Some of the diverse shows at Wales Millennium Centre in the New Year will include Britain’s most celebrated double act French & Saunders, The Wedding Singer musical based on the blockbuster movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as well as Matthew Bourne’s much loved production of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker!Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) will play host to a number of musicals, opera, comedy, dance, puppetry, children’s shows and music concerts in both the Donald Gordon Theatre (1,900 seats) and the Weston Studio (200 seats), providing an impressive array of performances to suit all ages (please find a comprehensive list below under Notes to Editors). Some of the shows to look out for in January include Jimmy Carr, performing at WMC for the third time (13 Jan), with his latest show Repeat Offender, the comic double act that’s enjoyed sell-out seasons at Edinburgh Festival, Potted Potter (13 Jan), the Teenage Cancer Trust concert on Sunday 27 January followed by seven performances of the rock-opera Godspell (29 Jan-2 Feb). Welsh National Opera will take over the Centre with their new season in February with The Magic Flute (15 Feb-6 March), Eugene Onegin (16 Feb-8 March) and Falstaff (1 – 9 March). Little Howard (as seen on the Royal Variety Performance) will return to the Weston Studio in the Spring for the second time on Saturday 8 March with his new children’s show The Magic Pencil of Life & Death, followed by the beautiful children’s production The Angel’s Leap (9 March) and Vincent Dance’s Act One (10 March) with the company’s best-loved performers Janusz Orlik and Aurora Lubos. For the first time, one of WMC’s residents, Diversions Dance Company will perform in the Donald Gordon Theatre with their new work Silver to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the company (11-12 March) while in the Weston Studio, Moths ate my Dr Who Scarf (12 March) with comedian Toby Hadoke and the new stage production paying tribute to the comedian Linda Smith who died of ovarian cancer in 2006, Celebrating Linda Smith (13 March), will take to the stage. For the third consecutive year, the break-dance weekend Breakin’ the Bay will take over WMC from 14-16 March packed with MC-ing, hip-hop, graffiti and break-dancing workshops. During this weekend, we will also see performances by two break, street and contemporary dace companies, 2FaCed DaNcE (14 March) and Upswing Aerial (15-16 March) in the Weston Studio. Also in March, WMC will welcome The Wedding Singer (17-22 March), The Graceland Band (23 March), the spectacular new production of Half a Sixpence (24-29 March) stand-up comedian Omid Djalili (30 March) and Plested & Brown’s Minor Spectacular (31 March) An equally busy month lies ahead in April when a new production by Pickled Image, Houdini’s Suitcase (1-2 Apr), runs at the Weston followed by Tango:Nuevo (3 Apr), Mem Morrison performs his theatrical feast Leftovers (4 Apr), Hard Hearted Hannah & Other Stories by Cartoon de Salvo (6 April), Llandaff Musical Society (7-10 Apr) the one woman show When to Run written and performed by Sophie Woolley (11 Apr), Game? by Tangled Feet (12 Apr), Gravity & Levity with Shifting planes\Emerging landscapes (15-16 Apr), the comedian John Bishop (17 Apr) and Dean Haglund with the X-Files Improv (19 April). A delightful children’s performance of Peter and the Wolf makes its way to the Donald Gordon Theatre from 4-5 April, followed by Torchwood star John Barrowman in concert (7 Apr), French & Saunders Live (9-12 Apr) and Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! from 15-19 April. Other performances to look out for in the main auditorium in April include the Menuhin Competition & Gala Concert on Sunday 20 April, the Dance Consortium presenting Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan with Moon Water (22-23 Apr) and for the second time at WMC, the hugely popular and naughty comedian Pam Ann on Thursday 24 April. Almost Eurovision; experience the hilarious musical pop extravaganza Eurobeat at WMC from 29 April – 3 May, the award-winning production which promises to provide plenty of cheering, flag-waving and clapper-clacking moments for all Eurovision (and non Eurovision!) fans out there. A wonderful treat is in store from 5-6 May when English National Ballet brings favourite children’s character Angelina Ballerina to the Welsh stage with Angelina’s Star Performance. WMC’s Arts & Audience Development Director Fiona Allan explains, “We have a very busy season ahead of us which is designed to appeal to people of all ages and tastes - everything from contemporary dance to children’s shows, opera to musicals, comedy, drama and puppetry. “One of the highlights of the season has to be one of our residents, Diversions, who will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary in 2008. Silver is a triple bill of world-class choreography by Itzik Galili (Israel), Stephen Shropshire (USA) and Stephen Petronio (USA). Another exciting event is Breakin’ the Bay, which will see a vast number of young people take over the Centre, as well as the remarkable Matthew Bourne with Nutcracker!” Other top-class shows to look out for in the New Year include Chitty Chitty Bang Bang starring Aled Jones (3 July-30 August), the first national tour of the stage version of the hit Disney film High School Musical (17-22 November) and Cinderella on Ice with the Imperial Ice Stars (17 Dec – 4 January). For ticket bookings, please contact the WMC ticket and information office on 08700 40 2000 or visit the website on www.wmc.org.uk |
| Wales Millennium Centre web site: www.wmc.org.uk |
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Thursday, December 13, 2007 |
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