A programme of social and cultural events, many of which will be available to non-delegates, will support the conference. These include live performances, installations, theatre visits, open-mic sessions, live music and exhibitions. Highlights will include a live streaming of Leamington-based dance company Motionhouse’s production of Broken by Motionhouse Broken. The show, being performed in Warwick Arts Centre, will be streamed into both the piazza on campus and Coventry City Centre. Other performances open to all include Baz Kearshaw's Meadow Meanders, GOTOJAIL - a production by Rideout, the UK's leading company working in prisons - and Straybirds Found. Visit www.iftr2014warwick.org for full details of all cultural and social events supporting the ITFR World Congress.
RSC releases its Henry IV score The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has released a selection of music and speeches from Gregory Doran’s productions of Henry IV Parts I and II. Featuring music by BAFTA-nominated Paul Englishby and renowned composer Edward Gregson, the recording is available to pre-order from the RSC shop, as well as for download from iTunes. The RSC commissions several new scores per year for its shows, and released its first recording - of Doran’s sell-out production of Richard II - in 2013. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 5
Alistair McGowan interview_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:12 Page 1
Alistair McGowan talks about playing Henry Higgins in Pygmalion Worcestershire-born Alistair McGowan has followed in the footsteps of Mike Yarwood and Phil Cool by not only becoming a hugely talented impressionist but also a household name. A versatile performer, he’s more recently taken to the theatre to ply his craft, appearing in versions of Measure For Measure, Art, Cabaret and The Mikado, to name but a few. Citing his mother’s ability to mimic as his earliest and main inspiration, Alistair’s interest in the ‘minute sounds of language’ is currently being put to good use in his role as Professor Henry Higgins in the touring production of Pygmalion. What’s On recently caught up with him to find out more... In its centenary year, why do you think Pygmalion continues to be a firm theatrical favourite? The ideas are still so relevant. I don’t think they’ll ever go away. I’m constantly reading in the newspaper about accents and what they say about us and social mobility, and whether people can move up from one class to another. That really is what Pygmalion was all about one hundred years ago - what Eliza Doolittle’s accent said about her, and whether, through working on it, Henry Higgins could fit her into a new class of 6 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
society. Those themes are still there. Is it acceptable that accents can inhibit someone's ability to achieve professionally? I recently read somewhere about people with so-called ‘posh’ accents trying to make themselves sound like they’re not as posh as they might be, because they feel that it’s the ‘posh’ accent that impedes you. That’s partly because of the association with government and the whole Etonian thing, but also because accents on television - in terms of
production, presentation, voice-overs - and within society have changed. So much so that it’s now not only acceptable but almost desirable to have some sort of regional accent, which is a huge change. Maybe George Bernard Shaw would be happy about that, but it still shows a prejudice, one way or the other, which I think is unfair. What first drew you to the role of Henry Higgins? I think it’s the fact that we share so much in common. We’re both very interested, if not
Alistair McGowan interview_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:12 Page 2
interview... obsessed, by the minute sounds of language; how they’re produced and what they say about us. That’s something that’s always been of an interest to me - and indeed to my father before me. It just felt like a very natural fit, and I do so adore Higgins. Do you share any of Professor Higgins’ personality traits? Some, yes. More and more, now that I’m actually doing the part. I don’t think I’m particularly bad-tempered, although I can be a little bit quick-tempered when I’m playing snooker or tennis, and miss. Generally, I’m very amenable with people. Also, I think Higgins is very emotionally insensitive, whereas I think I’m a bit more sensitive although I’ve certainly had my moments over the years. I draw on those personal memories when Higgins is accused of being insensitive or lacking feeling. I think I remember being told that myself over the years - so there are a lot of similarities, really. You mentioned there about being competitive in terms of sporting endeavours. Does that apply to your professional life as well? Yes. I don’t think anyone can enter this profession without having a certain competitiveness within them. Ultimately, if you’re going to make a success of yourself in any field, but particularly in the arts, you’ve got to be competitive with yourself and get the best out of yourself on a daily basis. That’s a challenge you face doing a play like this, on a tour like this, for this length of time. You’ve got to turn up every day thinking, ‘I’m going to do it just as well, if not better’. You can’t ever turn up, playing a major part in a major work that’s playing in large theatres, and think, ‘oh this is okay, I know how to do this’. You’ve always got to have that thing within you. Is keeping the level fresh with stand-up a different challenge from keeping a theatrical performance fresh? Yes and no. With stand-up, to keep it fresh you learn what you’ve written and what you want to say. You might just change the odd word in a build-up to a routine here and there, because it might make it sound like you’re making it up, which may make it a bit more interesting for you. You can’t do that with a play. You’ve got to use exactly the right words, because that’s your job and you’ve got to serve the playwright. So you can’t throw in the occasional word here and there to unsettle yourself a bit, to make it a bit more fresh. You can’t do that in a play. Also, in stand-up, you can leave stuff out. If I’m doing a joke and think, ‘that didn’t go brilliantly, they’re not going to like the next one’, then I’ll leave it out and it doesn’t matter. You can’t do that in a play because it could result in someone missing their entrance or someone not moving the right piece of furniture at the right time. Are impressionists born or made? I think if you’re an impressionist, again like Higgins, you’ve got to be interested in language and why people speak in the way that they do. I suppose that that, in a sense, is something that you’re born with. I was surrounded by it growing up, because my mother was always copying people’s voices. My father wasn’t from this country, so when
he came here, he was fascinated by the way people spoke differently. Differently from him and differently from each other. So I suppose if you’re exposed to it, then it’s a bit of nurture. In terms of ‘can you replicate sounds’, you can certainly improve the way people do it, and you can probably teach them quite a lot. Higgins does. He teaches Eliza, but he says at the start - and this was a hundred years ago - ‘I can change her to a Duchess in six months if she has a good ear and quick tongue’. Shaw knew what he was talking about. If you were taking someone from the street to change how they spoke, that’s what you’d be after; someone with a good ear and good tongue. Some people just don’t have a good ear, so can’t change the way they pronounce things. Do you credit your mother, then, with inspiring you to become an impressionist? Definitely, yes - although it was pretty much coincidental, really. She was always so interested in performance and copying people’s voices and sending them up. That’s where my interest came from. As a kid, I just thought that was what everybody did, because we all did it within the family. When it turned out that other people didn’t, then I realised she was quite unusual. What do you look for most when assessing a person’s suitability for impersonation? I suppose the most important thing is ‘are they well known enough to be worth doing?’. Someone said to me recently, on the train to Guildford: ‘You’ll have to start doing Chellino’, the fella who’s taken over as Leeds United’s owner. I was polite and said that yes, I would - but nobody would know him outside of Leeds and football. You’ve got to choose people that a significant section of your audience is going to know. And if they’re not known, they’ve got to have a very good, funny voice. Raymond Blanc is someone I’d wanted to do for a very long time. I’d still say that only fifty percent of my audience, when I do Raymond Blanc, know who he is or how he speaks. But he has a very funny voice, so people will laugh if it’s used to deliver a good joke. David Beckham gave you plenty to work with... First of all I recognised - with my Henry Higgins head on - that David had a kind of shyness in his voice, and that he didn’t really like talking publicly. He declared that in the way he moved - or rather, didn’t move - his mouth. It was very interesting doing David and there was this great affection for him, because he was sweet. I used to do Eddie Izzard when he was around more than he is now, and people used to love it and always responded well. I did Vince Cable in my stand-up act last year, and although I thought it was a rather good impression, nobody picked up on it at all. He’s very intelligent, but he doesn’t have the charm of a man able to impress anybody as an impression. Journalists, if they write anything about impressionists, write, ‘Oh, it wasn’t very satirical, not very political’, and yet if you do cover politicians, the majority of the audience don’t know who you’re doing anymore.
What’s your typical audience? Maybe when I’m doing a warm-up show in London, I’ll get people in their early twenties coming along, but when I’m on tour, I tend to attract people in their mid-to-late-forties. And children! Was your self-imposed absence from TV purely to pursue a career on the stage, or were there other reasons? We’d done four series of The Big Impression, and I felt I’d done all the sketches I could do about Richard and Judy, EastEnders and whoever else it might have been. I hoped I’d be able to have a little break from it and go and do my theatre stuff, which is something I’d always wanted to do - things like Shakespeare, a musical in the West End, Gilbert & Sullivan, all of which I went on to do. I always imagined I’d be able to knock on the door and say, ‘right, I’m ready to come back now!’. That was the big mistake I made. I thought people would be there waiting, like they were with French & Saunders or Vic & Bob, but it didn’t seem to work like that for me. It’s not a regret, because I’m glad I’ve done all the stuff I’ve done, but there is a certain sadness. Did you have any concerns that your reputation as an impressionist might have counted against you receiving the recognition you deserved as an actor? No, not at all. Almost the other way round, really. You worry that you’re getting offered parts because you’re a name, but then you’ve got to prove that you can do it. I think maybe I got a couple of offers straight away simply because people thought I would be good box office. But when you’re offered a role like I had in The Merry Wives Of Windsor, where you have two parts effectively, or The Little Shop Of Horrors, where you’re playing six or seven parts, it makes sense that you do it. After that, the parts kept coming in, so I thought I must be doing something right. Your craft crosses quite a few genres now. Of all the disciplines you cover, is acting the one you feel most comfortable with? I feel comfortable with whichever one I’m doing at the time. It’s almost like being three different people, depending on what I’m doing. In your head, you have to become an actor - and that makes it difficult to do a oneoff stand-up show. And vice versa. It takes some time to get rid of your instincts. It’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde scenario for me, but I feel at home in all the disciplines. I just love performing, the performing arts and the challenges they bring. Does performing on your home turf in the Midlands bring an added pressure? Yes, always. But with Pygmalion we go to Malvern and then to Coventry - places which are equidistance from Evesham. It’s only when I’m performing in my home town that I feel the extra pressure. I’ve done that with stand-up before and you always get people who go up to my mother to say they have, or haven’t, liked the show. Alistair McGowan stars in Pygmalion at Malvern Theatre, until Sat 3 May; Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 7
Ardal O'Hanlon interview_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:13 Page 1
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I think the best place to start as a comedian is with your own life, and sometimes that will touch on taboo subjects
”
Ardal O’Hanlon returning to stand-up after West End success... Best remembered for his role in the long-lamented TV sitcom Father Ted, Irish comedian Ardal O’Hanlon is also credited with helping to set up Dublin’s first comedy club, the International Comedy Cellar, in the late ‘80s. Having just finished a much-acclaimed stint in the West End - in Conor McPherson’s The Weir - O’Hanlon is this month appearing in the opening line-up at Stratford-upon-Avon’s annual Comedy Hullabaloo event. What’s On recently caught up with him to find out more... Where would you say your style of comedy comes from, Ardal? I’d say it’s fairly absurdist. It’s a kind of quirky view of the world. It’s the rantings, ravings and musings of a man in this oftencrazy world. So yeah, it’s all the silly little frustrations of life, really. Are they your frustrations? Yes, I suppose they are. I have my fair share of them, like everyone else. I think stand-up comedy is great for getting that out, because you quickly realise that everyone has them. It’s sort of an outlet; a release, if you like. 8 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
So you get paid for getting things off your chest? Yeah. Imagine that - getting paid for moaning! I think it’s a pretty good deal. You should try it sometime! I could never imagine myself doing anything else. From a very early age, I couldn’t imagine myself going to work and taking a job seriously, so I had to figure out a way of making a living and getting by on my wits. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me, really. I hate to bandy around the term ‘depressed’, but I think I would be quite down in the dumps if I didn’t have this in my life.
Was comedy evident in your childhood? Not really. I was a fairly quiet kid. I suppose at school, with my friends, was when I first realised I could make people laugh by just doing silly things. I guess I was a bit of a prankster, but nothing really major. I went to university, got involved in debating, and I think that’s when I found my comedy voice and realised that I had a take on things - a way of phrasing things that could trigger a response. It’s just something that kind of evolved. It wasn’t really planned; I just sort of slipped into it, and it got deeper year after year. Before I knew it, I was a fully fledged
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interview... comedian, and I haven’t really looked back.
on track and where I want to be.
What were you studying at university? Communication studies, which was a bit vague. It was a general arts degree and covered radio and TV production, but only in a small way. I guess media studies would be the nearest thing to it these days. I come from a family where they’re all in the professions, and they would’ve loved me to have become a doctor or a lawyer. So this was a big departure for me, to do something at the opposite extreme.
Is your enthusiasm now the same as it was when you started up the Comedy Cellar all those years ago? Yeah. I think that, as I get older, I enjoy it more. That’s possibly because I don’t do it all the time. I go off and do other stuff like theatre and television, so when I come back to stand-up, I’m raring to go. I also find that the more you ‘get on’ and realise how absurd the world - and everything in it - is, stand-up is a real gift. It’s a fantastic medium for trying to make sense of everything.
As mentioned, both your parents had fairly conventional professions. What was their reaction when you said you wanted to perform? I think they were just shocked and confused as to why this shy kid would want to do this. I suppose it is a bit baffling. People who knew me growing up have found it very strange, but there are all kinds of people in comedy. There are the very loud, brash and outgoing people, there are some genuinely insane people doing it, and then there are some very, very normal people in the profession. What you do is create an alterego who can say all the things that you might never say yourself off stage. It’s the same person - he looks like you and he sounds like you - but he’s a bit ‘larger than life’, because he’s on stage and he’s venting. So how do you psyche yourself up before taking to the stage? You beat yourself up a bit and try to talk yourself out of it. Surely not after all these years? No, it’s not so bad now. I used to be terrible. Even up to about five years ago, I used to be one for pacing and retching. It used to take me hours to psyche myself up. Now it takes me about ten minutes. When you were like that, did you ever question why you were putting yourself through it? God, yeah. I used to question myself all the time, but never really felt like giving in. The reality was, I don’t think I’m super but if it didn’t go down well, then I wouldn’t do it. It’s always seemed to go down pretty well, and the audiences seem to like it. The hard part is often coming up with the stuff and writing it to a certain standard. You always want it to be better, and sometimes it’s hard to meet your own standard and your own expectations. Overall, it’s always gone pretty well, though. Nowadays, I really enjoy it. Most people will remember you for playing Father Dougal - a role that got you a lot of attention. Did that bring a certain pressure when you returned to stand-up? There was a touch of that for a few years, but not so much in the last five or six. I think part of the problem was, because I was very busy doing so much television, I didn’t really have the time to work in stand-up for a few years, and therefore I was always playing catch-up. On the one hand, you had audiences expecting a version of Father Dougal; on the other hand, you had me, who was not quite match-fit. So there were a few years where I didn’t do my stand-up justice, but I think in the last, maybe, seven years I’ve really put a lot of emphasis on my performance. I’m back
Back to Father Dougal. How did that initial transition from stand-up to acting come about? I suppose I just stumbled into it. Father Ted was my first big break. I’d just moved to London and things were going really well for me. I hadn’t really thought about acting or TV, but then I was called in to audition for Father Ted. I had no expectations but got the role. The show became a lot bigger than we could ever have anticipated. I suppose it’s only been in recent years - the last three or four that I’ve discovered live theatre. So I’ve kind of gone backwards in the way I’ve gone about this. I’ve started quite late but I absolutely love it. These days, are you finding yourself doing more serious theatre? They’re more dramatic roles. The play I’ve been doing in the West End is a funny play, but it’s pretty heavy in places. It’s quite dramatic and it’s quite moving. The joy of it is not just discovering great plays, though. I think with stand-up you work on your own a little too much and it’s not healthy, so for a couple of months of the year it’s great to go off and do a play with a bunch of other people and form some great relationships, even though they might only be short-lived ones. If you had to choose between stand-up or acting, which would get the nod? I suppose it would have to be stand-up. It combines everything - you’re acting in a way, you’re writing, and also it’s a lot more personal than theatre. For me, though, it’s not really a job, it’s a way of life. I often think that I don’t have a choice. If you’ve found standup, or stand-up has found you, then there’s no way out. You’re trapped... Starting out as a comedian, who would you say influenced you most? Eddie Izzard was very influential; on a personal level as well. I worked with two other guys in Dublin and we had a sketch trio, and Eddie kind of discovered us. He promoted us at a festival in Edinburgh - I think it was 1992 - so he literally took us under his wing. In respect of the work he was producing, he was a huge influence because he’d invented a whole new language for stand-up. I was mighty impressed with him. It was kind of surreal but it was joyful. Eddie was the most noteable one, but I also admired people like Jack Dee - he’s a craftsman with this very surly persona, which I really like. There were also a lot of American comedians that I was in awe of - people like Bill Hicks and, going back even further, Steve Martin and Steve Wright, a surreal one-liner merchant.
In terms of material, is there ever a subject that’s taboo? I make lots of mistakes, like a lot of people do, but I guess I’m not that interested in shocking by doing, for example, stuff about missing children - and I wouldn’t do jokes about the Holocaust. I think the best place to start as a comedian is with your own life, and sometimes that will touch on taboo subjects. In my case, I’ll talk about the Catholic Church, because I grew up steeped in Catholicism in Ireland. I’ll touch on the abuse scandals in the church. I think it’s kind of lazy and generic to shock just for the sake of it. You’ve got to have some sort of take on it, but I think things become fashionable in comedy, as with everything else. If there’s a massive scandal in the press, then many comedians feel compelled to do something about it just because everyone else is, even though it’s not particularly funny. To me, that’s lazy and a bit too obvious. You have three children - are they accepting of your style of humour? I think so. They’re now of an age where they enjoy it more, though I think they like the idea of it more than the actual material. They love the fact that they can get into festivals with me. Do they ever give you advice on material for your shows? No. I’m always asking them what they think I should talk about, but they haven’t come up with anything spectacular for me to use - yet! You’ve spoken in the past about your father being very driven. Is that a trait you share? I’m ambitious but I wouldn’t say I’m overly driven. It’s not for me to say, of course, but I think I’m quite well balanced. I’m very accepting of stuff and I’m not very pushy. While I enjoy doing good work and I want to do good work, I also want to be able to sit at home reading and watching box sets. Do you have a favourite place to perform? I love performing in the United States, purely because they’re so ridiculously enthusiastic. They make it really easy for you, and you can really relax - but I really like performing in the UK as well. English audiences are very fairminded, discriminating and discerning. Playing Ireland is great, but the audiences can be very lively. Generally, I take every show on its own merit and as it comes. What’s been the proudest moment in your career? It’s hard to say, but just a couple of weeks ago I was nominated for an Olivier Award. I guess I was pretty proud of that because it was so unexpected. It’s kind of a big departure for me, this theatre thing, and so I suppose I allowed myself a little swelling of pride there. Normally I wouldn’t. I genuinely don’t dwell on past achievements. My philosophy is not to look back and not to look too far ahead. Stay in the present and deal with what’s on the agenda that day.
Ardal O’Hanlon appears as part of Comedy Hullabaloo at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, on Thurs 22 May.
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“
My starting point has to be that people are chosen at random, therefore I work the show around that. I don’t do things in the show that will only work with a very particular type of person
”
Derren Brown
the master of psychological illusion spills the beans Illusionist, mentalist, hypnotist and sceptic, Derren Brown is best known not only for his mindreading act but also for the fact that he openly admits it has nothing whatsoever to do with psychic or paranormal practices. Instead, he says that his successes are down to a combination of ‘magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship’. Derren this month returns to the Midlands with latest offering Infamous, which he describes as a ‘more stripped-down show’. What’s On recently caught up with the master of psychological illusion to find out what audiences can expect... Infamous is a mammoth tour. How do you keep things fresh when you’re doing the same thing night after night? I think that’s part and parcel of doing a show. Every time you do it, it should feel like the first time, other than that you’re on top of the words because you’ve spoken them so many times before. If you start out thinking, ‘oh, here we go again’, which can occasionally creep in, that’s when things start to feel like you’re on autopilot. Then everybody gets bored with the show, even 10 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
though they don’t quite know why. For me, though, doing the show is a treat. I love having my days free. What’s your starting point when writing a new show? It starts off with the sense of a mood that you want to create. Aside from the ‘tricks’ aspect of it, you’re writing a show that’s a night of theatre. That means your first thought tends to be about creating moments or images or things that are really going to stick with
people. My first call is always, ‘here are two thousand people locked in a room with me, what would be an amazing thing to have happen to them?’. I read people’s tweets, which often say, “OMG! I’m going to see Derren Brown. He’s going to **** with my mind!”. Twitter is a useful way of reminding myself what people’s expectations are, so that I can make sure that I meet them. So you start out with a bunch of feelings and moods and things that you want to supply. The aim is to give people something they
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interview... couldn’t get anywhere else; things they couldn’t get with a magic show, couldn’t get with a play. After that comes the tricks, and after that comes how you set about making things happen. That’s the last consideration, really. There must be pressure to keep upping your game. How much further can you take your craft? I don’t think it’s about upping the game. You’d begin to go mad if you saw it in terms of ‘it’s got to be bigger and better’. You’d end up breaking away from the things that root it in being intelligent and having an important subtext to it. With TV a couple of years ago, I did the Apocalypse show, which was this huge and ambitious project. Then, after that, I did a show that was much quieter, based around a painting getting stolen from a gallery by a bunch of OAPs. Infamous is a much more stripped-down show. I don’t see it being about topping my last effort, but you do have to make sure that the show delivers every time. And that certainly gets more difficult to achieve, because you sometimes feel you’ve been there before with the ideas you have. Would you credit yourself with taking magic to a new level? I wouldn’t necessarily say that, but what I’ve done, just from my own point of view, is to grow out of the desire to impress people with tricks. I think if you’re an insecure kid or teenager - or student, as I was - you want to impress people, and tricks are a very nice, easy way of doing so. By the time I’d grown out of that, I’d had some TV success, so it felt mad to leave it behind and do something more grown up. What I did do, though, was find a way of doing it which would still continue to be interesting for me. I wasn’t interested in just going, ‘Hey, look at me. Look at this amazing thing I can do!’. So although the stage shows are still a bit more rooted in that, TV has gone down a different route and the focus isn’t really on me anymore. Now it’s on members of the public doing something extraordinary. Also, what’s interesting about that is that you’ve suddenly got drama, whereas being a magician or reading someone’s mind isn’t necessarily great drama. Classically, a magician clicks his fingers and something happens. That’s like a ‘whimsical god’ thing, and there’s nothing dramatic in it. So if I’ve taken it to another place, it’s nothing other than that. As for the stage shows, I’m doing a new show every two years. I don’t think any other stage magician has ever done that, so in a sense maybe that’s new too. Is it easier to deliver your craft live to a theatre audience, or in front of a TV camera? It’s different! In some ways - and you see it a lot with other magicians on TV - it’s easy to make a TV magic show look amazing, because you can edit it in any way you want. You can cheat in any way you want. There are all sorts of things that are at your disposal, and one TV production company may have a different set of ethical rules to another. I think the trouble with TV is it’s too easy to fake it - and if you’re not faking it, people don’t know that you’re not. It’s difficult to judge, whereas on stage you really see every moment of it - especially with
people being chosen at random from the audience, which is how I do it. You may get involved with someone, and if things don’t quite work out, you’re going to see that happen. You’re going to see every moment of the process. You haven’t got that little border around it which you have with TV, where the edges are cut off in terms of what you’re seeing. As a TV audience, you only see what the camera is pointing at. I think with live shows there’s a fairness to it. I also think the point of magic is to generate that feeling of wonder and amazement, and I don’t get that when I’m watching magic on TV anymore. With a live show, how do you assess the right candidate for a particular stunt? My starting point has to be that people are chosen at random, therefore I work the show around that. I don’t do things in the show that will only work with a very particular type of person. There are times when I can do something over the whole audience and then pick someone I want to use - though that can only be done very sparingly, otherwise people would think it was stooged. It’s partly that, partly the writing of the show and the ideas that I come up with. Most of the things I do will work with about ninety percent of the audience. Occasionally I’ll get someone up on the stage and realise it’s not going to work, so I apologise and send them back. Then there are the obvious tricks that I know will only work on a few people, so by that point I’ve earned the licence to go and pick somebody out of the audience myself. In the past, you’ve described yourself as being a bit of a sceptic. What is it that you’re sceptical about? By that I mean that what I’m doing treads the line of psychic ability and magical powers. I realised early on that there was a responsibility to contain what I’m doing within a theatrical framework and also to debunk - I know it’s a bit of a witless word, but there are charlatans out there who could do with a bit of debunking. That’s a kind of sceptical agenda - showing how people such as mediums and faith healers can operate, and how that stuff can be faked or how you can draw yourself into believing it. I think that’s an important notion to get out there, so that people can make a more informed decision about whether they want to go and spend money on people like that, and maybe risk getting into an addictive cycle, which I think can be really damaging. I believe it’s down to people like me to express that. I tend to do it by replicating a lot of the stuff and then saying I’m not using any psychic or magic powers, and that what I’m doing is entirely rational. I think that works better than trying to pull it apart, or saying ‘this is how the psychic does it’. I think being specific about the reference doesn’t actually do the job, whereas if you replicate it and make it entertaining, people are just left with that diffidence; a kind of a conflict that they can’t quite resolve. As viewers, we often perceive people’s lives are being put at risk with some of your stunts, like with the Russian Roulette stunt. Is there always an element of risk? There can be, inasmuch as things might not work out quite the way you planned, but you’d never put people at risk of harm.
There’s an enormous duty of care towards people who’re taking part in the show. With Apocalypse, we had someone going through a traumatic experience, believing the world was going to end. It did, and they woke up to find their family had gone and there were zombies everywhere. Something like that has to be plotted very carefully. The choice of person has to be made very carefully, and their ongoing experiences have to be presented in a way that’s passed as acceptable by psychiatrists and psychologists, to make sure the balance is always kept right. There are all sorts of physical things that can be put into place to make sure they can’t do certain things that might cause harm. There’s a huge amount of behind-the-scenes stuff, and sometimes, to preserve a sense of drama, you don’t spell out all of those things. People have said ‘what if he’d picked up a big stick and whacked one of the zombies, what would have happened then? It doesn’t make sense. It must all be fake’. What they don’t know is that we will have picked up every possible weapon from the site. There are lots of things to consider, but it’s all taken care of. Has there ever been a time when you’ve overlooked something, resulting in things going wrong? No, there really hasn’t. There’s a whole team of people making sure that this person I’ve chosen is malleable, and that I have all the things I need. I just know it will run like clockwork once he or she is in the world that they need to be put in - I know they’ll respond very well to everything. With a lot of those shows, he or she is just one unwitting participant alongside a whole cast of actors intent on making this thing happen, and it always does. Sometimes, little things occur which may shock. Like with the end of Apocalypse. I called him up and hypnotised him over the phone to bring him out of his story, and he collapsed to the ground. He had this heavy rucksack on his back and he collapsed face-first into the grass. Our hearts jumped and it was firstly, ‘oh, is he okay?’ and secondly, ‘can we really show that on TV, it’s all a bit too dramatic, isn’t it?’. But he was okay, as were Channel Four about showing it. Things like that might catch you by surprise, but generally it’s okay. Have you ever been hypnotised? I’m a classically bad subject. I think people who’re emotionally very open tend to be good subjects, and I’m not. I did have one experience at a hypnotic workshop where I found myself out of it. As far as I was concerned, I was on a beach; I could feel the sand, I could hear the waves - but then it finished, I snapped out of it and that was that. You mentioned you’re writing a book at the moment. What’s it about? It’s about happiness, but I’m still in the process of writing the first draft at the moment. I’m writing it during the day while I’m out on tour. I anticipate it’ll be out some time next year.
Derren Brown appears at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Mon 5 to Sat 10 May
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Music Quantic Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Sat 10 May
Quantic is just one name used by Will Holland, a musician and producer hailing from Bewdley in Worcestershire who currently resides in Columbia. Recording under monikers including The Quantic Soul Orchestra and The Limp Twins, he creates beat-heavy sounds in the ‘soul, Latin and funk’ category. Now onto his fifteenth studio record, this globally renowned musician and vinyl collector uses hand-sourced samples to add an international flavour to his music. He stops off in Birmingham on a whistlestop UK tour before playing festivals across America this summer. DJ support comes from Sam Redmore (Leftfoot).
Shreya Ghoshal National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, Mon 26 May
Brought up in the quaint town of Rawatbhata in Rajasthan, Shreya Ghoshal got her first real break when she won Reality TV show SaReGa Ma. It was here that Shreya impressed director Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who later chose her to become the voice of the protagonist Paro in Devdas. With umpteen awards under her belt, this pitch-perfect songstress has become an icon for millions of young people.
Robert Cray Band
Janelle Monae The Institute, Birmingham, Thurs 8 May
Paying Birmingham fans a compliment by playing here on her exclusive three-date tour, Janelle Monae is The Electric Lady, and plays in support of the album of the same name. Nominated for Best International Female at the BRITS this year, Janelle’s new album has already spawned singles Primetime and Q.U.E.E.N., featuring Erykah Badu. Wearing only a uniform of monochrome, her alter-ego Cindi Mayweather is an alien sent from the future to save mankind. Watch instead as she saves the music industry with her Bowie-esque creativity and imagination. Cody Chesnutt supports.
Town Hall, Birmingham, Mon 5 May
Nearly forty years a performer, Robert Cray is an American blues guitarist and singer - and one of the most accomplished musicians ever to grace the Town Hall stage. Nominated fifteen times for a Grammy Award, winning on five occasions, he’s not only been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame but has even been credited with reinventing the blues by Rolling Stone magazine. This Birmingham stop-off comes in support of his soul, blues and jazz-influenced seventeenth album, In My Soul, which was produced by Steve Jordan, who’s worked with John Mayer and Keith Richards. Azadeh supports.
Katy Perry LG Arena, Birmingham, Tues 13 - Wed 14 May
One-time Christian artist Katy hit the bigtime with a secular sound that's been described as a mix of 'sass and spunk'. The multi-award-winning Californian combines cheeky pop with more commercial pop/rock music, presenting a sound that calls to mind Lily Allen, Avril Lavigne and Alanis Morissette. Having chalked up over eleven million album sales and eighty-one million singles sales worldwide, Katy this month visits Birmingham on her Prismatic World Tour, which she’s undertaking in support of fourth studio album Prism. Icona Pop support.
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 13
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BRIAN YEATES ASSOCIATES PROUDLY PRESENTS...
Stand Up & Rock ★ ★ ★ FEATURING ★ ★ ★
JASPER CARROTT THE BEV BEVAN BAND TREVOR BURTON GEOFF TURTON JOY STRACHAN-BRAIN SEPTEMBER 2014 Tue 16th Sept - Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton - 01902 429212 Fri 19th & Sat 20th Sept - Concordia Theatre, Hinckley - 01455 615005 Tue 23rd - Fri 26th Sept - Arts Complex, Solihull - 0121 704 6962
OCTOBER 2014 Thurs 16th Oct - Town Hall, Dudley - 01384 812812 Fri 17th Oct - Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury - 01684 295074 Tues 21st Oct - Town Hall, Birmingham - 0121 345 0600 Thurs 23rd - Sat 25th Oct - Palace Theatre, Redditch - 01527 65203 Sun 26th Oct - Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury - 01743 281281 Thurs 30th & Fri 31st Oct - Town Hall, Sutton Coldfield - 0121 464 8990
June 16th 2014 - Garrick Theatre, Lichfield
NOVEMBER 2014 Sat 1st Nov Civic Theatre, Bedworth 02476 376707 Tues 11th - Sat 15th Nov Garrick Theatre, Lichfield 01543 412121 Mon 17th Nov Playhouse, Nottingham 01159 419419
...trut ltyo a nighber. remem
Sept 16th 2014 - Garrick Theatre, Lichfield Oct 11th 2014 - Solihull Arts Complex
www.brianyeates.co.uk
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Music PREVIEWS Clean Bandit The Institute, Birmingham, Mon 5 May
Riding high on the success of single Rather Be, which stayed put at number one for four weeks in January, Clean Bandit are back for their second headlining UK tour. Tagged by The Guardian as ‘the UK’s number one classical-dance crossover act’, the Cambridgeeducated quartet this month release debut album New Eyes, featuring previously released singles A+E, Mozart’s House and Dust Clears. If you didn’t manage to buy tickets for this sold-out show, you can still catch them at Wireless in July. Javeon and Kidnap Kid support at The Institute.
Eagles LG Arena, Birmingham, Wed 28 - Thurs 29 May
Albert Hammond Jr The Glee Club, Birmingham, Sun 11 May
With The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, John Lennon and The Velvet Underground cited as his major influences, it’s fair to say Albert Hammond Jr has learned his craft from the best. His father no doubt contributed to his education too, having himself enjoyed plenty of success in the singles charts during the 1960s and ’70s, both as a songwriter and a singer. A member of the indie rock band The Strokes, Hammond Jr released his first solo album, Yours To Keep, back in 2006, following up with a second offering two years later. He plays Birmingham as part of a UK tour.
Drawing on a back-catalogue spanning forty-plus years, The Eagles here make a welcome return to the Midlands - where they last performed in 2009 - for a concert that features all their classic numbers, including Lyin' Eyes, Best Of My Love and Desperado. One of the world’s best-selling bands, with a staggering one hundred-and-fifty million record sales under their collective belt, they’re probably best known for the hit 1977 single Hotel California, from their album of the same name... This Birmingham gig sees them presenting their History Of The Eagles show, which they began touring last year in support of the similarly titled documentary release.
Julie Fowlis
De La Soul
Artrix, Bromsgrove, Mon 26 May
The Assembly, Leamington Spa, Tues 6 May
Although you may not know her by name, you might have heard Julie singing two songs - Touch Of Sky and Into The Open Air on the soundtrack to hit Disney film Brave. Singing primarily in Gaelic, the talented Scot has been successful in crossing over to English-speaking audiences, and has recently released fourth studio album Gach Sgeul (Every Story).
It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty-five years since hip-hop trio Da La Soul released seminal album 3 Feet High And Rising. Nonetheless, here they are marking the occasion with a nine-date UK tour, as well as appearances at Glastonbury, Bestival and Kendall Calling. Making an unexpected move by releasing their entire back-catalogue for free for Valentine’s Day, they’ve recently been back in the studio to record a new album - You’re Welcome - and mixtape - Smell The D.A.I.S.Y. much to the delight of their fans.
Blair Dunlop Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Tues 27 May
Pink Fairies The Robin, Bilston, Thurs 15 May
Even by the crazy standards of the early1970s music scene, Pink Fairies were revellers in excess. Active in London’s Ladbroke Grove underground and psychedelic scene, they were well known for their promotion both of free music and drug taking, and garnered a reputation for performing impromptu concerts - and not always welcome ones. Hailed by Sex Pistol John Lydon as his favourite old-wave band, they’re this year coming together a quarter-century after their last outing, and feature originals Russell Hunter and Duncan ‘Sandy’ Sanderson performing with guitarist supremo Andy Colquhoun.
Showcasing his skills as a singer, guitarist and songwriter, Blair Dunlop plays the Hare & Hounds the day after the release of his eagerly awaited second album, House Of Jacks. Blair is part of a musical dynasty, his father being Ashley Hutchings, the famed cofounder of Fairport Convention. Ashley joined his son on the latter’s debut offering, Blight And Blossom, last year, a release which was hailed as one of the most well-crafted folk albums of 2013. Presenting a sound that’s tinged with an American country and bluegrass feel, Blair plays Birmingham as part of a twelve-date UK tour.
