Backstage

Summer season announced at Theatre Royal Wakefield

9 March 2009 - Theatre Royal Wakefield have announced the Summer 2009 line up which features a host of shows from Live Music to Magic and Drama. The season opens with a new in-house production of Hansel & Gretel (15 - 19 April) which is set to coincide with the Easter half term break so as to offer good quality, accessible drama to family audiences.

Music comes courtesy of rockabilly singer Imelda May (5 June), who recently won the ‘Best Newcomer’ award at the Irish Music Awards. She has played a number of high profile events including one at Buckingham Palace and has just finished touring with Van Morrison. More Music comes from the Nick Ross Orchestra who play Sounds Of The Glenn Miller Era (22 May) while musical legends Wishbone Ash (30 April) and Joe Longthorne (20 June) are each set to entertain audiences for one night only. There’s also a rare opportunity to see Irish star Dominic Kirwan on 19 June and Joe Brown who plays two nights on 5 and 6 May.

This year marks the ninth annual Wakefield Drama Festival with drama groups and societies from across the region showcasing their talents in a series of seven plays over seven days. The performances are judged by an adjudicator from the Guild Of Drama Adjudicators and at the end of the week a winner is announced. The festival features Bouncers by John Godber (24 May), The Elephant Man by Bernard Pomerance (25 May), Stand & Deliver by Janet Shaw (26 May), Home by David Storey (27 May), Some People Talking by Sue Wilding (28 May), Dolly West’s Kitchen by Frank McGuinness (29 May) and Lark Rise by Keith Dewhurst (30 May). More Drama comes from Hull Truck with a new play by John Godber, Beef which is performed by Matthew Booth who played Paul Marshall in Emmerdale in 2004.

Theatre Royal Wakefield’s successful dance festival MOVES returns in June (20 - 27), featuring some of the most acclaimed dance companies from across the country including Ballet Central, Motionhouse and Jasmin Vardimon. The festival opens on 20 June with an open air performance in Wakefield precinct.

As with previous seasons, comedy features throughout with a gig from top comedian Robin Ince, who has recently featured on such comedy shows as Mock The Week, and Never Mind The Buzzcocks while First Friday Comedy continues to entertain audiences on the first Friday of the month at Wakefield Arts Centre.

Locked Out Productions presents The Full Monty in July (8 - 11), a musical based on the hugely successful 1998 film starring Robert Carlisle. The action takes place in Buffalo, upstate New York, but the story remains the same. Wakefield Youth Music Theatre are set to open the Winter 2009 season with their eagerly anticipated musical, Footloose (10 - 19 September). This critically acclaimed group of youngsters form the large cast for this famous show in which a peaceful country town is rocked to it’s foundations with the arrival of rock ‘n’ roll loving Ren McCormack from Chicago. Tickets are now on sale.

To book tickets for the summer season go to www.theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk or call the box office on 01924 211311.