INTERVAL Magazine | Spring 2019

F R E E S P R I N G 2 0 1 9

blackpoolgrand.co.uk ISSUE FOUR

SIR IAN

McKELLEN

2019 OPENING NATIONAL TOUR

2020 ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

CELEBRATING 125 YEARS

CELEBRATING 125 YEARS It’s been wonderful to see the reaction from local people to our campaign to celebrate the theatre’s 125th birthday by raising £125,000 to repair the theatres iconic copper dome.

Storm Doris, last February, gave the building a particular battering, ripping the leaves off its pineapple finial and causing water ingress into the Gallery Bar. We’re just six weeks into the campaign at the time of writing, yet local people’s generosity has already put £20,000 into the pot. Thank you to all our early donors – but we’ve still got some way to go!

The pineapple is a symbol of hospitality and welcome; a symbol goes to the heart of what Thomas Sergenson, the Grand’s original owner, and Frank Matcham, his famous architect, wanted to achieve when they set out to build a new theatre for Blackpool - a place that warmly welcomes everyone. 125 years on, and our staff and volunteers are proudly continuing that tradition, making every effort to ensure your visit to the Grand is as comfortable and safe as it can be in this beautiful Grade II* Listed heritage building.

The Grand is now looking forward to the next 125 years, and how we can sustain ‘the prettiest theatre in the kingdom’, whilst ensuring we serve the needs and meet the expectations of twenty-first century audiences.

This, of course, will require more than just a replacement pineapple! So, please do continue to give generously, as a charity and a community asset, we really need – and genuinely appreciate – your support.

Ruth Eastwood | Chief Executive Support us at blackpoolgrand co.uk/125supportus

ON THE COVER Blackpool’s Grand Theatre welcomes Sir Ian McKellen.

In celebration of his 80th birthday and our 125th Anniversary.

Tickets to his show on 20 May sold out within 48 hours of being announced.

2 Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson

DISCOVER MORE ONLINE This season is packed-full of incredible shows from dramatic dance to thrilling drama and side splitting comedy.

There’s something for everyone and some brand new gifts ideas.

Head to our What’s On at: blackpoolgrand.co.uk

HIGHLIGHT

HEY THAT’S NEW! Hello again: The Story of Neil Diamond Fri 24 May You’ll be singing along to all the hits including Sweet Caroline, Cracklin’ Rosie, Forever in Blue Jeans, Song Sung Blue, Hello Again, Love on the Rocks, America and many more.

Legend - The Music Of Bob Marley Fri 7 Jun Legend, the music of Bob Marley is an unforgettable evening celebrating this musical icon in one fantastic stage show extravaganza.

The Lancashire Hotpots The Love Tour Sat 15 Jun It’s going to be an unbeatable night of music and laughs for everyone. If music be the food of love... have yer dinner with the Hotpots!

One Night In Dublin Sat 22 Jun The Wild Murphys will entertain you with a selection of great Irish songs from artists such as The Pogues, The Dubliners,The Fureys, and The Saw Doctors to name just a few.

The Magic Of Motown Sun 7 Jul Music fans are invited to the biggest party of the year as the unstoppable Magic of Motown show steams into town!

BALLADS, BEATS & BACKFLIPS Explosive new British musical, with soaring vocals and spectacular street dance, starring Olivier Award winner Clive Rowe, deaf street dancer Chris Fonseca (The Greatest Dancer) and Seann Miley Moore (X Factor).

Mole’s first day in ‘The Willows’. Her classmates look a bit scary. Surely Mr Badger will look out for her, as streetwise Rattie, rich kid Toad and cheeky Otter teach her the ways of The Riverbank.

But when Toad gets locked up for joyriding, the Weasel Clan break into his (lily)pad. It’s now only a matter of time before Chief Weasel reveals Mole’s dark secret…

This classic story is brought leaping into the twenty first century, featuring spectacular street dance choreographed by the award-winning Rhimes Lecointe (Associate choreographer for Zoo Nation, and Artistic Director of Boudicea).

With ballads, beats and back-flips, this fresh new musical is guaranteed fun for the whole family.

In The Willows Tue 30 Apr to Sat 4 May

Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson 3

SUMMER

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80S DAYS...

INTERVIEW WITH WRITER & DIRECTOR IAN McFARLANE After that, there have been all sorts, although the majority have been comedy - probably my first and greatest love. Some of my favourite work includes, a version of ‘The Three Musketeers’ based around a group of actors trying to put on the full play with half the cast and set missing (think brushes as horses and lots of different hats!) and I just finished a really lovely project, writing and directing a sequel to The Wizard of Oz. I’ve also directed quite a few pantomimes and with some really varied people, my favourite probably being Henry Winkler aka the Fonz, as Captain Hook – an absolute gentleman (Henry, not Hook).

