Friends Newsletter Autumn 08 - Spring 09

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Autumn 08–Spring 09

An APA welcome for Hayley Sunset Song • Marti Pellow Ray Mears • Kate O’Mara

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What’s inside his issue celebrates all that is planned for our autumn/ winter season. And you’ll find that you don’t have to spend hours travelling to the West End or Broadway to the season’s best shows.

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Just check out what we have in store and get planning for what’s sure to be a well-earned night of fabulous entertainment at His Majesty’s Theatre, the Music Hall or The Lemon Tree.

So whether you fancy a tense night of drama, a good old sing-a-long, a relaxing evening of laughter or a luxurious appreciation of some elegant and classy dance then our new season is full of tempting treats for you and your friends.

And talking about FRIENDS… first of all thank you for continuing to be one of ours!

We have tried our hardest to get you the best exclusive ticket offers and where we can, we offer priority booking periods to HMT, Music Hall and Lemon Tree shows making your membership benefits go even further.

The latest news is always on the FRIENDS section of the website and you can now book online during the priority booking periods by logging into the membership area.

You might be also be interested to see who’s been snapped with the stars (on the back page) and if you have any photos please send them in for our next edition due out in November.

We are also looking for volunteers to write a pre and post show review for our November edition. So if you fancy putting pen to paper and writing a piece about a show you are looking forward to seeing and then writing a review afterwards then please get in touch.

Enjoy our new season!

SHONA BYRNE Head of Sales and Marketing

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Joyce and Alan make a dramatic return to HMT for Sunset Song roles berdeen audiences are set to see a new side to two city favourites when they return to His Majesty’s in September. For much-loved dame Alan McHugh and fondlyremembered Joyce Falconer are shaking off their panto images to take on the roles of Long Rob Duncan and Chris Guthrie's mother Jean respectively in HMT’s premiere solo production of Sunset Song.

Both are delighted to be returning to the theatre where Alan has performed many times, frequently in the pivotal role of panto dame, and where Joyce played the Fairy Godmother in the prestigious centenary panto Cinderella.

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“While I love playing panto dame at HMT, it is nice to be coming back to play a different role, and hopefully show the fine folk of the North-east that there’s more to me than running about in a dress and a wig!” said Alan.

Delighted to be given the opportunity to be in such a high-profile production, and looking forward to the role, Alan didn’t feel there’s more pressure on him in a straight dramatic part than as a pantomime dame.

“Every production is different, whether it be Peter Pan or Sunset Song, but the aims are the same - to meet your own standards, and do your absolute best for the sake of the show, and for the paying public… and that is the same regardless of the role, so from that point of view, the pressures are the same,” he said.

“However, it would be naïve of me if I didn’t admit that there is a definite pressure as panto dame to get the audience laughing every time you come onstage, and if I don’t, I’ll have failed in my job, and probably wouldn’t be asked back!

“Whereas, with a character in a ‘straight play’, there isn’t that particular pressure, but there is still a pressure to bond and communicate with the audience in order for the character/production to be successful.”

Joyce is also looking forward to returning to His Majesty’s where she has very many happy memories, since working there as an usherette, ice-cream-seller and barmaid, and performing on stage.

But it is particularly significant to be coming back to take part in Sunset Song, the theatre’s first major in-house production.

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“I think this is a massive thing for His Majesty’s and I hope it is the first of many more productions to come, “said Joyce.

“It is very important for Aberdeen and for HMT that this production is a success and I don’t think they could have chosen a better or more relevant piece than Sunset Song.

“Sunset Song is also very close to my heart, as my mother’s side of the family are from the Mearns - my mother’s mother went to Arbuthnott Primary, the same school that Lewis Grassic Gibbon attended.

“So I am very acquainted with the Mearns; Sunset Song is a book I have a strong connection with and I very much look forward to dramatising it.”

At His Majesty’s from September 5 to 13, Sunset Song will be directed by Kenny Ireland, designed by Hayden Griffin and the music will be composed and performed by Scots fiddle music virtuoso Paul Anderson.

As well as Alan and Joyce, the ensemble cast includes Hannah Donaldson, Finn Den Hertog, Tom McGovern, Rod Matthew, Heather Nimmo, Sally Reid, Ronnie Simon and Graeme Stirling.

