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Feature and latest show information...
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This weeks feature
How to be an angel
You don’t have to risk entering the clutches of a Max Bialystock to become a theatrical angel these days, nor do you have to risk your shirt on the prospect of ‘Springtime For Hitler’ becoming a smash. If you’ve ever fancied investing in a touring production of ‘Rebecca’, starring Nigel Havers, say, or a Peter Hall-directed ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway?’ with ‘Sex And The City’s Kim Cattrall, you can do so for as little as £300. |
Kim Cattrall |
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Those are two of the plays that have received substantial funding from Stage One, an organisation that supports new producers and productions in the commercial theatre.
Since its inception in 1976 as the Theatre Investment Fund, Stage One has invested well over £3m in more than 700 productions, and provided vital advice and support to fledgling producers. Now it is widening its net and offering the public the chance to invest in productions of their choice for a minimum stake of £300. |
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Bearing in mind the vast majority of shows lose money, including two out of three in the West End, no one should imagine they are going to make a killing by investing in a play - though, should your chosen production prove a hit, Stage One guarantees investors a share of the profits. The average angel’s benefit is more likely to come in the shape of ticket concessions and the feeling of being able to help keep theatre alive.
Members of the Stage One Club receive a quarterly newsletter and details, as and when they arise, about productions that are being supported by Stage One. They can then decide in which shows they want to invest, whether because they think they might be profitable, or because they simply want to back an interesting play. |
Nigel Havers |
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Sheila Hancock |
The first four productions available to Stage One Club members were ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway?’ ‘The Anniversary’ featuring Sheila Hancock, and ‘Don Carlos’ with Derek Jacobi, which all opened in the West End, and ‘Rebecca’ which toured nationally in 2005.
Club members are kept informed on a quarterly basis of the performance of the productions in which they have invested.
Find out more at www.stageone.uk.com
Click here to find out more
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Acorn Antiques! The Musical
Book, music, lyrics & direction by Victoria Wood
RICHMOND THEATRE
Mon 23 - Sat 28 April Mon-Sat eves 7.45pm Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm
Tickets £13.50 - £29.50 |
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Prepare for nutty mayhem as the West End smash hit Acorn Antiques The Musical!, written by the multi award-winning comedienne and writer Victoria Wood, is to take to the stage with a wobbly, broken set and telephones that still ring when picked up! Richmond Theatre can guarantee that all the shakiness of the much-loved television series is expertly recreated.
It is 21 years since classic comedy Acorn Antiques graced our television screens. Originally starring Victoria Wood, Julie Walters, Celia Imrie and Duncan Preston, this mini-soap opera set on the outskirts of Manchesterford captured the nation’s imagination with wild tales of yellow marigolds, cups of tea, and macaroons. |
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Victoria Wood had the idea of taking this hysterically funny TV series and transforming it into a hysterically funny musical, thus the show opened for a record-breaking sell-out season in January 2005, reuniting the original team for a limited 16 week run at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Now, this side-splittingly funny production is on the road to Richmond featuring a brand new cast and live orchestra as once again, audiences are transported to Manchesterford, joining Miss Babs, Miss Berta, Mrs Overall, Clifford and two young work experience yoofs at a time of crisis. Big business (the Guilty Bean coffee shop) is threatening to destroy their sleepy way of life and the inhabitants are forced to ask themselves some searching questions: |
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• Will Miss Babs manage to keep the shop open?
• Will Clifford get his memory back and remember who he’s engaged to?
• Will Miss Berta’s unrequited love be requited?
• More importantly, will Mrs O be able to tap dance with a tea tray without spilling a drop?!
With a fantastic cast including much-loved actress Sara Crowe (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime) and West-End star Ria Jones (Anything Goes, Les Miserables, Evita), Acorn Antiques The Musical makes for a riot of intrigue, drama and good old-fashioned dance routines as marvellous as the macaroon!