Where did the ideas for Around The World in 80s Days come from, what was the brief for the show and how did you start with the concept?

Well, Ruth the CEO of The Blackpool Grand had been thinking about the theatre producing its own summer show for some time. As this is the theatre’s 125th Birthday, it seemed like the right time to do it.

Could you give us a short introduction to who you are and what shows you have worked on previously?

I grew up in Preston, just down the road and so The Grand was a theatre I visited throughout my childhood. When I moved to London and started working, I’d talk to my Mum about a theatre and if I described it as beautiful, the question was always ‘Blackpool Grand beautiful, or just regular?’ It’s a bit of dream to be back here as a professional - I’m absolutely thrilled. This is actually my first piece of work anywhere in the North, so to be ‘home’ feels amazing.

Originally I trained as an actor and it was in my final year of drama school that I started to write.

I ended up writing a show and scrabbling together enough money (car washing, cake sales you name it) to put it on in a tiny space in London. I can remember wincing as I spent my last tenner on safety pins and elastic but somehow we got the thing on! We managed to get some people from the industry along to see it, they said some nice things and it became one of those ‘and the rest is history’ type scenarios. The show in question developed into a musical called ‘Betwixt!’ which eventually opened in the West End for a limited season in 2011, that was a pretty incredible experience.

The theatre has a tradition of music shows during the summer period, the idea was to give the audience something extra special. As always, it’s going to be a show that you can expect to know lots of the songs from but we’ve tried to step it up a gear. There is a story but we use the 1980’s music to tell it - sometimes in ways that you might not expect, sometimes in ways that will make you laugh but always in a way in which you are going to have a brilliant night out.

How would you best describe the show in twenty words or less?

A comedy adventure story, with 80s tunes you’ll know and love, perfectly suitable for the whole family.

With classic novel being so iconic, how did you imagine it in a new way, especially the 80s?

The brilliant thing about the novel is that it is absolutely iconic, but it’s only the basic framework that has become famous i.e. 'man accepts a bet that he can’t get around the world in eighty days and has an adventure'. It has been adapted so many times over the years and the middle of the story, the adventure part is always slightly different. My job was to research all of these different versions - to seek out the common denominators that our audience are going to expect, they are - a high-speed adventure, some mystery and intrigue, a romantic sub-plot and of course…a balloon! The 80s was a musical decade of pure unapologetic fun and that’s what this show is. The mixture of the story and the 80’s music works brilliantly, watching someone in a top hat singing a power ballad is delightfully silly – it’s just pure joy and escapism.

4 Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson

Obviously, this show is brand new and a new concept for The Grand in summer, how are you going to give it a Blackpool twist?

Well, music is part of the fabric of Blackpool, all year round there is live music, I don’t know anywhere else like it. And of course, comedy is a giant part of the town’s heritage too. We’ve tried to blend the traditions of Blackpool’s theatre and performance history, our show has taken some influence from music hall, from the pier shows, from variety and woven them together. It’s got lots of gags and it’s filled with songs that people know. This isn’t a stuffy starched collared telling of the story. Our aim is for people to tap their toes, laugh their socks off and just have a brilliant time.

What do you think will be your greatest challenge with the show?

Somebody once said ‘Dying is easy, comedy is hard’. Comedy has a weird science to it that nobody can really explain, it takes much longer to craft than drama. In this show we have a cast playing lots and lots of different characters, there is a lot of switching of costumes, in full view of the audience and running about to take on different persona’s. That’s not something you can stage with actors carrying a script and feeling their way into the piece, everyone needs to arrive on their A-game, it’s like somebody fires a starting pistol on your first morning and the race doesn’t stop until opening night.

Thankfully, I’m well prepared to write a jukebox style show as I worked on the development of two, over the past decade. I worked alongside SONY creating a show around the life and music of one of the UK’s biggest music legends (don’t hate me, I can’t say!) Unfortunately it ended up getting lost in the world of ‘development’ and lawyers and all that, and so far hasn’t made it to the stage. However, it gave me a really solid method for approaching this type of show. They say everything happens for a reason, so I think I was in training for this!

Who do you think this show would appeal to?

I think it works on two levels. On one hand, If you love comedy and you like 80's music, then you are in for a treat. On the other hand, if you don’t already know the music, you can watch it like any other musical and still have a great time. We've tried to make it really inclusive, so it should appeal to people of all ages.

Around the World in 80s Days Previews Wed 31 Jul to Sat 3 Aug Opens Wed 7 Aug

Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson 5

SPECIAL EVENTS IN 2019 SUSAN HILL’S

ADAPTED BY

STEPHEN MALLATRATT

I suppose it took some time for it to sink in that I had a famous grandmother known to the world as Agatha Christie. She was just a marvellous grandmother and someone nice to have around.

The West End smash hit The Woman in Black opens its 2019 Tour in Blackpool!