The production will then go on tour to the King’s Theatre in Glasgow (September 16 to 20), Eden Court in Inverness (September 23 to 27), King’s Theatre in Edinburgh (September 30 to October 4) and Perth Theatre (October 7 to 18). ■

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Peter Pan set to soar on a magical flight of fancy T

here’s magic in air for this year’s phenomenal swashbuckling panto adventure Peter Pan at HMT – literally. For as well as a star-studded cast – with Alan Fletcher, Keith Jack, Jordan Young and Alan McHugh – there’s some high-flying special effects and an endless supply of fairy dust to bring this magical show to life on stage.

“Peter Pan features some of the most stunning flying effects ever seen in pantomime including Peter’s flight across the audience to Neverland,“ said Michael Harrison, managing director of Qdos Pantomimes, the company behind Peter Pan and last year’s box office smash-hit, Aladdin.

“The latest laser technology will also be used to create flying images of Tinkerbell and to sprinkle a good helping of Fairy dust over the audience heads!”

The classic tale of the boy who never grew up is also one of the things which has drawn Alan Fletcher – famed worldwide for his role as Dr Karl Kennedy in the longrunning Aussie soap Neighbours – to take on the role of Captain Hook.

“Peter Pan is a magical play with beautiful original songs and a captivating story for adults and children - this show is my ideal theatrical experience after Hamlet!” he said.

And Alan is looking forward to meeting the rest of the cast, when he heads over from Australia later this year.

“The best thing about working in panto is the people you get to work with and the joy the audience communicates to you when they watch the show.

“I look forward to forming close working relationships with the cast and enjoying the audience’s response to, what I know, will be a fantastic show.”

However much Alan is looking forward to his first Aberdeen visit - “My co-stars in Neighbours, To celebrate the launch of the new style menu at the foyer at Stefan Dennis and Dan O’Connor, raved to me HMT, we are giving away tickets to a show of your choice and a about Aberdeen and the theatre, so the decision two course meal for two in a special Friends competition. to spend the Christmas season in the Granite All you have to do for your chance to win is answer this City was easy!” – he admitted he will miss his simple question: Who plays the evil Captain Hook in this year’s family, and his band, Waiting Room. pantomime, Peter Pan, at HMT? “I will miss the family dreadfully! They will join Answers on a postcard to: me after Christmas to see the show and have a Joyce Summers, Communications Officer, Aberdeen Performing Arts, belated Christmas,” he said.

Music Hall, Union Street, Aberdeen AB10 1QS “Missing gigs with the band will be very hard as it Entries must be in by 12pm on Monday September 15. The winner will be is the first time in four years that we haven't drawn at random from the correct entries and usual competition rules apply. toured in the UK. All the lads I play with have other The winner will be contacted by Friday September 19 with details of how to projects that they are pursuing, so a break is a claim their prize. If you are not lucky enough to win, you are still a winner with positive thing. And we will be back performing in Friends and the foyer at HMT with 15% off your food bill when you show your Melbourne for travelling UK fans every Monday night come late January, so it’s all good!”

Friends card. For further enquiries or to book a table telephone 01224 337677 Peter Pan will run at His Majesty’s Theatre from Saturday, December 6 to Sunday, January 4, and tickets are already flying out of the door! ■ – JOYCE SUMMERS

a night out!

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Worldwide fame for classical star Hayley A

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Marti’s heavenly role in one helluva show W

t just 21, young classical star Hayley Westenra has already made her mark on the international music scene in more ways than one.

She has combined album sales of over four million worldwide, has performed for Royalty and the Dalai Lama and duetted with Bocelli, Carreras and Terfel.

On top of all that, Hayley is UNICEF’s youngest ambassador and in December, was declared the biggest selling classical artist of the 21st Century.

Her debut international album PURE went straight in at No 8 in the UK pop album charts and No1 in the classical charts, making her the fastest-selling debut classical artist of all time. The album turned gold in the UK in one week and has since hit double platinum.

As part of their Fourth of July celebrations, Hayley sang at the White House this summer and has also performed at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Wembley Arena, the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Palace and Buckingham Palace.

She has also been nominated for Best Album at the Classical Brit Awards 2008.

As part of her River Of Dreams Tour, Hayley is to appear in Aberdeen’s Music Hall on Sunday, October 19. ■

hen Wet Wet Wet frontman Marti Pellow takes to the HMT stage in February, not a man in the audience will doubt what attracted him to the role of the devilishly dashing Darryl Van Horne in the musical The Witches of Eastwick.

Says Marti with a twinkle in the eye: “Who wouldn’t want to hang out with three beautiful women every night and get paid for it!”