Echo And The Bunnymen The Assembly, Leamington Spa, Fri 2 May; Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton, Sun 11 May
Hailing from Liverpool, Echo & The Bunnymen have released twelve studio albums in a career spanning more than three decades. Following Ian McCulloch’s departure in 1988, the loss of drummer Pete de Freitas the following year, and a split in 1993, the band regrouped four years later and continued to make music. Their Midlands gigs come as part of a brand new tour in support of equally brand new album Meteorites, which returning frontman McCulloch describes as “up there in heaven - untouchable, celestial, beautiful and real. It has changed my life”. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 15
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BRING YOUR PARTY TO OUR PARTY AT THE NAILCOTE HALL HOTEL
SPRING & SUMMER EVENTS 2014 SPECIAL OCCASIONS AND ANNUAL EVENTS 7th t1 Y a S A
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THE MOTOWN ‘BLACK TIE’ MIDSUMMER BALL
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WITH RICHIE SAMPSONS DRIFTERS
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ROYAL ASCOT ‘LADIES DAY Enjoy Champagne Reception, buffet lunch & live coverageof the races on the big screen TV followed by afternoon tea and disco
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www.nailcotehall.co.uk Nailcote Hall Hotel, Nailcote Lane, Berkswell, Warwickshire CV7 7DE
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Music GIG REVIEWS
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For further reviews, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk
For full listing information on gigs, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Elbow LG Arena, Birmingham Kicking off their first UK tour in just under two years, Elbow returned to Birmingham last month in support of their recently released record, The Take Off And Landing Of Everything. With the gig pretty much sold out, the receptive crowd cheered as the band took to the stage after a warm-up by Doves frontman Jimi Goodwin. Despite the new tour supporting The Take Off And Landing Of Everything, the twohour-long set also featured plenty of tracks from their previous records, Build A Rocket Boys! and The Seldom Seen Kid. Backed by a brilliant brass and strings section, the band played hit tracks such as The Bones Of You, New York Morning and Mirrorball, as well as a soultouching version of The Heart Will Always Win, dedicated to those in the audience who were missing someone. Most of the band’s sixteentrack set was, as expected, relaxed. However, when it reached Grounds For Divorce, the rulebook went out of the window, their roaring rendition of one of their most famous songs breathing new life into everyone in the LG Arena. In between songs, Elbow lead singer Guy Garvey provided plenty of banter, telling stories and cracking jokes in a way that suited the band perfectly. The show itself was impressive yet restrained. Despite the occasional acoustic track here and there, the encore was certainly the highlight of the show for me, with a double act of Lippy Kids and One Day Like This generating a fantastic response from the crowd, egged on by Garvey. I’m already wishing them a speedy return to Birmingham, but in the meantime, fear not they’re quite active on the festival circuit this year. Ryan Humphreys ■■■■
THU 1 MAY THE STEVE GIBBONS BAND The Robin, Bilston TALON - THE BEST OF THE EAGLES Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa COCO & THE BUTTERFLIES Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DAVID SERERO The Glee Club, Birmingham NINE BLACK ALPS The Flapper, Birmingham THE PSYCHEDELIC WARLORDS The Roadhouse, Birmingham MIKE STEWART LAWRENCE Dovehouse Theatre, Solihull UNDER THE INFLUENCE The Asylum, Birmingham FAULKNER The Jam House, Birmingham LADY FUEL Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham EVERYBODY LOOKS FAMOUS/WHITE CLOUDS & GUNFIRE The Institute, Birmingham THE FALL Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
FRI 2 MAY
The Blockheads The Robin, Bilston A welcome return visit to Bilston for The Blockheads, currently touring their latest album. With their new material being every bit as poetic as early-days Blockheads offerings, Derek ‘The Draw’ Hussey and the boys are ensuring that the legacy of the late Ian Dury, who died thirteen years ago, not only lives on but is also celebrated - hence the choice of Same Horse, Different Jockey! as the album’s title. Accompanied by noted bassist Norman Watt-Roy, Hussey belts out the new material alongside plenty of classics numbers. Thirty years on and The Blockheads are still as rock’n’roll as ever. A band of ageing members, sure; but not of ageing talent. Luc Lichtle ■■■■
TALON Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton FROM THE JAM The Robin, Bilston GROUPER The Jam House, Birmingham MCBUSTED LG Arena, Birmingham KAZABIAN O2 Academy, Birmingham THE COUNTERFEIT SIXTIES TRIBUTE SHOW Huntingdon Hall, Worcester PULLED APART BY HORSES The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent ABSOLVA & BABYLON FIRE The Asylum, Birmingham CYMBALS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham PROSUMER Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DEPECHE MODE - BLACK CELEBRATION The River Rooms, Stourbridge JUPITER ATE & THE DELTA RHYTHM The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham MENTALLICA The Roadhouse, Birmingham ROBBIE WILLIAMS TRIBUTE The Great Barr Hotel, Birmingham STOP STOP & LOVEBITE Route 44, Birmingham RED LIGHT ROOM The Institute, Birmingham ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN The Assembly, Leamington Spa TOSELAND The Asylum, Birmingham TAKE TWO Irish Centre, Birmingham FRYS CREAM The Marr’s Bar, Worcester
IRON KNIGHTS & ERADIKATOR Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham MY NU LENG & ROYAL-T The Assembly, Leamington Spa
SAT 3 MAY MCBUSTED LG Arena, Birmingham GROUPER The Jam House, Birmingham JETHRO TULL’S IAN ANDERSON Symphony Hall, Birmingham THE COUNTERFEIT STONES The Robin, Bilston MAGNUM Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton THE NAKED BEATLES Nailcote Hall, Berkswell THE QUIK & THE KLIKS Artrix, Bromsgrove MARTIN CARTHY & ELIZA CARTHY mac - Midlands Arts Centre, B’ham INTRIGUE IN TANGIERS Solihull Arts Complex STEVE BROOKSTEIN Artrix, Bromsgrove THE DECADES BAND The River Rooms, Stourbridge BOOTLEG BLONDIE The Roadhouse, B’ham MALARKI The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham IVOR & LYNN’S CLASSIC ROCK DISCO Route 44, Birmingham MIDLANDS’ METAL CRUSADE The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton CONGO NATTY Hare & Hounds, Birmingham FIRE IN CAIRO, DINKY, SUNDAY 44 & CHANGING SEASONS O2 Academy, Birmingham THE HURLING BOYS Irish Centre, Birmingham A FOREIGNERS JOURNEY The Marr’s Bar, Worcester SEDULUS, PROSPERINA, KI & PIST Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham VAULT OF EAGLES & BLEECH & REAP The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham FATHOMS, BLACK DOGS, FAILURE TO FOLLOW & VEXXEN The Flapper, Birmingham
SUN 4 MAY YES Symphony Hall, Birmingham ALBERT LEE & HOGAN’S HEROES Artrix, Bromsgrove FUDGESTOCK The Robin, Bilston BLACK Artrix, Bromsgrove LOCO DICE, ROBERT DIETZ, ADAM SHELTON & SUBB-AN The Rainbow Venues, Birmingham EROL ALKAN Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DIRTY DC The River Rooms, Stourbridge
SNARKY PUPPY The Glee Club, Birmingham RONI SIZE The Assembly, Leamington Spa THE INDIANS Irish Centre, Birmingham THE MACHINE BREAKERS The Marr’s Bar, Worcester PEARL SCAM The Roadhouse, Birmingham THEM AND NOW Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham SHONEN KNIFE The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry
MON 5 MAY ROBERT CRAY Birmingham Town Hall THE DUNNETT/BAXTER BIG BAND The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham LAKE STREET DIVE The Glee Club, Birmingham CLEAN BANDIT The Institute, Birmingham AMY KAKOURA Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham EMPIRE, TIGERPUNCH & ZIM ZIM The Flapper, Birmingham THE REDLANDS PALOMINO COMPANY The Marr’s Bar, Worcester
TUE 6 MAY BRENDAN SHINE Solihull Arts Complex FISH The Robin, Bilston BARRENCE WHITFIELD & THE SAVAGES The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton MODERN MINDS, ALEX MOIR, GEORGE GADD & PINK VIOLENCE The Acress & Bishop, Birmingham YELLOW OSTRICH Hare & Hounds, Birmingham WILD CLUB Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DE LA SOUL The Assembly, Leamington Spa BAD RABBITS O2 Academy, Birmingham NADIINE DANIIELS & MISS DORA The Jam House, Birmingham 10CC’S GRAHAM GOULDMAN & FRIENDS The Glee Club, Birmingham BAD RABBITS O2 Academy, Birmingham STYLUSBOY Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry NICK LOWE Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
WED 7 MAY JOE TOPPING TRIO The Red Lion Folk Club, Birmingham HANNAH JAMES & SAM SWEENEY Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury THE WONDER YEARS The Institute, Birmingham GRAEME CLARK mac, Birmingham TWO MAN TING The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham MOTOR CITY MEMORIES Crewe Lyceum, Cheshire THE BREW The Robin, Bilston SOLIDS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham SEPTEMBER GIRLS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham BEAT BROTHERS The Jam House, Birmingham
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Music LISTINGS For full listing information on gigs, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk FRASER ANDERSON Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
THU 8 MAY THE FUREYS & DAVEY ARTHUR Solihull Arts Complex, Birmingham MICHAEL BOLTON Civic Hall, Wolverhampton THE RIFLES The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton UK SUBS The Robin, Bilston THE COUNTERFEIT STONES The Swan Theatre, Worcester JANELLE MONAE The Institute, Birmingham MOOD INDIGO The Jam House, Birmingham FATAL CHAOS, KRITICAL CHARGE, METHODEMIC, BITTER ALLIANCE & ARAMANTUS O2 Academy, Birmingham REUBEN FOWLER SEXTET Bramall Music Building, Birmingham THE GRAND SLAMBOVIANS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham SONS & LOVERS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DESOLATED, SENTENCED, GROVE STREET FAMILIES & BLOOD CURDLER The Flapper, Birmingham VIRGIL & THE ACCELERATORS The Marr’s Bar, Worcester NIGHTBLADE & SUPERFECTA The River Rooms, Stourbridge THE STARVING DOGS & FALLOW FIELDS The Roadhouse, Birmingham SWAATI KHUNTI Symphony Hall, Birmingham TURIN BRAKES The Assembly, Leamington Spa JOOLS HOLLAND & HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
FRI 9 MAY T-REXTASY Solihull Arts Complex TRU GROOVE The Jam House, Birmingham BIG UP THE 90’S The Robin, Bilston QUILL Tamworth Assembly Rooms THE FLOWER KINGS & SOUND OF CONTACT The Assembly, Leamington Spa CRAIG CHARLES Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry DJ YODA The Assembly, Leamington Spa MARTIN SIMPSON Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton BO NINGEN Hare & Hounds, Birmingham MARTIN CARTHY & ELIZA CARTHY Huntingdon Hall, Worcester SNOWBLIND, IRON VOID, HOLLOW EARTH, LOOORD
& BURDEN OF THE NOOSE The Asylum, Birmingham THE ELVIS YEARS The Swan Theatre, Worcester THE REAL THING Artrix, Bromsgrove SINGING NINA The Drum, Birmingham OLLIE HUGHES AS ROBBIE WILLIAMS The River Rooms, Stourbridge SAM PEPPER The Institute, Birmingham THE KOOKS The Institute, Birmingham THE RYANS Irish Centre, Birmingham MENTALLICA The Marr’s Bar, Worcester QUOMOTION Route 44, Birmingham PINK MARTINI PRESENTS THE VON TRAPS Birmingham Town Hall REED BASS Symphony Hall, Birmingham SNOOTY BOBS O2 Academy, Birmingham FRIENDLY FIRE BAND Hare & Hounds, Birmingham KING KRAB The Roadhouse, Birmingham
SAT 10 MAY TRU GROOVE The Jam House, Birmingham DON WILLIAMS Symphony Hall, Birmingham THE DAMES OF DARKNESS FESTIVAL The Robin, Bilston THREE SPIRE ROMANCE The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham THE SOUTH The Assembly, Leamington Spa THE RIFLES The Assembly, Leamington Spa LIVEWIRE The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton JOHN COOPER CLARKE Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton MARTY WILDE AND THE WILDCATS Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire DIRE STREETS Huntingdon Hall, Worcester BABAJACK Artrix, Bromsgrove EMBRACE O2 Academy, Birmingham D-RAN D-RAN The River Rooms, Stourbridge PANIC! AT THE DISCO Civic Hall, Wolverhampton QUANTIC Hare & Hounds, Birmingham CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN The Institute, Birmingham THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC Number 8 Community Arts Centre, Pershore A FOREIGNERS JOURNEY The Roadhouse, Birmingham ENERGY GOD, MACKA DIAMOND, RANDY VALENTINE, REDMAN UK, V.ROCKET, BIG JOHN &
NWR The Institute, Birmingham UNDER THE COVERS Irish Centre, Birmingham PUNK’D THE SPIRIT OF 77 Route 44, Birmingham ANIMA, SECOND CITY FIRE, MUTT & THE REAL QUAID Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham THE RAINBAND O2 Academy, Birmingham PURSON, WITCHSORROW, MEADOWS, SPACE WITCH, VODUN & ALUNAH The Asylum, Birmingham THOSE AMONGST US ARE WOLVES The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry
SUN 11 MAY LIFESIGNS The Robin, Bilston ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton ALBERT HAMMOND JR The Glee Club, Birmingham PURE LOVE O2 Academy, Birmingham LITTLE JIMMY Irish Centre, Birmingham DAVID GIBB & ELLY LUCAS Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham PATSY MATHESON Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham JOHN DENTON’S MIDNIGHT BAND The Marr’s Bar, Worcester LESS FOR MURDER, THE DALGRAINS & CARL MCFADYEN The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham GOATESS, SERPENT VENOM, SIGIRYA, EARTHMASS, OPIUM LORD & TRENCH OF BONES The Asylum, Birmingham BEAR HANDS & YOUNG MYTHS The Institute, Birmingham
MON 12 MAY TORI AMOS Symphony Hall, Birmingham WOLF ALICE The Institute, Birmingham INME, THE RED PAINTINGS & OXYGEN THIEF The Flapper, Birmingham HARPETH RISING Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham ANGEL AT MY TABLE O2 Academy, Birmingham
TUE 13 MAY BELINDA CARLISLE Birmingham Town Hall MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES O2 Academy, Birmingham JAGWAR MA The Institute, Birmingham KATY PERRY LG Arena, Birmingham REALMS Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry MUGENKYO TAIKO DRUMMERS Bramall Music Building, Birmingham DELAYS The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton WE WERE EVERGREEN Hare & Hounds, B’ham UP4 THE DOWNSTROKE The Jam House, B’ham MORGAN O’KANE Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham
WED 14 MAY KATY PERRY LG Arena,
Birmingham THE SEARCHERS Artrix, Bromsgrove THE IAN SIEGAL BAND The Robin, Bilston BOO HEWERDINE The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton JIMMY LEE & THE EDGE OF CHAOS ORCHESTRA The Red Lion Folk Club, Birmingham THREE STEP MANOEUVRE FUNKY ORGAN TRIO The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham TELEMAN Hare & Hounds, Birmingham MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD O2 Academy, Birmingham
THU 15 MAY CARA DILLON Artrix, Bromsgrove RODNEY BRANIGAN & TIM SNIDER Hare & Hounds, Birmingham STACKRIDGE Huntingdon Hall, Worcester THE PLATINUM ROGUES The Jam House, B’ham PINK FAIRIES The Robin, Bilston BETHAN AND THE MORGANS, SMALL CHANGES & OWD YER OSSIES The Roadhouse, B’ham CHARLIE SIMPSON O2 Academy, Birmingham DRUMSCAPES WITH JON STERCKX Symphony Hall, Birmingham RACHEL RIES The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry
FRI 16 MAY DR FEELGOOD & EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS The Robin, Bilston DAN WHITEHOUSE & COLE STACEY Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham DETROIT SOUL The Jam House, Birmingham LITTLE MIX LG Arena, Birmingham CHRIS CONNOR AS ELVIS Forest Arts Centre, Walsall BEATY HEART Hare & Hounds, Birmingham MILEY CYRUS National Indoor Arena, B’ham THE WHISKEY SYNDICATE The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton THE NEIL DIAMOND STORY Huntingdon Hall, Worcester MUGENKYO TAIKO DRUMMERS The Swan Theatre, Worcester JOE BROWN Birmingham Town Hall AUGUSTINES The Institute, Birmingham THE EMISSARIES The Actress & Bishop, B’ham THE 80’S PROJECT The River Rooms, Stourbridge FRED ZEPPELIN Route 44, Birmingham ACTION BRONSON O2 Academy, Birmingham SUGGS: MY LIFE STORY Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa THE BIG FOUR TRIBUTE BAND The Roadhouse, Birmingham FACTORY FLOOR Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DUKE, THE LITTLE
DEATHS, THE VECTORS & STATIC IRONY O2 Academy, Birmingham TERRAFORM The Asylum, Birmingham LOTTE MULLAN The Glee Club, Birmingham MILESTONE EXPRESS Irish Centre, B’ham THE TOTAL STONE ROSES The Marr’s Bar, Worcester FIREBRAND SUPER ROCK Scruffy Murphys, B’ham HORSE HOUSE Symphony Hall, B’ham
SAT 17 MAY DETROIT SOUL The Jam House, Birmingham ROCK 4 SPON 3 The Robin, Bilston THE CHANTEL MCGREGOR BAND Artrix, Bromsgrove MCBUSTED LG Arena, Birmingham SOUL PARTY WITH SOUL SURVIVORS & MEL DAY Nailcote Hall, Berkswell BUDDY HOLLY ROCK AND ROLL PARTY Huntingdon Hall, Worcester THE SKIRR The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton THE TREORCHY MALE VOICE CHOIR Bedworth Civic Hall LIT The Institute, B’ham ULTRA 90’S The River Rooms, Stourbridge THAT’LL BE THE DAY Birmingham Town Hall WE ARE SAVIOURS O2 Academy, Birmingham SECOND CITY FIRE The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham SWEDE DREAMZ - ABBA TRIBUTE The Great Barr Hotel, Birmingham TOO REX The Roadhouse, Birmingham CHRISTIAN DEATH The Assembly, Leamington Spa PAT BRESLIN Irish Centre, Birmingham REVERE The Marr’s Bar, Worcester GENERATION N, EASTFIELD & ACHOHOL LICKS Route 44, Birmingham WESTERN SAND & FEDERAL CHARM Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham PERHAPS CONTRAPTION Symphony Hall, B’ham THE CORRESPONDENTS The Institute, B’ham DILJIT DOSANJH The National Indoor Arena, Birmingham
SUN 18 MAY TRINITY: TOUCHSTONE, THE REASONING & MAGENTA The Assembly, Leamington Spa NINE INCH NAILS LG Arena, Birmingham THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA Wolverhampton Grand Theatre DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA mac, B’ham COURTNEY BARNETT Hare & Hounds, B’ham COCO MONTOYA The Robin, Bilston ELVIS ROXX Dovehouse Theatre, Solihull COURTNEY LOVE O2 Academy, Birmingham JOHN MCNICHOLL Irish Centre, Birmingham
KIERAN GOSS Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham TWO GLASS EYES The Roadhouse, B’ham FRENCH FOR RABBITS, CHRIS BICKNELL & JAMES SAYER The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham
MON 19 MAY THE FRYER BARNHART INTERNATIONAL ALL STARS Solihull Arts Complex THE YOUNG FOLK Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DROWNERS The Sunflower Lounge, B’ham HANK WANGFORD O2 Academy, Birmingham IDIOM The Flapper, Birmingham BIG TENT AND THE GYPSY LANTERN Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham STRING EXPLOSION Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
TUE 20 MAY KEITH JAMES: THE SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN The Robin, Bilston JEFF BECK & BAND Symphony Hall, B’ham BEN MARKLAND BAND The Jam House, Birmingham FORRO SOCIAL Kitchen Garden Cafe, B’ham KYLE CAREY Ort Cafe, Birmingham
WED 21 MAY THE JOHNNY CASH ROADSHOW New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham SPIERS AND BODEN The Red Lion Folk Club, Birmingham GOSPEL CENTRAL The Jam House, B’ham THE PICTISH TRAIL The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry JOOLS HOLLAND & HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA Civic Hall, Wolverhampton BOB WAYNE The Institute, Birmingham TERRY REID WITH BJ COLE The Robin, Bilston CHRIS WOOD Artrix, Bromsgrove GYPSY FIRE Solihull Arts Complex CHAMELEON VOX The Assembly, Leamington Spa THE RUTLES Birmingham Town Hall M.A.D O2 Academy, Birmingham WHORION, THE MIGHTY WRATH & ERADIKATOR The Roadhouse, Birmingham
THU 22 MAY ONE NIGHT OF ELVIS New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham SHAKATAK The Robin, Bilston A CELEBRATION OF NEIL DIAMOND Solihull Arts Complex ELEANOR BROWN Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry MILES HUNT & ERICA NOCKTAILS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham EDEN’S CURSE The Slade
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“This show is not to be missed”
★★★★★ Edinburgh Evening News
“Unashamedly drumming as theatre... exhilarating”
★★★★ The Herald
“An invigorating, life-enriching experience. you’ll be poorer if you miss it.”
THE EASY WAY TO BOOK YOUR TICKETS ONLINE
The Stage
Tuesday 13th May 2014, 7.30pm ELGAR CONCERT HALL Bramall Music Building at the University of Birmingham
Box Office: 0121 345 0492 or online: www.thsh.co.uk
whatsonlive.co.uk
£18 Full Price, £15 Concessions, £10 for under 18’s The most comprehensive what’s on listings website for Birmingham and the West Midlands
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Music May Region One_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:25 Page 10
Music LISTINGS For full listing information on gigs, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk Rooms, Wolverhampton THE PARIS 1940’S The Jam House, B’ham DEAN WAREHAM The Assembly, Leamington Spa ROD AND THE FACEZ The River Rooms, Stourbridge THE MAGIC BAND The Assembly, Leamington Spa TINY RUINS The Glee Club, Birmingham SKY VALLEY MISTRESS The Roadhouse, B’ham THE STRUTS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham
FRI 23 MAY ELVIS PRESLEY - ON STAGE Symphony Hall, Birmingham THE SUBTERRANEANS The Jam House, B’ham FLEETWOOD BAC The Robin, Bilston CHRIS WOOD Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa THE CARPENTERS STORY New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham THE UPLOAD TOUR 3 O2 Academy, Birmingham THE WURZELS The Assembly, Leamington Spa ABBAMANIA Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa BEN UFO Hare & Hounds, Birmingham THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY Artrix, Bromsgrove FAIRPORT CONVENTION Huntingdon Hall, Worcester THUMPERS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham THE 80’S V THE 90’S The River Rooms, Stourbridge QUEEN ALIVE Route 44, Birmingham JIMI GOODWIN The Institute, Birmingham MARC FORD The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry FRAMED The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham THE DOUBLE HAPPY The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton OASIS UK Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire TOM HICKOX The Glee Club, Birmingham REEL NOTE Irish Centre, Birmingham STOMP & HOLLER The Marr’s Bar, Worcester REASIDE & LOCCA The Roadhouse, B’ham TOM HILL AND ZZ BOP Symphony Hall, B’ham THE HOOSIERS The Institute, Birmingham MARK KNIGHT The Assembly, Leamington Spa THE KAY PHELPS FT SOWETO KINCH Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
SAT 24 MAY THE SUBTERRANEANS The Jam House, B’ham STILL MARILLION - TOTALLY FUGAZI The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton AN EVENING WITH JULIE ANDREWS National Indoor Arena, B’ham TROUMACA Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DILJIT DOSANJH Civic Hall, Wolverhampton ALADDINSANE - VISION AND SOUND OF DAVID BOWIE Huntingdon Hall, Worcester THE JERSEY BOYZ The River Rooms, Stourbridge BILLY OCEAN The Robin, Bilston SAXONIZED Route 44, Birmingham ENEMO J O2 Academy, Birmingham MARC FORD The Institute, Birmingham ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK The Assembly, Leamington Spa THE FULL SHA BANG Irish Centre, Birmingham BOOTLEG ABBA Malvern Theatres STEVE AJAO BLUES GIANTS The Marr’s Bar, Worcester JESS MORGAN Ort Cafe, Birmingham RAM WAREHOUSE PARTY The Rainbow Venues, Birmingham
SUN 25 MAY DESPERADO The Robin, Bilston GARETH MALONE Symphony Hall, Birmingham DEFINITELY MIGHT BE AND ADORED The River Rooms, Stourbridge HOT 8 BRASS BAND Hare & Hounds, Birmingham T R DALLAS Irish Centre, Birmingham DISSIDENT PROPHET Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham KID CONGO AND THE PINK MONKEY BIRDS Hare & Hounds, Birmingham MOJO HOOKER, SUZI AND THE BACKBEATS, THE ZOE GREEN BAND, THE LOVELESS, THE PAUL STEDMAN BAND, TOM WALKER TRIO AND MORE The Roadhouse, Birmingham JOE MILES, HOLLY AIRES, CONNOR HEMMING & WES DANCE The Yardbird Jazz Club, Birmingham
MON 26 MAY THE SEEKERS Symphony Hall, Birmingham WHITE DENIM The Glee Club, Birmingham SHREYA GHOSHAL National Indoor Arena, Birmingham JULIE FOWLIS Artrix, Bromsgrove
THE PIZZA UNDERGROUND Hare & Hounds, B’ham TIR NA NOG Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham MEADOWLARK Hare & Hounds, Birmingham THE BLOW MONKEYS The River Rooms, Stourbridge
TUE 27 MAY MCBUSTED LG Arena, Birmingham BLAIR DUNLOP Hare & Hounds, Birmingham CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX The Robin, Bilston FOXES The Institute, Birmingham FREEZE THE ATLANTIC, LAYERS & THE BROKEN OAK DUET The Flapper, Birmingham
WED 28 MAY EAGLES LG Arena, Birmingham GWEN DICKEY’S ROSE ROYCE The Jam House, Birmingham PAUL LAMB & THE DETROIT BREAKDOWN The Robin, Bilston NURVRAX JAM The Yardbird Jazz Club, B’ham AWOLNATION The Institute, Birmingham FUTUREPROOF O2 Academy, Birmingham JACK NCNEILL & CHARLIE HEYS Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham
THU 29 MAY DEL CAMINO The Jam House, Birmingham TROUBADOUR The Robin, Bilston ESKA Hare & Hounds, Birmingham DOMINIC KIRWAN Lichfield Garrick LARRY MILLER Artrix, Bromsgrove THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT O2 Academy, B’ham THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham THE ENEMY The Institute, Birmingham FROM EDEN TO EXILE The Roadhouse, B’ham MAGGIE 8 Symphony Hall, Birmingham EAGLES LG Arena, Birmingham A
FRI 30 MAY
GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS Bedworth Civic Hall, Warwickshire DRESSED TO KILL The Robin, Bilston SOLID SOUL The Jam House, Birmingham THE SEARCHERS Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa SWINGING 60’S MOTOWN PARTY WITH THE KRYSTALETTES Nailcote Hall, Berkswell KEZIASOUL & BURNSIDE Hare & Hounds, B’ham THE REFLECTIONS Huntingdon Hall, Worcester TALON The Swan Theatre, Worcester BOOT-LED-ZEPPELIN The Assembly, Leamington Spa
McBusted - LG Arena, Birmingham
PAUL HEATON & JACQUI ABBOT The Institute, Birmingham LABOUR OF LOVE The River Rooms, Stourbridge CAMERA OBSCURA The Institute, Birmingham WEDNESDAY 13 The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton OLLY MURS TRIBUTE The Great Barr Hotel, Birmingham PAOLO NUTINI Civic Hall, Wolverhampton SOUR MASH The Actress & Bishop, Birmingham CORTINA NIGHTS The Assembly, Leamington Spa BRASS PIPES & DRUMS Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire THE OFFICIAL RECEIVERS BAND The Marr’s Bar, Worcester EAST INDIA YOUTH The Institute, Birmingham THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND The Roadhouse, B’ham SLAB, CAMBION, STRONG-
HOST & IN THE GUISE OF MEN Scruffy Murphys, Birmingham RACHAEL COHEN QUARTET Symphony Hall, Birmingham MUSE INC & BLUE NATION Route 44, Birmingham REMI HARRIS TRIO mac, Birmingham PERCEE P The Assembly, Leamington Spa TWELFTH DAY Ort Cafe, Birmingham
SAT 31 MAY KAST OFF KINKS Artrix, Bromsgrove T-REXTASY Tamworth Assembly Rooms, Staffordshire GRAHAM PARKER AND THE RUMOUR O2 Academy, Birmingham PURPLE ZEPPELIN Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa MICHAEL KING PRESENTS THE BILLY FURY YEARS Solihull Arts Complex THE BON JOVI EXPERI-
ENCE Prince Of Wales Centre, Cannock METALLICA RELOADED O2 Academy, Birmingham NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK National Indoor Arena, Birmingham TALON Bedworth Civic Hall, Warwickshire IVOR & LYNN’S CLASSIC ROCK DISCO Route 44, Birmingham KICK UP THE 80’S The River Rooms, Stourbridge FRANCIS DUNNERY BAND The Robin, Bilston PHRONESIS Birmingham Town Hall SCHOOLBOY Q The Institute, Birmingham LACED Hare & Hounds, Birmingham SWIM WITH SHARKS Irish Centre, Birmingham FURY The Marr’s Bar, Worcester THE NOTEBENDERS Symphony Hall, Birmingham SOLID SOUL The Jam House, Birmingham
Music Venues Box Office Birmingham 02 ACADEMY 0121 622 8250 THE ACTRESS & BISHOP 0121 236 7426 ADRIAN BOULT HALL 0121 331 5901 THE ASYLUM 0121 233 1109 THE BARBER INSTITUTE 0121 414 7333 BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL 0121 780 3333 CBSO CENTRE 0121 780 3333 FLAPPER 0121 236 2421 THE GLEE CLUB 0871 472 0400 HARE & HOUNDS 0121 444 2081 THE INSTITUTE 0121 643 0428 IRISH CENTRE 0121 622 2314 THE JAM HOUSE 0121 200 3030 THE KITCHEN GARDEN CAFE 0121 443 4725 LG ARENA 0844 338 8000 NIA 0844 338 8000 THE RAINBOW 0121 772 8174 RED LION FOLK CLUB 0121472 4253 THE ROADHOUSE 0121 459 5660 ROUTE 44 0121 708 0108 SYMPHONY HALL 0121 780 3333 THE VICTORIA 0121 633 9439
THE YARDBIRD 0121 212 2524
Black Country CIVIC HALL, WOLVERHAMPTON 0870 320 7000 DUDLEY CONCERT HALL 01384 815577 FOREST ARTS CENTRE 0845 111 2898 NEWHAMPTON ARTS CENTRE 01902 572090 ROBIN 2, BILSTON 01902 401211 SLADE ROOMS WOLVERHAMPTON
Staffordshire FOXLOWE ARTS CENTRE, LEEK 01538 386112 LICHFIELD GUILDHALL 01543 262223 THE SUGARMILL, HANLEY STOKE-ON-TRENT 01159 454 593 TAMWORTH ASSEMBLY ROOMS 01827 709618 VICTORIA HALL, HANLEY 0870 060 6649 STAFFORD GATEHOUSE
01785 254653
0870 320 7000
Warwickshire
STOURBRIDGE TOWN HALL 01384 812812 WULFRUN HALL, WOLVERHAMPTON
THE ASSEMBLY, LEAMINGTON 01926 311311
0870 320 7000
Shropshire BIRCHMEADOW, BROSELEY 01952 882210 THE BUTTERMARKET, SHREWSBURY 01743 355055 THE EDGE ARTS CENTRE, MUCH WENLOCK 01952 728911 HENRY TUDOR HOUSE SHREWSBURY 01743 361666 THE HIVE, SHREWSBURY 01743 234970 LUDLOW ASSEMBLY ROOMS 01584 878141 THEATRE SEVERN, SHREWSBURY 01743 281281 THE PLACE, OAKENGATES, TELFORD 01952 382382 WEM TOWN HALL 01939 232299
THE KASBAH, COVENTRY 024 7655 4473 NAILCOTE HALL, BERKSWELL 02476 46 6174 STRATFORD CIVIC HALL 01789 207100 THE TIN MUSIC & ARTS, COVENTRY 0247 655 9958
Worcestershire ARTRIX, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330 HUNTINGDON HALL / SWAN THEATRE 01905 611427 MARR’S BAR, WORCESTER 01905 613336 THE RIVER ROOMS, STOURBRIDGE 01384 397177
For additional information and to find out What’s On at these venues. Visit: www.whatsonlive.co.uk
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Classical Music PREVIEWS
Pretty Yende Birmingham Town Hall, Mon 12 May
With her victory in every category at the 2010 Belvedere International being followed a year later by a first place finish in Placido Domingo’s Operalia World Competition, South Africa’s Pretty Yende is rightly regarded as one of the world’s most thrilling new sopranos. Pretty’s critically acclaimed debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 2013 further cemented her status as a fast-rising musical star. Described by the Telegraph as ‘Possessed of diamanté tone and a megawatt smile’, she here performs a repertoire of bel canto gems by Rossini and Bellini, presented alongside works by Bernstein, Balfe and Gimenez.
Sir Antonio Pappano Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Fri 16 May
Music Director for the Royal Opera House since 2002, Antonio Pappano has conducted an impressive range of productions since making his directing debut at Den Norske Opera in 1987. Equally praised for his many recordings as both conductor and pianist, Pappano’s services to music were recognised with a knighthood in January 2012. This month sees the British-born artist visiting the Midlands to direct an impressive cast in a performance of Verdi’s Requiem, often described as an opera in all but name. The production features Joseph Calleja - the Maltese tenor who’s been attracting comparisons with the young Pavarotti - soprano Hibla Gerzmaya, mezzo soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk, bass Carlo Colombara, and the Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.
English Touring Opera
Kinsky Piano Trio
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May
Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, Fri 30 May
English Touring Opera (ETO) here present two very different productions. First up is a revival of Liam Steel’s critically acclaimed 2009 version of Mozart’s final masterpiece, The Magic Flute. Sung in English, the legendary opera is touring with a live orchestra under the baton of conductors Michael Rosewell and James Southall... Also in the programme is a version of Benjamin Britten’s least-performed opera, Paul Bunyan, on which he collaborated with the poet WH Auden. This ETO production marks the first time the 1941 work has toured England. The main character of Bunyan - a mythical lumberjack and one of the most famous figures in North American folklore - is an off-stage role that’s here performed by Golden Globe Award-winning actor Damien Lewis.
Comprising Lucie Sedlakova Hulova on violin, Martin Sedlak on cello and Slavka Vernerova Pechocova on piano, the Kinsky Piano Trio is an outstanding Czech ensemble. With international performances across Europe, the United States, Canada and Mexico already under their belt, the Prague-based trio this month make their Leamington Music Festival debut, performing Hummel’s Piano Trio Op 65, Fibich’s Piano Trio in F minor Op posth, Martinu’s Piano Trio No 2 and Dvorak’s Piano Trio in Bb Op 21.
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Fantasia On All The Notes CBSO Centre, Birmingham, Sat 10 May
Making their contribution to Harrison Birtwistle’s eightieth birthday celebrations, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) here present a showcase of work from across the British composer’s stellar career. Under the baton of Oliver Knussen and featuring soprano Katrien Baerts and pianist Huw Watkins, BCMG perform Birtwistle’s modern chamber classic Tragoedia, his Fantasia Upon All The Notes played on winds, strings and harp - and Silbury Air, a piece inspired by the prehistoric mound of Silbury Hill in Wiltshire. Tansy Davies’ Birtwistle-influenced Nature also features.