Susan Hill’s acclaimed ghost story comes dramatically alive in Stephen Mallatratt’s ingenious stage adaptation.

She gave me The Mousetrap for my ninth birthday. I do not, I’m afraid, remember much about the actual presentation (if there was one) and probably nobody realised until much later what a marvellous present it was. It was incredibly generous of her to give away such a play to her grandson.

This gripping production, directed by Robin Herford, is a brilliantly successful study in atmosphere, illusion and controlled horror.

I went to The Mousetrap several times with her in varying company – I would say we all enjoyed the play and my grandmother’s company in equal measure. But she was enthusiastic about other people’s plays as well, about archaeology, opera and perhaps above all about food!

When I had the pleasure of taking my own children to The Mousetrap for the first time they enjoyed it tremendously and crossed off in their programmes those whom they thought couldn’t have done it (the real culprit was excluded at an early stage!). It was a great evening for me, and would have been, I am sure, for my grandmother had she been there.

I think it tells us something about the success of the play, too: it contains so much for everybody – humour, drama, suspense and a jigsaw puzzle – suitable for all ages and taste I sometimes feel that actors and actresses, anxious like everybody else for employment, must wish that there were more plays with universal appeal like this.

Agatha Christie’s Grandson – Matthew Pritchard

'I have an extraordinary passion' for this play. I fell in love with it when I first commissioned it to be written in 1987, and my respect for it has grown and grown as I became better acquainted with it over the years. The play is about the theatre, and it says so much about what I passionately believe theatre can achieve.

It celebrates, above all, the art of the actor, of live performance, but it also celebrates several forms of theatrical magic –some simple, some much more complex. Lighting, sound, sets that appear to be non-existent, but then which reveal hither to unconceived elements of staging. Michael Holt, the Designer, and I worked for a long time before mounting the first production to exploit the potential of that most evocative of settings – an 'empty theatre'.

Robin Herford in Secrets of the Stage–May 2014

'A truly nerve-shredding experience' The Daily Mail

The Woman in Black Wed 11 to Sat 14 Sep

The Mousetrap Mon 22 to Sat 28 Jul

'CAUSE THIS IS THRILLER LIVE Adrian Grant, creator and Executive Director of Thriller Live, knew Michael Jackson over a 20-year period.

He was the first UK journalist to interview him at his Neverland mansion, and he was invited by Michael to witness him in the studio recording some of his most iconic albums.

Can you tell us about the Thriller Live show?

Thriller Live is the ultimate celebration of Michael Jackson’s music. We don’t tell the story of Michael’s life, but we celebrate the King of Pop via two-hours of song and dance. It’s a feel-good show that the whole family can enjoy.

What do you think was Jackson's musical legacy?

You may find an individual who can sing better, or dance better –but what made Michael the King of Pop was that he did everything, and he did it so very well and with his own style. As a singer he had an incredible 4-octave range, and as a dancer he created breakthrough videos such as ‘Beat It’ and ‘Thriller’, and was complimented by none other than Fred Astaire.

Which is your favourite Michael Jackson song?

There are too many to name just one. Many of them are in the Thriller Live show which is just over 2 hours long, but because Michael has so many great songs the show could easily have been 5 hours long.

Thriller Live Mon 15 to Wed 17 Jul

6 Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson

THE ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY For the first time in 2020, The Royal Shakespeare Company will present a triple bill at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre, including; The Taming of The Shrew, As You Like It and Measure for Measure.

Director Justin Audibert on his production of The Taming of the Shrew: In your production key characters are re-imagined and played as the opposite binary gender, with no ambivalence and not ‘gender blind’. Is that right?

Yes, so for example, the role of Petruchio, which we have renamed Petruchia, is being played as a woman in a woman’s costume but with the same character motivations and social status as Petruchio in any other production. Likewise, Katherine is being played by a male actor playing it as a man but will have the same social restrictions that a woman in 1590s England would have had. The actors are playing their own gender, but we have flipped which gender holds power.

Can you tell us more about the set, music and costumes?

The setting has a strong feel of the Mediterranean about it, with a colour palette that is warm, vibrant and with a sense of fun and mischief.

The costumes will certainly give a sense of the 1590 period. The costumes worn by the female actors will be beautiful, imposing, expensive and involve lots of material. They will dominate the space. The costumes the male actors wear will be much more delicate even subtle.

Director Kimberley Sykes talks about her production of As You Like It:

Can you tell us more about the setting for the production?

What has influenced your thinking around the production?

I’m setting it in a re-imagined 1590 in which England is a matriarchy. In the rehearsal room we’ve been exploring the different ways that women in a matriarchy would assert power. In Elizabethan England and Renaissance Europe more widely, eye contact was a huge thing. Women weren’t supposed to look you directly in the eye – but in the world we’re creating in the play the female actors are looking people directly in the eyes in a very bold way, and the male actors are not.