Having enjoyed huge success in London and New York in Chicago, he’s waited five years for the right role to come along.

“Chicago was an amazing experience for me – the score by Kander and Ebb is just one great song after another,” he says. “That was the first time I’d done a musical and I was really spoilt by the experience.

“I’ve had countless offers to do other shows since then but until The Witches of Eastwick there’s been nothing that has appealed to me.

“For me, everything starts from the music,” he admits. “I’ve got to want to be able to perform the songs eight times a week - the one thing I’ve learnt is that if you’re going to commit to something then you’d better be sure it’s good.”

Marti’s looking forward to getting started with rehearsals and to bringing Daryl van Horne to life.

“Having hung out with the devil a few times, I think I’ve got a good point of reference – I just have to think about where the cut-off point between me and the character is!”

Although he’ll be touring with The Witches of Eastwick until April, he still has plans for more music both with Wet Wet Wet and as a solo artist.

“To me, to be able to dip in and out of the things I’ve got going on with my career is fantastic,” Marti says. “When I’m writing with Wet Wet Wet, I’m there with my pop hat on and there are four singer-songwriters in the room, whereas with my solo work it’s a bit more lyrical and a little darker.

And then performing is another side of things.

“I’m the type of person who has a lot of enthusiasm for what I do. I’m very lucky to be able to honestly say that I love the job I have.”

Starring alongside Marti are the Witches – Ria Jones, Rebecca Thornhill and Poppy Tiernery – with Rachel Izen in the role of chief busybody and self-appointed moral guardian of Eastwick Felicia Gabriel. ■ 4

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Brought up on the blues and seasoned by Seasick Steve! love blues music. I entered into this world to the guitar of Buddy Guy, was taken home to the sound of John Lee Hooker, and was raised on a healthy diet of all manner and style of rhythm and blues.

From the early recordings of Robert Johnson playing in a hotel room at four in the morning after playing three gigs, to the polished and extravagant guitar virtuosity ‘Seasick Steve was of Joe Bonamassa and Stevie Ray widely considered Vaughn, from the jazz-laced, over-sexed sound of New Orleans to the power and as one of the excitement of Chicago, the blues is a varied highlights at this and timeless music that I simply cannot get of, and I’m always searching for a year’s Glastonbury enough new artist to get my musical teeth into.

Festival’ And now my latest new favourite is set to take the Music Hall stage in October - the inimitable Seasick Steve, purveyor of the dirtiest, roughest, punked-up, bluegrass, country three-string hobo blues.

Now I’m not claiming to have uncovered a talent by any stretch of the imagination - this guy was widely considered as one of the highlights at this year’s Glastonbury Festival - but I hope I can convince you that this is a show not to be missed!

Leaving home at 14, Steve Wold took to the rails with his bindle and now infamous guitar and set off into the sunset to live the hobo’s life.

Sound romantic? Sometimes it was, but mostly it certainly was not! The man lived enough life for three people, and his open and honest songs reflect a lifetime of experience, some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it downright ugly.

Imagine R L Burnside’s north Mississippi blues merged with American country, Seasick Steve’s sound is of the ilk that it’s so old it’s new, and is winning over many who think the blues ain’t for them.

Expect an evening of colourful, if slightly incomprehensible, anecdotes and fantastic stripped-down blues. ■ – CHRIS COLLINS

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Kate is back where she belongs... with Friends at HMT enowned actress Kate O’Mara returns to His Majesty’s this season in Oscar Wilde’s tale of parties, politics and diplomacy, An Ideal Husband. You may have seen her portray Mrs Cheveley before, but you can expect something different this time: “I am always pleased to be given another chance to play a character - I hope to improve on my previous interpretation,” said Kate. “I like to think I know her pretty well; I first played her in 1971! But one learns something new every time, the audience sees to that!”

Her character attempts to blackmail Sir Robert Chiltern, who she accuses of falsely building his career on selling a cabinet secret.

Mrs Cheveley is a strong, self-confident character, similar to some Kate has played in the past.

“I can identify very well with a woman who can hold her own in a male-dominated society,” said Kate. “She is a survivor and can manipulate any situation to her advantage.I suspect that I am usually cast in this type of role because it reflects my own experience and my attitude to life!”

Although she may be best known for her roles in television dramas such as Dynasty, The Brothers and Howard’s Way, most of Kate career has been spent treading the boards.

“I have spent 75 per cent of my career in the theatre,” she admitted.