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Classical LISTINGS For full listing information on classical concerts, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk CBSO RIMSKY-KORSAKOV'S SCHEHERAZADE Programme includes works by Brahms, Schumann and RimskyKorsakov, Thurs 1 May Symphony Hall, Birmingham KHOVANSKYGATE: A NATIONAL INQUIRY Birmingham Opera Company present Mussorgsky’s final opera, directed by Graham Vick, Fri 2 May, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham ENGLISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA Featuring Julian Lloyd Webber. Programme includes works by Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Delius, Walton, Howard Goodall, Vivaldi, Ireland & William Lloyd Webber, Fri 2 May Malvern Theatres LUNCHTIME CONCERT Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) and Matthew Rickard (piano) perform works from Bartok and Dohnanyi, Fri 2 May, Barber Institute, Birmingham ENSEMBLE 360 Programme includes works by Schubert, Beethoven & Hummel, Fri 2 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa MAREK BRACHA: ALL CHOPIN PIANO RECITAL Sat 3 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa ROYAL STRING QUARTET WITH MAREK BRACHA Programme includes works by Schubert, Zarebski & Chopin, Sat 3 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa THE ENIGMA STRING QUARTET Programme includes Borodin’s Nocturne alongside songs from the musicals, Sat 3 May, The Ark, St Laurence Church, Alveston, Worcester PAVEL HAAS QUARTET Featuring Denis Kozhukhin (piano). Programme includes works by Beethoven and Brahms, Sun 4 May, Birmingham Town Hall LONGBOW Programme includes works by Martinu, Tausky & Dvorak, Sun 4 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa GUARNERI PIANO TRIO Programme includes works by Smetana, Fiser & Dvorak, Sun 4 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH KERRY BEAUMONT Mon 5 May, Coventry Cathedral MOSCOW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Featuring Yuri Simonov (conduc-
tor) and Natalie Clein (cello). Programme includes works by Tchaikovsky & Shostakovich, Tue 6 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham KEVIN BOWYER ORGAN RECITAL Programme includes works by Bach, Lloyd Webber, Howard Skempton, Mellers, Sowande & Smetana arr Bowyer, Mon 5 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa OKEANOS ENSEMBLE Mon 5 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa HEPPLEWHITE PIANO TRIO Featuring Amy Littlewood (violin), Hetti Price (cello) & John Paul Ekins (piano), Mon 5 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa WIHAN STRING QUARTET Featuring Martin Kisak (piano). Programme includes works by Paganini, Dvorak & Schumann, Mon 5 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa COULL QUARTET: RUSSIAN SPRING Programme includes works by Haydn, Shostakovich & Beethoven, Wed 7 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry SANDRINE PIAU & APOLLO’S FIRE Programme includes works by Vivaldi, Rameau & Handel, Wed 7 May, Birmingham Town Hall STEPHEN HOUGH - PIANO RECITAL Programme includes works by Brahms, Bruckner, Schoenberg, Schumann, Strauss & Wagner, Wed 7 May, The Barber Institute, B’ham CBSO RACHMANINOV AND SHOSTAKOVICH Featuring Andres OrozcoEstrada (conductor) and Simone Lamsma (violin). Programme includes works by Ravel, Shostakovich & Rachmaninov, Thurs 8 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham ENGLISH TOURING OPERA: PAUL BUNYAN Thurs 8 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry REUBEN FOWLER SEXTET Thurs 8 May, Bramall Music Building, B’ham CBSO PLAYERS Programme includes works by Rossini & Dvorak, Fri 9 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham THE HERMES ENSEMBLE Fri 9 May, Barber Institute, Birmingham CBSO SILENT HEROES: BUSTER KEATON Featuring Carl Davis (conductor), Fri 9 May Symphony Hall, Birmingham PINK MARTINI PRESENT
THE VON TRAPPS Fri 9 May, B’ham Town Hall ENGLISH TOURING OPERA: THE MAGIC FLUTE Fri 9 - Sat 10 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry BCMG: FANTASIA ON THE NOTES Sat 10 May, CBSO Centre, B’ham CBSO FAMILY CONCERT: BITE-SIZE CLASSICS Featuring Michael Seal (conductor) and Alasdair Malloy (presenter). Programme includes works by Strauss, Glinka, Faure, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Copland, Prokofiev and Mercury, Sun 11 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham CBSO WITH SIMON RATTLE Sun 11 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT: THOMAS TROTTER Programme includes works by Bach, Handel (arr Trotter), Mendelssohn, Judith Weir & Vierne, Mon 12 May B’ham Town Hall LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH ANDREW BRYAN Mon 12 May, Coventry Cathedral PRETTY YENDE Mon 12 May, B’ham Town Hall ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN: BEETHOVEN'S EROICA Featuring Martin Roscoe on piano, Wed 14 May Birmingham Town Hall CBSO HAYDN AND MOZART Featuring Andris Nelson (conductor), Margaret Cookhorn (contrabassoon), Rainer Gibbons (oboe), Christopher Richards (clarinet), Gretha Tuls (bassoon) & Elspeth Dutch (horn), Wed 14 - Thurs 15 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN: BEETHOVEN'S EROICA Wed 14 May, Bedworth Civic Hall PAPPANO CONDUCTS THE VERDI REQUIEM Fri 16 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham MOSCOW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Programme includes works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov & Shostakovich, Fri 16 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry ZELKOVA QUARTET Programme includes works from Haydn and Bartok, Fri 16 May, Barber Institute, Birmingham THE MIDLAND CHAMBER PLAYERS Fri 16 May, Birmingham And Midland Institute THE TREORCHY MALE VOICE CHOIR Sat 17 May, Bedworth Civic Hall ENGLISH REFLECTIONS City of Birmingham Choir perform works by Elgar & Vaughan Williams, Sat 17 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham DIONYSIS GRAMMENOS AND KARINA SPOSOBINA Programme includes works by Bassi, Rachmaninov, Faure, Della Giacomma, Schumann,
Chopin, Poulenc & de Sarasate, Sun 18 May, Birmingham Town Hall BIRMINGHAM CANOLDIR MALE CHOIR Sun 18 May, B’am Town Hall CBSO PLAYERS Programme includes works by Bax, Debussy & Piazolla, Thurs 22 May, CBSO Centre, B’ham BEYOND CLASSICAL: INVITATION TO THE DANCE Featuring performances by Yawen Mu & Linyang Wang, Thurs 22 May, Symphony Hall Cafe Bar, Birmingham BACK TO BACH LUNCHTIME CONCERT WITH KENNETH HAMILTON Fri 23 May, Barber Institute, Birmingham CBSO: DER ROSENKAVALIER Sat 24 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham GARETH MALONE Choral music courtesy of the UK’s Favourite Choirmaster, Sun 25 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham LUNCHTIME ORGAN CONCERT WITH LAURENCE LONG Mon 26 May, Coventry Cathedral JULIAN HELLABY & PETER NOKE Programme includes works by Gershwin, Milhaud, Poulenc & Ramskill, Tues 27 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham CBSO ANDRIS AND HAKAN IN CONCERT Programme includes works by Ravel, Haydn and Mussorgsky, Wed 28 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham
CBSO PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION Programme includes works by Ravel, Dean and Mussorgsky, Thurs 29 May, Symphony Hall, B’ham LUNCHTIME CONCERT WITH KENNETH HAMILTON Fri 30 May, Barber Institute, Birmingham HEPPLEWHITE PIANO TRIO Fri 30 May, The Elgar Birthplace Museum, Worcester FREDDY KEMPF Programme includes works by Beethoven, Schumann & Mussorgsky, Fri 30 May, Malvern
Theatres KINSKY PIANO TRIO Fri 30 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa CBSO PLAYERS Adrian Spillett presents a contemporary programme featuring works by Radiohead, Reich, Bradley & Rush, Fri 30 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC Programme includes works by Elgar & Rachmaninov, Sat 31 May, Malvern Theatres
Classical Box Office ADRIAN BOULT HALL, B’HAM 0121 331 5901 ARTRIX, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330
CBSO CENTRE, BIRMINGHAM 0121 780 3333 HUNTINGDON HALL, WORCESTER 01905 611 427
BARBER INSTITUTE, BIRMINGHAM 0121 414 7333
ROYAL PUMP ROOMS, LEAMINGTON SPA 01926 742700
BIRMINGHAM CONSERVATOIRE 0121 331 5901/2 BIRMINGHAM & MIDLAND INSTITUTE 0121 236 3591 BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL 0121 780 3333 BRAMALL CONCERT HALL, BIRMINGHAM 0121 414 3344 BRIDGE HOUSE THEATRE, WARWICK 01926 776438
ST MARY’S CHURCH, WARWICK 01926 403940 STRATFORD CIVIC HALL 01789 207100 SYMPHONY HALL, BIRMINGHAM 0121 780 3333 WARWICK ARTS CENTRE 02476 524524 For additional information Visit: w ww.whatsonlive.co.uk
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Comedy Holly Walsh
Comedy Box Office
mac, Birmingham, Thurs 8 May
Nerdy lateral-thinker Holly is a familiar face on television, with shows like Mock The Week and Never Mind The Buzzcocks liberally peppering her CV. She’s a regular contributor to radio too, and when she’s not busy being funny herself, she’s making writing contributions to TV shows such as Cardinal Burns, Psychobitches and Dead Boss, the latter of which she co-wrote with Sharon Horgan. Jokes include the short but sweet “Like most people my age, I’m twenty-seven” and “What is amnesia? Is it (a) memory loss, (a) memory loss, or (4) the Battle of Hastings?”.
Mark Grist Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sun 11 May
One-time English secondary school teacher Mark traded in his career in education to become a performance poet and minor celebrity, the latter identity being achieved when he won a rap battle against a seventeen-year-old, the video of the contest subsequently going viral on YouTube. His now-touring one-man show, Rogue Teacher, is described as a laughout-loud rollercoaster ride of an adventure, and offers plenty of opportunity to experience Mark’s admirable attempts at forging a career for himself out of “shit rhymes”.
Tom Stade The Glee Club, Birmingham, Thurs 29 - Sat 31 May
Clever, controversial and Canadian pretty much sums up Tom Stade, a familiar face on BBC TV programmes such as Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow and Mock The Week. Tom has headlined gigs in comedy hotspots like New York and London by way of locations such as Amsterdam and Johannesburg, and has also earned his corn in farflung war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, scoring some major hits by entertaining the troops.
ARTRIX, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330 BEDWORTH CIVIC HALL 02476 376707 BIRMINGHAM TOWN HALL 0121 780 3333 THE DRUM, BIRMINGHAM 0121 333 2444 DUDLEY CONCERT HALL 01384 815 577 GLEE CLUB, BIRMINGHAM 0871 4720400 HIGHLIGHT, BIRMINGHAM, 0844 844 0044 HUNTINGDON HALL, WORCESTER, 01905 611427 FOXLOWE ARTS CENTRE, LEEK, STAFFS 01538 386112
Comedy Hulaballoo The Courtyard & Idolize Spiegeltent, Stratford-upon-Avon, Thurs 22 May - Sun 25 May
Some of the biggest names on the circuit feature in four days of comic madness when Comedy Hullabaloo takes place in Stratford this month. Organised by Underbelly, the entertainment company responsible for Udderbelly Festival London and London Wonderground, the festival spreads across various venues in Stratford-upon-Avon. Ardal O’Hanlon, Tim Vine, Milton Jones (pictured), Jason Manford, Al Murray, Hal Cruttenden, Justin Moorhouse and Richard Herring are among the well-established names booked to appear. Meanwhile, a Comedy Club 4 Kids element of the show sees Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar and James Acaster plying their trade to younger visitors - but without any rude bits.
Ruby Wax The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Thurs 22 May
Loud-mouthed, brassy, ballsy and unapologetically ‘in your face’, American funnywoman Ruby Wax needs no introduction on these shores, having scored a massive hit in the UK during the 1980s as part of the burgeoning alternative comedy scene. In a career that’s never really seemed to slow down, Wax has been not only a stand-up comedian but also a chat show host, an actress, and a script editor for Absolutely Fabulous, in which she also made numerous guest appearances. She’s nowadays forging a career for herself away from the limelight too, having studied Psychotherapy and gained a Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from Oxford University. Promoting understanding of the brain and campaigns for greater mental health awareness and destigmatisation, Ruby also offers Corporate Communication Training, teaching how to achieve a deeper and more honest level of communication.
KITCHEN GARDEN CAFE, BIRMINGHAM 0121 443 4725 LG ARENA, BIRMINGHAM 0844 338 8000 LUDLOW ASSEMBLY ROOMS 01584 878141 MAC, BIRMINGHAM 0121 446 3232 NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM 0844 871 3011 PALACE THEATRE, REDDITCH 01527 65203 THE PUBLIC, WEST BROMWICH 0121 533 7161 DRUMMONDS BAR, WORCESTER 01905 28190 RICOH ARENA, COVENTRY 0844 873 6565 THE ROSES THEATRE TEWKESBURY 01684 295074 ROYAL SPA CENTRE, LEAMINGTON SPA 01926 334418 STAFFORD GATEHOUSE THEATRE 01785 254653 SOLIHULL ARTS COMPLEX 0121 704 6962 THE SLADE ROOMS, WOLVERHAMPTON 0870 320 7000 THE GEORGE HOTEL, BURSLEM, STAFFS 07763301081 TAMWORTH ASSEMBLY ROOMS 01827 709618 THEATRE SEVERN, SHREWSBURY 01743 281281 VICTORIA HALL, HANLEY, STOKE-ON-TRENT 0844 871 7649 WARWICK ARTS CENTRE 02476 524524 WEST BROMWICH TOWN HALL 0121 596 4429 WULFRUN HALL, WOLVERHAMPTON 0870 320 7000
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Comedy LISTINGS For full listing information on comedy gigs including times and dates visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk PAUL CHOWDHRY Thurs 1 May, Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton KUM-N-AVALOFF COMEDY NIGHT Thurs 1 May Stourbridge Town Hall PIERRE HOLLINS, SCOTTISH FALSETTO SOCK PUPPET THEATRE, JAMES MEEHAN, JOHN LEBBON, LOU CONRAN Thurs 1 May, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffordshire REVEREND OBADIAH STEPPENWOLF III, TIM CLARK, ADAM BLOOM, COMIC TBC Thurs 1 May, The Glee Club, B’ham ANDY ROBINSON, GERRY K, JELLYBEAN MARTINEZ, ALAN DONEGAN Fri 2 May, The George Hotel, Burslem, Staffordshire LAURENCE CLARK Fri 2 May, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton JON RICHARDSON Fri 2 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry JERRY SADOWITZ Fri 2 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham ANDREW BIRD, MIKE WILKINSON, DAVID LONGLEY, CHRIS CHOPPING, CARL HUTCHINSON Fri 2 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, B’ham TOM STADE, ANDY ASKINS, JOSEPH WILSON, DAMION LARKIN Fri 2 May, The Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton MARK STEEL: BACK IN TOWN Fri 2 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire ANGIE LE MAR, KEVIN J PLUS COMIC TBC Fri 2 May, The Drum, B’ham ALEX LOVE, TIM O'CONNOR, NICK ROOT, PHILLIP SIMON, WAYNE BEESE, SARA MASON, ROB COLEMAN Fri 2 May Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire TOM CRAINE, ASH FRITH, HAYLEY ELLIS Fri 2 May Hereford Courtyard Theatre REVEREND OBADIAH STEPPENWOLF III, TIM CLARK, ADAM BLOOM, MIKE WILMOT Fri 2 May - Sat 3 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham MARK THOMAS Sat 3 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa ALFIE MOORE Sat 3 May Huntingdon Hall, Worcester PETER WHITE, TOM DEACON, PAUL F TAYLOR, ANDY FURY Sat 3 May, Coventry Showcase Cinema ANDREW BIRD, MIKE WILKINSON, CARL HUTCHINSON, DAVID LONGLEY Sat 3 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, Birmingham JOHN WITHERSPOON Sun 4 May, Wulfrun Hall,
Wolverhampton RICH HALL Thurs 8 May The Place, Oakengates Theatre, Telford JAMES DOWDESWELL, MIKE GUNN, GWILLUM ARGOS, DAVE TWENTYMAN Thurs 8 May, The George Hotel, Lichfield HOLLY WALSH, CHRISTIAN REILLY Thurs 8 May, mac, B’ham PATRICK MONAHAN Thurs 8 May - Sat 10 May, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham DANA ALEXANDER, DAVE LONGLEY, JUSTIN MOORHOUSE, JONNY AWSUM Thurs 8 May Sat 10 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham SHAPPI KHORSANDI Fri 9 May, Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton LEE EVANS Fri 9 May, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire PAUL SINAH, IAN COPPINGER, ROB COLLINS, STEVE SHANYASKI, RYAN GOUGH Fri 9 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, B’ham JUSTIN BOTTOM'S FIRST ENCOUNTERS OF THE CLOSE KIND Fri 9 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch LEE HURST Sat 10 May Artrix, Bromsgrove BILLY PEARCE Sat 10 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury RICH HALL Sat 10 May Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa ALUN COCHRANE, PAUL TONKINSON, TOM STADE AND MC MRS BARBARA NICE Sat 10 May, Players Bar, B’ham PAUL SINAH, IAN COPPINGER, ROB COLLINS, STEVE SHANYASKI Sat 10 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, B’ham LEE EVANS: WORK IN PROGRESS Sat 10 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre PAUL TONKINSON, KAREN BAYLEY, DANNY WARD, BETHANY BLACK Sat 10 May, Coventry Showcase Cinema SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO Sun 11 May, Drummonds Bar, Worcester ROUGH WORKS Sun 11 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham MARK GRIST Sun 11 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry LEE EVANS Sun 11 May Hereford Courtyard Theatre OPEN MIC COMEDY HOSTED BY LOUDEEMY SOUP Mon 12 May, The Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham BARNSTOMERS COMEDY
Tues 13 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa DUNCAN OAKLEY Tues 13 May, Rose Villa Tavern, Birmingham SAM BRADY Weds 14 May, mac, Birmingham BRIAN CONLEY Weds 14 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre VG LEE, HELEN THORN, INDIA MCLEOD, MAUREEN YOUNGER Weds 14 May, Kitchen Garden Cafe, Birmingham KATHERINE RYAN, PHIL JERROD, JONNY PELHAM, CLINT EDWARDS Weds 14 May, Henry Tudor House, Shrewsbury OMID DJALILI Thurs 15 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch BEN NORRIS, ZOE LYONS, JAMES DOWDESWELL, BARRY DODDS Thurs 15 May - Sat 17 May, The Glee Club, B’ham SARAH MILLICAN Fri 16 May, De Montfort Hall, Leicester ANDY ASKINS, JIM SMALLMAN, LUKE TOULSON, TOM DEACON, KIRI PRITCHARD-MCLEAN Fri 16 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, B’ham BRIAN CONLEY Fri 16 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury JETHRO Fri 16 May, Crewe Lyceum COURTLAUGHING COMEDY CLUB Fri 16 May, Hereford Courtyard Theatre JIMMY CARR Sat 17 May, Dudley Town Hall ANDY ASKINS, LUKE TOULSON, JOE BOR Sat 17 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, B’ham MICKEY SHARMA Sat 17 May, mac, Birmingham JON RICHARDSON Sat 17 May, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton JAMES SHERWOOD, ANDY WATSON, MATT RUDGE, GARETH MILLERICK Sat 17 May, Coventry Showcase Cinema IT'S A CRACKER, BE A JUDGE AS EIGHT COMEDIANS BATTLE TO BE 'COMEDY KING OF EVESHAM'. MC JAN WAGSTAFFE, BEN THURSRSTON, SHERAZ YOUSAF, NEIL IRVING, JOSH SADLER, JAY QUINN, PETE BECKLEY, JIM KELLY, RUSS MULLIGAN Sat 17 May, Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire ROB ROUSE, RIA LINA, BREN RILEY, COMIC TBC Sat 17 May, Players Bar, Birmingham SEVERN JESTERS Sun 18 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury FRANK SKINNER Sun 18 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry GARY DELANEY, BRET GOLDSTEIN, ROB ROUSE Sun 18 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry TOADALLY FREE COMEDY! Mon 19 May The Blue Orange Theatre, B’ham RICHARD HERRING Tues 20 May, Station Pub, Sutton Coldfield
THE NOISE NEXT DOOR Weds 21 May, Station Pub, Sutton Coldfield JOSH WIDDICOMBE Weds 21 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham GRUMPY OLD WOMEN Weds 21 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury MATT RICHARDSON Thurs 22 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove JON RICHARDSON Thurs 22 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry RO CAMPBELL, TOBIAS PERSSON, NATHAN CATON, COMIC TBC Thurs 22 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham RUBY WAX Thurs 22 May, The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury NICK DOODY, SILKY Thurs 22 May, mac, B’ham RAYMOND MEARNS, ROGER MONKHOUSE, SMUG ROBERTS, BARRY DODDS, AARON TWITCHEN Fri 23 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, Birmingham MAXINE JONES Fri 23 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre RO CAMPBELL, STEVE HARRIS, TOBIAS PERSSON, JASON PATTERSON Fri 23 May The Glee Club, B’ham THE LAUGHTER CREWE Fri 23 May, Crewe Lyceum LEE EVANS: WORK IN PROGRESS Fri 23 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire BARNSTORMERS COMEDY NIGHT Sat 24 May Artrix, Bromsgrove BILLY PEARCE Sat 24 May, Prince Of Wales Centre, Cannock, Staffordshire LEE EVANS: WORK IN PROGRESS Sat 24 May, Evesham Arts Centre, Worcestershire MATT RICHARDSON Sat 24 May, Hereford Courtyard Theatre PAUL CHOWDHRY Sat 24
May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry SHAPPI KHORSANDI Sat 24 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa RAYMOND MEARNS, ROGER MONKHOUSE, SMUG ROBERTS, BARRY DODDS Sat 24 May, Jongleurs Comedy Club, Birmingham DUNCAN OAKLEY, JOE BOR, CARLY SMALLMAN, ANTHONY J BROWN Sat 24 May, Coventry Showcase Cinema JOE LYCETT, ELLIE TAYLOR, RAYMOND & MR TIMPKINS REVUE, QUINCY Sat 24 May, Players Bar, Birmingham DAN NIGHTINGALE, RICH WILSON, CHRISTIAN REILLY Sun 25 May, Rose Villa Tavern, Birmingham MILES JUPP Tues 27 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove CRAIG CAMPBELL Weds 28 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham JIM DAVIDSON AND RICHARD DIGANCE Weds 28 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch DALISO CHAPONDA, PHIL ELLIS, TOM STADE PLUS COMIC TBC Thurs 29 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham THE HILARITY CHARITY GALA WITH JOSH WIDDICOMBE AND JON RICHARDSON Thurs 29 May, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre BILLY PEARCE Thurs 29 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch LEE EVANS: WORK IN PROGRESS Thurs 29 May, The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury HAL CRUTTENDEN Fri 30 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa BILLY PEARCE Fri 30 May, The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury DOUG SEGAL Fri 30 May Artrix, Bromsgrove OMID DJALILI Fri 30 May
NATHAN CATON, ERICH MCELROY, OLA, KATE LUCAS Fri 30 May, Tamworth Assembly Rooms OMID DJALILI Fri 30 May The Place, Oakengates Theatre, Telford MORECAMBE - THE MAN WHO BROUGHT US SUNSHINE Fri 30 May Sat 31 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury TANYALEE DAVIS, JIMMY MCGHIE, BOBBY MAIR Fri 30 May - Sat 31 May Jongleurs Comedy Club, Birmingham YIANNI AGISILAOU, MISS LONDON, ARCHIE MADDOCKS, ROBYN PERKINS, MATTHEW BAYLIS Fri 30 May, National Brewery Centre, Burton-uponTrent TOM STADE, DALISO CHAPONDA, PHIL ELLIS, JOE BROMEHEAD Fri 30 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham RETURN OF THE GRUMPY OLD WOMEN: FIFTY SHADES OF BEIGE Sat 31 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester JEFF LEACH: FIT (WORK IN PROGRESS) Sat 31 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove NICK REVELL, BEN VAN DER VALDE, STEVE DAY, JOLLYBOAT Sat 31 May Coventry Showcase Cinema RETURN OF THE GRUMPY OLD WOMEN: FIFTY SHADES OF BEIGE Sat 31 May, Huntingdon Hall, Worcester PHIL ELLIS, TOM STADE, DALISO CHAPONDA, CAIMH MCDONNELL Sat 31 May, The Glee Club, Birmingham NATHAN CATON, OLA, NICK DIXON, JOHNNY PELHAM, SUSAN MURRAY Sat 31 May, Players Bar, Birmingham COMEDY IN THE MET, LINE UP TBC Sat 31 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
Comedy Hullabaloo ARDAL O'HANLON, ROISIN CONATY PLUS COMICS TBC Thurs 22 May, The Courtyard, Stratford-Upon-Avon MILTON JONES, JAMES ACASTER, ROISIN CONATY, ED GAMBLE Fri 23 May, The Courtyard, StratfordUpon-Avon TOMMY TIERNAN Fri 23 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, Stratford Upon-Avon JASON MANFORD Fri 23 May, The Courtyard, Stratford-Upon-Avon ARDAL O’HANLON, JAMES ACASTER, ED GAMBLE PLUS COMIC TBC Fri 23 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-Avon AL MURRAY Sat 24 May Idolize Spiegeltent, Stratford-Upon-Avon
COMEDY CLUB 4 KIDS WITH ED GAMBLE, NISH KUMAR, JAMES ACASTER Sat 24 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-Avon DAVID O'DOHERTY WILL TRY TO FIX EVERYTHING (SOLO SHOW) Sat 24 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-Avon AL MURRAY, JUSTIN MOORHOUSE, LLOYD LANGFORD, JAMES ACASTER, NISH KUMAR Sat 24 May, The Courtyard, StratfordUpon-Avon JUSTIN MOORHOUSE, LLOYD LANGFORD, ED GAMBLE, NISH KUMAR Sat 24 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-avon ALUN COCHRANE, TOMMY TIERNAN, TIFF
STEVENSON, MARK OLVER, JAMES ACASTER Sat 24 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-avon ALUN COCHRANE, NISH KUMAR, PETE FIRMAN, HAL CRUTTENDEN Sun 25 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-Avon RICHARD HERRING, CHARLIE BAKER, NISH KUMAR, SHAPPI KHORSANDI Sun 25 May, Idolize Spiegeltent, StratfordUpon-Avon RICHARD HERRING, SIMON EVANS, DAVID O’DOHERTY, JUSTIN MOORHOUSE PLUS COMICS TBC Sun 25 May, The Courtyard, Stratford-Upon-Avon
For more comedy listings, visit, www.whatsonlive.co.uk 27
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Theatre
Rock Of Ages
New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May; Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Mon 14 - Sat 19 July
Cinema-goers who caught the 2012 movie version of Rock Of Ages, starring Tom Cruise, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand and Catherine ZetaJones, will know exactly what to expect from this feelgood musical. For those who didn’t and therefore don’t, it focuses on the romance between a smalltown girl and a big-city rocker, and is packed to its proverbial rafters with classic 1980s numbers.
So if, for you, the decade of Glasnost, yuppies, Miami Vice and mullet hair-dos took place against a soundtrack of rock anthems such as We Built This City, The Final Countdown and I Wanna Know What Love Is, then this is undoubtedly a show worth catching. Ben Richards and Noel Sullivan star.
Private Peaceful The REP, Birmingham, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May
Private Peaceful is a short play that packs a real punch. Based on the book by War Horse author Michael Morpurgo and perfectly pitched for the young audience at which it’s aimed, the stage production has been hailed for being “as moving as the poetry of Wilfred Owen and as painfully memorable as white-hot shrapnel”. First World War soldier Private Tommo Peaceful is awaiting the firing squad at dawn. With his young life about to be cut tragically short, he recalls his joyful past growing up in rural Devon, his schooldays, his father, and the love of his life - a girl named Molly... This collaboration between Scamp Theatre & Fiery Angel features Andy Daniel in the role of Private Peaceful.
One Man, Two Guvnors Birmingham Hippodrome, Mon 26 - Sat 31 May
Based on The Servant Of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni, this National Theatre production is directed by Nicholas Hytner and stops off in Birmingham as part of its biggest-ever UK and Ireland tour. Fired from his skiffle band, Francis Henshall becomes minder to Roscoe Crabbe, a small-time East End hood who’s now in Brighton to collect £6,000 from his fiancée’s dad. But Roscoe is really his sister Rachel, posing as her own dead brother, who’s been killed by her boyfriend, Stanley Stubbers. You keeping up?... Shaun Williamson, Jasmyn Banks, Gavin Spokes and Emma Barton star. Check out the interview with Nicholas Hytner at whatsonlive.co.uk www.whatsonlive.co.uk 29
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MAY 2014
BROMSGROVE’S THEATRE, CINEMA, LIVE MUSIC AND COMEDY VENUE
HIGHLIGHTS
Friday 9th May
Friday 16th May
Saturday 17th May
THE REAL THING
AUSTENTATIOUS
MILLION SELLING SOUL & RNB BAND
PRESENTS AN IMPROVISED NOVEL
CHANTEL MCGREGOR
Thursday 22nd May
Monday 26th May
Tuesday 27th May
MATT RICHARDSON
JULIE FOWLIS
CHRIS & PUI
TOUR SUPPORTING HER NEW ALBUM GACH SGEUL
CBEEBIES’ FAVOURITE DOUBLE ACT RETURN TO ARTRIX
COMEDIAN’S HOMETOWN HERO TOUR
MULTI-AWARD WINNING BLUES MUSICIAN
FORTHCOMING CINEMA: A Long Way Down (15) Her (15) // The Double (15) // Rio 2 (U) // Calvary The new Artrix brochure is available to download on www.artrix.co.uk
For bookings & full details log onto www.artrix.co.uk or phone 01527 577330 Artrix, Slideslow Drive, Bromsgrove B60 1PQ
30 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Free parking on-site
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Theatre PREVIEWS The Billie Holiday Story New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, Thurs 8 May
A former Birmingham School of Speech and Drama student here brings to the Midlands her critically acclaimed tribute to one of the world’s most celebrated artists. Nina Kristofferson grew up in Birmingham and attended Smethwick High School for girls before pursuing a career in performance art. Her selfpenned one-woman show about the extraordinary but tragically short life of Billie Holiday has taken to the road following a sell-out season at London’s Charing Cross Theatre, and features some of Billie’s greatest songs, including Strange Fruit, God Bless The Child, All Of Me and Don’t Explain. Read the interview with Nina Kristofferson online at www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Dial M For Murder The REP, Birmingham, Tues 13 - Sat 17 May
Frederick Knott’s erotic tale of betrayal, passion and, ultimately, murder is best known from its 1954 Alfred Hitchcock-directed film version, starring Ray Milland and Grace Kelly. When Tony becomes convinced that wife Margot is having an affair, he devises a plan to have her murdered... All Creatures Great And Small star Christopher Timothy takes top billing in a version of the play that’s been described as ‘claustrophobic and frightening’. Royal Shakespeare Company director Lucy Bailey is the woman at the helm.
Austentatious: An Improvised Novel Artrix, Bromsgrove, Fri 16 May
Austentatious visits the Midlands as part of its first ever tour, having garnered plenty of praise last summer when it debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe. Lighthearted and delightfully throwaway, it finds the performers utilising audience suggestions in order to develop a play that not only pays homage to Jane Austen’s inimitable style of writing but also generates plenty of laughter along the way.
tres, lost princes, demons, jesters and “divers alarums” galore’.
Behind The Blinds Crescent Theatre, Birmingham, Fri 16 May
The company behind this show didn’t even exist a year ago. Serrated Edge Theatre was founded to provide an outlet for the musical talents of Richard Watson, who is here joined by actress and singer Isabelle Paige. Together, they offer audiences a glimpse behind the blinds on an ordinary-looking suburban street. The production is suitable for audience members aged fourteen-plus.
Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers Elgar Concert Hall, Birmingham, Tues 13 May; Swan Theatre, Worcester, Fri 16 May; Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Sun 18 May
The UK’s first and only professional touring taiko group, the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers fuse thundering rhythms on huge taiko drums with layers of percussive soundscapes and the delicate sound of the shinobue bamboo flute. Since forming in 1994, the group has established a solid reputation for its energetic performances and impressive theatrical style, in the process appearing at the Brit Awards, the BBC Last Night of the Proms, and even in a Bollywood movie!
You’re Not Like All The Other Girls Chrissie mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, Thurs 15 - Fri 16 May
Terry Pratchett’s Wyrd Sisters Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham, Fri 2 - Sat 3 May
Giving a more than gentle nod in the direction of the works of William Shakespeare, Terry Pratchett’s sixth Discworld novel focuses on three strange witches gathered around a cauldron. With treason and treachery abroad in the kingdom, the terrible trio find themselves going against type by meddling in royal intrigue - with not-insignificant consequences... Highly rated local ensemble Jadis Shadows Productions is the company behind this cautionary tale of ‘murderous kings, spec-
Writer-performer Caroline Horton's grandmother is the Chrissy of the title, a myopic young French woman whose time in Staffordshire yields much more than the opportunity to learn the English language. Falling in love with a teacher named Cyril, Chrissy is all set to wed - until, that is, the Second World War intervenes and puts her plans on hold for five long years. The show’s running time is one hour.
George’s Marvellous Medicine Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham, Thurs 1 - Sat 10 May
George’s Marvellous Medicine tells the fantastical story of a young boy who chances his arm as a young Alexander Fleming and makes a medicine to cure his grandmother of her bad temper. But when she takes it, all sorts of weird and wonderful things happen, and George soon finds out that his adventures have only just begun. This particular production comes courtesy of Blue Orange Arts. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 31
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Theatre PREVIEWS
Theatre LISTINGS
Birango: Women Of War
For full listing information on theatre productions, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk
The Drum, Birmingham, Sun 11 May
This thought-provoking work of theatre blends physical performance, dance, animation and film to recount the story of Birangona women during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. The conflict saw over two hundred thousand women and girls systematically raped and tortured as part of the Pakistani Army's war strategy. These same innocent females were then silenced, ostracised and forgotten about by their society.... Presented by Komola Collective, Birango: Women Of War features the firsthand accounts of five of these women, offering a moving and disturbing insight not only into their experiences during the war, but also into the subsequent misery of living in a society in which they were marked with dishonour and shame.
Sauce For The Goose The Roses, Tewkesbury, Wed 21 May
Nineteenth century-style farce and barbed social satire are the ingredients with which playwright Georges Feydeau concocted this high-spirited romp. An interesting advocation of the benefits of marriage over adultery, Sauce For The Goose offers plenty by way of vaudevillian antics en route to its moral conclusion, and focuses on a group of philandering Parisiens as they seek to conceal their romantic indiscretions from their partners.
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Mon 19 - Sat 24 May; Birmingham Hippodrome, Mon 23 - Sat 28 June
Seen by over twenty million people across the globe, Buddy is an enormously enduring and touchingly affectionate portrayal of one of rock’n’roll's earliest and brightest stars. Charting the singer's meteoric rise to fame and fortune, and following his career through to his very last performance, the show features timeless classics such as That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy, Rave On and Everyday.