BOX OFFICE 0870 060 6651 (transaction fees applies)
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| Stephen Tompkinson stars in Charlies Aunt
RICHMOND THEATRE
Mon 16 - Sat 21 April Mon-Sat eves 7.45pm Wed & Sat mats 2.30pm Tickets £13- £27
Stephen Tompkinson, one of the country’s top television actors, stars in Mel Smith’s dazzling new production of a comedy classic. Written over 100 years ago, Charley’s Aunt is one of the most popular and enduring comedies in the English language. Up until the 1930s it was said that not a week went by without Charley’s Aunt being performed somewhere in the world. Now, this hardy perennial of English theatre returns to Richmond with a new twist to delight audiences! |
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Oxford, 1908 - undergraduates Jack and Charles are smitten by two most delightful young ladies, Kitty and Amy, but they can’t spend any time alone unless there is a female chaperone present. The imminent arrival of Jack’s mysterious but very wealthy aunt, Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez from Brazil (where the nuts come from!) provides the boys with the perfect excuse for a luncheon invitation. |
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However, the aunt is delayed and desperate not to miss the chance to see Amy and Kitty before they are whisked away to Scotland by their cantankerous guardian Mr Spettigue, it is left to fellow student (and aspiring actor) Lord Fancourt Babberley (Stephen Tompkinson) to save the day by impersonating her.
Flirting with the young ladies when he is supposed to be acting as a chaperone is amusing, but Babberley soon gets more than he bargained for when he has to fend off the attentions of Jack’s father and Mr Spettigue. Then, would you believe it, the real Donna D’Alvadorez decides to surprise her nephew by arriving in Oxford unannounced, and things simply go from bad to worse for the lovely Jack and Charles... |
Stephen Tompkinson has just completed filming a second series of the series Wild at Heart for ITV. His other credits include Ballykissangel, Ted and Alice, Prime Suspect and Brassed Off as well as Drop the Dead Donkey, for which he won the Best Comedy Actor Award.
Completing the cast are Nicholas Clayton, David Partridge, John Vine, Richard Syms, Michael Melia, Tatina De Marinis, Emily Pennant-Rea, Marty Cruickshank and Sophie Roberts.
Charley’s Aunt is directed by Mel Smith. Mel is no stranger to the play having directed Griff Rhys Jones in the Olivier Award winning production in 1984. Having recently adapted and starred in An Hour & A Half Late at Richmond Theatre, other credits as director include the films The Tall Guy starring Jeff Goldblum and Emma Thompson and Bean starring Rowan Atkinson.
Design is by Christopher Woods with lighting by Matt Eagland and sound design by David McSeveney.
BOX OFFICE 0870 060 6651 (transaction fees applies) |
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| The Hollies
RICHMOND THEATRE
Sunday 29th April 7.30pm Tickets £20- £24
Richmond Theatre is delighted to welcome to the stage one of the original classic bands of the sixties, The Hollies.
To put into perspective the huge contribution that The Hollies have made to modern music - it is chronicled that throughout the 1960’s and 70’s they had more hits than any other British group, including The Beatles.
Over the years, they have built on this heritage and moved forward as recording artists and performers to be a respected force in the 21st century.
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The Hollies are: original band members Tony Hicks - lead guitar and vocals and Bobby Elliott - drums; Ray Stiles (originally of Mud) - bass and vocals; Ian Parker (has played with The Three Degrees and Chuck Berry) - keyboards; Peter Howarth (songwriter who starred in The Roy Orbison Story) - lead vocals and Steve Lauri (5000 Volts) - guitar and vocals.
Bobby and Tony, along with Allan Clarke, were presented with the Ivor Novello Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Music’ in 1993.
The Hollies have notched up over thirty top 30 hits since 1963, including Just One Look, I’m Alive, Bus Stop, Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress, The Air That I Breathe, and of course, the classic He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.
BOX OFFICE 0870 060 6651 (transaction fee applies) |
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