I think a big thing which has influenced my thinking on the production has been about what a forest is and what it represents. I did a lot of reading into the way forests function and the societal behaviour of trees. I was quite determined not to have any trees on stage, mainly because everybody kept asking me how are you going to do the trees?!

What are your current thoughts on the style of the production? Can you give us any early insights into the process?

I’m not setting the play in a particular time or place.

It doesn’t feel like a play which needs a certain period setting. And I’m very aware as a director of not choosing a setting which restricts the play, and that only tells one aspect of the play so I always look for the approach and the framework that allows all of the play to live.

What do you hope audiences will take away from this production?

I would like for the audience to take away a new relationship with their own ‘magician’. To feel able to explore the possibility and potential of change, especially right now, with all of the uncertainty in this country and Europe and the rest of the world. To feel that change is possible, and that change can come from working together, learning from each other and from being more honest. Being brave enough to jump off the cliff into the unknown.

Measure for Measure Wed 25 and Thu 26 Mar 2020 As You Like It Sat 28 Mar to Wed 1 Apr 2020 The Taming of the Shrew Fri 3 and Sat 4 Apr 2020

Discover more about our shows at blackpoolgrand.co.uk/whatson 7

COMEDY

STEVE ROYLE’S COMEDY CHAOS FOR KIDS Includes non-stop fun for the whole family, comedy, magic, puppets and some very special surprises.

Blackpool’s Grand Theatre has teamed up with Pantomime Veteran and BBC Radio Lancashire star Steve Royle and Special Guest Magician Russ Brown to create the theatre’s first dedicated Summer Show for all the Family!

Royle, who is a veteran 16-year performer in Pantomime at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre, has entertained and given belly-laughs to over 50,000 people each year. In addition, he has supported both Peter Kay and Dave Spikey on tour and was voted ‘Entertainer of the Year’ at the Red Rose Awards.

Russ Brown, who will be joining Royle on stage, said his interest in magic began as a child when he received a magic set as a gift. His family were forced to ‘pick a card’, ‘watch closely’ and ‘say the magic word’ many, many times but as he got older and started to win awards with his magic, they realised that this wasn’t just a passing phase.

WAYS TO SUPPORT THE GRAND

If you would like to support Blackpool’s Grand Theatre then there are many ways you can do so, visit blackpoolgrand.co.uk/125supportus.

From Lapel badges, the BIG 125 Draw where you could win £5,000, and our 125 Club, there’s lots of way you can help, even a small donation of £1.25.

The 125 Big Grand Draw Enter our raffle drawn on 18 December for the chance to win £1,000, £2,000 or a whopping £5,000. Tickets are £2 each and can be purchased online or when visiting the Theatre.

Purchase a 125 Limited Edition Lapel Badge Our Rose Gold coloured Limited Edition badge will be available from the Box Office, From our Front Of House Volunteers and online.

Steve Royle’s Comedy Chaos For Kids starring Russ Brown – expect a fun, manic, hilarious, magical and memorable show like no other – the perfect family treat this summer!

125 Heritage Open Days For our 125th Anniversary we will be holding a limited run of special access days; The 125 Celebration Open Day will be free of charge.

Allowing you to wander free around public areas with a special selection of our archive on display highlighting our 125 years, from the original build through to the epic struggle, to the glorious theatre it is today…

Steve Royle’s Comedy Chaos For Kids Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout August

Book online or call our Box Office on 01253 290 190 for one of our thirty-minute tours led by one of our heritage volunteers (£4 p/p).

SPYMONKEY COOPED

To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Spymonkey are offering Blackpool audiences an unmissable opportunity to catch this deliciously demented take on the pulp gothic romance -think Hitchcock’s Rebecca meets The Pink Panther. Overflowing with brilliant characters, rip-roaring farce and virtuoso physical comedy, this is the show which made them an international comedy sensation, from Just For Laughs Montreal to Sydney Opera House.

A spooky mansion, a plucky young heroine and a handsome English aristocrat. Add a German butler and a Spanish soap star and you're... COOPED with Spymonkey!

Directed by Cal McCrystal, the comedy genius behind One Man Two Guvnors, A Scouse Nativity and Paddington.

Grand Theatre Blackpool, 33 Church Street, Blackpool, FY1 1HT | Box Office t. 01253 290190 | e. box@blackpoolgrand.co.uk INFORMATION CORRECT AT TIME OF GOING TO PRESS AND OFFERS MAY ONLY BE VALID AT SELECTED TIMES. ALL TICKETS SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. SOME SHOWS HAVE AGE GUIDANCE. © Blackpool Grand Theatre (Arts & Entertainments) Ltd. Registered number (England and Wales) 2825229. Registered Charity No. 1022754.

DESIGN: THE NU AGENCY

Spymonkey Tue 11 to Fri 14 Jun