Special events will include an evening performance of The Mikado by The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company preceded by music from Utopia Limited, who opened the Grand in December 1894 and a specially commissioned performance of Zeppelin Dreams presented by English Touring Opera premiering at the Grand theatre from Thurs 20 – Fri 21 March.
Musical Highlights
Following major West End and Broadway roles in Tell Me on a Sunday, Chicago, Rent: Remixed and Legally Blonde, Denise Van Outen’s new one-woman play Some Girl I Used To Know will stop off at Wolverhampton Grand for a strictly limited run this February as part of an 11 date national tour. Co-written by Terry Ronald with musical supervision by Kylie Minogue’s long-term musical collaborator, Steve Anderson, this uplifting look at modern womanhood set to the songs of the 80s and 90s follows high-flying wife and career girl; Stephanie Canworth on a musical journey down memory lane in a show which marks Denise’s first ever appearance on tour in the UK.
Other newly announced musical highlights include the foot-stomping 80s dance classic; Fame touring to Wolverhampton from Mon 3 – Sat 8 March and feel-good rock ‘n’ roll phenomenon; Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story which returns to Wolverhampton after topping the feel-good chart with Black Country audiences back in April 2011.
Casting Announcements 2014
Stirring up suspense from Mon 3 – Sat 8 Feb BAFTA-nominated actor Robert Powell (Jesus of Nazareth) takes on the role of Belgium’s favourite amateur detective Poirot in a thrilling new staging of Agatha Christie’s Black Coffee. Marking the 30th anniversary of the 1984 Miners’ Strike Brookside regular John McArdle joins the cast of Damian Cruden’s rousing new adaptation of the classic British comedy Brassed Off from Tues 8 – Sat 12 April; and looking ahead to swinging Summer, Emmerdale heartthrob Ben Freeman takes on the ‘The Fonz’ in Garry Marshall’s feel-good musical hit Happy Days from Mon 9 – Sat 14 June also starring former Sugababe Heidi Range as Pinky Tuscadero and 80s pop-icon Cheryl Baker as Mrs Cunningham.
Family Shows
Reaching new heights of calamity this Spring, family favourites The Chuckle Brothers return in an all new intergalactic adventure Space Oddity on Saturday 19 April whilst young theatre goers can look forward to a ‘splashing’ afternoon of games, storytelling and song in Peppa Pig’s brand-new live stage show; Peppa Pig’s Big Splash from Sat 31 May – Sun 1 June. Schools can look forward to a bewitching brew of storytelling, music and song with the return of Shakespeare 4 Kidz Macbeth on Wed 22 January.
Drama & Comedy Highlights
For lovers of spine-tingling drama, Middle Ground Theatre Company return for the fifth consecutive year with a chilling double-bill of vintage mystery in Classic Ghosts from Wed 12 – Sat 15 Feb starring distinguished stage actor Jack Shepherd, best known for his portrayal of Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe in the hit ITV television series Wycliffe. Wolverhampton Grand is thrilled to play host to Amnesty award-winning drama The Two World of Charlie F from Wed 26 – Sat 29 March – an uncompromising and powerfully authentic account of service, injury and rehabilitation as seen through the eyes of British servicemen and women.
Whipping up laughs aplenty from Mon 17 – Sat 19 Feb, Britain’s biggest and best-selling theatrical send-up Fifty One Shades of Maggie explodes onto the Grand stage for a (very) strict-ly limited run this Spring and, fresh from starring roles in Calendar Girls and Birds of A Feather, Grand Theatre favourite Lesley Joseph returns to turn up the heat in laugh-out-loud musical comedy Hot Flush on Sat 22 March.
Dance, Opera and Amateur Shows
Following on from their critically acclaimed visit back in May 2013, English Touring Opera return with two magical new operas for 2014; Britten’s enigmatic masterpiece Paul Bunyan (Mon 17 March) and Mozart’s final fantasy The Magic Flute (Tues 18 March). Looking ahead to Summer, The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company make their Grand theatre debut with a triple-bill of operatic classics which include The Pirates of Penzance (Tues 24 – Wed 25 June) Iolanthe (Thurs 25 – Fri 26 June) and The Mikado on Saturday 28 June. A special evening performance of The Mikado will mark the 120th Anniversary of the laying of the Grand’s foundation stone in 1894.
Percussive dance meets high-energy acrobatics in the visually thrilling Tap Factory from Mon 14 – Tues 15 April. Recreating the drama, dynamism and flare of international figure-skating live on stage, Olympic Champion and head judge of ITVs Dancing on Ice Robin Cousins directs ICE: The Skating Experience from Wed 23 – Sun 27 April.
Newly announced amateur shows include Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company’s Grease from Tues 11 – Sat 15 March and, back in the habit following their eye-popping performance in The Full Monty earlier this Autumn, West Bromwich Operatic Society present Alan Menken’s divine musical comedy Sister Act from Tues 13 – Sat 17 May.
Community Opera
Following the success of A House On The Moon 2007, English Touring Opera in collaboration with the Grand Theatre and Wolverhampton Music Education Hub present the world premiere of Zeppelin Dreams from Thurs 20 – Fri 21 March. Telling the compelling true story of how a Zeppelin airship bound for Liverpool dropped its bombs on Wolverhampton after becoming lost in the fog, this city-wide collaboration will see ETO professionals work alongside up to150 local people from nine separate community groups to help write, stage and finally perform a full-scale opera created for the people of Wolverhampton by the people of Wolverhampton.
One Night Concerts
Newly announced one night shows this Spring include returning favourites The Solid Silver Sixties Show (Sun 30 March), Beyond The Barricade (Sun 13 April), The Glenn Miller Orchestra (Sun 18 May) and feel-good sensation The Magic Of Motown (Sun 13 July). Spanning four decades of the Brothers Gibb, Nights on Broadway; The Bee Gees Story visits the Grand on Fri 24 Jan. Bringing a touch of Las Vegas glamour to Wolverhampton The Rat Pack Is Back makes its all-singing, all-swinging Grand theatre debut on Sun 23 February starring David Alacey (Lovejoy), Des Coleman (Eastenders), Paul Drakeley (Inside Out) and Kenny Lynch. Panto favourites Keith Harris and Orville lead an all-star variety line-up in This Is Music Hall on Wed 28 May. Fresh from his appearance in Sleeping Beauty 2013, Ceri Dupree returns for one hysterical night only with his 1 man, 21 woman extravaganza The Faaaabulous Ceri Dupree Show on Sun 6 April and folk-rock legend Joan Armatrading has chosen to visit Wolverhampton for one night only on Sun 26 Oct in her first ever solo concert tour.
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