From
THUR 1 MAY GUYS AND DOLLS Amateur production presented by Solihull On Stage, until Sat 3 May, Solihull Arts Complex 20TH CENTURY BOY - THE MUSICAL Based on the life of Marc Bolan, until Sat 3 May, New Alexandra Theatre FAME - THE MUSICAL Presented by Bill Kenwright until Sat 3 May, Regent Theatre, Stokeon-Trent PYGMALION Alistair McGowan, Rula Lenska and Jamie Foreman star in the centenaryyear production of Bernard Shaw's enduring masterpiece, until Sat 3 May, Malvern Theatres FAWLTY TOWERS Presented by Stoke Repertory Theatre, until Sat 3 May, Stoke Repertory Theatre THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL Presented by Lichfield Operatic Society, until Sat 3 May, Lichfield Garrick LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Amateur production presented by the Stafford Gatehouse Youth Theatre, until Sat 3 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre GUYS AND DOLLS Presented by Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society, until Sat 3 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester THE PAJAMA GAME Classic musical comedy presented by Studley Operatic Society, until Sat 3 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Theatre Mischief present a playwithin-a-play about an amateur dramatic society putting on a murder-mystery production, until Sat 3 May, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre SCOUT GANG SHOW until Sat 3 May, Crewe Lyceum COVENTRY GANG SHOW The promise of a spectacular show packed with singing, dancing & comedy, until Sat 3 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry GIRLS LIKE THAT A Young REP production which explores the pressures surrounding young people today and in the past, and the contradictory choices they make in expressing themselves, until Sat 3 May, The REP, Birmingham
OTHELLO Tread The Boards Theatre Company presents one of Shakespeare’s darkest tragedies, until Sat 24 May, The Attic Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon HENRY IV PARTS I & II RSC Associate Artist Antony Sher returns to the Company to play the infamous comic knight Falstaff, until Sat 6 Sept, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon THE ROARING GIRL Jo Davies directs Lisa Dillon as the dynamic, cross-dressing heroine in a new version of Thomas Middleton & Thomas Dekker's Jacobean comedy, until Tue 30 Sept, The Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon ARDEN OF FAVERSHAM Polly Findlay makes her RSC debut, directing this darkly comic thriller which focuses on a husband, wife and lover who find themselves locked in a deadly game, until Thurs 2 Oct, The Swan Theatre, Stratfordupon-Avon A JOURNEY AROUND MY SKULL Kindle Theatre present a darkly comic examination of our relationship with our mind, memories and imagination, Thurs 1 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham KING LEAR: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE Acclaimed actor Simon Russell Beale takes the lead role in this National Theatre production of Shakespeare's bloody tale, Thurs 1 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire; Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire THE ARCHERS An evening of anecdotes, banter and favourite pieces from Sunny Ormonde, the women who plays wayward Lilian Bellamy in the Radio Four soap, Thurs 1 May, Lichfield Garrick HOLMES ALONE Presented by Don’t Go Into The Cellar Theatre Company, Thurs 1 May, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham NEWMAN UNIVERSITY: PEOPLE Eight performers explore the lives of a group of diverse characters, Thurs 1 - Fri 2 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham FINDING JOY A comic, anarchic, touching and heroic full-mask adventure from Worcesterbased theatre company Vamos, Thurs 1 - Fri 2
May, Tamworth Assembly Rooms CRAZY FOR YOU Amateur production presented by Mad Cow Productions, Thurs 1 - Sat 3 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury BASSETT The Belgrade Acting Out Company present James Graham's pacey look at a generation of young people who've inherited a world at war, Thurs 1 - Sat 3 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry GEORGE'S MARVELLOUS MEDICINE Blue Orange Arts presents its version of Roald Dahl's classic tale, Thurs 1 Sat 10 May, The Blue Orange Theatre, Birmingham AN EVENING WITH PAM AYRES Fri 2 May, Birmingham Town Hall TEA WITH OSCAR Don't Go Into The Cellar Theatre Company present a Victorian chat show, hosted by Mr Wilde himself, Fri 2 May, Lichfield Garrick BLOWERS & BAXTER: MEMORIES OF TEST MATCH SPECIAL Two of the titans of cricket share tales from Test Match Special commentary boxes all over the world, Fri 2 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre LEVEL UP WITH ZENA EDWARDS & TOM SISSONS An explosive night of spoken word performance, featuring some of the country’s very best poets alongside local rising stars, Fri 2 May, The REP, Birmingham TERRY PRATCHETT'S WYRD SISTERS Jadis Shadows present Stephen Briggs stage adaptation of one of Terry Pratchett’s most beloved tales, Fri 2 Sat 3 May, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham I DON’T WANT TO SET THE WORLD ON FIRE! A brand new production of Bob Eaton’s tale of ordinary women living in extraordinary times, Fri 2 - Sat 24 May, New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme BIN MEN AJTC and York Theatre Royal present Mike Kenny's play, with music for young children and their families, Sat 3 May, The REP, Birmingham THE SINGULAR EXPLOITS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES Holmes and Watson recount their lives and adventures... Sat 3 May, Lichfield Garrick COSI FAN TUTI Opera Live from the Metropolitan New York, Sat 3 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire PIRATES NEVER WASH THEIR HANDS Plays acted by adults, providing fun, songs and audience participation
for two-to-nine-yearolds, Sat 3 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester THE DISPUTE The Crescent Theatre Company present their version of Pierre de Marivaux's eighteenth century comedy of love, jealousy and betrayal, Sat 3 - Sat 10 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham MAMMA MIA Murder & Cabaret, Sun 4 May, Crewe Lyceum HOW TO CATCH A STAR Blunderbus present a new show which fuses music, puppetry and storytelling for three-toseven-year-olds, Sun 4 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM Presented by People's Theatre Company, Sun 4 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre
From
MON 5 MAY PAUL HOLLYWOOD LIVE Promising an evening of baking, comedy & fun... Mon 5 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham KING LEAR: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE Acclaimed actor Simon Russell Beale takes the lead role in this National Theatre production of Shakespeare's bloody tale, Mon 5 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove SONGS FROM A LEDGE: A BLUES OPERA Scenes and songs from a new musical based on the troubled life of fictional jazz’n’blues star Maria Lynwood, whose career spanned the 20th century, and of Annalie, her great granddaughter, lost in life and desperate for something to fight for, Mon 5 May, Kitchen Garden Cafe, Kings Heath, Birmingham SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS Starring Sam Attwater & Helena Blackman, Mon 5 - Sat 10 May, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent DERREN BROWN Mon 5 Sat 10 May, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (Read the interview with Derren on page 10) HOT FLUSH New musical featuring Matt Slack & Lesley Joseph, Tue 6 May, Crewe Lyceum BLACK COFFEE Agatha Christie classic starring Robert Powell, Liza Goddard, Gary Mavers & Ben Nealon, Tue 6 Sat 10 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry KISMET Tinkers Farm Opera present an amateur version of the Tony Award-winning musical, Tue 6 - Sat 10 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 33
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FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS 2014 Box Office: 01527 65203 Thurs 8th - Sat 10th May, 7.30pm
OPEN ALL HOURS 40th Anniversary Celebration
Sat 24th May, 7.30pm
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL PARADISE Spectacular rock ‘n’ roll show
Tickets £12.75*, £10.75*
Tickets £20.25*, £18.25*
Wed 14th May, 7.30pm
Wed 28th May, 7.30pm
STEVE HEWLETT AND FRIENDS
TOGETHER AGAIN
Back On Tour
Jim Davidson & Richard Digance
Tickets £16.75*
Tickets £21.75*
Thurs 15th May, 7.30pm
Thurs 29th May, 7.30pm
OMID DJALILI LIVE
BILLY PEARCE
Back On Tour
FUNNY GUY
Tickets £22.75*
Tickets £19.25*
Thurs 22nd May, 7.30pm
Sat 31st May, 7.30pm
THE REFLECTIONS
THE AXEMEN COMETH
IN CONCERT Tickets £19.25*, £17.25*
Tickets £15.75*, £10.75*
Fri 23rd May, 7.30pm
Wed 4th June, 7.30pm
LOVE CHANGES EVERYRTHING
THE LADYBOYS OF BANGKOK
starring Michael Courtney
Tickets £18.75*, £17.75*
Red hot Kisses Tour
Tickets £22.25*, £20.25*
* Inclusive of 75p booking fee per ticket up to a max of £3
ONLINE BOOKING:
www.redditchpalacetheatre.co.uk 34 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
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Theatre LISTINGS For full listing information on theatre productions, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk CRAZY FOR YOU Brownhills Musical Theatre Company present an amateur performance of the Gershwin musical comedy, Tue 6 - Sat 10 May, Lichfield Garrick EVITA Multi-award-winning hit musical by Tim Rice and Andrew LloydWebber. Marti Pellow stars... Tue 6 - Sat 10 May, Malvern Theatres RSC LIVE ENCORE RICHARD II Featuring David Tennant in the title role, Wed 7 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE A drama which explores the dramatic downfall of one of history’s most popular playwrights, Wed 7 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury ROAD New College Foundation Degree students present an amateur production of Jim Cartwright’s play, which explores the deprived lives of people living along the same road in a working class Lancashire in the 1980s, Wed 7 - Thurs 8 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove LES MISERABLES Schools edition presented by Youth on Stage, Wed 7 - Sat 10 May, Old Rep, Birmingham THE HAIRY APE Warwick University Drama Society present Eugene O’Neill’s powerful and exhilarating fantastical story of the struggle against the commercial, corporate capitalist machine, Wed 7 - Sat 10 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry AN EVENING WITH PAM AYRES Wed 7 May, Malvern Theatres THE BILLIE HOLIDAY STORY Musical play dramatising the life of legendary singer Billie Holiday, and including over twenty of Billie's classic songs, Thurs 8 May, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham KING LEAR A National Theatre Live screening, Thurs 8 May, Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire 'ALLO 'ALLO Stage adaptation of the BBC TV comedy, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May, The Belfrey Theatre, Wellington, Shropshire SINGIN' IN THE RAIN Amateur production presented by Aldridge Musical Comedy Society, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May, Prince Of Wales Centre, Cannock DAD'S ARMY The Norbury Players present an
amateur production of the classic BBC TV comedy series, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May, The Norbury Theatre, Droitwich OPEN ALL HOURS A stage adaptation of the hugely popular BBC TV comedy series, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch CIRCLES Rachel Delahay's vivid and powerful new play which explores violent relationships, love, trust and friendship, Fri 9 Sat 24 May, The REP, Birmingham AT THE CROSSROADS: BIBLE, BURLESQUE AND THE BLUES... A Fired Up Theatre production supported by Lichfield Mysteries, Fri 9 - Sat 10 May, Lichfield Garrick HOT FLUSH New musical featuring Matt Slack & Lesley Joseph, Fri 9 May, Hereford Courtyard Theatre IOLANTHE Coventry Savoy Opera Society present Gilbert & Sullivan's comic opera, Fri 9 May, Dovehouse Theatre SPECTRA Original piece of performance fusing physical theatre, dance, live music and a picnic... Fri 9 May, mac Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham LIVE MET BROADCAST LA CENERENTOLA Sat 10 May, Malvern Theatres; The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM Presented by People's Theatre Company, Sat 10 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester SING-A-LONG-A GREASE A brand new singalong version of the classic film starring Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, Sat 10 May New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham CHORALE: THE HOLY GHOSTLY & THE WAR IN HEAVEN A double-bill of works from American playwright Sam Shepard, Sat 10 - Sat 17 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry AVON CALLING The Other Way Works present a celebration of beauty with a theatrical twist, Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry THIS HAPPY BREED Noel Coward's attempt to show how ordinary people lived between the wars, Sat 10 - Sat 17 May, Oldbury Rep Barlow Theatre OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM Presented by People's Theatre Com-
pany, Sun 11 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury BIRANGONA: WOMEN OF WAR Komola Collective present a fusion of physical performance, dance and animation interwoven with film to tell the story of the 1971 war of independence which tore through Bangladesh, Sun 11 May, The Drum, Birmingham THE SILKEN BURLESQUE VARIETESE Presented by Mina Von Vixen, Sun 11 May, Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffs
Week Commencing
MON 12 MAY HONOR BLACKMAN AS HERSELF Mon 12 May, New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme QUARTET Presented by Nonentitties, Mon 12 Sat 17 May, The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster ROCK OF AGES Mon 12 Sat 17 May, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham PYGMALION Alistair McGowan, Rula Lenska and Jamie Foreman star in the centenaryyear production of Bernard Shaw's enduring masterpiece, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry SUMMER HOLIDAY Amateur production presented by the Porthill Players, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May, Stoke Repertory Theatre CHORALE: SAVAGE/ LOVE & THE ANIMAL (YOU) A double-bill of works from American playwright Sam Shepard, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry UNDER MILK WOOD A new production of Dylan Thomas' work of genius, celebrating the centenary of the playwright's birth and the sixtieth anniversary of the play's British premiere, Mon 12 - Sat 17 May, Malvern Theatres FOGGY & WHIT: GIVIN' IT GAS Described as a 'high-octane experience for all sports fans', this new event provides an insight into today's world of racing and recalls the former glories and disasters of four-time World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty, Tue 13 May, National Motorcycle Museum VESTA - WORCESTER’S WONDER OF THE MUSIC HALLS One-woman show about the life and music of Vesta Tilley ‘one of the most remarkable female entertainers that has ever lived’, Tues 13 Wed 14 May, Swan Theatre, Worcester INSTITUTE Physical dance theatre company
Gecko present an intimate, funny and revealing exploration of care, Tues 13 - Fri 16 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry SISTER ACT Amateur production presented by WBOS, Tue 13 - Sat 17 May, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre DIAL M FOR MURDER Lucy Bailey's acclaimed production of Frederick Knott's murder-mystery. Christopher Timothy, Kelly Hotten, Daniel Betts, Philip Cairns and Robert Perkins star, Tue 13 - Sat 17 May, The REP, Birmingham THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL Presented by Solihull Theatre Company, Tue 13 - Sat 17 May, Solihull Arts Complex RENT Amateur production presented by The Arcadians, Tue 13 - Sat 17 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham THE RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN SONGBOOK A concert-style show featuring four accomplished West End and Broadway performers in an evening of music from the world’s most prolific composers, Wed 14 May, Crewe Lyceum RSC LIVE: HENRY IV PART I Screened live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, featuring Sir Antony Sher as Falstaff, Wed 14 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry; Roses theatre, Tewkesbury; Malvern Theatres STEVE HEWLETT: THINKING INSIDE THE BOX Britain's Got Talent contestant and ventriloquist Steve Hewlett takes to the road with awardwinning illusionist Richard Griffin, in a brand new show which promises to 'delight and amaze the whole family', Wed 14 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch PRIVATE PEACEFUL A staging of Michael Morpurgo's book, which relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May, The REP, Birmingham GUYS AND DOLLS Music Theatre Warwick present their version of one of the best-loved musicals of all time, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL The Lichfield Players present an amateur production of Alan Ayckbourn's award-winning play, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May, Lichfield Garrick BLACKADDER Dudley Little Theatre present a stage version of the popular British sitcom, this time set during the
Great War of 1914/18 Wed 14 - Sat 17 May, Netherton Arts Centre, Dudley LITTLE SHOPS OF HORRORS Amateur production presented by TADLOP, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May, The Place, Oakengates Theatre, Telford YOU’RE NOT LIKE ALL THE OTHER GIRLS CHRISSY Caroline Horton’s poignant portrait of one woman’s experience of love and war, Thurs 15 Fri 16 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham “YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN” Performed by Junior School Boys, Thurs 15 - Fri 16 May, Bridge House Theatre, Warwick VICAR OF DIBLEY Staffordshire Stage Productions bring the hit TV series to the stage in a brand new production, Thurs 15 - Sat 17 May, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent A DREAM Krazy Kat Theatre Company fuse puppetry, acting, music and sign language to tell a timeless story of mysticism, love and forgiveness, Thurs 15 Sat 17 May, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton DAD'S ARMY The Norbury Players present an amateur production of the classic BBC TV comedy series about the Home Guard of Walmington-on-Sea, Thurs 15 - Sat 17 May, The Norbury Theatre, Droitwich RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET Here presented by Birmingham Youth Theatre, Return To The Forbidden Planet is one of the best of all cult musicals, Thurs 15 - Sat 17 May, Old Rep, Birmingham HEAR THE PEOPLE SING The Westenders present a gala concert celebrating Les Miserables and the world’s most popular musicals, Fri 16 May, Tamworth Assembly Rooms MONOLOGUESLAM UK Jimmy Akingbola hosts an evening where actors from all backgrounds can showcase their skills to a panel of people who’re in a position to move their careers forward, Fri 16 May, The REP, Birmingham COWARD BY SEA Actor, pianist and singer Michael Lunts presents a one-man staging of Noel Coward's littleknown comedy, P&O 1930, Fri 16 May, Lichfield Garrick AUSTENTATIOUS: AN IMPROVISED NOVEL A comedy play spun in the inimitable style of Jane Austen - and based entirely on audience suggestions, Fri 16 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove
MIKE MCGEAR MCCARTNEY Mike takes audiences through his family album, with stories of Liverpool life from childhood through to entering showbiz when, because of Beatlemania, he had to change his name to 'McGear', and became an integral part of the ’60s Merseybeat era, Fri 16 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa KING LEAR: NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE Acclaimed actor Simon Russell Beale takes the lead role in this National Theatre production of Shakespeare's bloody tale, Fri 16 May, Malvern Theatres; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry BEHIND THE BLINDS Serrated Edge present a new show for people aged fourteen-plus which weaves together lyrically witty and sophisticated songs to reveal what goes on behind the blinds on an ordinary-looking suburban street, Fri 16 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham BESIDE THE SEASIDE Opus Theatre Company present the first play in Leslie Sands’ trilogy of seaside capers at the Seaview Guest House, Fri 16 May, Bedworth Civic Hall PIAF THE SONGS A powerful tribute to the woman who became synonymous with French cabaret, Fri 16 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre TWO-WAY MIRROR Two related short plays by Arthur Miller, said to be inspired by his relationship with Marilyn Monroe, Fri 16 - Sat 17 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch A MURDER IS ANNOUNCED Amateur production of the Agatha Christie classic, adapted by Leslie Darbon, Fri 16 - Sat 24 May, Hall Green Little Theatre, Birmingham CHILDREN'S THEATRE A short play performed by adults especially for children aged four to ten, Sat 17 May, The Norbury Theatre, Droitwich THAT'LL BE THE DAY Rock’n’roll spectacular, combining music from the ’50s, ’60s & ’70s with wacky comedy routines, Sat 17 May, Birmingham Town Hall QU LIVE Musical theatre cabaret night showcasing new writers and performers, Sat 17 May, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham IOLANTHE OR THE PEER AND THE PERI Written by WS Gilbert and composed by Arthur Sullivan, Sat 17 May, Bridge House Theatre, Warwick KIDNAPPED Robert Louis
For full theatre listings in the West Midlands, visit, www.whatsonlive.co.uk 35
Theatre May region one_Layout 1 25/04/2014 16:46 Page 9
VISIT OU WEBSITE R T VIEW MO O RE SHOWS!
Box Office 01743 281 281
Frankwell Quay, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY3 8FT
Book Online www.theatresevern.co.uk
WEDNESDAY 7 & THURDAY 8 MAY Get your ballet fix with this amazing selection of work from the internationally acclaimed Birmingham Royal Ballet. QUATRAIN An exciting new piece by Birmingham Royal Ballet’s own dancer and choreographer Kit Holder.
FAÇADE
Aldridge Musical Comedy Society presents:
’ N I G SIN IN THE RAIN
A hilarious comic ballet based on Edith Sitwell’s deliciously nonsensical poetry.
BITESIZED BALLET Best bits from our world-renowned classical ballet repertory.
SATURDAY 10 MAY
Prince of Wales Theatre, Church St, Cannock, WS11 1DE
Thurs 8th - Sat 10th May Tickets: £12, £10 concs, £6 child
Box Office: 01543 578762
BILLY PEARCE
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Ltd. On behalf of Music Theatre International of New York
One of Britain's best loved comedians, British comedy award winner Billy Pearce presents a night of quick fire gags as part of his latest national tour.
Affiliated to the National Operatic and Dramatic Association Registered Charity Number 505962
TUESDAY 20 MAY
SPIERS & BODEN THE FOUNDERS OF BELLOWHEAD TWICE WINNERS OF THE BBC FOLK AWARDS FOR BEST DUO
"Dynamic, drive and passion" BBC Radio 2 folk website
FRIDAY 30 & SATURDAY 31ST MAY
Tim Whitnall's Olivier Award-winning play, starring the Olivier-nominated Bob Golding as comedy icon, Eric Morecambe.
'...will bring sunshine into the lives of all who see it.' DAILY TELEGRAPH
36 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
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Theatre LISTINGS For full listing information on theatre productions, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk Stevenson’s familyfriendly adventure is here adapted by emerging playwright Ivan Wilkinson and presented by Sell A Door Theatre Company, Sat 17 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN SONGBOOK Concert-style show featuring accomplished West End and Broadway performers, Sat 17 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER’S CAT Rude Mechanicals present a stage version of a popular classic for children, Sun 18 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham THE D-DAY DARLINGS The songs that won the war, Sun 18 May, Bridge House Theatre, Warwick SWINGING AT THE COTTON CLUB Action-packed show celebrating the music, dance and songs of the Cotton Club, Sun 18 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury DOUBLE TROUBLE Comedy about one man and his boss. Handyman Woodstock and his boss Mr Dickance are always arguing. But when Mr Dickance finds himself in hot water, Woodstock plays detective to help him out, Sun 18 May, The Drum, Birmingham
Week Commencing
MON 19 MAY VIVA LA DRAG Slick choreography, enticing harmonies and glamorous costumes are the order of the day in this 'new sensation', featuring original songs by Boy George, Mon 19 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry JOHN EDWARD - PSYCHIC MEDIUM Mon 19 May, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham LAST OF THE DUTY FREE Keith Barron, Gwen Taylor and Neil Stacy play out the next installment in a series which regularly pulled in TV audiences of over 12 million viewers, Mon 19 - Sat 24 May, Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent BUDDY - THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY Awardwinning musical, Mon 19 - Sat 24 May, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre FINDING JOY A comic, anarchic, touching and heroic full-mask adventure from Worcesterbased theatre company
Vamos, Tue 20 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury LIVE MET BROADCAST LA CENERENTOLA Tue 20 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry BLESS 'EM ALL Nostalgic show, Tue 20 May, Lichfield Garrick WAR CORRESPONDENTS Multi-disciplined production concerning a journalist captured while reporting the outbreak of war, Tue 20 Wed 21 May, Malvern Theatres CATCH-22 Northern Stage present the first ever UK production of Joseph Heller's dramatisation of his classic novel, Tue 20 - Sat 24 May, The REP, B’ham NOISES OFF Swan Theatre Amateur Company present Michael Frayn's smash-hit farce, Tue 20 - Sat 24 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester EVERY BRILLIANT THING Paines Plough & Pentabus Theatre present a new play about depression, and the lengths we go to for those we love, Wed 21 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE Georges Feydeau’s high-spirited 19th century romp, Wed 21 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury PEPPA PIG'S BIG SPLASH All-singing, all-dancing adventure full of songs, games and muddy puddles for children, Wed 21 - Thurs 22 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry CONFIRMATION A play about the gulf between beliefs that we can’t talk across and the way we only choose to see the evidence that proves we’re right, Wed 21 Thurs 22 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME A National Theatre Live Encore performance, Thurs 22 May, The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire; Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire; Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry LADY GOGO GOCH & A JOURNEY ROUND MY SKULL Double-bill of works from Kindle Theatre, Thurs 22 May, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE London Classic Theatre present Joe Orton's critically acclaimed farce, Thurs 22 - Sat 24 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury
CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: DRALION UK debut of Cirque’s signature production which fuses the three thousand-year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatics to explore the ongoing quest for harmony between humans and nature, Thurs 22 - Sun 25 May, LG Arena, Birmingham KHANDAN (FAMILY) Birmingham Repertory Theatre in association with The Royal Court presents Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's tale of extended family life, Thurs 22 May - Sat 7 June, The REP, Birmingham LOVE CHANGES EVERYTHING Celebrating the music of Michael Ball, Fri 23 May, Palace Theatre, Redditch MIKE MCGEAR MCCARTNEY Mike takes audiences through his family album, with stories of Liverpool life from childhood through to entering showbiz when, because of Beatlemania, he had to change his name to 'McGear', and became an integral part of the ’60s Merseybeat era, Fri 23 May, Tamworth Assembly Rooms MISSING In Britain, one person goes missing every two minutes. Missing seeks to scrutinise the vast scale and unique mystery of disappearance. Created from first-hand interviews gathered by the cast and developed in collaboration with journalists from national newspapers, Fri 23 Sat 24 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry THE LAST SUPPER From Marilyn Monroe to Rasputin, Princess Diana to Joan Of Arc, this is an intimate and unusual performance serving a set of last statements and last meals to a limited audience of thirty-nine, Fri 23 - Sun 25 May, Church of St. John The Baptist, Coventry THE INSTITUTE OF IMPOSSIBILITY Join award-winning company LAStheatre for an immersive adventure exploring the evolution of all things, from crops to legends and satellites to stories. Encounter real scientists and meet their mysterious machine – all on a journey to save creativity from destruction, Fri 23 - Sun 25 May, Drapers Hall, Coventry AN EVENING WITH JULIE ANDREWS Sat 24 May, National Indoor Arena, Birmingham ROLL UP! ROLL UP! Language Alive present an early-years story which focuses on a man's dream to one day perform in the circus, Sat 24 May, The REP, Birmingham THE CHUCKLE BROTHERS
IN A 2014 SPACE ODDITY A new show promising fun for all the family, Sat 24 May, New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham KIDNAPPED Robert Louis Stevenson’s familyfriendly adventure is here adapted by emerging playwright Ivan Wilkinson and presented by Sell A Door Theatre Company, Sat 24 May, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Swansea City Opera present their version of Mozart's comic opera, Sun 25 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury THE WASPS Ludus Theatre present a retelling of the ancient tale The Wasps of Aristophanes!, Sun 25 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham CHARITY VARIETY PERFORMANCE Showcase of work from Stagecoach theatre schools in Leamington Spa, Banbury, Warwick & Kenilworth, Sun 25 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa
Week Commencing
MON 26 MAY ROCK POOL Award-winning theatre group Inspector Sands present a new show for children featuring rock music and splashy dancing, Mon 26 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS The critically acclaimed National Theatre production takes to the road... Mon 26 - Sat 31 May, Birmingham Hippodrome RSC LIVE: HENRY IV PART I Screened live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, featuring Sir Antony Sher as Falstaff, Tues 27 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PUSS IN BOOTS Music, magic and mayhem, with plenty of audience participation... Tue 27 May, Lichfield Garrick CHRIS & PUI Brand new show packed with songs, games and a few surprises!, Tue 27 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove KIDNAPPED Robert Louis Stevenson’s familyfriendly adventure, is here adapted by emerging playwright Ivan Wilkinson and presented by Sell A Door Theatre Company, Tue 27 - Sat 31 May, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry GREASE Amateur production presented by Five Towns Theatre Company, Tues 27 - Sat 31 May, Stoke Repertory Theatre THIS IS MUSIC HALL Wed 28 May, Wolverhamp-
ton Grand Theatre WUTHERING HEIGHTS A 'bold new adaptation' of Emily Bronte's classic love story, Wed 28 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury RSC LIVE: HENRY IV PART I Screened live from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, featuring Sir Antony Sher as Falstaff, Wed 28 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove THE JUNGLE BOOK Riverbank Productions present a stage version of Rudyard Kipling’s much-loved family tale, Wed 28 May, Tamworth Assembly Rooms CHARLIE & LOLA'S EXTREMELY NEW PLAY Fusion of puppetry, live action and music based on the much-loved books by Lauren Child, Wed 28 - Sat 31 May, The REP, Birmingham THE TRIAL Freshblood Theatre’s student-written adaptation of Franz Kafka’s groundbreaking novel, Wed 28 - Sat 31 May, Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry THE TIME MACHINE Oneman adaptation of Orson Wells’ profoundly influential Victorian novella, Thurs 29 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre THE SOOTY SHOW A brand new family show, Thurs 29 May, Prince Of Wales Centre, Cannock BANANAS IN PYJAMAS Thurs 29 May, Bedworth Civic Hall HUGLESS DOUGLAS Theatre for children, based on the bestselling book by David Melling, Thurs 29 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury TERRY PRATCHETT'S WYRD SISTERS Jadis Shadows present a stage version of Terry Pratchett’s cautionary tale of ‘murderous kings, spectres, lost princes, demons, jesters and “divers alarums” galore’, Thurs 29 May, The Swan Theatre, Worcester FOGHORN IMPROV: THE SHERLOCK TOMES Evening of improvised sleuthing, Thurs 29 May, Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham WEST SIDE STORY Amateur production presented by the Viv Kelly Youth Theatre Group, Thurs 29 - Sat 31 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury DOUG SEGAL: I CAN MAKE YOU A MENTALIST Comedy, animation, interaction and ‘mind-blowing miracles’... Fri 30 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove LAURIE LEE: REFLECTIONS Local writers Roger Elkin and Pamela Brough-Sandford join journalist Phil Edmeades to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the writer’s birth, Fri 30 May, Foxloew Arts Cen-
tre, Leek, Staffs THE FORENSICS OF A FLAT (AND OTHER STORIES) By Francesca Millican Slater, Fri 30 - Sat 31 May, The REP, Birmingham MORECAMBE Tim Whitnall’s award-winning play, Fri 30 - Sat 31 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM Presented by People's Theatre Company, Fri 30 May, Solihull Arts Complex THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO Swansea City Opera present their version of Mozart's comic opera, Fri 30 May, Lichfield Garrick SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN Lichfield Garrick Rep Company present John Godber's semi-autobiographical play, loosely based on the lives of his own parents, Fri 30 May - Thurs 5 Jun, Lichfield Garrick BOBBY SOCKS AND BLUE JEANS Sat 31 May, Crewe Lyceum PEPPA PIG'S BIG SPLASH All-singing, all-dancing adventure full of songs, games and muddy puddles for children, Sat 31 May - Sun 1 June, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre CARNABY STREET Real musical story set against a backdrop of London's West End in the 1960s. Verity Rushworth and Aaron Sidwell star, Sat 31 May, Lichfield Garrick DESI PEO Gurdip Kaur Chaudhary's 'high voltage' Punjabi comedy which, set in London, centres around the clashing traditional beliefs of Joginder and Lucy Singh and their British-born son Gaz, Sat 31 May, The Drum, Birmingham TOOTY FROOTIES DO HOLLYWOOD A burlesque review with a difference, Sat 31 May, Old Rep, Birmingham THE COMEDY OF ERRORS Sat 31 May, Whittington Castle, Nr Oswestry, North Shropshire GRUMPY OLD WOMEN: FIFTY SHADES OF BEIGE Featuring Jenny Eclair, Susie Blake & Kate Robbins, Sat 31 May, Swan Theatre, Worcester INHERIT THE WIND Jerome Lawrence and Robert E Lee’s American drama, inspired by real-life events, Sat 31 May - Sat 14 June, New Vic Theatre, Newcastleunder-Lyme CRAZY FOR YOU The Crescent Theatre present the story of Bobby Childs, a well-to-do 1930s playboy whose dream in life is to dance, Sat 31 May - Sat 7 Jun, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
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Theatre REVIEWS Below are reviews of theatre productions we checked out last month. For further theatre reviews, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk
The Passion Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham
The Old Joint Stock Theatre Company here presented an original and expansive promenade retelling of the Passion Story, set in modern-day Birmingham and spanning three buildings and various streets in the city centre. During the show’s run, ‘Jesus Davidson of Northfield’ was played by two actors; Seabert Henry, the night we reviewed. He was excellent as a brooding but fragile rogue. Alex Nikitas was perfectly cast as Pilate - a mercilessly on-message politician - while the large multicultural cast played their roles superbly. But it was the surprises which really sold the production: the audience kitbags filled with items which enhanced various scenes, the spot-on extras (Pilate’s campaign material, later defaced) and, most of all, the variety and inventiveness of the spaces used. We entered the Old Joint Stock Theatre itself twice, first for The Last Supper - an immersive partyturned-sour - then for a brutal Guantanamo Baystyle crucifixion. The show felt overlong, and there was often too much physical distance to cover between the scenes - but for sheer ambition, creativity and commitment, this young company cannot be faulted. James Pursglove ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
Happy Days Birmingham Hippodrome
To me as a child growing up in the 1970s, Happy Days was a bit of a phenomenon (not sure I knew what that word meant back then, mind). Keeping on top of what the slick-haired Fonz and his not-so-cool followers were up to in 1950s America provided me with a reason to rush home from school (as if any reason were needed!). So why is it that I couldn’t quite get into the spirit of this all-singing, all-dancing incarnation? Well, if you like your musicals saccharine-sweet, chances are Happy Days The Musical is for you. If, on the other hand, you like a bit more substance to your entertainment, the show is likely to leave you feeling somewhat disappointed. The narrative is a simple one - Arnold’s Diner is under threat from new fast food merchant Ronald McDonald and the heat is on to raise the cash to save Arnold’s bacon. Enter, the Fonz! Ex-Emmerdale star Ben Freeman is less than totally convincing as the comb-touting main man. That said, he does grow on you, and the role allows him to demonstrate his vocal prowess. Heidi Range can certainly belt out a tune, but on more than one occasion she looks out of place as the Fonz’s husky-voiced love interest, Pinky Tuscadero. Cheryl Baker, by contrast, is a perfect fit as homemaker Mrs Cunningham, as is James Paterson as her husband Howard. And there are many more performances well worth applauding, including that of Scott Waugh, who gives the show momentum as Richie Cunningham. Happy Days may have the makings of a good musical but it lacks the wow factor to take it to the next level. Maybe it’ll grow on me. Or maybe I’ve just grown up. Patsy Moss ■ ■ ■
Theatre Box Office Birmingham
Threepenny Opera The REP, Birmingham
Written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, this raucous musical here dispatched a galvanising punch to the gut as it crashed through the topical subjects of police corruption, criminality and the exploitation of the poor - all achieved with its tongue set firmly in its cheek! Relocated to contemporary London, it tells the story of Polly (Cici Howells), whose father - the crook, Mr Peachum (Garry Robson) - so disapproves of her marriage to notorious criminal Macheath - dubbed Mack the Knife (Milton Lopes) that he schemes for his arrest and hanging. The cast performed splendidly, particularly the smoothly menacing Lopes, and revelled in the business of presenting a tale of blackmail, hypocrisy and moral corruption, complete with foul-mouthed dialogue and super songs, including Army Song and the sultry Pimp’s Ballad. Unfortunately, the preachy parallels, with images of David Cameron and Jimmy Savile, felt too smug in their bid to appear ‘socially relevant’. Also distracting were the screens and onstage band, drawing the focus away from the unfolding action. Overall, though, a powerful commentary on undeniably pertinent themes. Malaka Chowdhury ■ ■ ■ 38 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
ALEXANDRA THEATRE 0844 871 3011 BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME 0844 338 5000 BIRMINGHAM REP 0121 236 4455 THE BLUE ORANGE THEATRE 0121 212 2643 CRESCENT THEATRE 0121 643 5858 DOVEHOUSE THEATRE 0121 706 7139 THE DRUM 0121 333 2444 HALL GREEN LITTLE THEATRE 0121 707 1874 MAC 0121 446 3232 MIXING BOWL THEATRE 0121 224 7545 OLD JOINT STOCK THEATRE 0121 200 0946 OLD REP 0121 245 4455 SOLIHULL ARTS COMPLEX 0121 704 6962
Black Country ARENA THEATRE WOLVERHAMPTON 01902 321321 BLOXWICH THEATRE 01922 653183 DUDLEY CONCERT HALL 01384 812812 FOREST ARTS CENTRE, WALSALL 01922 654555
GRAND THEATRE, 01902 429212 NEWHAMPTON ARTS CENTRE 01902 572090 OLDBURY REP, OLDBURY 0121 552 2761
Shropshire THE BELFREY, WELLINGTON 01952 222277 THE EDGE, MUCH WENLOCK 01952 728911 THE HIVE, SHREWSBURY 01743 234970 LUDLOW ASSEMBLY ROOMS 01584 878141 THE PLACE, OAKENGATES, TELFORD 01952 382382 THEATRE SEVERN, SHREWSBURY 01743 281281 WEM TOWN HALL 01939 232299
Staffordshire LICHFIELD GARRICK 01543 412121 NEW VIC 01782 717962 PRINCE OF WALES CENTRE, CANNOCK 01543 578762 REGENT THEATRE, STOKE 0870 060 6649 RUGELEY ROSE THEATRE 01889 584036 STAFFORD GATEHOUSE 01785 254653 STOKE REPERTORY THEATRE 01782 209784
Warwickshire BEDWORTH CIVIC HALL 024 7637 6707 BELGRADE THEATRE, COVENTRY 024 7655 3055 BRIDGE HOUSE THEATRE, WARWICK 01926 776438 THE DREAM FACTORY 01926 419555 ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON 0844 800 1110 ROYAL SPA CENTRE LEAMINGTON 01926 334418 WARWICK ARTS CENTRE, COVENTRY 02476 524524
Worcestershire ARTRIX ARTS CENTRE, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330 THE HIVE 01905 822866 HUNTINGDON HALL, WORCESTER 01905 611427 MALVERN THEATRE 01684 892277 NORBURY THEATRE, DROITWICH 01905 770154 PALACE THEATRE REDDITCH 01527 65203 ROSE THEATRE, 01562 743745 SWAN THEATRE, WORCESTER 01905 611427
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Theatre WEST END
WEST END LISTINGS: MUSICALS
Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage to star in re-imagining of Arthur Miller classic Leicester-born actor Richard Armitage is to take the lead in a new production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible at The Old Vic. Armitage, probably best known as Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit trilogy, will play John Proctor in Miller’s drama about the Salem witch trials. Focusing on one man’s fight to save his identity in a repressive Puritan community, this new version of Miller’s modern masterpiece is brought to the stage by internationally acclaimed director Yael Farber, with the
award-winning Soutra Gilmour responsible for set design. Anna Madeley, who’s been described as one of the UK’s ‘brightest and most versatile young actresses’, returns to the West End stage to play Proctor’s wife Elizabeth. Oxford School of Drama graduate Samantha Colley makes her professional stage debut as the manipulative Abigail Williams, a central character in the play. The Crucible opens at The Old Vic on Tues 24 June and shows until Sat 13 September.
Extended booking period for the RSC’s Matilda The Musical
the heartbreak of being a parent and the compromise of growing up. Numrich is joined in the production by Anthony Calf (Nikolia), Elaine Cassidy (Anna), Caoilfhionn Dunn (Fenichka) and Susan Engel (Princess Olga). Fathers And Sons opens at The Donmar Warehouse on 5 June and runs until Seth Numrich 26 July.
