The rest of Tyne and Wear
Only one production has been announced so far for The Exchange in North Shields, a one night only performance of The Big Time by Wayne Miller (2 October).
Playhouse Whitley Bay will present a number of rescheduled shows during the rest of the year, beginning with Friends the Musical Parody on 13 April. The musical comedy Girls Just Wanna Have Fun will be on 25 June and Horrible Histories; The Best of Barmy Britain will now be on 14 and 15 August and it will be followed (18 to 22 August) by the summer pantomime Treasure Island, starring Todd Carty.
Dirty Dusting returns on 1 October and this year’s panto, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, starring Steve Walls and Daniel Mawston, will run from 4 December to 2 January.
From the end of May, Sunderland Empire begins a full programme of shows, including School of Rock (7 to 12 June), Friends! The Musical Parody (18 July), Heathers The Musical (20 to 24 July), Waitress (25 to 30 October), 9 to 5 (9 to 13 November) and the return of The Rocky Horror Show, Chicago, Hairspray, Footloose and Mama Mia! Also returning is Riverdance and Ellen Kent with Madama Butterfly and Carmen.
Also lined up are The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (30 November to 4 December) and, less than a week later, the panto Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (10 December to 2 January) starring Miss Rory and Tom Whalley, the panto we were supposed to see in 2020.
At the Customs House in South Shields, the first theatre production (10 and 11 September) will be Our Laygate, a local story, and this will be followed on 3 October by the Russian National Ballet with The Nutcracker (2:30) and Swan Lake (7:30).
This year’s panto will be Rapunzel which will run from 24 November to 8 January.