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Lesley Joseph To Star In ‘Sister Act’ At The Regent

The producers of the 2023 Olivier Award nominated production of SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL are thrilled to announce that television and stage star Lesley Joseph will play ‘Mother Superior’ in the UK and Ireland tour, coming to the Regent Theatre from Mon 25 – Sat 30 September 2023. www.sisteractthemusical.co.uk Further casting will be announced in due course. Lesley Joseph is best known for playing ‘Dorien Green’ in the hugely successful sitcom “Birds of a Feather” alongside Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson. They recorded over 100 episodes over a period of nine years. Lesley and her co-stars returned to our screens in Birds of a Feather in 2013. She has been seen on…

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Review: Blood Brothers At Crewe Lyceum

Photo by Jack Merriman Now in its 34th year, the fantastic Blood Brothers musical opened this evening at Crewe Lyceum. The play and score written by legendary writer Willy Russell (Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine, Our Day Out plus many others) is an analysis of nature versus nurture as well as an important social study of the era. Set in 1980’s Liverpool amongst the height of Thatcher’s power in office, the plot centres around twins Eddie and Mickey who are separated at birth, with one growing up in a wealthy family, the other in poverty. Firm friends and ‘blood brothers’, but…

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Ellen Kent and the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv present La Bohème

The award-winning opera producer Ellen Kent returns to the Regent Theatre with La Bohème in Spring 2023 performed by the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv, on Sunday 26 March. One of the most romantic operas ever written, La Bohème is traditionally staged featuring beautiful sets and costumes. Set in the backstreets and attics of Bohemian Paris, this powerful and emotional opera tells the heart-breaking tale of the doomed, consumptive Mimi and her love for a penniless writer, Rodolfo. Puccini’s masterpiece, La Bohème, is based on Henri Murger’s novel Scenes de la vie de boheme. The sumptuous set is inspired by the art of the…

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Cult 60s Classic Killing Of Sister George Brought To Life At New Vic

The New Vic Theatre and renowned theatre company Told by an Idiot will collaborate for the first time this April on a compelling production of the cult ’60s classic, The Killing of Sister George. Written by Frank Marcus, this powerful comedy drama observes the life of June Buckeridge, who plays the role of kindly district nurse Sister George in fictitious radio soap opera 'Applehurst'; in reality June is a swaggering foul-mouthed loose cannon whose career and lifestyle is under threat. Set during the 1960s, a period of great social change, the play explores the volatile relationship between June and her partner Alice…

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National Theatre touring to Stoke-on-Trent as part of largest ever schools tour across the country

This week the National Theatre is touring a new production, Shut Up, I’m Dreaming,created by physical ensemble theatre company The PappyShow, to St Thomas Alleyne’s School and the Victoria Hall in partnership with the Regent Theatre & Victoria Hall in Stoke-on-Trent. Directed by Kane Husbands and created in collaboration with secondary school students, the production will visit a different school every day for 11 weeks across 11 areas across England as part of the NT’s largest ever schools tour. School halls across the country will be transformed with a gigantic moveable climbing frame set. In an innovative new collaboration with The PappyShow, residencies have been held with 100 students in three partner schools in…

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New Vic Looks To The Future With Support From Denise Coates Foundation

The New Vic Theatre has welcomed the backing of the Denise Coates Foundation for its vision for the local theatre to be one of the top ten reasons to live and work in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire.  The Denise Coates Foundation will support the New Vic with a grant of £2.5 million, split across a five year period, with an aim to boost the theatre’s ambition to make sure that local people have access to the highest quality theatre and theatre-making regardless of their personal circumstances so that more people are able to experience and engage in the arts on…

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Quality Street: New Vic Review

The wonderful setting of The New Vic Theatre transports the audience back to the 19th century for the latest production, which is a revival of J.M. Barrie's Quality Street by Northern Broadsides. The story, set in the Napoleonic war era, follows sisters Phoebe and Susan Throssel who live on Quality Street. Susan and their neighbours, the Willoughby's (Mary and Fanny), seem to have resigned themselves to being eternal spinsters, however "Phoebe of the ringlets" as she is known, is eagerly awaiting Doctor Valentine Brown to make a proposal. Sadly when she believes the time has finally come, his announcement isn't…

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Landmark Play “Abigail’s Party” Served Up On New Vic Stage

London Classic Theatre present Mike Leigh’s ruthless and achingly funny examination of 1970s British life at the New Vic this April. It was 1977, the year of skin-tight polyester, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee and Saturday Night Fever. The Sex Pistols were storming up the charts, skateboarding was the latest craze and Angela Rippon danced with Morecambe & Wise. And Mike Leigh and his cast were putting the finishing touches to Abigail’s Party, the ferocious black comedy that became a true landmark of twentieth-century theatre. Taking to the New Vic stage from Wednesday 5 to Saturday 15 April, Abigail’s Party follows…

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Review: The Bodyguard at The Regent

Photo Credit Paul Coltas Another Hollywood blockbuster hits The Regent this week in the form of 'The Bodyguard'. The 1992 smash hit starred Whitney Houston as vocal superstar Rachel Marron whose team engage bodyguard Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) after a series of unsavoury letters lead them to the inevitable conclusion that the star has a dangerous stalker. The film showcased the vocal talents of Houston and included some memorable numbers including 'Run To You', 'I Have Nothing' and the unforgettable 'I Will Always Love You'. The stage play stays true to the film script and the storyline follows the hectic…

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Review: Shawshank Redemption At The Regent

Starting a week of back-to-back Hollywood blockbusters at The Regent, Shawshank Redemption began life as a 1982 novella by Steven King 'Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption' which was then the basis of the 1994 blockbuster film and has now been once again transformed wonderfully to the stage. Those familiar with the Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins depiction, will find this a slightly different fare. Adapted by Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns, the stage play traverses its own path and develops the other characters far more than the screen version, whilst staying loyal to the storyline and major themes. The…

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