The booking period for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Matilda The Musical at the Cambridge Theatre has been extended until May 2015. Written by Dennis Kelly, and with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, Matilda recently clocked up its one thousandth performance. The hit show has received a total of forty-nine awards - including seven Oliviers and four Tonys - since its 2010 debut in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Cillian Murphy returns to the National Theatre in new play
Casting announced for Russian masterpiece Fathers And Sons Seth Numrich is to return to the West End to star in the Donmar Warehouse production of Brian Friel’s Fathers And Sons. Numrich, who was awarded Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards in 2013, will play Bazarov in Friel’s dramatisation of Ivan Turgenev’s Russian masterpiece. Set during the course of a summer retreat at a country estate, Fathers And Sons focuses on
Following his success playing Tommy Shelby in the Birmingham-based BBC drama Peaky Blinders, Irish actor Cillian Murphy has announced he’s to return to the National Theatre (NT). Murphy will be reunited with writer and director Edna Walsh on Ballyturk, which plays in the Lyttleton Theatre for a fiveweek season from 11 September. An ‘ambitious and tender’ new work, Ballyturk focuses on two men as their lives unravel over the course of ninety minutes, and is described by the NT as ‘gut-wrenchingly funny, achingly sad, and featuring jaw-dropping moments of physical comedy’. Murphy and Walsh last worked together on Misterman, which showed at the Cillian Murphy National in 2012.
BILLY ELLIOT – THE MUSICAL Victoria Palace Theatre, booking until 16 May 2015 BODYGUARD Adelphi Theatre, booking until 30 Aug 2014 BOOK OF MORMON Prince Of Wales Theatre, booking until 30 Aug 2014 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY THE MUSICAL Drury Lane Royal, booking until 30 May 2015 COMMITMENTS Victoria Palace Theatre, booking until 19 Apr 2015 DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS Savoy Theatre, booking until 29 Nov 2014 I CAN’T SING! THE X FACTOR MUSICAL London Palladium Theatre, booking until 25 Oct 2014 JERSEY BOYS Piccadilly Theatre, booking until 26 Oct 2014 LES MISÉRABLES Queen's Theatre, booking until 25 Apr 2015 LION KING Lyceum Theatre, booking until 28 Sept 2014 MADE IN DAGENHAM THE MUSICAL Adelphi Theatre, 9 Oct 2014 28 Mar 2015 MAMMA MIA! Novello Theatre, booking until 25 Apr 2015 MATILDA THE MUSICAL Cambridge Theatre, booking until 21 Dec 2014 MEMPHIS THE MUSICAL Shaftesbury Theatre, 9 Oct 2014 - 28 Mar 2015 MISS SAIGON Prince Edward Theatre, 3 May - 25 Oct 2014 ONCE Phoenix Theatre, booking until 4 July 2015 PAJAMA GAME Shaftesbury Theatre, 2 May - 13 Sep 2014 PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Her Majesty's Theatre,
booking until 25 Oct 2014 PORGY AND BESS Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, 17 Jul 23 Aug 2014 STOMP Ambassadors Theatre, booking until 21 Dec 2014 THRILLER LIVE Lyric Theatre, booking until 19 Apr 2015 WE WILL ROCK YOU Dominion Theatre, booking until 31 May 2014 WICKED Apollo Victoria Theatre, booking until 25 Apr 2015
DRAMA 1984 Playhouse Theatre, 28 Apr - 19 Jul 2014 ANTONY & CLEOPATRA Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 17 May - 24 Aug 2014 DOCTOR SCROGGY’S WAR Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, 12 Sept - 10 Oct 2014 FATAL ATTRACTION Haymarket Theatre Royal, booking until 21 Jun 2014 GHOST STORIES Arts Theatre, booking until 17 Aug 2014 GOLEM Young Vic Theatre, booking until 17 Jan 2015 HANDBAGGED Vaudeville Theatre, 3 Apr - 2 Aug 2014 KING LEAR Olivier National Theatre, booking until 28 May 2014 OTHER DESERT CITIES Old Vic Theatre, booking until 24 May 2014
COMEDY 39 STEPS Criterion Theatre, booking until 18 Oct 2014 BLITHE SPIRIT Gielgud Theatre, booking until 7 June 2014 RELATIVE VALUES Harold Pinter Theatre, booking until 21 jun 2014 TWELFTH KNIGHT RE-IMAGINED Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park, 21 Jun - 12 July 2014
Made In Dagenham - Adelphi Theatre
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 39
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Dance
Lord Of The Flies Birmingham Hippodrome, Wed 14 - Sat 17 May
Stopping off in Birmingham as part of its inaugural tour, Matthew Bourne’s latest production is an adventurous interpretation of William Golding’s seminal exploration of the breakdown of social order. Once again bringing New Adventures’ style to a classic piece, Bourne transposes the story from a deserted island to a deserted theatre, where a group of schoolboys find themselves abandoned. With no adults to keep order, the teenagers create their own ‘dog eat dog’ civilisation, in which a new set of rules apply. And, with tension building throughout the show, audiences are promised an electrifying climax in true Matthew Bourne style. Featuring a mixed cast of professional and non-professional dancers, Lord Of The Flies is a joint venture between Bourne and Olivier Award-nominated choreographer Scott Ambler.
Birmingham Royal Ballet Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Wed 7 - Thurs 8 May
Let’s Dance International Festival Various locations around Leicester, until Sat 24 May
Raising the profile of dance throughout Leicester, the inaugural Let’s Dance International Festival launched in 2011 as part of the celebrations leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Presenting an eclectic programme of events across the city, this year’s festival showcases a host of internationally acclaimed dancers and choreographers, including FuturPointe Dance from New York (16 - 17 May) and Sana Budaya from Suriname (23 to 24 May). Homegrown performers include Freddie Opoku-Addaie and Henri Oguike, to name but two. For full details of the festival and to find out who’s on where, visit www.ldif.co.uk 40 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Internationally acclaimed Birmingham Royal Ballet is out on the road this month, stopping off at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn to perform three short works from its extensive repertoire. Quatrain, a new work from BRB dancer and choreographer Kit Holder, opens the triple-bill. An upbeat piece inspired by the vibrant rhythms of Astor Piazzolla’s The Four Seasons Of Beunos Aires, it follows the success of Holder’s previous work, 9-5, which featured at International Dance Festival Birmingham in 2012. Next up is Frederick Ashton’s Facade. Based on Edith Sitwell’s nonsensical poetry, it’s a comic ballet brimming with delightful characters. Completing the bill is Bitesize - an opportunity to enjoy highlights from the company’s best-loved ballets.
Frederick Ashton’s Facade
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Séquence 8 The REP, Birmingham, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May
Montreal circus company Les 7 Doigts de la Main (The 7 Fingers) here fuses acrobatics, circus arts, dance and theatre in a performance described as ‘playful and profound’. Created in 2012, the company’s Sequence 8 takes emotional dynamics to a point of explosion and propulsion, where there are no specific references to time or place. Instead, there’s a contemplation of the role of the ‘other’, and how we define ourselves both through and against it.
Company Decalage DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Fri 9 - Sat 10 May
Sylvie Guillem: 6000 Miles Away Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 6 - Wed 7 May
Known for its unique style, which blends various dance disciplines, Company Decalage here presents a highly anticipated world premiere double-bill. The two new duets have been devised by celebrated Midlands choreographer and bboy Mickael ‘Marso’ Riviere in partnership with acclaimed Barcelona-based choreographer, actor and dancer Guy Nader and Egyptian-born choreographer Salah El Brogy. The first work, Match, is a piece where destruction and renewal, devastation and beauty are never far apart. Halfway To The Other Side, meanwhile, is a part-spiritual journey and part-absurd reflection on the human tendency to repeat and replicate.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest dancers, French artist Sylvie Guillem this month makes a welcome return to the region to showcase an evening of works by three of today’s most renowned choreographers - Mats Ek, William Forsythe and Jirí Kylián. Commissioned in 2011, 6000 Miles is a collaboration between Guillem and Sadler’s Wells, for whom she is Associate Artist. The critically acclaimed work features Forsythe’s lauded duet Rearray, presented alongside Bye, Mats Ek’s solo for Guillem which is set to Beethoven’s last piano sonata. A duet from Kylián’s work 27’52”, performed by dancers handpicked by the choreographer, completes the performance. The Parisian protegee of Rudolf Nureyev, Guillem was, at nineteen, the youngest dancer to be appointed to the Paris Opera Ballet, where she remained the top-ranking female dancer from 1984 to 1989 before arriving at Covent Garden in a blaze of publicity. In 2006 she made the transition from ballet to contemporary dance.
Luca Silvestrini’s Protein
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Fri 2 May
DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome, Tues 13 - Sat 17 May
Award-winning dance company Protein here bring their trademark physical and verbal wit to Birmingham with a new slice of social commentary. Featuring international dancers and local performers, Border Tales is a poignant look at multi-cultural living in the UK. Told through the eyes of the characters on the stage, we’re presented with a satirical gaze into the world of stereotypical thinking, tolerance and where lines are drawn between ‘them’ and ‘us’.
Concert Dansé. A world premiere of a unique collaboration between Birmingham’s Ex Cathedra, Québécois dance company Cas Public, Birmingham Royal Ballet and a cast of UK performers, Concert Dansé promises to create within Symphony Hall an ethereal, haunting atmosphere. Featuring classical pieces from SaintSaens, Massenet and Copland, the evening culminates in a reimagining of Durufle’s Requiem, featuring a mix of ballet, Kathak and contemporary dance. Choreographed by Helene Blackburn and Pierre Lecours, and with David Massingham as creative producer, the piece features a performance from trained Kathak dancer Aakash Odedra, a rising star of British South Asian Dance.
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Dance LISTINGS For full listing information on dance, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL LEICESTER Showcasing dancers & choreographers from around the world, until Sat 24 May, various locations around Leicester. Check www.Idif.co.uk for details JAMES WILTON: LAST MAN STANDING Thurs 1 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury TEMPEST REPLICA In her new dance piece, based on motifs from Shakespeare's The Tempest, Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite stages a game of revenge and forgiveness, reality and imagination, Fri 2 - Sat 3 May, Birmingham Hippodrome CONCERT DANSE A unique collaboration between Birmingham's Ex Cathedra, Quebecois dance company Cas Public, and a cast of UK performers. Featuring works for choir, organ and cello, the performance culminates in an evocative reimagining of Durufle's Requiem, with a mix of ballet, Kathak and contemporary dance, Fri 2 May, Symphony Hall, Birmingham CINDERELLA Vienna Festival Ballet present a classical staging of the world-famous fairytale, Fri 2 May, The Roses, Tewkesbury THE LITTLE MERMAID Ballet Theatre UK present a choreographed performance of Hans Christian Andersen's enchanting tale, Sat 3 May, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham TAP FACTORY Sat 3 May, Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa SYLVIE GUILLEM: 6000 MILES AWAY Sadler's Wells present a mixed programme performed by its Associate Artist Sylvie Guillem, Tue 6 Wed 7 May, Birmingham Hippodrome AAKASH ODEDRA COMPANY A double-bill of new work including Murmur
& Inked, Tues 6 - Wed 7 Apr, DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome BIRMINGHAM ROYAL BALLET ON TOUR Programme includes Kit Holder's Quatrain, Frederick Ashton's Facade and Bitesize Ballet - a series of highlights from the company's 'most-loved ballets', Wed 7 - Thurs 8 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury STRICTLY STAFFORD AND STONE Featuring over twenty local schools who’ll grace the Gatehouse stage in a celebration of dance, Wed 7 - Thurs 8 May, Stafford Gatehouse Theatre SEQUENCE 8 A fusion of acrobatics, circus acts, dance and theatre, Thurs 8 - Sat 10 May, The REP, Birmingham NATIONAL DANCE COMPANY WALES A triple bill of international work, Fri 9 May, Malvern Theatres COMPANY DECALAGE Presenting a world premiere double bill including Match & Halfway To The Other Side, Fri 9 - Sat 10 May, DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome KASAI MASAI CENTRAL African music and dance group, Sat 10 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury A SPRING CELEBRATION Special event from Sampad South Asian Arts featuring live music & Bollywood dance, Sat 10 May, Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton STARS OF STRICTLY Featuring Pasha Kovalev & Katya Virshilas, Sun 11 May, Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury AMY FLYNN SCHOOL OF DANCE Showcase of work in celebration of the school’s first birthday, Sun 11 May, Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury
LUCA SILVESTRINI’S PROTEIN / BORDER DANCE A cast of international dancers & local performers entertain & provoke with a new slice of social commentary, Tues 13 - Sat 17 May, DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome LORD OF THE FLIES Brand new show from Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, Wed 14 Sat 17 May, Birmingham Hippodrome THE SECRET GARDEN BALLET PRODUCTION Fri 16 - Sat 17 May, Bramall Music Building, Birmingham PUT YOUR FOOT DOWN Free dance performances in a range of styles with everything from street to capoeira covered, Sat 17 May, Bullring, Spiceal Street, Birmingham INTOTO DANCE Featuring works by four up-andcoming choreographers, including former Rambert dancer and twice winner of the Critics Circle Contemporary Artist of the Year, Ana Lujan Sanchez, Tue 20 May, Artrix, Bromsgrove BREAKIN' CONVENTION A hugely popular production hosted and curated by UK hip hop theatre artist Jonzi D, Tue 20 Wed 21 May, Birmingham Hippodrome THE LITTLE MERMAID Ballet Theatre UK present a choreographed performance of Hans Christian Andersen's enchanting tale, Wed 21 May, Prince Of Wales Centre, Cannock B-TOWN A unique show which references both the ancient and the futuristic while featuring 'explosive dance' from World B-Boy Champions Morning of Owl (Korea) and an all star line-up from Funkstylerz UK collective, Wed 21 - Sat 24 May, Victoria Square, Birmingham PLANITES The latest work by Greek choreographer Patricia Apergi and her company Aerites, Thurs 22 Fri 23 May, DanceXchange, The Patrick Centre, Birmingham
Hippodrome SWAN LAKE Vienna Festival Ballet present a lavish production of one of the best known love stories of all time, Thurs 22 - Sat 24 May, Lichfield Garrick STARS OF STRICTLY Featuring Pasha Kovalev & Katya Virshilas, Fri 23 May, Solihull Arts Complex MILONGA Sidi Larbi Cherkaoul present an exploration of both traditional and contemporary tango, Fri 23 - Sat 24 May, Birmingham Hippodrome CANDOCO DANCE COMPANY: STUDIES FOR C Celebration of difference and rebellion from award-winning choreographer Javier de Frutos, Sat 24 May, The Village Green, Hurst Street, Birmingham DENADA DANCE THEATRE: YOUNG MAN! Carlos Pons Guerra’s choreographed duel of seduction which is said to put the figure of the Spanish ‘macho’ to the test, Sat 24 May, The Village Green, Hurst Street, Birmingham MADE OF STARS Blending together parkour and dance, twelve young men fly over obstacles and spiral through wide-open spaces on a collision course with each other,
Sat 24 - Sun 25 May, Coventry city centre, starting at Millenium Place DANCEXCHANGE & SHAUN PARKER COMPANY/ SPILL A PLAYGROUND OF DANCE Combining quirky, dynamic dance with high energy street gymnastics, Sun 25 May, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham THE LITTLE MERMAID Ballet Theatre UK present a dramatic re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's all-time favourite story, Tue 27 May, Solihull Arts Complex PHOENIX DANCE THEATRE Triple bill of works fea-
turing the world premieres of two exciting new dance works, Wed 28 May, Malvern Theatres THE LITTLE MERMAID Ballet Theatre UK present a dramatic re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's all-time favourite, Thurs 29 May, Crewe Lyceum LET'S GO A showcase of works by Steelworks Dance Academy, Thurs 29 - Sat 31 May, Regent Theatre, Stokeon-Trent HAPPY MIX Showcase of dance routines from street to upbeat dances, Fri 30 May, The Old Rep, Birmingham
Dance Box Office ARENA THEATRE, WOLVERHAMPTON 01902 321321 ARTRIX, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330 BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME 0844 338 5000 DOVEHOUSE THEATRE 0121 706 7139 LICHFIELD GARRICK 01543 412121 LUDLOW ASSEMBLY ROOMS, SHROPSHIRE 01584 873229 MAC, BIRMINGHAM 0121 446 3232
NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM 0121 230 9082 ROYAL SPA CENTRE, LEAMINGTON SPA 01926 334418 SOLIHULL ARTS COMPLEX 0121 704 6962 STAFFORD GATEHOUSE THEATRE 01785 254653 THEATRE SEVERN, SHREWSBURY 01743 281281 WARWICK ARTS CENTRE, COVENTRY 02476 524524
For full venue information visit: www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Milonga - Birmingham Hippodrome
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Film
TO WATCH THE LATEST MOVIE TRAILERS, VISIT: www.whatsonlive.co.uk
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X-Men: Days Of Future Past
CERT tbc
Starring Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart Directed by Bryan Singer (USA/UK)
The future is looking rather grim again, so Wolverine (Jackman) is sent back in time to alter the course of history. If that sounds like a familiar concept (in cinematic terms), it does provide a wonderful opportunity for cramming two Xaviers into one movie (played by James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart). In fact, Days Of Future Past presents a cast to die for and is also significant for reintroducing real-life lovebirds Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (who met on the set of X-Men: First Class). Incidentally, a similar narrative ruse was used in another Patrick Stewart vehicle, Star Trek Generations, when both commanders of the starship Enterprise were levered into the same movie. In 3D.
Godzilla CERT tbc Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Juliette Binoche, Sally Hawkins, David Strathairn, Bryan Cranston Directed by Gareth Edwards (USA)
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It’s a strange old world. Gareth Edwards’ last film was a monster pic called, er, Monsters, and cost $500,000 to make. No wonder: he whipped up all the special effects on the computer in his bedroom. Now he takes on the might of Hollywood and a $160million budget for the ultimate monster movie, a reboot of the cult Japanese sci-fi thriller. The last version (1998), which starred Matthew Broderick, was a critical flop, so it’ll be interesting to see what Edwards does with the material. He’s certainly got a first-rate cast, with the High Wycombe-born Taylor-Johnson leading the human beings, while old Godzilla himself battles a horde of malevolent creatures that “threaten our very existence”. In 3D.
TOP 5 FILM BOX OFFICE
America: 1 Captain The Winter Soldier (12a) 2 Noah (12a) 3 Rio 2 (U) 4 Divergent (12a) 5 The Quiet Ones (15)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
www.whatsonlive.co.uk 45
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Film NEW RELEASES Now showing
Plastic CERT 15 (102 mins) Starring Ed Speleers, Alfie Allen, Will Poulter, Emma Rigby, Graham McTavish, Thomas Kretschmann Directed by Julian Gilbey (UK)
Based on real events, this comedy thriller focuses on a group of students whose credit card fraud lands them in hot water with a ruthless crime boss. So they’re given two weeks to raise £2million, which they attempt to do by engineering an audacious diamond heist in Miami.
Released from Fri 2 May
Brick Mansions CERT 15 (91 mins) Starring Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA Directed by Camille Delamarre (France/Canada)
Tarzan CERT PG (99mins)
Bad Neighbors CERT 15 (97 mins)
Featuring the voices of Kellan Lutz, Spencer Locke, Jaime Ray Newman Directed by Reinhard Klooss (Germany)
Luc Besson’s District 13 (2004) was an adrenaline-pumping thriller featuring the phenomenon of ‘free running’. It starred Dave Belle (best known at the time for appearing in the BBC’s ‘rooftop’ trailer), who returns in this FrancoCanadian remake. This time he’s paired up with the late Paul Walker (as an undercover cop) and the location has been switched from Paris to Detroit. Expect a lot of ghetto life, ghetto thugs, a neutron bomb and athletic sprinting.
It really doesn’t seem that long ago that Disney brought us an animated version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' Apeman (with songs by Phil Collins). However, this edition was filmed in motion capture in Munich and pits Tarzan and Jane against an army dispatched by ‘Greystoke Energies’. In 3D.
Starring Seth Rogen, Zac Efron, Rose Byrne, Dave Franco, Christopher MintzPlasse, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Roberts Directed by Nicholas Stoller (USA)
‘Bad Neighbours’ could actually be the name given to a sub-genre of American comedy. Here, the deal is that family man Seth Rogen (with new-born baby girl) moves next door to a frat house run by the unruly, beer-swigging Efron. Expect some pretty strong language, nudity and ‘crude sex references’.
For full film listings, showings and booking links
visit: whatsonlive.co.uk
View the latest trailers on line 46 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
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Pompeii CERT 12a (104 mins) Starring Kit Harrington, Emily Browning, Kiefer Sutherland, Jared Harris, Jessica Lucas, Carrie-Anne Moss, Paz Vega Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (USA)
It’s 79 AD and former slave Milo (Harrington, from Game Of Thrones) is now an invincible gladiator. He’s in love with Cassia (Browning), who is betrothed against her will to the corrupt senator Corvis (Sutherland). And then all hell breaks loose when Mount Vesuvius upstages all the melodrama. In 3D.
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Released from Fri 9 May
The Wind Rises CERT PG (127 mins)
Before The Winter Chill
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Mireille Enos Directed by David Ayer (USA)
Featuring the voices (for the dubbed version) of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Martin Short, Werner Herzog, William H. Macy Directed by Hayao Miyazaki (Japan)
CERT 15 (103 mins)
Having robbed a drug cartel safe house, members of an elite DEA task force find themselves picked off one by one. David Ayer previously directed the edgy, uncompromising Harsh Times and End Of Watch, so he may have a chance at getting something credible out of what sounds like a rather formulaic actionthriller. Expect extreme violence, scenes of torture and big bangs. Don’t expect subtext.
Hayao Miyazaki is one of the leading talents in animation today, having won countless awards and even an Oscar (for his peerless 2001 fantasy Spirited Away). Here, he’s adapted his own manga comic, a fictionalised biography of the aircraft designer Jiro Horikoshi. It was the highest grossing Japanese film in Japan last year and earned Miyazaki another Oscar nomination this year.
At first glimpse, Philippe Claudel’s third feature looks like a stodgily paced, middle-aged domestic drama. But should one pay attention, one might notice sinister depths to this cosy, typically bourgeois scene. As Lucie, the Anglo-French wife of an eminent brain surgeon, Kristin Scott Thomas does the gardening and holds convivial lunch parties al fresco - before, of course, the winter chill. As Paul, the surgeon, Daniel Auteuil works long hours and is beloved by his patients - because, like all good doctors, he treats the person as well as the malady. And at home in their luxurious modern house, Paul and Lucie enjoy quality time together. We know this because in one scene Claudel shows the couple dancing together in a marital embrace and gives the actors time to register their content. It’s hard to imagine any American movie, or even an English one, that would allow a scene like this to linger; to permit the actors to think their way into the moment. And yet the hibernal chill does come, in imperceptible flakes that might melt before one catches them: in the choice of a computer password, an unanswered question, a half-glimpsed photograph… but the director never overplays his hand. Claudel is a master of the misconstrued incident - as illustrated so profoundly with his 2008 masterpiece, I’ve Loved You So Long (also with Scott Thomas) - and here he doesn’t disappoint. Just pay attention.
Sabotage CERT 15 (109 mins)
Released from Fri 16 May
Enemy CERT 15 (90 mins) Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini, Stephen R. Hart Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Canada/Spain)
Frank CERT 15 (95 mins) Starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Scoot McNairy, Tess Harper Directed by Leonard Abrahamson (UK/Ireland)
Eccentricity is the order of the day in this smallscale indie Irish comedy. Frank (Fassbender) is the lead singer of a band called Soronprfbs [sic], who wears a large papier-mâché mask, not only when he performs, but when he sleeps and showers, too. Jon Burroughs (Gleeson) is the wannabe musician who joins the band when they move to Ireland to cut an album.
Doppelgängers are all the rage at the moment. Following a double helping of Jesse Eisenberg in The Double, now comes Jake Gyllenhaal, who spots his double in an erotic movie. He then watches all of the actor’s films and starts moving in on the actor’s real life… Based on José Saramago's 2002 novel The Double.
Starring Daniel Auteuil, Kristin Scott Thomas, Leïla Bekhti, Richard Berry Directed by Philippe Claudel (France/Luxembourg)
In Secret CERT 15 (107mins) Starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac, Tom Felton, Jessica Lange, Matt Lucas, Shirley Henderson Directed by Charlie Stratton (USA)
Based on Émile Zola's classic 1867 novel Thérèse Raquin, In Secret stars Elizabeth Olsen as the repressed Thérèse who seeks solace from her loveless marriage in the arms of Laurent LeClaire (Oscar Isaac). Expect quite a bit of heaving décolletage and some ‘strong sex’. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 47
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The Two Faces Of January CERT 12a (96mins)
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Kirsten Dunst, Oscar Isaac, Yigit Ozsener Directed by Hossein Amini (USA)
The ubiquitous Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) is back in this thriller based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. He plays Rydal, a tour guide who shows an American couple around the Acropolis of Athens. But Rydal is not all he seems and neither, for that matter, is his new friend Chester MacFarland (Mortensen)…
Released from Fri 23 May
From
FRI 3 MAY 0
Postman Pat The Movie CERT U (88mins)
Featuring the voices of Stephen Mangan, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Grint, Ronan Keating, David Tennant Directed by Mike Disa (UK)
It had to happen (think The Magic Roundabout and Thomas the Tank Engine), but Postman Pat now has his own (computer-animated) movie. But who thought that Ronan Keating would end up singing for the friendly postman of Greendale? Yep, PP enters a TV talent show, leaving his postal duties to a line of rather suspicious robots. The movie of Paddington Bear arrives in November.
Released from Fri 30 May
A Million Ways To Die In The West CERT tbc
Starring Seth MacFarlane, Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, Giovanni Ribisi, Sarah Silverman Directed by Seth MacFarlane (USA)
With his live-action directorial debut, Seth MacFarlane introduced us to the world of a foul-mouthed teddy bear (called Ted). Now he’s into sheep and takes the lead himself, as a cowardly sheep farmer who loses his girlfriend (Seyfried) through an act of pusillanimity. Then he meets Anna (Theron), who teaches him to man up. The only problem is her husband, a ruthless gunman (Neeson).
Blended CERT 12a (117mins) Starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Bella Thorne, Terry Crews, Joel McHale Directed by Frank Coraci (USA)
While hardly Tracy and Hepburn, Sandler and Barrymore team up for the third time in this romantic comedy. Following a blind date that misfired, Jim (Sandler) and Lauren (Barrymore) find themselves stuck together at a family resort… Coraci previously directed Sandler in The Wedding Singer, The Water Boy and Click.
Jimmy’s Hall CERT tbc
Edge Of Tomorrow CERT tbc Starring Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Lara Pulver, Jeremy Piven Directed by Doug Liman (USA/UK/Australia/South Korea)
In the near future, the world is under siege by an alien race, apparently unstoppable by the military. But then Lt. Col. Cage (Cruise) finds himself trapped in a time loop, re-visiting the same battle over and over again. And along the way, he finds himself sharpening up his tactics… Think Groundhog Day with big guns. Based on the novel by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. Shown in 3D and the IMAX format.
Maleficent CERT tbc Starring Angelina Jolie, Sharlto Copley, Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville Directed by Robert Stromberg (USA)
Following the success of the live-action Mirror Mirror and Snow White And The Huntsman, Disney now serves up their own version of a fairy tale with this retelling of Sleeping Beauty. The twist is that it’s told from the viewpoint of the wicked fairy ‘Mistress of All Evil,’ as created in the original 1959 cartoon. Angelina Jolie should certainly do her justice. Shown in 3D and the IMAX format.
Starring Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Andrew Scott, Jim Norton, Brían F. O'Byrne Directed by Ken Loach (UK/Ireland/France)
Ken Loach and the screenwriter Paul Laverty have worked together on Sweet Sixteen, Ae Fond Kiss... and The Wind That Shakes The Barley, so one’s expectations for this should be pretty high. Barry Ward plays the real-life political activist Jimmy Gralton, who becomes the only Irishman ever to be deported from Ireland. This is the story of the dance hall he built. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 49
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Film A-Z LISTINGS
makes for a fascinating story and one that deserves to be seen on the big screen. Showing at Foxlowe Arts Centre, Leek, Staffordshire
All films are currently on general release unless otherwise stated. For full listing information, including times and dates, The Dallas Buyers Club visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk 15 A Long Way Down 15
Berlin International Film Festival. Showing at The Hive, Shrewsbury, Thurs 29 May
The story of four people who decide to commit suicide by jumping off a tall building in London on New Year’s Eve. The twist is that they’re all strangers and each character’s attempt to end his life in solitude is ruined by the appearance of the others. Pierce Brosnan & Toni Collette star. Showing at Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, Fri 2 - Sat 3 May; Artrix, Bromsgrove, Sat 10 - Mon 12 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Mon 26 Tues 27 May
Calvary 15 Brendan Gleeson plays a priest - a good one, to boot - who is constantly disappointed by the small-mindedness of his flock. He’s then threatened during a routine confession and finds that he must combat a very real evil head-on. Also stars Chris O’Dowd. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Fri 2 - Thurs 8 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 23 - Sat 24 & Tues 27 May; Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire, Weds 28 Thurs 29 May; Artrix, Bromsgrove, from Fri 30 May
The Armstrong Lie 15 The extraordinary story of the Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, his fight with testicular and brain cancer, his astonishing comeback and then his terrible shame. Showing at Old Market Hall, Shrewsbury, until Thurs 1 May
Back To The Garden 12a
WATCH THE FILM T A TRAILERS k
A year after the death of an inspirational theatre director and teacher, his widow is struggling to come to terms with her loss. A group of close friends come to spend the weekend with her, to offer their support before they scatter her husband’s ashes in the garden. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stokeon-Trent, Thurs 1 May
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Behind The Candelabra 15 The film follows Liberace’s six-year relationship with the considerably younger Scott Thorson, and is based on the latter’s autobiography. Stars Michael Douglas, Matt Damon. Showing at The Norbury Theatre, Weds 21 May
Caesar Must Die 12 Inmates at a high-security prison in Rome prepare for a public performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Winner of the Golden Bear at the 62nd
Catching History On The Wings tbc A documentary about Ambalavaner Sivanandan, a highly influential thinker on race, racism, globalisation and resistance. Since 1972, he has been the director of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR). Showing at The Drum, Birmingham, Sun 11 May
Chasing Ice tbc National Geographic photographer James Balog risked his life to travel across the arctic and capture climate change in action. Using revolutionary time-lapse cameras, he collected images from a three-year period of the glaciers and landscapes changing. The result
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Based on a lengthy article in the Dallas Morning News, this is a true story about a homophobic rodeo jock who contracts Aids. Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner star. Showing at Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Sat 17 - Tues 20 May
Diana 12 Here, the former Princess of Wales is portrayed by the Anglo-Australian actress Naomi Watts, and the film recounts the last two years of Diana’s life. Showing at Forest Arts Centre, Walsall, Thurs 29 May
Divergent 12a A futuristic Chicago in which the populace are divided into five distinct classes of personality or ‘virtues’. But Beatrice 'Tris' Prior is a ‘divergent’, which means she’s without an official virtue which makes her very dangerous. But ‘why’, she wonders? Stars Shailene Woodley. Showing at Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, from Sat 31 May
The Double 15 Based on the novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Jesse Eisenberg stars as a man gradually driven nuts when he realises that his life has been taken over by his double. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 16 - Sat 17 May; Artrix, Bromsgrove, Sun 18 - Fri 23 May; mac, Birmingham, Tues 20 Thurs 22 May
Dustbin Baby PG Abandoned as a baby in a bin outside a pizza parlour, teenager April lives with her foster mother Marion. After an argument with Marion on her 14th birthday, April runs away from home to find her birth mother. Stars Dakota Blue Richards, Juliet Stevenson. Showing at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sun 25 May WALSALL 01922 645 555
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Five Broken Cameras PG Made by West Bank villager Emad Burnat, this film tells the story of protests and conflict around the building of the West Bank security wall. Showing at The Hive, Shrewsbury, Fri 9 May
Frozen PG Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, in which the kingdom of Arendelle is turned into an eternal winter by Princess Elsa. Showing at Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, Mon 12 May; Hereford Courtyard Theatre, from Sat 31 May
The General U The true story of a train (The General) that is stolen by Union soldiers, the movie stars Buster Keaton as an engineer who is both obsessed with the locomotive of the title and the girl who rejects him for being a coward. Showing at Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Sun 4 May Gone With The Wind 12a A manipulative Southern belle carries on a turbulent affair with a blockade runner during the American Civil War. Stars Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh. Showing at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Fri 16 May
The Grand Budapest Hotel 12a The adventures of the legendary concierge Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) an articulate, manipulative and brazen fellow who abuses his position with startling zeal. Accused of murder and chased all over the shop, he never loses his nerve. Showing at Artrix, Bromsgrove, until Mon 5 May; Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire, Weds 7 - Thurs 8 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Sun 25 - Fri 30 May
29 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Thurs 29 May
Her 12a In the not-too-distant future, Theo, who’s going through a divorce, downloads a voice-activated operating system. Choosing a female identity for his new programme, he finds himself becoming totally reliant on ‘Her’. Stars Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson. Showing at Artrix, Bromsgrove, Tues 13 - Fri 16 May
King Lear tbc Grigori Kozintsev’s blackand-white King Lear is set in a stark landscape of windswept moors and marshes, bare castles and wandering beggars. The well-known Shostakovich score underpins the drama of Shakespeare’s great tragedy. Showing at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thurs 8 May
Labor Day 12a Adele Wheeler is suffering from a degenerative psychological disorder, her thirteen-year-old son is taking on the responsibilities of the house and Mr Wheeler has run off with another woman. Then a killer forces his way into their home… Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 9 - Sat 10 May; Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, Fri 16 - Sat 17 May
The Lego Movie U The computer-animated movie is set in the ‘Lego universe’ and features such ‘minifigures’ as Batman, Superman and Spaceman Benny. With the voices of Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks. Showing at Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Sat 17 - Sun 18 May; Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Sat 24 - Tues 27 May
Half A Yellow Sun 15 The film adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Orange Prizewinning novel, set during the Nigerian-Biafran War of 1967-1970. Stars Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Fri 23 - Thurs
Locke 15 While driving from Birmingham to London, a construction manager receives a phone call. The remainder of the film sees Ivan Locke attempting to salvage his life via mobile phone as he continues to race home. Stars Tom
ODEON TELFORD 0871 224 4007 OMH SHREWSBURY 01743 281281 WEM TOWN HALL 01939 232299
ODEON TAMWORTH 0871 224 4007
Staffordshire CINEWORLD, BURTON-UPONTRENT 0871 200 2000 THE STAFFORD CINEMA, STAFFORD 0207 438 9580 FOXLOWE ARTS CENTRE, LEEK 01538 386 112 STOKE FILM THEATRE, 01782 411188
Warwickshire ODEON COVENTRY 0871 224 4007 ODEON NUNEATON 0871 224 4007 SHOWCASE, COVENTRY 0871 220 1000 VUE, LEAMINGTON SPA 08712 240 240 PICTURE HOUSE, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON 0871 902 5741 WARWICK ARTS CENTRE COVENTRY 02476 524524
Hardy, with the voices of Tom Holland, Olivia Colman. Showing at Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Mon 19 - Tues 20 May; mac, Birmingham, Fri 23 - Tues 27 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stokeon-Trent, Fri 30 - Sat 31 May
The Monuments Men 12a Based on the book by Robert M Edsel, this is the true story of a group of art historians and curators who’re conscripted to infiltrate Nazi Germany in order to track down invaluable works of art. Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon. Showing at Old Market Hall, Shrewsbury, until Thurs 1 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Sat 3 - Tues 6 May
Muppets Most Wanted 12a This time, the gang are on tour in Europe (London, Berlin, Madrid) and find themselves involved in an international crime racket headed by Kermit’s double. Stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell. Showing at Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Fri 23 - Fri 30 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Mon 26 Tues 27 May; Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Thurs 29 - Sat 31 May
A New York Winter’s Tale 12a When burglar Peter Lake breaks into a Manhattan property, an heiress dies in his arms. What follows is a mystical, romantic fantasy that spans almost a century as he attempts to be reunited with the late heiress. Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay star. Showing at Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Sun 11 May
Noah 12a Russell Crowe stars as Noah, rounding up a formidable menagerie of species to rescue them from the flood. It makes our recent moans about the wet weather seem incredibly feeble. Showing at Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Sat 17 - Weds 21 May; Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Sat 24 - Mon 26 May; Roses Theatre, Worcestershire ARTRIX, BROMSGROVE 01527 577330 MALVERN THEATRE 0845 287 2146 THE NORBURY THEATRE, DROITWICH SPA 08444 777 1000 WAREHOUSE, KIDDERMINSTER 01562 747773 VUE, WORCESTER 0871 224 0240 THE ROSE’S THEATRE, TEWKESBURY 01684 295 074
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Tewkesbury, from Sat 31 May
Only Lovers Left Alive 15 A reclusive, centuries-old vampire rock star is finding it hard to keep up with modern technology. In fact, it’s all getting so much that he decides to take his own life… Tom Hiddleston, Tilda Swinton star. Showing at Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Weds 7 - Thurs 8 May
The Past 12a A study of modern family life in emotional flux, The Past is set in a Paris suburb, where Ahmad arrives from Tehran to divorce his tempestuous, estranged wife Marie. Stars Ali Mosaffa, Bérénice Bejo. Showing at mac, Birmingham, until Thurs 1 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Tues 20 May; Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Weds 21 - Fri 23 May
Paths Of Glory PG When soldiers in World War One refuse to continue with an impossible attack, their superior officers decide to make an example of them. Starring Kirk Douglas, directed by Stanley Kubrick, and adapted for film from the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Showing at mac, B’ham, Tues 20 Thurs 22 May
Rio 2 U A couple of love-struck Spix's macaws, this time with three kids in tow. On a trip to the Amazon, they meet up with family and discover that the rainforest is threatened… Expect songs. With the voices of Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg. Showing at Hereford Courtyard theatre, Fri 23 Thurs 29 May; Artrix, Bromsgrove, Mon 26 Thurs 29 May; Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, Tues 27 & Thurs 29 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Weds 28 May The Rocket 12a The Rocket explores the displacement of a rural Lao community as a new dam is constructed. The central character is Ahlo, a ten-year-old boy believed to bring bad luck wherever he goes. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stokeon-Trent, Tues 6 May; Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Mon 12 May Rush PG A film which charts the fierce rivalry between Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda as they compete for the 1976 World Championship. Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl star. Showing at Forest Arts Centre, Walsall, Fri 23 May
Saving Mr Banks PG Biog of PL Travers, the author of Mary Poppins. The film is divided between Travers’ early years in Australia and the later negotiations with Disney to make a film of her popular children’s novel. Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks star. Showing at Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, Mon 19 May The Secret Of Kells PG Follow 12-year-old Brendan as he battles Vikings and confronts an ancient serpent god on a mission to locate a legendary crystal and complete the mythical Book of Kells. With the voices of Brendan Gleeson and Liam Hourican. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Sat 3 May Starred Up 18 The story of a teenage inmate who, because of his predilection for violence, is moved from a young offender’s institution to an adult jail. Jack O'Connell stars. Showing at Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Mon 19 - Tues 20 May; Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Tues 20 - Weds 21 May Stuart Hall Project tbc This film from award-winning documentarian John Akomfrah (The Nine Muses) is a portrait of cul-
tural theorist Stuart Hall. Showing at The Drum, Birmingham, Thurs 29 May
A Touch Of Sin 15 Four independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence, inspired by four shocking (and true) events that forced the world's fastest-growing economy into a period of self-examination. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Fri 16 - Mon 19 May Tracks 12a Director John Curran brings to the screen the 1980 memoir by Robyn Davidson which chronicles her 1,700-mile trek across the Australian Outback with just a dog, four camels and the National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan. Stars Mia Wasikowska. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Fri 9 - Thurs 15 May; Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Fri 23 Thurs 29 May Twenty Feet From Stardom tbc A wonderfully exuberant tribute to the fabulous backing singers who worked on classic albums through the 1960s & ’70s. Millions loved their voices but no one even knew their names. Stars Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer. Showing at Hereford Courtyard
Theatre, Mon 12 - Thurs 15 May; mac, Birmingham, Tues 13 thurs 15 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Thurs 15 May; The Roses Theatre, Tewkesbury, Tues 27 May
Two Brothers U The tale of two tiger siblings who are separated as cubs. After an intrepid hunter kills their father, one cub ends up in a circus while his brother languishes in a royal menagerie. But their separation is brought to an unfortunate close, when a traditional tiger fight pits brother against brother. Showing at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sat 10 May Under The Skin U This science fiction thriller stars Scarlett Johansson as an alien who preys on hitchhikers in Scotland. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Fri 2 - Sat 3 May; Warwick Arts Centre,Coventry, until Thurs 1 May We Are The Best 15 Three 13-year-old girls who roam the streets: brave and tough, strong and weak, confused and weird. Taking care of themselves way too early, they find joy in starting a punk band without any instruments, even though For full listings visit:
everybody says that punk is dead. Showing at mac, Birmingham, Fri 2 - Thurs 8 May
Yves Saint Laurent 15 This is a biog of the man once described as the most influential fashion designer of the latter part of the twentieth century. A story which explores Saint Laurent’s long-term friendship, love affair and business partnership with Pierre Bergé. Pierre Niney & Guillaume Gallienne star. Showing at Festival Drayton Centre, Market Drayton, Fri 9 & Mon 12 May; Ludlow Assembly Rooms, South Shropshire, Sat 10 & Tues 13 May; Wem Town Hall, North Shropshire, Weds 14 Thurs 15 May; Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Sat 17 Weds 21 May; Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent, Thurs 22 May The Zero Theorem 15 A science fiction fantasy about a computer hacker looking for the meaning of life. Of course, it’s all there in the algebra, except that Life keeps on getting in the way… Stars Christoph Waltz, directed by Terry Gilliam. Showing at Stoke Film Theatre, Stoke-onTrent, Thurs 8 May; Hereford Courtyard Theatre, Sat 11 - Thurs 15 May
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DVD NEW RELEASES The Railway Man 15 The railway in question is the Thai-Burma Railway and the man is Eric Lomax, who helped to build it during his internment in a Japanese POW camp. Years later, Lomax decides to track down the officer who tortured him while he was there. Stars Colin Firth. Released 5 May
Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones 15 Once again, everything is relayed through the use of an investigative camera, as a group of partygoers attempt to find why a woman died in the apartment beneath them. Stars Andrew Jacobs and Richard Cabral. Released 12 May
12 Years A Slave 15 Solomon Northup is kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841.The film is adapted from his1853 autobiography. Stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender. Released 12 May
47 Ronin 15 A famous Japanese story of revenge and honour. When the leader of a group of ronin (samurai) is killed, the 47 warriors embark on a journey of retribution. Stars Keanu Reeves and Rinko Kikuchi. Released 12 May
The Wolf Of Wall Street. PG
The Best Man Holiday 15 It’s fourteen years since the romantic comedy The Best Man. Now comes the sequel, in which the characters meet at Christmas for a reunion. Rivalries are reignited, new relationships formed - how much they have all changed in the interim… Released 12 May
From the American dream to corporate greed, Jordon Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to founding the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont earning him the title ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. Stars Leonardo De Caprio. Released 19 May
August: Osage County 15 Adapted from the 2007 play by Tracy Letts, this is a black comedy set in an
Oklahoma household where a crisis reunites the women in the family. Starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, both of whom were nominated for an Oscar for their roles as mother and daughter. Released 26 May
I, Frankenstein 12a
Inside Llewyn Davis 15
Actually, the lead character is Frankenstein’s monster, but I, Frankenstein’s Monster just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Anyway, Frankenstein’s Monster has actually taken the name Adam and, far from the imagination of Mary Shelley, becomes involved with two warring tribes of immortal status. Adapted from the graphic novel by Kevin Grevioux (who also wrote the screenplay). Stars Aaaron Eckhart and Bill Nighy. Released 26 May
Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a struggling folk singer in Greenwich Village, New York, 1961. The film is loosely based on the memoir of the late Dave Van Ronk. Released 26 May
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Festivals Wychwood Festival Cheltenham Racecourse, Fri 30 May - Sun 1 June
Regularly nominated in the Best Family Festival category in the UK Festival Awards, the annual Wychwood Festival features over one hundred bands on four stages, more than one hundred workshops, a kids literature festival, a real ale festival and much more. A line-up featuring The Boomtown Rats, The Levellers, The Stranglers, Wolf Alice, Newton Faulkner, comedians Jellybean Martinez and Gary Delaney and Cbeebies favourite Justin Fletcher bear testament to the festival’s broad appeal.