“I come from five generations of theatre people, dating back to my great-great grandparents in the 1820s and my family have been actors and actresses, built theatres and managed theatres ghost Jake will soon have some competition in scaring the since that time. theatre audiences. For the spine-chilling The Woman In “Quite simply, it is where I Black is returning to Aberdeen for a week-long run from belong. I am simply carrying on Monday, November 24. the family tradition and will probably go on in it until I drop!”

The show that caused Jamie Oliver to exclaim ‘…it was fantastic…it scared me so much I thought I would have Kate has played His Majesty’s Theatre many times over the to go to the loo!’ is based on the novel by Susan Hill. years. She is a patron of the It was first performed back in 1987 and has run for 19 theatre and has witnessed years at the the Fortune Theatre in the West End. This many changes in the city. highly acclaimed show takes up the mantle of the “I remember with particular traditional Victorian ghost story, creating an fondness the Donald brothers atmospheric setting for a dramatic tale. who used to run the theatre It tells of how Arthur Kipps, played by Sean Baker, enlists and I have brought my own a sceptical young actor, played by Ben Porter, to re-enact company, The British Actors an event from his life which he believes has left him Theatre Company, to HMT on cursed, in an attempt to exorcise his fears. numerous occasions,” she said.

“I recall also the extreme The actor plays the part of a younger Kipps, while kindness extended to me by the Kipps himself plays out all the other parts.

Friends of the Theatre and the In this dramatic performance, they work through a high quality of the audiences!” time when Kipps was dispatched to a remote village Peter Hall’s acclaimed production to resolve the estate of the late Alice Drablow. of An Ideal Husband will be The events that follow in the ghostly setting of the presented by Bill Kenwright moors, chillingly leaves the audience on the edge of their Productions, at His Majesty’s seats, as the the lines between make believe and reality begin to blur…. ■ Theatre from Monday to Saturday, October 13 to 18. ■ – SARAH HARBISON – MARTIN GALLAGHER

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Ghostly goings on at HMT HMT

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Ray’s just wild about Scotland’s wild Highlands is visit to Aberdeenshire for An Evening With Ray Mears at Aberdeen’s Music Hall might be his first Scottish tour as a world-renowned bushcraft and survival expert, but Ray is no stranger to this corner of the world For the 44-year-old adventurer has made many memorable trips to the Highlands – and enjoys some of Speyside’s finest whisky while he’s here.

As well as visiting Colonsay, he recently did some close up filming work at the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie for his Wild Food television series.

“There is nothing quite like being up in the hills watching red deer or in the lonely forests of the Cairngorms and Angus glens looking for pine martin or ptarmigan,” Ray admits.

“Some of the best experiences I have had have been in Scotland, it is such a fantastic place, and very empty in places which is a bonus.

“Elsewhere in the world I never fail to take drinking chocolate but in Scotland I must admit I fortify it with the old amber fluid.”

And Ray is encouraging people who live in Aberdeenshire to make the most of the incredible diversity there is on the doorstep.

He says: “Nowadays society tends to be so cushioned from the natural world that most of us venture out into it only when the weather is perfect.

“If I think about one lifetime, maybe we have 80 years if we're lucky, and that's not many seasons to be out.

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“If we only come out in the summer, we've missed out on threequarters of a lifetime!”

An Evening with Ray Mears, on Tuesday, October 14, will take the audience on a journey to some of the most extreme corners of the world, with Ray sharing his experiences over the past 15 years in the making of his celebrated television programmes.

These have reached and touched the hearts of everyone, from small children to grandparents, because of Ray’s down to earth approach and his obvious love of the subject.

However, this two-hour one-man show is his first live performance in Scotland.

“I am delighted to be able meet promises I have made in the past,” he says.

“I am keenly awaiting a Scottish audience, without doubt one of the most knowledgeable on the great outdoors due to the amazing wilderness that is within reach of so many people.

“As well as talking about my love of Scotland I'll be sharing some of the most amazing experiences I have hard from some of the most extreme places on the planet.”

A key element of his one-man show is audience participation and there will be a question and answer session at the end. ■

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change Oh my God, I’m so nervous about my date tonight.

What will I talk about? What will I wear? What will she think of me? I am worried he’ll think I’m ugly – I’m just not a babe, and she is a real stud. Dating is so difficult….help!

