BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY

CELEBRATING ITS SILVER ANNIVERSARY YEAR

BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY

Oh Boy! BUDDY –THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY celebrates a hip shaking 25 years on stage when

it swings into Wolverhampton Grand Theatre from Monday 19 – Saturday 24 May.

The most successful rock n’ roll show of all time BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY inspired a generation of multi-million selling juke-box musicals but remains the true original and a musical phenomenon.

Loved by critics and audiences alike, BUDDY - THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY tells the enduring tale of the musical icon’s meteoric rise to fame and his final legendary performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, before his tragic and untimely death at the age of 22. In 18 short months the Texas-born boy revolutionised the face of contemporary music influencing everyone from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen.

Boasting a phenomenally multi-talented cast, together they present two terrific hours of music with over 20 of his greatest hits, including the timeless classics That’ll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, Oh Boy and Rave On.

With the Big Bopper’s Chantilly Lace and Ritchie Valens’ La Bamba completing a stellar musical line-up, BUDDY – THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY is a not to be missed evening of family entertainment

Buddy’s widow, Maria Elena Holly, says of the show’s latest milestone: “When we opened the show we never imagined Buddy’s music and story would still be rocking stages and entertaining audiences around the world week-in week-out 25 years later. I believe this is testament to a great show – the first of its kind – and to the enduring appeal of Buddy Holly and what he represents; a youthful energy, huge talent and creativity, combined with a determination to make a lasting impression in this world. Buddy was certainly a one-off, as the show demonstrates. It’s incredible to witness subsequent generations getting carried away in Buddy’s music - proof that his spirit lives on through all of us.

“Buddy is one of those shows that an audience trusts; and once someone has bought their ticket they know they are in for a fantastic night out.”

LISTINGS INFORMATION

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story
Monday 19 – Saturday 24 May
Mon – Sat eve 7.30pm, Wed and Sat Matinees at 2.30pm
Tickets from £9.50 - £29.50

The Play That Goes Wrong - Wolverhampton Grand

Stars *****

It sounds like a complicated concept - it is a play about a play that goes wrong, actors playing actors - but it actually works. From the moment it started we were in tears of laughter and I can honestly say I have never known a play that has had the audience laughing constantly all the way through before. I am still aching today!

The fictional amdram group is called Cornley Polytechnic and they happily admit they're not that good but they enjoy what they do and you can see that they throw themselves fully into their roles.

The real cast are from Mischief Theatre Ltd a comedy improvisement company and it shows through at their responses to heckling and audience participation, and even Cecil's surprise when he gets laughs and applause when he stops to take a bow.

The "play" is a murder mystery although very little investigation manages to happen. If something can go wrong it will do: The stretcher they carried the body away with wasn't attached to the poles so he was left behind; the shelves collapsed and needed a "stage hand" to hold the candlesticks up; the door jammed and, as you can see in the picture, everyone fell through the door; cast members were knocked out; the upper stage collapsed; pictures fell...

During the interval the "director", who had spent a lot of the play on his phone, was running around the theatre calling for a dog which wasn't found until curtain call and required an empty lead being carried around stage when the dog was supposed to be on stage.

I highly recommend that you go and visit this play if you get a chance!

WBOS SISTER ACT!

WBOS SISTER ACT!

  

Performance dates: Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 May

West Bromwich Operatic Society or also known as WBOS are performing the West Midlands amateur premiere of the divine musical comedy SISTER ACT.

Based on the hugely popular 1992 film of the same name and starring Whoopie Goldburg, SISTER ACT is the feel-fabulous musical comedy, written by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane, with lyrics by Glenn Slater and features original music by Tony^® and 8-time Oscar^® winner ALAN MENKEN (Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast).

SISTER ACT tells the hilarious story of Deloris Van Cartier, a wannabe diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a crime and the cops hide her in the last place anyone would think to look - a convent! Under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. A sparkling tribute to the universal power of friendship, SISTER ACT is packed full with songs inspired by Motown, funk, soul and disco.

WBOS have been performing as a society since 1938 and have performed on a regular basis at the Grand since 1996. Recent credits include La Cage Aux Folles, Beauty and The Beast, Jesus Christ Superstar, Titanic The Musical, Crazy For You and The Full Monty.

Cast members include: Tasheka Coe (Deloris Van Cartier), Eileen Woolley (Mother Superior), Rachel Davies (Sister Mary Robert), Lizzie Buckingham (Sister Mary Patrick), Trish Humphreys (Sister Mary Lazarus), Nicholas Sullivan (Monsignor O’Hara), Simon McGee (Eddie), and Callum McArthur (Curtis).