Shaanti’s Eastern Electronic Festival Various locations in and around Birmingham, Tues 6 - Sat 31 May
Now in its third year, Shaanti’s Eastern Electronic Festival is an artist-led event which presents an ‘eclectic mix of some of the best performers across film, music, visual-digital arts, spoken word and new music’. Taking place at numerous venues across the city, the twenty-six-day festival weaves together a programme of twenty-nine events under the theme of empowerment. Highlights include Champion Sound Live - a showcase for new British music at Symphony Hall; a screening of Sita Sings The Blues at mac; an Eastern Pride parade (part of Birmingham Pride) in the city’s Gay Village; and the Rivers Of British-Asian Blood exhibition at The Old Print Works. For full listings visit, www.easternelectronicfestival.co.uk
Birmingham Pride
The All American Rejects
Slam Dunk Festival Wolverhampton Civic Hall, Mon 26 May
The UK’s biggest independent touring festival, Slam Dunk returns to the Midlands this month to celebrate the best of Pop-Punk, Ska and Emo. The All American Rejects headline the seven-stage event, making their only UK appearance in 2014. Fans of the Oklahoma rockers can expect hits from each of their four albums, including Dirty Little Secrets, Gives You Hell and Swing Swing. Slam Dunk is now in its ninth year, and as usual features an international line-up of artists. Performers include Los Angeles hardcore band The Ghost Inside, Australia’s I Killed The Prom and British pop-rock band The New Forest. There’s also an exclusive appearance by Washington crooner Ben Liebsch, who brings his brainchild You, Me, And Everyone We Know to the UK for the very first time. Championing up-and-coming acts, this year’s Slam Dunk welcomes State Champs, one of the most talked-about bands of the year, who’ll be making their UK festival debut at the event.
Gay Village, Birmingham, Sat 24 - Sun 25 May
Celebrating the city’s diverse LGBT community, Birmingham Pride is the largest two-day festival of its kind in the UK. Taking place in the heart of Birmingham’s Gay Village, this annual event regularly attracts visitors from a cross-section of communities. Festivities begin with a colourful Carnival Parade. Celebrating equality and freedom around the world, the parade sets off from the city’s Victoria Square at 12noon on the Saturday, winding its way to the main festival area where a host of attractions await. High-profile performers Gabrielle, Ms Dynamite, Stooshe, S Club, Fuse ODG and Tich feature on the Pride Main Stage, while numerous popular acts from across the UK share the limelight on the Village Cabaret Stage. Pride 2014 also features a Community Village Green, a Women’s Arena and the Chic Dance Arena (with DJs The Artful Dodger and Chris Steele). Visit www.birminghampride.com for further Gabrielle details.
Acoustic Festival Of Britain
Seth Lakeman
Uttoxeter Racecourse, Fri 30 May - Sun 1 June
As usual, the Acoustic Festival of Britain this year welcomes an eclectic line-up of performers, with high-profile contributors including folk musician Seth Lakeman, rock group Terrorvision, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, X Factor winner Matt Cardle, Grammy Hall of Fame Award-winners The Animals and widely acclaimed singer/songwriter Nick Harper. The festival also features a special performance of greatest hits from English folk rock group Fairport Convention, who’ll be picking up the event’s bi-annually presented Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to its promise of great music, the Acoustic Festival this year features a Sessions Marquee - hosting various folk and blues clubs - music workshops, an open-mic tent, a vintage T tent, a classic car show, an antique fair, a variety of family activities, roaming performers, and two real ale tents. What else could a festival-goer possibly wish for?...
Fairport Convention
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Festivals Listings For full listing information on festivals, including dates and line-up, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk
MAY CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL Featuring Jamie Cullum, Billy Cobham, Laura Mvula & Jools Holland, Wed 30 Apr Mon 5 May, Montpellier Gardens, Cheltenham HANDMADE FESTIVAL Featuring Grace Petrie and the Benefits Culture, Woahnows, Emperor & Katie Malco, Fri 2 - Sun 4 May, Old Town Quarter, Leicester UPTON FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Andrew McKay, Carole Etherton, Acoustic Collective & David Gibb and Elly Lucas, Fri 2 - Mon 5 May, Various locations throughout Worcester BATTLEFIELD MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Andy O’Brien, Stu Jennings, Not For Real & Two Blank Pages, Fri 2 - Mon 5 May, Battlefield, Shrewsbury TROYFEST Featuring Dr Meaker, Joe Driscoll, Seckou Kouyate & Smoove and Turrell, Fri 2 - Mon 5 May, Baskerville, Powys LEAMINGTON MUSIC FESTIVAL WEEKEND Featuring Ensemble 360, Marek Bracha, Royal String Quartet & Longbow, Fri 2 - Mon 5 May, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa ASHLEYHAY FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Sat 3 - Sun 4 May, Sycamore Farm, Derbyshire CLUN GREEN MAN FESTIVAL Featuring The Rhythm Thieves, Naomi Payne Hotsy Totsy Band, AT James & Les Amis D’onno, Sat 3 - Mon 5 May, Clun Castle, Shropshire EVERYWHERE FESTIVAL Featuring Artwork,
Blonde, Skream & Hannah Wants, Sun 4 May, various venues around Nottingham SWINGAMAJIG FESTIVAL Featuring Molotov Jukebox, Electric Swing Circus, The Destroyers & Renegade Brass Band, Sun 4 May, Spotlight, Birmingham FUDGESTOCK 2014 Featuring Bekah & the Sounds, Crazy Horses, Bethan & the Morgans & Dead Sea Skulls, Sun 4 May, The Robin, Bilston SHAANTI’S EASTERN ELECTRONIC FESTIVAL 2014 Artist-led festival presenting an eclectic mix of film, music, spoken word & new music, Tues 6 - Sat 31 May, various locations across Birmingham DOOM FOR THE DOOMED FESTIVAL Featuring Snowblind, Purson, Goatess & Iron Void, Fri 9 - Sun 11 May, The Asylum, Birmingham LUDLOW SPRING FESTIVAL Featuring The Hip Joints, Anthony Doyle, Gino Kemp & Sam Thomas and Ben Walsh, Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Ludlow Castle, Shropshire STOURBRIDGE BLUES FESTIVAL Featuring Virgil & The Accelerators, Dani Wilde, SwampCandy & Tom Walker Trio, Fri 16 - Sat 17 May, Old Halesonians, Stourbridge BEARDED THEORY Featuring UB40, Peter Hook, Oysterband, Wilko Johnson, Thur 22 - Sun 25 May, Catton Hall, Derby HOWTHELIGHTGETSIN Featuring Mr Scruff, Emmy The Great, Moulettes, The Hoosiers, Thurs 22 May
Outkast - Wireless Festival, Birmingham
- Sun 1 June, Hay-onWye, Powys CHESTER FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Jez Lowe and the Big Bad Pennies, Jim Moray, Fay Hield and the Hurricane Party & Lucy Ward, Fri 23 Mon 26 May, Kelsall Village, Nr Cheshire GLASTONBUDGET Featuring Abba Revival, Who’s Who, Hot Red Chili Peppers & Talon, Fri 23 - Sun 25, Turnpost Farm, Wymeswold, Leicestershire OFF THE TRACKS SPRING FESTIVAL Featuring The Neville Staple Band, Big Country, Moulettes & Eat Static, Fri 23 Sun 25 May, Donington Park Farmhouse, Derbyshire LEFTFOOT BANK HOLIDAY WEEKENDER Featuring Ben UFO, Troumaca & Hot 8 Brass Band, Fri 23 - Sun 25 May, Hare & Hounds, Birmingham OSFEST Featuring Wiley, Nina Nesbitt, Foxes & Elyar Fox, Sat 24 - Sun 25 May, Oswestry Showground, Shropshire BIRMINGHAM PRIDE FESTIVAL Featuring Gabrielle, Ms Dynamite, Chris Steele & Stooshe, Sat 24 - Sun 25 May, Gay Village, Birmingham ROCK AND BOWL FESTIVAL Featuring The Superskas, UK Foo Fighters, Jim Kirkpatrick’s Heavy Weather & Sons Of Clogger, Sat 24 - Mon 26 May, The Picnic Area, Market Drayton, Shropshire DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL Featuring Peace, The Midnight Beasts, Real Estate & We Were Evergreen, Sun 25 May, Various locations around Nottingham FARM FEST Featuring Peter Hook and the Light, Stealing Sheep, Wirrall Ukulele Orchestra & Emilio Pinchi, Sun 25 - Mon 26 May, Claremont Farm, Cheshire WYCHWOOD FESTIVAL
Ghetts - BASS Festival, various venues, Birmingham
Featuring Levellers, Reef, Peter White & King Charles, Fri 30 May - Sun 1 June, Cheltenham Racecourse THE ACOUSTIC FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN Featuring 10CC, The Attix, Gaudy Orde & Andrew Bazeley, Fri 30 May Sun 1 June, Uttoxeter Racecourse, Staffordshire LEAMINGTON MUSIC FESTIVAL WEEKEND Featuring Ensemble 360, Marek Bracha, Royal String Quartet & Longbow, Fri 30 May Sun 1 June, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa ASPARAFEST 2014 lineup to be announced, Sat 31 May - Sun 1 June, Ashdown Farm, Worcestershire
JUNE BASS FESTIVAL Featuring Ghetts, Harleigh Blu, Brinsley Forde & Call Me Unique, Sun 1st - Sat 14 June, various venues around Birmingham ENGLISH HAYDEN FESTIVAL Featuring The Chiaroscuro String Quartet, The Salomon String Quartet, The Barbican Piano Trio, The English Hayden Orchestra, Tues 3 - Sun 8 June, Various locations around Bridgnorth SOUTHWELL FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Feast Of Fiddles, The Kennedys, The Henry Girls & The Poozies, Thurs 5 - Sun 8 June, The Workhouse, Nottinghamshire WELFEST ON THE MEADOW Featuring Medicine Head, SO2F, Jazz Morley & Wes Finch, Sat 7 June, Synder Meadow, Stratford Upon Avon DETONATE FESTIVAL Featuring Bonobo, David Rodigan, LTJ
Bukem & Bad Company, Sat 7 June, Nottingham Racecourse NO TOMORROW FESTIVAL Featuring London Grammar, Sam Smith, Clean Bandit, Duke Dumont, Sat 7 June, Wollaton Park, Nottingham MUCH WENLOCK FESTIVAL Featuring Ceilidh & Male Voice Choir, Sat 7 - Sat 21 June, Various locations around Much Wenlock DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL Featuring Linkin Park, Aerosmith, Avenged Sevenfold & Killswitch Engaged, Wed 11 June - Mon 16 June, Donington Park, Derby FOLK ON THE PARK Featuring Jinski, Jonathan Day Trio, Keith Donnelly & Sunjay Brayne, Fri 13 Sun 15 June, Lower Lacon Caravan Park, Shropshire GREGYNOG FESTIVAL Featuring BBC National Orchestra Wales, The Nash Ensemble, Flemish Radio Choir & Alamire, Fri 13 - Sun 29 June, Powys LEAMINGTON PEACE FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Sat 14 Sun 15 June, Pump Room Gardens, Leamington Spa LINTON MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Walter Trout, Vintage Trouble, Geno Washington, Pat McManus, Fri 20 - Sun 22 June, The Alma Inn, Hertfordshire LAINFEST Featuring Young Kato, I Am I Love, The Other Tribe, Jaws, Fri 20 - Sun 22 June, Gopsall Hall Farm, Leicestershire FOXTON LOCKS FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Sat 21 Sun 22 June, Foxton Locks, Leicestershire KINETON MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Bad Janet, Battered Soul, Nik Lowe, Klasside, Sat 21 June, Kineton Sports
and Social Club, Warwickshire EXILE MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Blue Wallpaper Incorporated, The Cats Charis, Rita Payne, The Lucky Stikes, Fri 27 Sun 29 June, Sabine Hay, Derbyshire HOLI ONE FESTIVAL BIRMINGHAM Featuring Piloy, Hard Rock Sofa, Goodluck, Florian Kunicke, Sat 28 June, The Rainbow Venues, Birmingham SUTTON COLDFIELD CARNIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Sun 29 June, Meadow Platt, Sutton Coldfield
JULY LICHFIELD FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Thurs 3 Sat 13 July, Various venues around Lichfield THE MOSTLY JAZZ FESTIVAL Featuring Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Earth Wind & Fire Experience ft Al McKay, Craig Charles, Radio Riddler, Fri 4 - Sun 6 July, Moseley Park, Birmingham NATIONAL FOREST FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Steeleye Span, Shoolenifty, The Mighty Doonans, The Shee, Fri 4 - Sun 6 July, Conkers, Leicestershire GODIVA FESTIVAL Featuring Happy Mondays, Funeral For A Friend, We Are Scientists & Buzzcocks, Fri 4 - Sun 6 July, Memorial Park, Coventry WIRELESS FESTIVAL Featuring Kayne West, Outkast, Bruno Mars, Drake, Fri 4 - Sun 6 July, Perry Park, Birmingham BLUES AT THE FOLD Featuring Steve Morrison, MumboJumbo, Wily Bo Walker and the Mescal Canyon Troubadours & The Blues Duo featuring
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Festivals Listings For full listing information on festivals, including dates and line-up, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk Tommy Allen and Johnny Hewit, Sat 5 July, The Fold, Worcester BUXTON FESTIVAL FRINGE 2014 line-up to be announced, Wed 9 Sun 27 July, Various venues around Buxton 2000TRESS FESTIVAL Featuring Frightened Rabbit, The Bronx, Kids In Glass Houses, Blood Red Shoes, Thurs 10 Sat 12 July, Upcote Farm, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire NAPTON FESTIVAL Featuring Grace Solero, Voodoo Vegas, Nina Baker & The Fallows, Fri 11 - Sat 12 July, Napton Village Hall Grounds, Warwickshire MOSTLY JAZZ, FUNK & SOUL FESTIVAL Featuring Mavis Staples, Earth Wind & Fire Experience featuring Al McKay, Fun Lovin’ Criminals & Omar Souleyman, Fri 11 - Sun 13 July, Moseley Park, B’ham BROMSGROVE FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Dougie Mclean, Richard Digance, Anthony John Clarke & Mike Silver, Fri 11 - Sun 13 July, The Bowling Green, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire WORKHOUSE FESTIVAL Featuring Ash Mandrake, Bleedin Noses, Soul Preachers & The Misty Blue Trio, Fri 11 - Mon 14 July, Llanfyllin, Powys BIRMINGHAM FEST 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 11 Sun 27 July, Various locations throughout Birmingham NOISILY FESTIVAL Featuring Max Cooper, Slam, Gaudi & Symphonix, Fri 11 Sun 13 May, Coney Woods, Leicestershire TRIUMPH LIVE 2014 lineup to be announced Sat 12 July, Heritage Motor Centre, Warwickshire THE ROCK AND BIKE FEST Featuring White Coast Rebels, Chase The Ace, Snakecharmer & Evil Scarecrow, Thurs 17 - Sun 20 July, Carnfield Hall, Derby BIRMINGHAM INTERNATIONAL JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 18 - Sun 27 July, Various locations throughout Birmingham L FEST 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 18 Mon 21 June, Uttoxeter Racecourse, Staffordshire HOLE IN THE WALL Blind Lemon, The Bookends, Mummy Mia! & The
Quo AKA Four Rossis, Fri 18 - Sun 20 July, Hopton Court, Kidderminster ALIVE AT DELAPRE PARK Featuring Simple Minds, Boyzone, Bananarama & Rick Astley, Fri 18 - Sun 20 July, Delapre Park, Northamptonshire SPLENDOUR Featuring Tom Odell, Happy Mondays, Boomtown Rats & Reverend And The Makers, Sat 19 July, Wollaton Park, Nottingham FOLK BY THE OAK Featuring Seth Lakeman, Kathryn Tickell & The Side, Josienne Clarke & Ben Walker, Sun 20 July, various venues around Nottingham SIMMER DOWN FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Sun 20 July, Handsworth Park, Birmingham ROCK AND BLUES OLD SCHOOL WEEKENDER Featuring Toseland, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Pig Iron & Slaveout, Thurs 24 Sat 26 July, Coney Grey Showground, Derbyshire WARWICK FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Habadekuk, John Tams and Barry Coope, Gordie MacKeeman and his Rhythm Boys & Breabach, Thurs 24 Sun 27 July, various venues around Warwickshire GLOBAL GATHERING Featuring Prodigy, Chase & Status, David Guetta & Knife Party, Fri 25 - Sat 26 July, Long Marston Airfield, Stratford upon Avon DEERSTOCK Featuring This Wicked Tongue, Cadets, Parasite, Bongolistic Intent, Fri 25 - Sun 27 July, Newton, Nottingham SINGING STICKS FESTIVAL Featuring Los Monkeys Musica, Inta Africa, Dub Didge & Super Roo, Fri 25 - Sun 27 July, The Overstone Scout Camp, Northamptonshire INDIETRACKS MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Gruff Rhys, Allo Darlin’, Dean Wareham & Spearmint, Fri 25 - Sun 27 July, Butterley Station, Derbyshire BAREFOOT FESTIVAL Featuring SuperEvolver, DC Fontana & Laurel Canyons, Fri 25 - Sun 27 July, Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire LEICESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Kool & The Gang, Labrinth, Sat 26 - Sun
27 July, Welford Road Stadium, Leicestershire CAMBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Van Morrison, Sinead O’Connor, Newton Faulkner & Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Thurs 31 - Sun 3 Aug, Cherry Hinton Hall Ground, Cambridge
AUGUST Y-NOT Featuring Dizzee Rascal, White Lies, Frank Turner and The Sleeping Souls & The Fratellis, Fri 1 Aug Sun 3 Aug, Mouldrige Lane, Derbyshire CARFEST NORTH Featuring Jools Holland, Seasick Steve, Erasure & Eliza Doolittle, Fri 1 - Sun 3 Aug, Oulton Park Race Circuit, Cheshire NOZSTOCK Featuring Roots Manuva, The Heavy, The Skints & Molotov Jukebox, Fri 1 - Sun 3 Aug, The Farm, Bromyard, Worcestershire LOUNGE ON THE FARM Featuring Fun Lovin’ Criminals, Peter Hook and the Light, DJ Yoda & Courtney Pine, Sat 2 May, Merton Farm, Barkby, Nr Leciester BULLDOG BASH Featuring Dirty DC, Aynt Skynyrd, The Kommitments, Half Deaf Clatch, Thurs 7 Sat 9 Aug, Shakespeare County Raceway, Stratford Upon Avon BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR Featuring Megadeth, Down, Emperor & Carcass, Thurs 7 - Sun 10 Aug, Catton Park, Derbyshire STRAWBERRY FIELDS FESTIVAL Featuring Reverend And The Makers, Steve Lawler, The Rifles & Catfish and the Bottlemen, Fri 8 - Sun 10 Aug, Cattow Farm, Leicester FARMER PHIL’S FESTIVAL Featuring The Orb, The Blockheads, Ferocious Dog & The Delray Rockets, Fri 8 - Sun 10 Aug, Gatten Farm, Shrewsbury JUNCTION 16 Featuring Katherine Jenkins, Fri 8 - Sun 10 Aug, Betley Court Farm, Crewe, Cheshire LAKEFEST Featuring The Bad Shepherds, Buzzcocks, Shed Seven, Lightning Seeds, Fri 8 - Sun 10 Aug, Croft Farm Waterpark, Tewkesbury RUGBY MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Dead Frequency, White Men Can’t Funk, Soul Rhymaz & Paper Street, Sat 9 Aug, Whitehall Recreational Grounds, Rugby, Warwickshire THE GREEN MAN FESTIVAL Featuring Beirut, First Aid Kit, Neutral Milk Hotel & The
The Killers - V Festival, Weston Park, Staffordshire
Waterboys, Mon 11 Sun 17 Aug, Glanusk Park, Powys V FESTIVAL Featuring Justin Timberlake, The Killers, Ed Sheeran & Paolo Nutini, Fri 15 Sun 17 Aug, Weston Park, Staffordshire ALT-FEST Featuring The Cult, Gary Numan, Cradle Of Filth & Arch Enemy, Fri 15 - Sun 17 Aug, Boughton House, Northamptonshire THE JUST SO FESTIVAL Featuring Gabby Young and Other Animals, Perhaps Contraption, Mr Wilson’s Second Liners & Kidnap Alice, Fri 15 - Sun 17 Aug, Rode Hall Parkland, Cheshire PERSHORE JAZZ FESTIVAL Featuring Adrian Cox Quartet, Alan Barnes, Bohem Ragtime Jazz Band & Craig Milverton, Fri 15 Sun 17 Aug, Pershore College, Worcestershire THE MOIRA FURNACE FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Blackbeard’s Tea Party, Other Roads, Lucy Ward, Something Nasty In The Woodshed, Fri 15 - Sun 17 Aug, Moira Furnace Museum and Monument Site, Derbyshire BAKEWELL MUSIC FESTIVAL Featuring Chas Hodge’s Band, John Coghlan’s Quo, Lucy Ward & George Borowski, Fri 15 - Sun 17 Aug, The Showground, Derbyshire LICHFIELD FAKE FESTIVAL Featuring Supreme Queen, Oasish & Coldplace, Sat 16 Aug, Beacon Park, Lichfield, Staffordshire SHAMBALA FESTIVAL Featuring Mulatu Astatke, Collie Buddz, Public Service Broadcasting & Cumbria All Stars, Thur 21 - Sun 24, Secret location in The Midlands CREAMFIELDS Featuring Avicii, Deadmau5,
Fatboy Slim & Above and Beyond, Fri 22 Sun 24 Aug, Daresbury, Cheshire THE SUMMER RETREAT 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 22 Sun 24 Aug, The Overstone, Northamptonshire BEERMAGEDDON Featuring Lawnmower Deth, Skreamer, The Starry Wisdom Cult & Kambrium, Fri 22 - Sun 24 Aug, Stoke Prior Country Club, Bromsgrove SHREWSURY FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Bellowhead, Seth Lakeman, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings & Lau, Fri 22 - Mon 25 Aug, West Midland Showground, Shrewsbury MOSELEY FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Johnny Marr, The Waterboys, Richard Thompson & Lau, Fri 29 - Sun 31 Aug, Moseley Park, Birmingham WORCESTER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 29 Sun 31, Various locations around Worcester OFF THE TRACKS SUMMER FESTIVAL 2014 lineup to be announced, Fri 29 - Sun 31 Aug, Donington Park Farmhouse, Derbyshire REWIND FESTIVAL Featuring Billy Ocean, Boomtown Rats, Holly Johnson & Hall and Oates, Fri 29 - Sun 31 Aug, Capesthorne Hall, Cheshire FUSION FESTIVAL Featuring Jessie J, Pitbull & Dizzee Rascal, Sat 30 - Sun 31 Aug, Cofton Park, Birmingham
Wales ONBOARD THE CRAFT FESTIVAL Featuring PreMad, Moulettes, Leatheratm Harvey Bainbridge & Flutatious, Fri 5 - Sat 6 Sept, Stoke Prior Country Club, Bromsgrove WHITWELL FESTIVAL OF MUSIC Featuring Doctor and the Medics, James Warner Prophecies, Dirtbox Disco & I Set The Sea On Fire, Fri 5 Sun 7 Sept, Community Centre, Whitwell, Derbyshire STOURBRIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL 2014 line-up to be announced, Fri 5 - Sun 7 Sept, Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge ZOO PROJECT Featuring Groove Armada, Mr Scruff, Ten Walls & Ben UFO, Fri 12 - Sun 14 Sept, Donington Park, Derbyshire SHREWSBURY FIELDS FOREVER FESTIVAL Featuring Tinie Tempah and more tbc, Fri 12 Sun 14 Sept, West Midland Showground, Shrewsbury ROCK AND METAL CIRCUS FESTIVAL Featuring Voodoo Six, Exit State, Gehtika & Triaxis, Fri 12 - Sun 14 Sept, Sywell Aerodome, Northamptonshire BROMYARD FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring Oysterband, Vin Garbutt, The Old Dance School & Whapweasel, Fri 12 - Sun 14 Sept, Various locations around Bromyard SNODFEST 2014 line-up to be announced, Sat 13 Sept, The Park, Worcestershire
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
FESTIVAL NO.6 Featuring Beck, London Grammar, Bonobo & Neneh Cherry & Number Nine, Thurs 4 Sun 7 Sept, Portmeirion, North
DERBY FOLK FESTIVAL Featuring David Gibb, Elly Lucas, Cardboard Fox & Greg Russell, Fri 3 - Sun 5 Oct, Assembly Rooms, Market Place, Derby
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Visual Arts Justyna Ptak: The House Wolverhampton Art Gallery, until Sat 12 July
This highly rated collection of photographs and large transparencies offers plenty of opportunity to admire the talent of the award-winning Justyna, a recent postgraduate of the University of Wolverhampton who won the West Midlands Open ‘best in show’ prize in 2012. An exploration of the relationship between thought and image, The House seeks to capture the significant and intangible in the everyday. “While the overall aim is to concentrate on the quiet beauty of everyday surroundings,” says Justyna of her work, “the immediate ambition is to encourage the viewer to really see their everyday. The signification of visual effect and the nature of transparencies explore the relationship between known and unknown, thought and image, in the same manner as photographed objects explore the relationship between known and forgotten, thought and deed.”
All That Is Solid Melts Into Air Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Fri 2 May - Sat 21 June
This new Hayward Touring exhibition is curated by Jeremy Deller, who represented Britain in last year’s Venice Biennale. It brings together contemporary music, film and photography with a vast range of nineteenth century images and objects in order to explore the impact of the Industrial Revolution on British popular culture. Along the way, the exhibition takes a look at the industrial working-class origins of Brian Ferry, Shaun Ryder and Noddy Holder, modern-day rock stars who achieved a better life for themselves than previous generations of their family had been able to enjoy. Their stories echo that of the lesser-known Adrian Street, who also features in the exhibition - a flamboyant androgynous international wrestler who pursued his chosen profession despite hailing from a family which, for generations, had worked down the pits. Victorian images of burning factories also feature, as does industrial folk music, the incessant rhythms and racket of the factory floor, heavy metal and glam rock, permeating the exhibition via both film and sound installations.
Marvellous Machines: Rowland Emett Exhibition Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Sat 10 May - Sun 21 September
Known for his quirky paintings, cartoons and fantastical mechanical contraptions, Rowland Emett took a lighthearted and modest approach to his art. "It’s a well-known fact that all inventors get their first ideas on the back of an envelope,” he once said. “I take slight exception to this; I use the front, so that I can incorporate the stamp - and then the design is already half done". This new presentation of the work of Emett, who died in 1990 aged eighty-four, is the largest ever display of his extraordinary creations. Commenting on the exhibition, Tim Griffiths, founder of the Rowland Emett Society, says: “Rowland Emett was a very familiar figure during the post-war decades but has been largely forgotten - until now. We will have twelve of the fifteen machines known to have survived in the UK on display, alongside many of his distinctive original drawings.”
Roman Empire: Power And People Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, Coventry, Sat 17 May - Sun 31 August
The Herbert has borrowed more than one hundred-and-sixty items from the British Museum for this exhibition, which explores not only the wealth, power and organisation of the Roman Empire but also how the Romans viewed their provinces and other peoples. Highlights include sculpture from the villas of the emperors Tiberius and Hadrian, coins from the famous Hoxne treasure, numerous items of beautiful jewellery and examples of near-perfectly preserved children’s clothing from Roman Egypt. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 59
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VisualArts PREVIEWS VisualArts LISTINGS Further exhibitions
Who Wears The Trousers? Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-uponAvon, Wed 7 May - Sun 31 August
The RSC’s Swan Theatre production of The Roaring Girl has inspired this intriguing presentation, which is suitable for people of all ages. Who Wears The Trousers? is being run by a small group of female illustrators called Girls Who Draw, whose playful illustrations not only explore the tradition of cross-dressing in theatre but also investigate how people utilise clothes to express who they are. The illustrations appear on mix-and-match blocks which can be joined together and rotated to create different lifesize characters. Mirrors placed in the block tower, otherwise known as ‘exquisite corpses’, allow visitors themselves to appear as part of the illustration. Commenting on the exhibition, guest curator Lisa Meyer says: “Throughout history and in almost every culture, disguising one's gender has been a common plotline in folklore, literature and theatre. We want people to have fun with the exhibition, which will ask what clothing means to us today, in a world where women wear trousers, men have long hair, and clothing is often gender neutral.”
Skylight Landscape Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum, Sat 3 May - Sat 5 July
This celebration of the artistic influence of the Malvern Hills features the work of two highly acclaimed artists. The Malvern Wells-based David Prentice is an internationally renowned landscape painter whose work is exhibited in numerous museums across the world, including London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and New York's Museum of Modern Art. Prentice has chosen to present a selection of his Malvern-inspired work alongside pieces by Paul Nash, who was widely considered to be one of the most evocative landscape painters of the twentieth century.