AARRGGHH!! She is doing my head in! My wife and I are very happily married with two wonderful children and we live in marital bliss. Until we get into the car that is! She turns into a complete nightmare, questioning all my decisions – the back seat driver from hell. What should I do?

For the answers to these and other relationship questions, see I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change at The Lemon Tree from Thursday to Saturday, September 4 to 6. This hilarious musical is performed by top local company Greenroom Productions.

Anyone who has ever been, or wanted to be, in a relationship will find something personal to them in this revue – which covers every love-related topic from the nerve-wracking first date, through the ups and downs of marriage and children, to the last chance relationship saloon. You’ll be laughing one minute, and crying the next – like Friends, Frasier and Sex in the City all rolled into one! ■ – BEN TORRIE

Tell me, where are all the men? I mean, the decent men?

I have been on date after date after date with these arrogant, dull, unintelligent no-hopers and I can’t take it any more.

There is a serious single man drought.

Come on boys, sort yourselves out!

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Slick show that pulls no strings!

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Forget Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

...how about Monday night with 4 Poofs and a Piano?

performance concept that marries puppet bodies with human faces in a darkly comic story is being brought to The Lemon Tree by young Glasgow-based company called Vox Motus.

The result is Slick – a new project that involves imaginatively surreal storytelling, physical performance and a new staging concept.

And it takes the naive inhabitants of a Glasgow tenement on a journey of greed, avarice and, ultimately, murder.

The five-strong cast is led by Jordan Young – a familiar face at HMT where he played the title role of Aladdin in last winter’s panto and will play Smee in this year’s Peter Pan – as Malcolm Biggar.

He is joined by Angela Darcy, Robbie Jack, Cora Bisset and Mark Prendergast.

The story of the residents of a destitute tenement built above the only crude oil supply in Glasgow, Slick is seen through the eyes of Little Malcolm, a nineyear-old with a passion for his skateboard and an aversion to his paper round. In a building where the tenants have as little to do with each other as possible, Malcolm is the only linking factor, welcomed into each bizarre household and exposed to the vulnerable, ridiculous, grotesque lives of people behind closed doors.

When the inhabitants hit on oil beneath their building they are forced to come together as a community to capitalise on their new-found wealth. When it is discovered that one tenant alone owns the rights to the land and therefore the wealth, things take a sinister turn.

The theatre company combines story-telling, multi-media and new technologies with comedy, magic, music and physical performance to create stimulating visual theatre.

Slick is being staged in The Lemon Tree Studio from Tuesday and Wednesday, September 23 to 24. ■

f you like Friday Night with Jonathan Ross then you’re going to love Monday September 15 when his resident house band 4 Poofs and a Piano take the stage at the Music Hall. The boys are known for their jaunty re-workings of show tunes, funk, punk, rap and swing and have now established themselves as one of the most versatile and entertaining acts in the business. Their new show captures the best of The Poofs’ musical diversity offering a unique insight into their sequin-studded world!

Aberdeen is set to be blown away when 4 Poofs and a Piano play their only Scottish tour date of a show that The Scotsman described as “innovative, funny and sprinkled with genuine talent.”

The Poofs, known for the high energy camp comedy, were spotted originally by the producers of BAFTA and now reach an audience of five million viewers in their weekly performance on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. The Poofs all started their careers in the performing arts; however Poof Ian Parkins’ life long ambition is to be the first male Queen of England because he’s always liked the idea of having a huge dinner party and having someone else do the dishes. Let’s hope we’re on the guest list! ■

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His voice is better known than his face F

Friends Meet the Cast nights

ormer front man of Mike and the Mechanics, Paul Carrack is coming to town. It has been said his voice tends to be better known than his face, but what a voice! It is easily recognisable as the power behind world-wide hits across the multiple guises of his career, many of which have overlapped throughout the years.

Carrack has said to have been influenced by The Beatles and Northern Soul, and is recognised for his work with Elton John, Eric Clapton and The Eagles. Paul has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike and The Mechanics and Roxy Music, while also having been a session and touring musician for several others.

Enjoying success as a solo artist his distinctive voice shows up on some of his affiliated bands’ best-known hits. Directing his own record label and career, his music is comfortable, classy, suburban pop in a lightly soulful mode. November 12 is set to be an evening of world-wide hits and timeless classics - enjoy! ■ – LAUREN TAYLOR

Friends caught up with Alan Cumming, Jonathan Wilkes and Natalie Casey in recent Meet the Cast sessions. Log onto boxofficeaberdeen.com for more upcoming dates.

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