For more information on WBOS please visit their website   www.wbos.co.uk

Listings Information

SISTER ACT
West Bromwich Operatic Society

Performance dates: Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 May

Performance Times: Tuesday – Saturday 7.30pm

Matinees: Wednesday and Saturday 2:30pm

Tickets: £13.50 - £19.50 with concessions available

Box Office: 01902 42 92 12

Online: grandtheatre.co.uk

The Chuckle Brothers in a 2014 Space Oddity (at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton)

Stars ***** 

Well, what can I say.

The Chuckle brothers definitely made myself and my almost 10year old daughter 'chuckle' today. We were laughing and giggling all the way through the show.

It is good clean slapstick comedy suitable for everyone. There were jokes, great songs, puppets, audience participation and magic tricks to keep you entertained from start to finish. To be honest I was surprised at the amount of adults without children watching .... it just goes to show you are never too old for comedy like this!

Thank you also to Richard Morgan, Safire, the Patton brothers and the wonderful dancers who made the show a success. Be prepared to get wet though, the water pistols were out in force today.

Well done Barry and Paul Chuckle, we thoroughly enjoyed your show

~~

Thanks to Aristocat our Local Ambassador for this review.

Beyond the Barricade - Wolverhampton Grand

Stars *****

Beyond the Barricade has been running since 1996 when Andy Reiss and David Fawcett, who had met working on Les Misérables, were asked to write a show to perform for MENCAP. They have run the show for the last 15 years and visit Wolverhampton annually.

Beyond the Barricade is run with incredibly just seven performers, which is four singers and four musicians - Andy also plays keyboard whilst singing. Performing songs from all your favourite musicals from stage and screen, including the amazing job they do of performing Les Misérables' own One Day More which is normally performed by over 40 singers when part of the show but the four singers manage to carry off all the roles.

The evening is compèred by David with what my daughter would call "granddad jokes" (yes, my dad has a terrible sense of humour and even my 8 year old knows it!) but his warmth and wit carries it off.

If you get chance to see this when it comes back to Wolverhampton do go!

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG – Mischief Theatre’s West End comedy hit tours the UK!

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG – Mischief Theatre’s West End comedy hit tours the UK!

 

The Play That Goes Wrong was recently announced as the winner of the Whatsonstage.com Award for the TICKETMASTER Best New Comedy 2014 having exploded onto the stage with phenomenal success last year. Opening at the Old Red Lion in London to unanimous rave reviews, the show then transferred to the West End where it enjoyed two successive runs at the Trafalgar Studios, followed by a sell-out season at the Edinburgh Festival.

 

Triple Olivier award-winning Top Hat producer Kenny Wax who is co-producing the UK tour says: “A few months ago a Producer friend asked me to accompany him to see The Play That Goes Wrong at the Trafalgar Studios. I was totally charmed we offered them a deal on the spot. I should add that I have never been quite so impulsive before, but I had a real desire to help this bunch of daredevil and totally committed young actors to bring their show to a wider audience. There’s something very satisfying about hearing an audience laugh, cheer and to then watch them leave the theatre with an enormous sense of elation. I have no doubt that this production will do the same.”

 

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and directed by Mark Bell, The Play That Goes Wrong is a highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned farce and Buster Keaton inspired slapstick delivered with split-second timing and ambitious daring. The play introduces The ‘Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ who are attempting to put on a 1920s’ murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong… does, as the accident prone thesps battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call.

Mischief Theatre was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. Recent winners of the Edinburgh Festival’s ‘Spirit of The Fringe’ Award, Mischief Theatre performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work. The recent success of The Play That Goes Wrong has put Mischief firmly in the spotlight, attracting international attention from theatre producers worldwide. The company is led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer. This is Mischief’s first No. 1 UK tour.

 

Director Mark Bell trained at Ecole Internationale de Theatre, Jacques Lecoq. Credits include: Endgame (BAC), On the Road to Baghdad (Sadler’s Wells), Amok, The Breeze and Backwash (Hoipolloi) and Get Out of Here (Commotion). He has taught and directed at LAMDA, CSSD and East 15 acting schools in the UK and at Cours Florent Paris, ITCA in Italy and Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

 

The Play That Goes Wrong is directed by Mark Bell, with designs by Nigel Hook, lighting by Ric Mountjoy and performed by Mischief Theatre members: Charlie Russell, Dave Hearn, Greg Tannahill, Henry Lewis, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer, Nancy Wallinger and Rob Falconer. The UK tour is produced by Kenny Wax Ltd and Stage Presence Ltd.

LISTINGS INFORMATION

THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
Tue 29 April – Sat 3 May 2014
Tue – Sat eve 7.30pm, Wed and Sat Matinees at 2.30pm
Tickets from £9.50 - £24.50