Brum Creatives Stryx Gallery, Digbeth, Birmingham, Thurs 8 - Sun 18 May
The idea for Brum Creatives came about after photographer Ian Davies and awardwinning stylist Sy Anne Holden had been required to shoot some portraits of local creative-industry professionals. The experience got the pair thinking about the possibility of putting together a series of portraits of some of Birmingham’s most creative people - from artists, writers and filmmakers through to celebrity-status figures. Partnered by the Arts Council-funded Birmingham Loves Photography Spring/Summer programme, the exhibition features portraits of, among others, Jasper Carrott, Patti Bell, Glynn Purnell and Brian Travers. 60 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
For full listing information on Visual Art exhibitions, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk MADE AT MAC: FROM THE INSIDE Featuring artworks from the Introduction To Art Techniques course, led by artist-tutor Helen Tarr, until Sun 4 May, mac Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham ALL IN A DAY’S WORK Insight into some of the large manufacturing companies which once made their home in the Black Country, until Mon 5 May, Bantock House, Wolverhampton STUDIO 14B Fresh new work from Leicesterbased artist STUDIO 14b, featuring landscape, seascape, portraiture and still-life, until Fri 9 May, Solihull Arts Complex SPRING SHOWCASE Featuring an eclectic mix of ceramics, textiles, homewares and delicate paper jewellery, until Sat 10 May, Bilston Craft Gallery UKCPS ANNUAL EXHIBITION A selection of work by coloured pencil artists from the UK and around the world, until Sat 10 May, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham HERE IS THE YARD: MAIA CONRAN Solo exhibition comprising three works which transform short video recordings of brief moments filmed or found by the artist; a large-scale panorama, a sculptural sound installation & a discrete video work, until Sat 10 May, Grand Union, Birmingham NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS A showcase of ‘high quality, innovative work’ by the best new talent in the region, until Sat 10 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery GRAYSON PERRY: THE VANITY OF SMALL DIFFERENCES Exhibition charting the story of class mobility while examining the influence of social class on aesthetic taste, until Sun 11 May, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery REINCARNATED RUBBISH Retrospective exhibition encompassing the whole spectrum of Val Hunt’s creative recycling, until Sun 11 May, Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford PAPEROLOGY Exhibition of prints, jewellery & paper sculptures inspired by natural history, until Sun 11 May, Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford
ANDREW MATHESON RBSA Solo show featuring a display of forms in porcelain, experimenting with barium glaze, until Sat 17 May, RBSA, Birmingham COLD TEA Exploration of the phenomenology of colour and unreality executed through the materiality of paint and photographic images, until Sat 17 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery CONNECTIONS: LAND & SKY Showcasing the works of three textile artists - Susan Walker, Val Brewin and Dorothy Deakin, until Sat 17 May, Bilston Craft Gallery DALE VN MARSHALL: WALLS WITH WOUNDS Exhibition which consists of vibrant abstract and layered multimedia works which reference the artist’s life, until Sun 18 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry NEW ART WEST MIDLANDS Showcase of works from twenty-four artists, all of whom have graduated from one of the region’s undergraduate or postgraduate fine art degree courses within the past three years, until Sun 18 May, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery COVENTRY OPEN Featuring works from artists working in a variety of medium, until Sat 24 May, Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, Coventry FAMILY CIRCLES Featuring contributions from some of the greatest masters in miniature portraiture, until Mon 26 May, The Barber Institute, Birmingham NIGEL PRIDDEY RBSA Solo show featuring a selection of watercolour paintings which explore pattern and colour in the landscape, until Sat 31 May, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham ROY ABELL Selling exhibition from husband & wife team Roy & Pat Abell, until Sat 31 May, Artifex, Solihull BP PORTRAIT AWARDS Showcasing fifty-five of the 'most outstanding and innovative new portraits from around the world', until Sat 31 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery NADIA KISSELEVA: DOCUMENT Featuring a series of portraits of people imprisoned during the Stalinist era in the for-
mer Soviet Union, until Sun 1 June, mac, Birmingham BARBARIANS: THE AGE OF IRON Showcasing new research, artefacts and prehistoric skeletons which tell the story of Worcestershire over two thousand years ago, until Sat 7 Jun, Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum CHROMA COLLECTIVE Exhibition featuring works from four contemporary jewellers with a shared goal of raising awareness of the craft within Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, until Sat 7 June, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham TIM SHAW: RA BLACK SMOKE RISING The first solo exhibition from Belfast-born sculptor Tim Shaw, who grapples with contemporary and political realities whilst evoking the mythical and metaphysical, until Sun 8 Jun, mac Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham BILL DRUMMOND: THE 25 PAINTINGS Unique exhibition marking the beginning of a ten-year journey which, starting off beneath Spaghetti Junction, will see Drummond tour twelve cities across the world, until Sat 14 June, Eastside Projects, Birmingham BESIDE THE SEA Showcase of craft inspired by British beaches, life on the coast and seaside holidays, until Sat 14 June, Bilston Craft Gallery A BIG BANG: THE ORIGINS OF POP ART COLLECTION The first in a two-part display exploring some of the biggest names in the Pop Art industry, until Sat 21 June, Wolverhampton Art Gallery IKON ICONS: IAN EMES The second in a series of five exhibitions to be presented in Ikon's Tower Room as part of the gallery's birthday celebrations, until Sun 22 Jun, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham MICHAEL FRANCOIS Sculpture, film, paintings, prints and photography are brought together in this, the most comprehensive exhibition to date of work by Belgium artist Michel Francois, until Sun 22 June, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham SECRET GARDEN CRAFT EXHIBITION Collection of jewellery, ceramics and textiles exploring fairytales and narratives, until Sat 28 Jun, RBSA Gallery, Birmingham ROMANTIC RUINS Featuring paintings from the museum’s collection, until Sat 28
June, Dudley Museum & Art Gallery FOR THE RECORD Exploring themes of preservation and recording in the work of female artists, until Sun 29 June, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery 40 YEARS OF WOMEN ARTISTS The strong female characters in the Garman Epstein family and their circle of friends are captured in this exhibition of works from the gallery's Permanent Collection, until Sun 29 Jun, The New Art Gallery, Walsall RICHARD LONG: SPRING CIRCLE, 1992 until Wed 9 July, The New Art Gallery, Walsall ARTISTS’ STUDIO: SARAH TAYLOR SILVERWOOD Exhibition from Birmingham-based artist Sarah Taylor Silverwood, whose practice is grounded in drawing, narrative and landscape, until Sun 20 July, New Art Gallery, Walsall WE WORKED AT THE PORCELAIN Photographic exhibition focusing on some of Royal Worcester’s many craftsmen and women, until Fri 1 Aug, The Museum of Royal Worcester THE ROGER PILKINGTON GLASS COLLECTION Exhibition which shows the development of English drinking glasses from the late-seventeenth to the late-nineteenth century, until Sun 10 Aug, Broadfield House Glass Museum, Dudley MOORE RODIN Works from two major players in the world of modern sculpture feature in this exhibition in celebration of Compton Verney’s tenth anniversary, until Sun 31 Aug, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire YOU - THE 12TH PLINTH Stand on the empty 12th plinth, strike a pose and create a living sculpture by becoming an artist’s model, inspiring a composition for a new sculpture, until Sun 31 Aug, Compton Verney, Warwickshire IN STITCHES: A CELEBRATION OF RSC COSTUME until Mon 1 Sep, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon TOM, FRANK AND MAY Original material, uniforms, handling activities and a short film which demonstrate the role played by the Merry family during World War One, until Sun 2 Nov, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham BACK TO FRONT: 40 PERMANENT COLLECTION GEMS Exhibition which celebrates the fortieth anniversary of the
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VisualArts LISTINGS For full listing information on Visual Art exhibitions, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk gallery’s Garman Ryan collection, until Sat 16 Nov, New Art Gallery, Walsall FAITH AND FORTUNE Exhibition exploring the early histories of two of the world’s great religions, until Sun 30 Nov, The Barber Institute, Birmingham THE JEWELLERY QUARTER DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR Exhibition of artefacts, images and oral histories relating to the recruitment of soldiers from the Jewellery Quarter, until Sun 14 Dec, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham TRACED Permanent exhibition tracing the success of art & design in Wolverhampton while bringing together works by local artists from the museum’s collection, until Wed 31 Dec, Wolverhampton Art Gallery CRAFTSENSE Featuring over one hundred of the world-renowned Bilston enamels, until Wed 31 Dec, Bilston Craft Gallery
SENSING SCULPTURE Featuring new sculptures alongside old favourites, until Wed 31 Dec, Wolverhampton Art Gallery SKYLIGHT LANDSCAPE BY PAUL NASH & DAVID PRENTICE Sat 3 May Sat 5 July, Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum A FIRST CLASS WATERING PLACE: 200 YEARS OF THE ROYAL PUMP ROOMS Celebrating the bicentenary of the Royal Pump Rooms, Sat 3 May Mon 25 Aug, Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa ALL THAT GLISTERS Showcase of eighteenth century steel jewellery, Fri 9 May - Sun 10 Aug, Bantock House Museum 50 YEARS ON: THE CENTRE OF CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL STUDIES Featuring the work of eminent artists including Trevor Appleson and David Batchelor, Sat 10 May - Sun 29 June, mac, Birmingham
SUMMER SHOWCASE Featuring textiles, ceramics, homewares and delicate paper jewellery, Tues 13 May - Sat 16 Aug, Bilston Craft Gallery CHINESE LIVES IN BIRMINGHAM A display which demonstrates the origins and rich culture of Birmingham's diverse Chinese community, Sat 17 May - Sun 18 June, The Barber Institute, Birmingham MADE AT MAC - CERAMICS Led by tutors Sue Dyer and Wendy Tournay, the exhibition puts a spotlight on ceramics and is set to inspire audiences and students alike, Sat 17 May - Sun 31 Aug, mac, Birmingham MUSIC, ART AND BEER An exhibition of new visual works by five local artists, Sat 24 May - Sat 21 June, Wolverhampton Art Gallery LANDSCAPES: CHAPTERS OF IMPERMANENCE Exhibition which brings together two different artists responding to the same landscapes from different perspectives, Sat 24 May - Sat 21 June, Bilston Craft Gallery A TRIO OF ARTISTS An exhibition featuring the work of artists Anne
Hackett, Chris Tarplee and Claire Sherwin, Sat 24 May - Sun 3 Aug, Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge COME CREATE Exhibition to inspire visitors to explore and demonstrate their creativity through displays, hands-on interactives
and fun activities, Sat 24 May - Sun 7 Sept, Thinktank, Birmingham SYMMETRY IN SCULPTURE Focusing on the recent work of one of the UK’s most exciting British Asian artists, Zarah Hussain, Sat 24 May - Sun 2 Nov, Birmingham Museum &
Art Gallery RIVERS OF BRITISH-ASIAN BLOOD EXHIBITION Display of images of influential British Asians over the past forty years, Mon 26 May Sun 1 June, The Old Print Works, Birmingham
Museums & Art Galleries Birmingham ARTIFEX Sutton Coldfield 0121 323 3776 BARBER INSTITUTE 0121 414 7333 BIRMINGHAM MUSEUM & ART GALLERY 0121 303 2834 THE BURROWS GALLERY, THE CUSTARD FACTORY 0121 224 7344 CASTLE GALLERIES 0121 633 0015 GRAND UNION 0121 643 9079 IKON GALLERY 0121 248 0708 NUMBER NINE THE GALLERY 0121 643 9099 RBSA GALLERY 0121 2364353 THREE WHITE WALLS GALLERY 0121 643 0078
Black Country BANTOCK HOUSE WOLVERHAMPTON 01902 552195 BILSTON CRAFT GALLERY 01902 552507
BROADFIELD HOUSE GLASS MUSEUM, DUDLEY 01384 812745 DUDLEY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY 01384 815575 LIGHT HOUSE MEDIA CENTRE WOLVERHAMPTON 01902 716055 THE NEW ART GALLERY WALSALL 01922 654400 RED HOUSE GLASS CONE 01384 812750 WOLVERHAMPTON ART GALLERY 01902 552055
Shropshire BEAR STEPS GALLERY, SHREWSBURY 01743 344994 SHREWSBURY MUSEUM & ART GALLERY 01952 727952 TWENTY TWENTY GALLERY, MUCH WENLOCK 01952 727952 THE WILLOW GALLERY, OSWESTRY 01691 657575
Staffordshire NEWCASTLE BOROUGH MUSEUM & ART GALLERY 01782 232323 THE POTTERIES MUSEUM & ART GALLERY, STOKE-ONTRENT 01782 232323 SHIRE HALL GALLERY STAFFORD 01785 278345 STAFFORDSHIRE MUSEUM, SHUGBOROUGH 01889 881388
Warwickshire COMPTON VERNEY GALLERY 01926 645500 HERBERT ART GALLERY COVENTRY 02476 832386 MEAD GALLERY WARWICK 02476 524524 ROYAL PUMP ROOMS 01926 742700
Worcestershire WORCESTER CITY ART GALLERY 01905 25371
Visit whatsonlive.co.uk for venue website details
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The Baby Show NEC, Birmingham, 16 - 18 May As the UK’s leading pregnancy and parenting event, this Fisher Pricesponsored show offers a plethora of advice on a wide range of associated topics. BBC presenter and authority on child development Professor Robert Winston is confirmed as this year’s headline speaker. Appearances from child nutrition practitioner Annabel Karmel, twins and baby sleep specialist Jo Tantum, and learning-through-play expert Dr Julie Coultas are also programmed during the three-day
event. Showcasing the very latest in maternity and baby brands, The Baby Show offers one-to-one demonstrations and the chance to ‘touch, feel and compare’ items, enabling shoppers to make an informed decision about their purchases. Other highlights include daily fashion shows for mums-to-be, babies and toddlers, numerous competitions, an activity zone and a variety of workshops.
Corey Baker: A Haka Day Out Centenary Square, Birmingham, Sat 10 May
Bringing a traditional Maori experience to the streets of Birmingham, this unique drop-in event looks like a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Led by esteemed choreographer and New Zealander Corey Baker, A Haka Day Out forms part of International Dance Festival Birmingham 2014 and features free tribal Haka workshops with native Maori performers at half-hour intervals between 12noon and 2.30pm. The sessions, which are followed by a live Haka performance, are described as ‘suitable for everyone’. All you have to do is turn up and have a go...
National Kit Car And Motor Show Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, Sun 4 - Mon 5 May
More than four thousand cars, from the unusual to the exotic, are expected to feature at this unique Bank Holiday event. The two-day celebration of the kit car also offers the opportunity for visitors to take a trip in an impressive Dakar 4x4 around the site’s massive off-road course. The chance to try out a passenger ride with a Westfield test driver on the Drift circuit is another sure-to-be-popular attraction. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 63
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Events PREVIEWS Romans On The Rampage Herbert Museum & Art Gallery, Coventry, Mon 26 - Sat 31 May
In support of the Herbert’s new Roman Empire exhibition, this week-long programme of events is packed with themed workshops, showing youngsters aged fourplus how to become a ‘true rampaging Roman soldier’. From decorating miniature Roman outfits for teddy bears and creating soldier puppets with artist Jim Morris through to military drills and armour and weaponrymaking, there’s plenty to keep the kids entertained during the Whitsun school holidays.
Donington Historic Festival Donington Park, Sat 3 - Mon 5 May
Worcester Motor Festival Worcester City Centre, Sat 17 May
Now in its eighth year, the Worcester Motor Festival provides visitors with the chance to compare and contrast thirty of the newest cars on the market with the latest models being showcased along the city’s high street by various local dealerships. Presented by Worcester Bid, the festival also invites visitors to wander around sixty-odd classic and vintage cars, listen to live music, and enjoy the talents of numerous roving street performers.
Since its debut in 2011, the Donington Historic Festival has become a major fixture on the international racing calendar, and in 2014 sees more than four hundred racing cars from the 1920s through to the 1980s taking to the track to compete. This year marks the ninetieth anniversary of Motor Sport magazine, and the Donington Historic Festival is acknowledging the occasion with a pre-war sports car race. Meanwhile, a Maserati-only race marks the one hundredth anniversary of the marque. John Surtees OBE - the only man to have won World Championships both on two and four wheels - is the show’s Guest of Honour, and will be signing autographs for fans on the Sunday and Monday. Other noteable features at this bank holiday weekend event include an open paddock - where spectators can get up close to priceless racing machines - historic rally and karting action, and ‘living motoring museum’ car club displays.
British Falconry And Country Fair Chetwynd Park, Newport, Shropshire, Sun 4 - Mon 5 May
Celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary by moving to a new venue, the British Falconry and Country Fair is considered to be the UK’s leading falconry and hawking event, covering all aspects of country pursuits. Taking place over the spring bank holiday weekend, highlights include continuous main arena events, falconry flying displays, a static display and parade of vintage Land Rovers, and a plethora of ‘have a go’ attractions such as shooting, shotgun coaching, flycasting, dog agility sessions and archery. Children’s amusements, a funfair and pony rides are available for younger visitors. New for 2014, children under fifteen go free with a paying adult.
Stratford Food Festival At The Races! Stratford Racecourse, Stratford-upon-Avon Fri 30 May - Sun 1 June
Flights Of Fancy RAF Cosford, Nr Wolverhampton, Sat 17 - Sun 18 May
Puppetry and memorabilia from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s iconic science fiction TV shows lie at the heart of this nostalgic weekend. Models, costumes, full-sized vehicles and sets from classic live-action programmes like Space 1999 and UFO promise to take visitors back in time to the 1960s and ’70s, as do much-loved characters from Thunderbirds - not to mention Joe 90, Steve Zodiac, Captain Scarlet and his evil nemesis Captain Black. Numerous talks and question-and-answer sessions also feature, with Sylvia Anderson herself taking top billing on both days. The exhibition is free to attend, with entry to the Q&A sessions priced at £25 per day.
munity museums. Departing Victoria Square at various intervals throughout the day, the tour’s first stop is Aston Hall, where visitors can experience the splendour of a grand Jacobean House and relive its role in the English Civil War. Soho House, the Georgian home of industrialist and entrepreneur Matthew Bolton, is the next destination, with the bus’s final stop being the Pen Room at the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter.
Heritage Bus Tours Birmingham City Centre, Sun 4 May
Made available by Birmingham tours, the Heritage Bus Tour enables passengers to explore and discover the city’s unique com-
Bringing a culinary twist to Stratford’s regular double race meeting weekend, the Stratford Food Festival features over seventy exhibitors housed within three large marquees. Showcasing products from some of the country’s finest artisan food and drink producers, the three-day festival also includes a real ale & cider bar and a free children’s activity area. Edible Avenue and Liquid Lane, meanwhile, offer something to satisfy most culinary tastes. Evening horse racing (on the Friday and Saturday) and live music - courtesy of local restaurant & bar The Lazy Cow - also feature. www.whatsonlive.co.uk 65
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Events PREVIEWS Classic Car And Transport Show Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, Sun 25 - Mon 26 May
An ever-popular event on the Ragley Hall calendar, the Classic Car and Transport Show features over six hundred vintage, classic, American, kit and custom cars, as well as motorcycles and commercial vehicles. A must for motoring enthusiasts, this nostalgic event also features a plethora of club and trade stands, as well as an auto-jumble, arena attractions, falconry displays and children’s inflatables. For thrill-seekers, a trip to the lake for family water sport activities is most definitely in order, while Ragley’s Adventure Wood with 3D maze and Woodland Walk further add to the show’s undoubted appeal.
Coventry Mysteries Festival Coventry City Centre, Fri 23 - Mon 26 May
The Chilli Festival Eastnor Castle, Worcestershire, Sun 4 - Mon 5 May
Promising to heat up the Bank Holiday weekend, Eastnor’s third annual Chilli Festival showcases an abundance of spiced-up entertainment for all the family to enjoy. The castle courtyard will be transformed into a chilli market for the event, where visitors can both try and buy the selection of chilliinfused delights on offer - including chocolate, bread, cakes, vodka, cocktails and chutney. There’s also a selection of specialist hot food suppliers on hand, selling authentic Asian curries and a variety of other spicy foods... Aside from the gourmet element, the two-day event features musical entertainment from Hereford-based Mexican band Los Squideros, a Cookery Theatre in which Shropshire chef Suree Coates demonstrates her authentic cookery skills, the chance to make Egyptian mezze with Marina Ibrahim, and an opportunity to find out about Italian culinary delights with Felice Tocchini. Younger visitors are well catered for too, courtesy of the Easy Peasy Children’s Cookery Theatre.
An incarnation of one of the country’s largest medieval celebrations, the Coventry Mysteries Festival brings together a host of international artists and performers, local talent and community ventures in an eclectic programme that’s promising to offer something for everyone. The Junk Orchestra - using instruments created during a week-long workshop - present a large-scale junk jam in Broadgate (at 1pm, 2pm and 3pm on the Saturday), while a daytime dance party hosted by Big Fish Little Fish at the Dog Nightclub promises plenty of fun for children under seven. Promenade performances in the streets from art pop marching band Perhaps Contraption are sure to get bystanders in the groove on the Sunday, and there’s certainly no shortage of culture on offer at the event, with unique theatre performances from Reckless Sleepers, LAStheatre, Engineer Theatre Collective and BeingFrank Physical Theatre. Organisers have pulled off quite a coup in bringing this year’s festival to a close with Station House Opera, who’re booked to create their breeze block spectacular, Dominoes - a moving sculpture which will run across the city and unfold over the course of the day. The 1.5km route will mark the first time Dominoes has been created in the UK outside of London. For full festival listings, visit www.coventrymysteries.com
Museums at Night Museums At Night is an annual UK-wide initiative which sees museums, galleries and heritage sites throwing open their doors after hours and putting on special events. Here’s just a taster of what’s happening in the Midlands...
Galleries Night: Art Bus Various locations, Birmingham City Centre, Thurs 15 May
Birmingham's Art Bus is back on the road this month, transporting art lovers between the city’s various galleries. The city centre route is available between 5pm and 9pm, and links the Barber, Ikon, RBSA, BMAG, Eastside Projects and mac Birmingham. Guided tours are available at selected venues, and timetables can be picked up from participating galleries, tourist information centres and public libraries, or can be downloaded from the galleries' websites.
ink making, sculpture, writing and drawing. Based around the notion of the scribe, drawing, writing and the concept of the pen itself, the initiative explores the museum’s traditions, and their place both in history and in modern society. The artwork on show will embrace the nature of the museum, juxtaposing history with contemporary examination.
Red By Night Black Country Living Museum, Dudley, Sat 17 May
Red By Night is a new addition to the Museums At Night initiative. It uses human soundscapes, physical theatre and promenade drama scenes to tell the story of the hard-working people of the area who created a turning point in Britain’s national story. A unique event, it offers a rare opportunity to see all of the museum’s industrial areas in action, including the rolling mill, chainmakers and brass foundry. Please note this is an ‘advanced booking only’ event.
Transient Live Art The Pen Museum, Birmingham, Thurs 15 - Sat 17 May
Transient Art visits the Pen Museum as part of the Museums At Night initiative. Intertwining with the venue’s exhibits will be artists presenting performance art, video, live www.whatsonlive.co.uk 67
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Events LISTINGS For full listing information on Events, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk from
THUR 1 MAY 2014 PREMIER LEAGUE DARTS Darts' biggest roadshow event will celebrate its tenth staging, with reigning champion Michael van Gerwen set to defend his title against the likes of six-time winner Phil Taylor, Thurs 1 May, National Indoor Arena, Birmingham MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS Welcome spring with traditional maypole dancing and see who's crowned the May King and Queen, Thurs 1 May, Mary Arden House, Stratford-uponAvon MAYPOLE DANCING Enjoy watching traditional maypole dancing on the Green at Blists Hill Victorian Town. You may even feel compelled to join in the fun as well! Thurs 1 May, Blists Hill, Ironbridge
BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND MEDIEVAL TOP OF THE POPS Discover what sort of music people listened to during the medieval period. Listen to examples and vote for your favourite song, Thurs 1 - Sat 31 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester PAUL HOLLYWOOD - GET YOUR BAKE ON TV's baking star Paul Hollywood brings his first ever live show to the UK Fri 2 May, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton ARTIST INSIGHT: JEREMY DELLER IN CONVERSATION A Coventry Contemporary Art Forum event, organised to coincide with the exhibition All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, which Jeremy Deller is curating at Warwick Art Centre's Mead Gallery, Fri 2 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry DIGBETH FIRST FRIDAY Exhibitions, late-night openings, special events, culture in unexpected places, live music, street food and more, Fri 2 May, Digbeth, Birmingham UNDERSTANDING ART TALKS: A VISIT TO THE MASTER: RODIN AT HOME Professor Louise Campbell of the University of Warwick explores how Rodin’s studio-home and its grounds provided the viewing conditions
which the sculptor considered essential for understanding his work, Fri 2 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL Run What Ya Brung till late. Track open from 9am-8pm with evening entertainment and camping, Sat 3 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton HISTORY SEEKERS Discover fascinating facts about history, and hear amazing stories about local people and events from the past using real historical documents at the City Archives. Suitable for children aged 8 plus, Sat 3 May, Wolverhampton City Archives GALLERY TOUR An opportunity to find out more about the gallery and its collections, Sat 3 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery VINTAGE & HANDMADE FAIR Sat 3 May, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham Shropshire BIG BRUM OPEN TOP BUZ SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sat 3 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham 3D SEASIDE POSTCARDS WITH LAUREN VAN HELMOND Learn techniques devised by the artist to combine transfer-printed designs with recycled materials such as old biscuit tins, wire and fabrics to depict a charming holiday scene, Sat 3 May, Bilston Craft Gallery OXFORD WORD WIZARDS With Marcus Moore & Sarah-Jane Arbury. A Shrewsbury Bookfest event, Sat 3 May, The Hive, Shrewsbury THE ROALD DAHL FUN AT THE FORT! May Day fun with Bert & Gert’s market and a series of fun activities, Sat 3 - Sun 4 May, Fort Shopping Park, Birmingham STRICTLY TUDOR DANCING Take part in a Tudor dance-off to celebrate the May Day Bank Holiday weekend. Learn historic dances, from The Dump to The Buffoon, and see how high your judge’s scores will be. Sat 3 - Mon 5 May, Mary Arden House, Stratford-upon-Avon THE BOAT GATHERING Sat 3 - Mon 5 May Black Country Living Museum, Dudley Celebrate spring with Greyfriars’ Bank
Holiday weekend fair, featuring flower displays and demonstrations. Children are invited to plant their own seeds to take home Sat 3 May, Greyfriars House & Garden, Worcester EMBROIDERY WORKSHOP Suitable for beginners and experienced embroiderers alike Sat 3 May, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton CELEBRATING SPRING WITH GREYFRIARS Discover the garden, flower displays and demonstrations. Get the kids involved in planting their own seeds to take home, Sat 3 May, Greyfriars House & Garden, Worcester COTSWOLD FALCONRY Watch a variety of different birds, from eagles to owls, in a programme of demonstrations on the lawns in front of the Manor house Sat 3 - Mon 5 May, Cotswold Wildlife Park DONINGTON HISTORIC FESTIVAL A major fixture on the international racing calendar, showcasing hundreds of worldclass historic racing cars, Sat 3 - Mon 5 May Donington Park COMBAT AND COURTIERS Travel back to Tudor England as Elizabeth I and her colourful court arrive at Kenilworth for the party of the year. Be captivated by song and theatre, entertained by the lighthearted banter of the court and impressed by the falconry displays. Witness the clash of swords as soldiers compete to impress their Queen, Sat 3 - Mon 5 May, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire PIRATE WEEKEND Featuring plenty of seafaring fun to amuse, Sat 3 - Mon 5 May, Cadbury World, Birmingham WILD ABOUT WITLEY Celebrate with a trip back to Witley's Victorian heyday for a grand family day out. Discover the outdoor Victorian toyshop with games aplenty, and create your very own wooden toy Sat 3 Mon 5 May, Witley Court, Worcestershire IRONBRIDGE GORGE WALKING FESTIVAL Now in its eighth year, this annual spring festival features more than forty guided scenic walks, offering participants the chance to enjoy the many and varied delights of Shropshire’s beautiful countryside. Challenging full-day outings for hardy walkers are offered alongside family adventures, historic trails and wildlife walks, in an event which caters for a
range of abilities. Check out the walks available at www.visitironbridge.co.uk/walkingfestival, Sat 3 - Sun 11 May, Ironbridge, Shropshire RUN WHAT YA BRUNG Regular event which provides an opportunity to take your car or motorcycle out on the famous quarter-mile dragstrip and test its performance limits in a safe and legal environment, Sun 4 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton ZIGZAG ENSEMBLE A composing and improvising group for twelveto-sixteen-year-olds, Sun 4 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham 20TH EARLY BIRD CLASSIC TOUR Sun 4 May, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire LEDBURY WAYTES, MEDIEVAL MUSIC AND DANCE Meet the Medieval Minstrels, listen to their music, talk to them about their costumes and try on some armour, Sun 4 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcestershire CONTEMPORARY CRAFT MARKET Sun 4 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham MUSIC MAZE Creative participatory workshops for children aged eight to eleven inclusive, Sun 4 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham HERITAGE BUS TOUR Discover Birmingham’s unique community museums, Sun 4 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham BRITISH FALCONRY AND COUNTRY FAIR The ultimate event for enthusiasts and experts alike, with continuous main arena events, demonstrations, a craft fair, sporting & wildlife artists, a fun dog show, displays of vintage land rovers, children's activities and much, much more... Sun 4 - Mon 5 May, Chetwynd Park, Newport, Shropshire MEDIEVAL THEMED REENACTMENT Knights, armour, chivalry and military strategy, Sun 4 - Mon 5 May, Red House Glass Cone, Dudley STRATFORD UPON AVON FESTIVAL OF MOTORING A two-day event showcasing more than two hundred special-interest vehicles, Sun 4 Mon 5 May, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire THE NATIONAL KIT CAR MOTOR SHOW Annual mecca for kit car enthusiasts, Sun 4 - Mon 5 May, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CHILLI FESTIVAL A unique event celebrating the different
flavours of all things chilli... a cookery theatre, live music and a chilli-eating competition also feature, Sun 4 Mon 5 May, Eastnor Castle Deer Park PAUL HOLLYWOOD - GET YOUR BAKE ON TV's baking star Paul Hollywood brings his first ever live show to the UK, Mon 5 May, Symphony Hall 10TH BIRTHDAY PARTY Join in Compton's celebrations and have fun with games, music and arty activities. Mon 5 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire YUMMY BRUMMIE Free family event all about food, Mon 5 May, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham BROCKHAMPTON BOOK AND TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC STORYTELLING DAY Pack a picnic or pick one up from the Old Apple Store tearoom and enjoy an afternoon of stories and tales in the orchard, Mon 5 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester TRADITIONAL MAY DAY Featuring maypole dancing, country crafts, music, food and traditional Morris dancing, Mon 5 May, Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS Welcome in May, add your wish to Dudmaston's traditional May tree and join in the dancing, music & festivities, Mon 5 May, Dudmaston Estate, Bridgnorth BIT OF A DO Family fun day organised by the Friends of Bantock House Museum, with Punch & Judy, donkeys, music, stalls and activities, Mon 5 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton
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TUES 6 MAY TILE DECORATING WORKSHOPS Drop-in sessions where participants use the technique known as tube lining to decorate their very own tile to take home, Tue 6 May, Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge, Shropshire LUNCHTIME TALK: THE TREASURES OF BANTOCK HOUSE A talk by the curator of Bantock House Museum on the history of the house and its collections, Tues 6 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton DISCOVER THE COLLECTION Meet the conservation team who'll tell you about interesting items in the collection and demonstrate how they're
looked after, Tue 6 May, Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton LIVE FLOWER DEMO Wed 7 May, Solihull Arts Complex STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD TOUR & VISIT TO CONSERVATION STUDIO Wed 7 May, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery ARTFORUM GOLD CLUB Art club where young people aged fourteen to twenty-five can explore exhibits, work with artists and try new techniques, Wed 7 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery LONDON CALLING ALE FESTIVAL Thurs 8 - Sun 11 May, Route 44, Acocks Green, Birmingham RHS MALVERN SPRING FESTIVAL Thurs 8 - Sun 11 May, Three Counties Showground, Malvern OVERNIGHT GHOST HUNT Haunted Happenings... Fri 9 May, The Falstaff's Experience, Stratfordupon-Avon BAG AND STITCH SOME OLD WOUNDS Artist-led bag-making workshop with Georgette Marshall, Sat 10 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry SCRUFFS DOG SHOW Annual charity dog show with all monies raised going to Dogs For The Disabled, Sat 10 May, Cotswold Wildlife Park OPEN COCKPITS EVENING Sat 10 May, RAF Cosford, Wolverhampton TALK AND WALK Learn more about one of Birmingham’s hidden gems and join the museum’s resident experts for an illustrated talk and tour of the ruins, Sat 10 May, Weoley Castle, Birmingham DOWN UNDER LIVE Featuring specialist exhibitors and experts on emigrating to New Zealand, Sat 10 May, National Motorcycle Museum, Solihull OVERNIGHT GHOST HUNT - GHOST R US Sat 10 May, The Falstaff's Experience, Stratfordupon-Avon WEAVER'S HOUSE OPEN DAY The Weaver’s House shows visitors what life as a medieval weaver would have been like. Regular talks will be held inside the Weaver’s house, as well as spinning demonstrations Sat 10 May, The Weaver's House, Coventry BROCKHAMPTON BOWMAN ARCHERY SESSIONS Join the Brockhampton Bowmen and put your archery skills to the test. Discover various bows and find out how they were used, Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester
