Hello everyone and welcome back to our monthly blog. If this is your first time here then, welcome! Here we will be catching you up with all the new and interesting things we have been doing on and off the stage. This month we’ve had some fun things happen including performances at The Cavern, another youth theatre residential and the start of a new show. So let’s catch up!
Two Of Us
We started the month off with the beginning of rehearsals for Two Of Us. A stunning intimate concert performance of some of the iconic and brilliant hits by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. We welcomed back Tom Connor and Mark Newnham who took to rehearsals and prepared for a preview performance at The Cavern, which we are glad to say the customers there fully enjoyed. Back in the rehearsal room they were joined by the band that would be helping them deliver the amazing songs on stage. Joining them were Ben Gladwin on the keyboard, Greg Joy on drums, Adam Keast on bass and Mike Woodvine on guitar, all in the great hands and supervision of musical director Howard Gray.
Dress rehearsal for “Two of Us” a Lennon & McCartney at the Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool. Picture Jason Roberts
The team quickly took to the stage to begin the short but amazing run of the show. Here’s what some reviewers had to say.
“I could watch it again and again. Yes, it’s that good.” – Wirral Globe
“A must see… The show had the audience laughing, dancing, and reminiscing” – Liverpool Echo
“Phenomenal and is sure to delight fans of Lennon and McCartney… jaw-dropping performances.” – Daily Star
“The exceptional performances and outstanding musicianship, combined with the great direction, makes for an unforgettable experience that will warm the heart of any Beatles fan and be remembered for years to come.” – Hairy Photographer
Youth Residential
This month we took another trip to Barnstondale Centre with a different group of our youth theatre members for a 3 night residential. This whole trip was to engage the young members on a peer mentoring/ personal development programme. Similar to last time we spent the 4 days working on helping the young people build on their life and peer mentoring skills, helping them build up their confidence, raising self-esteem and enabling them to identify their own personal skills.
During this time away we explored many topics that the young people may now start to come across in life including communication, equality and diversity, body image/ self-esteem, choices and consequences, domestic abuse and trust. We use different methods to explore these themes and topics from group discussions to smaller group talks and presentation, set tasks and activities. We then include outdoor activities too, a nightline and a group obstacle course to complete. These particular activities help teach the group how to work together as a team as well as teaching them to trust each other.
Bingo Star Rehearsals
It has been a very busy month in the rehearsal room as we have had the start of rehearsals for brand new show, Bingo Star! This is a new show written by our very own Iain Christie, the master of marketing here at the Royal Court but this will be the first show he’s writing and after the read through, hopefully it won’t be the last. Directing this show will be Emma Bird who previously did a great job on our studio show Hey Bunny, Get Loose. Joining her to bring this show to life will be some Royal Court familiar faces, Keddy Sutton, Helen Carter, Alan Stocks and Paul Duckworth who have all been in some great productions in the past amazing year. They will also be joined by Paige Fenlon and Jonathan Markwood who we are excited to welcome to our stage. Now it’s time for all of them to work their magic and bring this show to life. Make sure you don’t miss this one, it’s going to be spectacular!
Join us again next month for another catch up!