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Events LISTINGS For full listing information on Events, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk SPORTS & SALOON CAR RACES Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Donington Park SPRING GALA WEEKEND Miniature railway special opening, Sat 10 Sun 11 May, Electric Railway Museum, Baginton, Coventry NATIONAL MILLS WEEKEND The Museum’s windmill will be in operation (wind permitting!). There’ll also be breadmaking in the Toll House, where children can see the food chain of grain-toflour-to-bread, Sat 10 Sun 11 May, Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove WORLD CUP WARM-UP Weekend dedicated to footie fun, Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Cadbury World, Birmingham BIG BRUM OPEN TOP BUZ SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sat 10 - Sun 11 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham FAMILY WEEKEND FUN Enjoy a steam train ride on the Severn Valley Railway and see your favourite characters, Peppa Pig and George along the way, Sat 10 Sun 11 May, Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster A LOAD OF OLD NONSENSE Join the Prince Albert Players as they read from the works of Edward Lear and invite visitors to recite some of the poet’s limericks, including The Owl And The Pussycat - a favourite in Victorian times, Sat 10 Mon 12 May, Blists Hill, Ironbridge, Shropshire SCULPTING THE FIGURE Two-day adult workshop offering an introduction to the lives and works of Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin. Led by sculptor George Wagstaff, Sat 10 - Sat 17 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire THE NATIONAL GLASS FAIR Featuring exhibitors offering a wide choice of glassware, from eighteenth century drinking glasses through to contemporary studio glass, Sun 11 May, National Motorcycle Museum BLUEBELL TOURS Enjoy a guided tour in Blackwell's Wood to see the bluebells, Sun 11 May, Upton House & Gardens NATIONAL VINTAGE COMMUNICATION FAIR Sun 11 May, Warwickshire Exhibition Centre GLASS CRAFTS -
ENGRAVE A TEA LIGHT Sun 11 May, Broadfield Glass Museum, Kingswinford NATIONAL MILLS DAY Celebrate National Mills Day by visiting the world's only surviving water-powered scouring mill. Find out about workers in the Victorian needle industry with Redditch Amateur Theatre Society, Sun 11 May, Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch VILLAGE LACEMAKERS Featuring a demonstration from the skilful Village Lacemakers. Visitors will also be given an opportunity to have a go, Sun 11 May Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton BRITISH MINI DAY Examples and variations of the iconic car made famous in the film, The Italian Job. Sun 11 May, Himley Hall & Park, Dudley BBC INSPIRE COMPOSER LAB Day-long composing workshop for twelve-to-eighteen-yearolds, Sun 11 May, CBSO Centre, Birmingham
Week Commencing
MON 12 MAY SALLY MORGAN: PSYCHIC SALLY ON THE ROAD Mon 12 May, Civic Hall, Wolverhampton BAKE AND MAKE - THE ART OF BREAD AND BUTTER Find out how people in the seventeenth century ran their home, bake a loaf of bread and make butter Mon 12 May, Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton DISCOVER THE COLLECTION Meet the conservation team who'll tell you about interesting items in the collection and demonstrate how they're looked after, Tue 13 May, Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton BRITISH PIG AND POULTRY FAIR A biennial two-day event featuring over three hundred exhibitors showcasing their latest products & services Tue 13 - Wed 14 May, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire DRIFT WHAT YA BRUNG Chance to practise drifting in safe and legal conditions on some of the Pod's thirty acres of open tarmac, where there are beginners, intermediate and advanced tracks open at the same time each DWYB day, Wed 14 May, Santa Pod
Raceway, Northampton BIRMINGHAM AND THE BLACK COUNTRY A talk by Chris Upton about two tales of the industrial West Midlands. Free entry. Wed 14 May, Wolverhampton City Archives TREE WALK Join the site's ranger to find out more about the ancient and notable trees in the park, Thurs 15 May, Charlecote Park, Warwickshire 'PEN' (MUSEUMS AT NIGHT) - TRANSIENT ART Thurs 15 - Sat 17 May, The Pen Museum, Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham QUILTS UK Showcase of hundreds of quilts from around the world, Thurs 15 - Sun 18 May, Three Counties Showground, Malvern PEN & INK WORKSHOP Hosted by prize-winning printmaker Tor Hildyard, Fri 16 May, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire MUSEUMS AT NIGHT Family activity which forms part of the annual UK-wide initiative to draw people into some of the country’s cultural venues out of hours. This Compton event features a curator’s tour of the Moore Rodin exhibition and a stroll around the grounds, Fri 16 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire ART SPEAKING Free audio-described tour of the Victorian Gallery for people with visual impairment, Fri 16 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery THE BABY SHOW Fri 16 Sun 18 May, NEC, Birmingham NAYLOR CAR CLUB 20TH BIRTHDAY Sat 17 May, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire RUN WHAT YA BRUNG Offering the chance to take your car or motorcycle out on the famous quarter-mile dragstrip and test its performance limits in a safe and legal environment, Sat 17 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton SILVER EARRING JEWELLERY WORKSHOP Sat 17 May, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham MUSEUMS AT NIGHT Outof-hours event which sees every corner of the museum come to life with an eclectic range of features, including Meet The Romans, live music, film screenings and make-and-take activities, Sat 17 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry EARLY MORNING BIRD WALK Sat 17 May, National Memorial Aboretum, Stafford MUSEUMS AT NIGHT Pitch a tent overnight at
the museum and participate in activities such as telling ghost stories around the fire and a midnight feast in the Guesten Hall. Breakfast will be available in the Edwardian Tea Room on the Sunday morning, Sat 17 May, Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove EVENING SCENIC SPECIALS A scenic evening ride with the added option of a traditional fish and chip supper, Sat 17 May, Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster RED BY NIGHT Join the Black Country Living Museum in its annual Night At The Museum celebration, Sat 17 May, Black Country Living Museum, Coventry SCULPTING THE FIGURE Two-day adult workshop offering an introduction to the lives and works of Henry Moore and Auguste Rodin. Led by sculptor George Wagstaff, Sat 17 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire UK SLOT CAR FESTIVAL Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire THE SOOTY SHOW Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Cadbury World, Birmingham COSFORD FLIGHTS OF FANTASY Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, RAF Cosford, Wolverhampton CRAFT FAYRE Sat 17 Sun 18 May, Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge SPRING CRAFT MARKET Featuring May crafts & May Day dancers, Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Red House Glass Cone, Dudley NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE RACES Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Donington Park BROCKHAMPTON BOWMAN ARCHERY SESSIONS Join the Brockhampton Bowmen and put your archery skills to the test. Discover various bows and find out how they were used, Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester SPECIALIST TALK: LIZZIE SIDDAL, THE FIRST PRERAPHAELITE LADY Join the House Steward for a relaxed talk followed by a walking tour of the collection, featuring items not usually on public display, Sat 17 May, Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton RAG RUG WORKSHOP Make a rag rug with specialist Jessie Lindon, Sat 17 May, Birmingham Back to Backs TRY SAILING Short free taster sessions on the Great Pool with a qualified YRA instructor. Booking essential, Sat 17 May, Himley Hall & Park, Dudley
BIG BRUM OPEN TOP BUZ SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sat 17 - Sun 18 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham WWE LIVE 2014 Fans can watch their favourite WWE superstars, including World Heavyweight champion John Cena, Alberto Del Rio, Randy Orton, CM Punk, AJ, The Bella Twins and many more, Sun 18 May, National Indoor Arena, Birmingham GAYDON SPRING CLASSIC, GAYDON FRINGE AND CREAM TEA RUN A popular gathering of vehicles over twenty years old, Sun 18 May, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire PEAK PERFORMANCE TEST & TUNE DAY RWYB with maximum track time for serious enthusiasts. Car clubs, performance specialists and individuals all welcome, Sun 18 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton WORLD WAR II DAY Find out more about life during the Second World War with 'Forever Forties', World War II RAF Group and South Midlands Military Vehicles Trust, Sun 18 May, Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch DRAGON BOAT RACING All-action event with teams battling it out on the Great Pool in Chinese Dragon Boats. A charity event organised by Wolverhampton Rotary Club, Sun 18 May, Himley Hall & Park, Dudley
Week Commencing
MON 19 MAY HERBERT ILLUMINATION: MANDELA27 Project leader Dr Alex Woolner from Coventry University's Serious Games Institute will be discussing the Mandela27 project, Tue 20 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry TILE DECORATING WORKSHOPS Drop-in sessions where participants use the technique known as tube lining to decorate their very own tile to take home Tue 20 May, Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge, Shropshire MEET ME AT BANTOCK Regular conversation club for people aged fifty-plus, Tues 20 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton DISCOVER THE COLLECTION Meet the conservation team who'll tell you about interesting items in the collection and demonstrate how they're
looked after, Tue 20 May, Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton DRESSING THE QUEEN See history brought to life in this unique experience and meet Kenilworth's authentically costumed Queen Elizabeth I. Every month, visitors will have the opportunity to watch 'Elizabeth' being dressed, from undergarments to the finishing touches, Wed 21 May, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire ARTFORUM GOLD CLUB Art club where young people aged fourteen to twenty-five can explore exhibits, work with artists and try new techniques, Wed 21 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery GRASSLAND AND MUCK Triennial event boasting more than one hundred-and-ninety acres of machinery demonstrations, sown grass plots, trade stands and technical forums, Wed 21 - Thurs 22 May, Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire PRO PEAK PERFORMANCE TEST & TUNE DAY Only open to racers entered into the Festival of Power, Thurs 22 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton WEDDING OPEN EVENING Thurs 22 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire SIR JOHN SAVILE'S MEDIEVAL HOUSEHOLD Sir John Savile's household bring the manor to life with costumes, music, food and traditional crafts, Fri 23 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester THE LATE NIGHT WORSHIP CONCERT Featuring Fred Hammond and Jason Nelson, Fri 23 May, Bethel Convention Centre, Birmingham
BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND FIM SUPERBIKE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Fri 23 Sun 25 May, Donington Park FIA/FIM EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND 1 Santa Pod’s flagship championship event, attracting over two hundred-and-fifty of Europe’s top drag racing teams, including 300mph Top Fuel Dragsters, FIM Drag Bikes, jet cars, air displays, stunts, monster trucks, traders, sideshows and family entertainment, Fri 23 Mon 26 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton MAKE AND TAKE ART SESSIONS With local artist Benny Semp, Sat 24 May, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery SPRING TILE DECORATING WORKSHOPS Get cre-
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Events LISTINGS For full listing information on Events, including times and dates, visit www.whatsonlive.co.uk ative by using the tube lining technique to produce your very own tile to take home. Activities vary from day to day, Sat 24 May, Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge, Shropshire FAMILY FRIENDLY GHOST TOUR Sat 24 May, The Falstaff Experience, Stratford-upon-Avon CLOCK DAY Discover some of the site's most beloved collections, find out how to take care of clocks, and talk to the Greyfriars conservation team about looking after these items, Sat 24 May, Greyfriars House & Garden, Worcestershire EVENING SCENIC SPECIALS A scenic evening ride, with the added option of a traditional fish and chip supper, Sat 24 May, Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster BIG BRUM OPEN TOP BUZ SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sat 24 - Sun 25 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham LAND ROVER SHOW Featuring an array of vehicles, displays and more... Sat 24 May Sun 25 May, Eastnor Castle Deer Park, Herefordshire TUDOR WEDDING FESTIVAL Join the Tudor bride and groom as they prepare to tie the knot, and be a guest at their traditional Tudor Hand Fasting Ceremony. With music, games and a wedding feast, it promises to be quite a party! Sat 24 Mon 26 May, Mary Arden House, Stratfordupon-Avon MEDIEVAL MAYHEM! Polish your armour and dust off your tiara - it's time to become the hero of your own medieval adventure, Sat 24 - Mon 26 May, Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire COTSWOLD FALCONRY Watch a variety of different birds, from eagles to owls, in a programme of demonstrations on the lawns in front of the Manor house, Sat 24 - Mon 26 May, Cotswold Wildlife Park DRAWING FROM NATURE Use natural objects as inspiration to create your own still life Sat 24 - Fri 30 May, Compton Verney Gallery, Warwickshire FAMILY TRAIL Sat 24 Sat 31 May, Dudley Museum & Art Gallery HALF-TERM FAMILY
ACTIVITIES A variety of family-friendly trails, crafts and outdoor activities, Sat 24 May Fri 30 May, National Memorial Aboretum, Staffordshire MAY HALF-TERM FAMILY FUN Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire WORDS, WORDS, WORDS Do you know your Shakespeare from your Shelley? Test your knowledge with the site's quizzical quotes, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Shakespeare's Birthplace, Stratfordupon-Avon MASQUE MAKING Be inspired and decorate your very own theatrical Shakespearian masque to take home with you, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Nash's House & New Place, Stratfordupon-Avon SPRING TO LIFE Search the walled garden and hunt for the animals that appear in Shakespeare's springtime poems, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Hall's Croft, Stratfordupon-Avon LEMUR WEEK A week of Lemur-based talks and activities to highlight the park's conservation work to save species such as the Great Bamboo Lemur and Sifaka from extinction, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Cotswold Wildlife Park FAMILY FUN DAYS Explore the gardens and estate at Baddesley and see how many of the fifty things to do before you're eleven-andthree-quarters you can tick off your list, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire SWEET AND TREAT See the re-launch of the sweet-shop boiler and try your hand at traditional board and street games Sat 24 May Sun 1 June, Black Country Living Museum, Dudley WILDLIFE TRACKER CHALLENGE A chance to tap into your inner naturalist, Sat 24 May Sun 1 June, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester HALF-TERM FAMILY FUN Join Professor Chuckle as he battles to save his lab with the help of his ‘Instant Chocolate Making Machine’, Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Cadbury World, Birmingham TIME LORD FAMILY TRAIL
72 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Sat 24 May - Sun 1 June, Broad House Glass Museum, Kingswinford FAMILY TRAIL Sat 24 Sun 1 June, Red House Glass Cone, Stourbridge PERHAPS CONTRAPTION A twisted brass, art pop marching band take their high energy performance and choral harmonies to the streets of Coventry, Sun 25 May, Coventry city centre BEST OF BRITISH TRANSPORT FESTIVAL A jam-packed transport show highlighting a variety of vehicles including a large emergency services section - marking the Heritage Motor Centre's 21st birthday, Sun 25 May, FOOD MARKET Monthly event featuring an array of fine food, Sun 25 May, mac - Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham JESTER SCHOOL Learn the tricks of the trade with Sylvester the Jester..., Sun 25 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcester SPILL: A PLAYGROUND OF DANCE Back by popular demand, Spill: A Playground Of Dance combines quirky, dynamic dance with high-energy street gymnastics, as dancers blaze a colourful trail across the structures and landscapes of the playground. Each performance is unique, as the show scrambles around, over, under and through swings, slides and roundabouts, Sun 25 May, Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham FLOAT YOUR BOAT Fun afternoon especially for families with school-age children, Sun 25 May, Sarehole Mill, Birmingham CLASSIC CAR AND TRANSPORT SHOW Featuring over six hundred vintage and classic cars, American kit and custom cars, motorcycles, commercials, club stands, autojumble and tradestands, Sun 25 - Mon 26 May, Ragley Hall, Warwickshire ROMANS INVADE! Witness the might of the Roman Army as it invades Wroxeter Roman City, Sun 25 Mon 26 May, Wroxeter Roman City, Nr Shrewsbury LEDBURY WAYTES, MEDIEVAL MUSIC AND DANCE Meet the Medieval Minstrels, listen to their music, talk to them about their costumes and try on some armour Mon 26 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcestershire FLOWER POWER PLANT FAIR Mon 26 May, Blakesley Hall,
Birmingham BANTOCK MUSIC LIVE Afternoon of live acoustic music showcasing talented local musicians. Free entry! Mon 26 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton MAY BANK HOLIDAY FAMILY FUN DAY Mon 26 May, Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove FAMILY ACTIVITY DAYS A SPRING CLEAN Follow the themed trail around Hanbury's gardens, collect your prize and enjoy a selection of make-and-take activities, Mon 26 - Fri 30 May, Hanbury Hall, Droitwich SPRING TILE DECORATING WORKSHOPS Get creative by using the tube lining technique to produce your very own tile to take home. Activities vary from day to day, Mon 26 - Fri 30 May, Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge, Shropshire ROMANS ON THE RAMPAGE A week of fun and creative workshops inspired by the Roman Army, Mon 26 - Sat 31 May, Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry TREE CLIMBING Join two highly skilled instructors from The Great Big Tree Climbing Company who'll teach you how to enter a tree's canopy using ropes, knots & karabiners, Tue 27 May, Charlecote Park, Warwickshire HALF-TERM TRAIL Take a trail around the garden and see what you discover, Tue 27 May, Upton House & Gardens, Worcestershire DISCOVER THE COLLECTION Meet the conservation team, who'll tell you about interesting items in the collection and demonstrate how they're looked after, Tue 27 May, Moseley Old Hall, Wolverhampton SAND ART POSTCARDS Design a holiday postcard and use brightly coloured sand to colour it in. Booking required, Tues 27 May, Bilston Craft Gallery ONCE UPON A TIME... Storytelling followed by craft activities, Tues 27 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton HAVE-A-GO ARCHERY Learn the basics of this ancient sport by having a go under the supervision of Midland Adventure, Tue 27 Thurs 29 May, Forge Mill Needle Museum, Redditch CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the much-loved children's book. Featuring denbuilding, a themed trail and lots of craft activi-
ties Tue 27 - Thurs 29 May, Avoncroft Museum, Bromsgrove KIDS’ ACTIVITIES Tues 27 - Thurs 29 May, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham WOOLLY WEEK It's shearing time down on the farm. Get involved with all things woolly and enjoy the farm's sheep dog trials, Tue 27 May Sun 1 June, Mary Arden House, Stratfordupon-Avon MEET ME AT WAG Regular conversation club for people aged fifty-plus, Wed 28 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery POP ART WORKSHOP Print a Pop Art poster using bright colours and imaginative designs. Learn painting techniques. Booking required. Wed 28 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery TARDIS FUSED TILE WORKSHOP Wed 28 May, Broadfield House Glass Museum, Kingswinford CRAFTY WEDNESDAY! Make-and-take activity, Wed 28 May, Aston Hall, Birmingham TEXTILE GROUP Excellent opportunity to meet likeminded people in a creative environment, Wed 28 May, Bilston Craft Gallery MAKING METAL BOOKMARKS Family craft workshops, Wed 28 May, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham GAMES IN THE ATTIC! Discover what fun can be had in the attics at Upton, join a group and play games together whilst exploring. Booking essential! Wed 28 - Fri 30 May, Upton House & Gardens, Worcestershire CREATIVE ARTS: FLASH, BANG, WALLOP Victorian dressing up & photo shoot, Thurs 29 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton MAKE-AND-TAKE ACTIVITY Family-friendly event, Thurs 29 May, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham VALUATION DAY: FINE ART & ANTIQUES Hosted by Fielding Antiques, Thurs 29 May, Bantock House Museum, Wolverhampton DECORATIVE PHOTO FRAME WORKSHOP Facilitated by SCARF Wolverhampton’s Schools and Community Arts Resource Facility, Thurs 29 May, Bilston Craft Gallery VICTORIAN STEAMPUNK PARTY Art activities, storytelling, dressing up & music, Thurs 29 May, Wolverhampton Art Gallery CRAFTPLAY MAY HOLIDAY SESSION Booking required, Thurs 29 May,
Bilston Craft Gallery HAUNTED TAVERN TOUR Fri 30 May, The Falstaff's Experience, Stratford-upon-Avon MAKE A KITE WORKSHOP Fri 30 May, Weoley Castle, Birmingham STORYTELLING: MEET QUEEN VICTORIA History comes alive with this event, based upon Queen Victoria’s famous visit to Wolverhampton, Fri 30 May, Wolverhampton City Archives ANIMAL MANIA Meet the animals 12noon to 3pm, Fri 30 May, Blakesley Hall, Birmingham DRIVE IN MOVIE: TOP GUN Cineworld are sponsoring Telford’s first drivein event and will be handing out free popcorn, to provide a fully authentic drive-in experience, Fri 30 May, Telford International Centre, Shropshire FAMILY CRAFT ACTIVITY Fri 30 May, Museum of the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham STRATFORD FOOD FESTIVAL AT THE RACES Fri 30 May - Sun 1 June, Stratford Racecourse RUN WHAT YA BRUNG The chance to take your car or motorcycle out on the famous quarter-mile dragstrip and test its performance limits in a safe and legal environment, Sat 31 May, Santa Pod Raceway, Northampton BIG BRUM OPEN TOP BUZ SIGHTSEEING TOUR Sat 31 May, Starting Victoria Square, ending at Colmore Row, Birmingham SPORTS & SALOON CAR RACES Sat 31 May - Sun 1 June, Donington Park TREE CLIMBING Two experts will teach you how to enter a tree’s canopy using ropes, knots and karabiners, whilst being securely attached in a harness at all times. Once at the top of the tree, you’ll see amazing views and gain an experience which can’t be found on the ground. If you’re feeling brave, take the zip wire back down! Sat 31 May Compton Verney, Warwickshire FAMILY-FRIENDLY GHOST TOUR Sat 31 May, The Falstaff Experience, Stratford-upon-Avon JESTER SCHOOL Learn the tricks of the trade with Sylvester the Jester... Sat 31 May, Brockhampton Estate, Worcestershire EVENING SCENIC SPECIALS A scenic evening ride, with the added option of a traditional fish and chip supper, Sat 31 May, Severn Valley Railway, Kidderminster
Eating Out May Region One _Layout 1 25/04/2014 19:18 Page 1
Eating Out Penny Blacks gets a makeover A popular waterfront bar and restaurant in Birmingham’s Mailbox is to re-open its doors this month following an extensive refurbishment. The new-look Penny Blacks features a number of different tailored zones, including party booths, a more relaxed lounge area and a new cocktail bar. Along with the new look comes a new menu of stone-baked pizzas, sharing plates and light bites. The venue will also be welcoming luxury cinema operator Everyman Cinema to its premises in the autumn. The three-screen, 12,000sqft cinema will offer the very latest in digital projection, along with a selection of food and a licenced bar. Artist Impression
Balcony Brasserie on the up... REVIEW
Townhouse restaurant welcomes international chef Warwick restaurant Number Six Townhouse is not only re-opening this summer but also welcoming a new chef with international culinary experience. The highly acclaimed Shahid Ahmed has worked in five-star restaurants around the world, and until recently was a Consultant Chef in both the UK and Dubai. He’s also held the prestigious role of Head Chef at the Tate Modern on London’s South Bank. Number Six Townhouse is currently undergoing a stylish refurbishment which will see the venue providing a ‘chic cocktail bar and contemporary dining experience’.
Food event a welcome addition to Birmingham culinary scene Organisers of a new independent food fare taking place at Millennium Point in September have announced initial plans for the event. A welcome addition to the city’s ever-growing culinary scene, the Birmingham Independent Food Fair will provide a platform on which to showcase the city’s finest food and drink. Organised by Dine Birmingham and supported by Visit Birmingham, the one-day event takes place on Saturday 13 September and will feature a wines & spirits area sponsored by Birmingham’s own gin brand, Langley’s No.8.
The rejuvenation and reinvention of Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping Centre in recent times has made it one of the Midlands’ most visited destinations, with thousands of people flocking to its stores and eateries every day. And for the hungry shopper, there truly are some great places to eat, from popular chains to appealing curiosities. But one venue is aiming to establish itself as more than just a shoppers’ retreat - Balcony Brasserie at Selfridge’s. As a place with lofty ambitions, its location on the fourth floor of Selfridge’s, overlooking the centre’s huge glass entrance, is very apt. As you stroll towards the grand department store, you’re greeted by the tantalising sight of tables, chairs and diners peeping over the top of the balcony. The escalators simply can’t move fast enough! Upon reaching the fourth floor, you’ll have to do a double-take, as the entrance to the restaurant is tastefully discreet. The layout of Balcony
Brasserie is quite eyecatching, with a large bar dominating the view to the right, and tables of all shapes and sizes covering the generous floor space. The tables on the balcony are, quite understandably, the most sought-after, offering spacious, comfortable seating in which to enjoy a cocktail. Somewhat disappointingly, though, once sat down it becomes apparent it’s only the very tall who’re able to see over the balcony wall. Bound somewhat by the closing times of the store, the Balcony has a unique challenge on its hands. Aimed squarely at the cocktail set but closing too early to entice those people into dinner reservations, the eatery’s menu lurches from traditional ‘pub grub’ such as fish and chips to much more modern fare like monkfish, lemongrass and quinoa green curry. This somewhat odd juxtaposition extends to the actual food on your plate, which can range from delicious, aged cheeseburger to oven chips. Even the battered fish didn’t come with real chips.
The jewel in the crown of the restaurant is the extravagant afternoon tea, served on mini-picnic tables to the delight of all who receive it. We didn’t sample it on our visit, but the Charcuterie sharing board, filled with beautiful meat, was delicious, while the Oreo cheesecake and Snickerbockerglory were both as stupendously decadent as they sound. For a restaurant finding its feet and offering a brand new menu from this month onwards, the Balcony comes highly recommended. The service is first class, and the range of drinks is excellent. Okay, not all the food hits the spot, but you get the feeling that, like the escalators which carry you there, the restaurant is very much on the up. Simon Carter Food: ■■■■■ Service: ■■■■■ Ambience: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Overall value ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ OVERALL ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Balcony Brasserie Selfridges on 4 The Bull Ring Birmingham B5 4BP 0121 600 6869 www.whatsonlive.co.uk 73
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Restaurant LISTINGS For full listing information on restaurants, including opening times and type of cuisine, visit: www.whatsonlive.co.uk
Birmingham AALTO RESTAURANT Hotel La Tour, Albert Street, Birmingham B5 5JT 0121 718 8000 AIR RESTAURANT LG Arena, Bickenhill Rd, 0844 338 0333 BANK 4 Brindleyplace, B1 2JB 0121 633 4466 BAR ESTILO 10-114 Wharfside St, The Mailbox, B1 1RF 0121 643 3443 BARAJEE 265 Broad Street, B1 2DS 0121 643 6699 BELLA ITALIA 102 New Street, B2 4HQ 0121 643 1548 BERLIOZ Burlington Arcade, New St, B2 4JQ 0121 633 1737 BLUE MANGO Regency Wharf, Broad St, B1 2DS 0121 633 4422 BLUE PIANO RESTAURANT AND BAR 24-26 Harborne Rd, B15 3AA 0121 454 6877 BUONISSIMO 1 Albany Rd, Harborne, B17 9JX 0121 426 2444 CAFE OPUS 1 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, B1 2HS 0121 248 3226 CARLUCCIO’S The Water’s Edge, Brindleyplace B1 2HP 0121 633 9262 CENTENARY BAR & BRASSERIE Broad Street, B1 2EP 0121 245 2080 CHI BAR & GRILL 61 Newhall Street, B3 3RB 0121 233 3150 CHUNG YING 16-18 Wrottersley Street, B5 4RT 0121 622 5669 CHUNG YING GARDEN 17 Thorpe St, B5 4AT 0121 666 6622 CIELO 6 Oozells Square, Brindleyplace, B1 2JB 0121 632 6882 COAST TO COAST 9 Brindleyplace, Broad Street, B1 2HJ COTE The Mailbox, B1 1RX 0121 631 1587 CUCINA RUSTICA 24
Ludgate Hill, B3 1DX 0121 233 2277 DEL VILLAGGIO Unit 528, Middle Mall, The Bullring. B5 4BE 0121 643 1400 EDMUNDS 6 Brindley place, B1 2JB 0121 633 4944 FLEET STREET KITCHEN Fleet Street, Islington Gates, B3 1JH 0121 236 0100 ITIHAAS 18 Fleet St, B3 1JL 0121 212 3383 JAMIE’S ITALIAN Middle Mall, Bullring Shopping Centre, B5 4BE 0121 270 3610 JIMMY SPICES Regency Wharf, Broad St, B1 2DS 0121 643 2111 LAS IGUANAS Arcadian Centre, Hurst St, B5 4TD 0121 622 4466 LASAN 3-4 Dakota Buildings, James St, St Paul’s Square, B3 1SD 0121 212 3664 THE LOFT LOUNGE 143 Bromsgrove St, B5 6RG 0121 622 2444 THE LOST & FOUND 8 Bennetts Hill, B2 5RS 0121 643 9293 LOVES The Glasshouse, Browning St, B16 8FL 0121 454 5151 MECHU 47 - 59 Summer Row, B3 1JJ 0121 212 1661 METRO BAR & GRILL 73 Cornwall St B3 2DF 0121 200 1911 MINT Yew Tree Retail Park, Stoney Lane Yardley, B25 8YP 0121 789 8908 MOUNT FUJI The Bullring, B5 4BH 0121 633 9853 NUVO BAR 11 Brindley Place, B1 2LP 0121 631 1600 OPUS 54 Cornwall St, B3 2DE 0121 200 2323 THE ORIENTAL The Mailbox, 128-130 Wharfside St, B1 1RQ 0121 633 9988 PEACHYKEENS 1741 Coventry Road, B26 1DS 0121 764 5519 PENNY BLACKS
thE dINNEr cLub
The Mailbox, 132-134 Wharfside St, B1 1XL 0121 632 1460 PICCOLINO 9 Brindleyplace B1 2HS 0121 634 3055 PITCHER & PIANO Brindleyplace, B1 2HP 0121 643 0214 POPPY RED Arcadian Centre, Birmingham B5 4TD 0121 687 1200 PURNELL’S 55 Cornwall St, B3 2DH 0121 212 9799 PURNELL’SBISTOR & GINGER’S BAR 11 Newhall Street, B3 3NY, 0121 2000 1588 THE RECTORY 50-54 St Paul’s Sq, B3 1QS 0121 605 1001 RED PEPPERS 117 Wharfside St, B1 1RF 0121 643 4202 SAN CARLO 4 Temple St, B2 5BN 0121 633 0251 SHIMLA PINKS 215 Broad St, B15 1AY 0121 633 0366 SIMPSONS, 20 Highfield Rd, Edgbaston B13 3DU 0121 454 3434 THE SLUG AND LETTUCE, Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2HL 0121 633 3049 STRADA 109-111 Wharfside St, The Mailbox B1 1XL 0121 643 7279 TGI FRIDAYS 180 Hagley Road, Edgbaston, B16 9NY 0121 454 1930 THAI EDGE 7 Oozells Sq, B1 2HL 0121 643 3993 THE VAULTS Newhall Place, Newhall Hill, B1 3JH 0121 212 9837 WAGAMAMA Brindley Place, birmingham B1
Warwickshire 7 SQUARE 7 Old Square, Warwick CV34 4RA 01926 411 755 NO. 9 CHURCH STREET Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire CV37 6HB 01789 415522 AGRA PLACE 12 Abbey Green, Nuneaton, CV11 5DR 024 7635 0515 THE ALMANAK Abbey End North, Kenilworth, CV8 1QJ 01926 353 637 AUBERGINE 32 Smith St, Warwick CV34 4HS 01926 400 086 THE ALMANACK Abbey
(ESt 86)
a rEcIpE for fINE food aNd Good compaNy
SINGLE? For the more discerning unattached person, age 40+ Events weekly include dining out, dinner dances, black tie balls, theatre, parties, weekends away and holidays abroad.
Not a datING aGENcy
01244 677030 (day) / 01244 548816 (Eve/W-end)
www.thedinnerclubuk.com 74 www.whatsonlive.co.uk
End North, Kenilworth CV8 1QJ 01926 353637 BLUE BISTRO 21 Spon St, Coventry, CV1 3BA 024 7622 9274 BROWNS Earl St, Coventry CV1 5RU 0247 622 1100 CARLUCCIOS 13 Waterside, Stratford-Upon-Avon CV37 6BA 01789 267424 CASTLES 6 Castle Street, CV34 4QU 01926 495421 CATALAN 6 Jury St , Warwick CV34 4EW 01926 498 930 THE CHURCH STREET TOWNHOUSE 16 Church Street, Stratford-uponAvon CV37 6HB 01789 262222 COOMBE ABBEY Brinklow Road, Coventry, CV3 2AB 024 7645 0450 CROSSED KHUKRIS GURKHA 115 Abbey Street, Nuneaton, CV11 5BX 024 7634 4488 EDWARD MOON 9 Chapel Street, Stratford-uponAvon, CV37 6EP 01789 267069 EGO 29 The Square, Kenilworth, CV8 1EF 01926 864463 THE ENCORE Bridge Street Stratford upon Avon CV37 6AB 01789 269462 FINEST CATCH B’ham Rd, Henley in Arden. B95 5QR 01564 793783 FIVE RIVERS 20-22 Victoria Terrace, Leamington Spa, CV31 3AB 01926 431999 GEORGETOWN 23 Sheep St, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 6EF 01789 204445 GRANTS OF SHEEP ST 2123 Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6EF 01789 290 008 HIGH PAVEMENT BAR & DINING 3 High Street, CV34 4AP 01926 494725 HELP OUT MILL Heather Rd, Shakerstone, Nuneaton. CV13 0BT 01530 260666 INDIA RED 25 Abbey Street, Nuneaton, CV11 5BX 024 7634 2090 JIMMY SPICES 64-66 Station Rd, Solihull, B91 3RX 0121 709 2111 LE BISTRO PIERRE Swans Nest, Bridgford, Stratford upon Avon. CV37 7LT 01789 264804 MALLORY COURT Harbury Lane, Leamington Spa, CV33 9QB, 01926 330214 MATRICARDIS 97 High St, Henley in Arden. B95 5AT 01564 792735 MERCHANTS Swan Street, Warwick CV34 4BJ 01926 403833 NICOLINIS 14 The Parade, Leamington Spa, CV32 4DW 01926 421620 ONE ELM 1 Guild St, Stratford-Upon-Avon, CV37 6QZ 01789 404919 PREZZO 1-3 High St, Warwick CV34 4AP 01926 475867 RESTAURANT 23 34 Hamilton Terrace, Holly Walk Leamington Spa, CV32 4LY 01926 422422 RISTORANTE DA VINCI 50 Earlsdon Street, Coventry, CV5 6EJ 024 7671 3554 ROBBIE’S RESTAURANT 74 Smith Street, CV34 4HU
Blue Ginger Restaurant, Birmingham
01926 400470 ROOFTOP RESTAURANT @ The RST, Waterside, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BB 01789 403449 SAFFRON GOLD Market St, Westgate House, Warwick CV34 4DE 01926 402061 THE SAXON MILL Coventry Rd, Guys Cliffe, Warwick CV34 5YN 01926 492 255 SIGNATURES @ The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, CV1 1GS 02476 846762 TAILORS 22 Market Place, Warwick CV34 4SL 01926 410590 THE TREVELYAN Warwick Rd, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 ONR 01789 295252 THE VINE INN 86 - 88 West St, Warwick CV34 6AW 07873 219005 WARWICK SPICE 24 Smith Street, CV34 4HS 01926 491736 ZIZZI 85-87 Regent Square House, Parade, Leamington Spa CV 32 4NL 01926 432532
Worcestershire ANAKARI 47 The Tythings, Worcester. WR1 1JT 01905 21412 ANGEL CHEF 1 Angel St, Worcester WR1 3QT 01905 731131 ANUPAM 85 Church Street, Malvern. WR14 2AE 01684 573814 BACCHUS 44 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove B61 0TA 01527 877557 BENEDICTOS 34 Sidbury, Worcester WR1 2HZ 01905 21444 BINDLES BAR & BRASSERIE 55 Sidbury, WR1 2HU 01905 611120 BRAMBLINGS Hither Green Lane, Redditch, B98 9BE 01527 406600 BRIDGE INN Plough Road, Droitwich WR9 7NQ 01905 345874 BROWNS 24 Quay St, Worcester WR1 2JJ 01905 26263 CHADDESLEY RESTAURANT Brockencote Hall Hotel, Kidderminster DY10 4PY 01562 777876 THE CHASE INN Chase Rd, Upper Colwall, Malvern. WR13 6DQ 01684 540276 CHESTERS 51 New St, Worcester, WR1 2DL
01905 611638 CROWN & SANDYS Main Rd, Ombersley, WR9 0EW 01905 62025 EWE AND LAMB Hanbury Road, Bromsgrove B60 4DN 01527 871 929 THE FIG TREE 99 Church Street, Gt Malvern, WR14 2AE 01684 569909 FOUR SEASONS 61 Lowesmoor, Worcester WR1 2RS 01905 27026 FUSION BRASSERIE Hawbridge, Stoulton, Worcester WR7 4RJ 01905 840647 THE INN AT STONEHALL Stonehall Common, Worcester, WR5 3QG 01905 820462 KING CHARLES II King Charles House, New St, Worcester WR1 2D 01905 22449 L’AMUSE BOUCHE 51 Graham Rd, Malvern. WR14 2HU 01684 572427 LANGTREYS 89a High St, Bromsgrove. B61 8AQ 01527 878242 LITTLE VENICE 1 - 3 St Nicholas St, Worcester WR1 1UW 01905 726126 LOTUS HOUSE 33 Ombersley St East, Droitwich, WR9 8QX 01905 770079 MAEKONG THAI 12 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove B61 7AE 01527 578888 MASSALLA LOUNGE 35 Broad St, Worcester WR1 3NH 01905 729955 MUG HOUSE Claines Lane, Worcester WR3 7RN 01905 456649 ON THE ROCKS 44 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove, B61 7AE 01527 882412 PORTOFINO, 6 Worcester Rd, Droitwich. WR9 8AD 01905 794799 PORTWAY ITALIAN, Alcester Rd, Redditch. B48 7HT 01564 824794 PUCCINI'S, 12 Friar St, Worcester WR12LZ 01905 27770 RAJDOOT Cutnall Green, Droitwich. WR9 0PW 01299 851000 ROSADOS’S 2 Finstall Rd, Aston Fields, Bromsgrove. B60 2DZ 01527 889948 SAFFRON BISTRO 15 New St, Worcester WR1 2DP 01905 610505
For full Restaurant listings visit: www.whatsonlive.co.uk
p75 (IBC) R1_Layout 1 25/04/2014 09:10 Page 1
For full Restaurant listings
visit: whatsonlive.co.uk
Read the reviews online
IDFB (FP-May)_Layout 1 24/04/2014 15:05 Page 1
One of Europe’s largest dance festivals, International Dance Festival Birmingham (IDFB) is back! We’re thrilled to present another jam-packed celebration of dance – from ballet to breakdancing, contemporary to circus. Our fourth festival will showcase some of the finest dance performances from across the globe between 24 April and 25 May 2014, as Birmingham hosts four weeks of world premieres, unique collaborations, community events, outdoor spectacles and world-class performances. With several new venue partners, we’re presenting more shows than ever before, including some of the biggest names in dance and many hotly tipped rising choreographic stars. Within this magazine you can find out more about the festival - including full listings, and guides to many of the performances and events within the programme. Also, don’t forget to check out idfb.co.uk for more information and join in the conversation with us on Facebook and Twitter. Whether you want to move or be moved, we think you’ll find what you’re looking for in IDFB 2014! David Massingham
Stuart Griffiths
Artistic Director DanceXchange & Co-Artistic Director IDFB 2014
Chief Executive Birmingham Hippodrome & Co-Artistic Director IDFB 2014