Touring shows

Touring News – February 2020

Sandra Giorgetti looks at the tours that take to the road next month which includes more than the usual number of shows for younger audiences.

Touring News – January 2020

Sandra Giorgetti looks at the tours that take to the road next month including the first tour from Cardiff's The Other Room with a trio of dystopian dramas, a gender-swapped classic Faustus: That Damned Woman and the last of Luke Wright's trilogy The Remains of Logan Dankworth.

A Monster Calls at The Lowry

The UK tour of A Monster Calls comes to The Lowry in Salford.

Waitress service in Manchester

The first-ever UK and Ireland tour of Broadway and West End musical Waitress is coming to Manchester Opera House.

Monster attraction for Middleton

Frankenstein comes to Middleton Arena February 26–29.

Queer Lady M for Sale

1623 Theatre Company brings its new show Queer Lady M to Waterside, Sale, February 29 as part of a 2020 national tour.

Perfect Nonsense at the Dukes

Jeeves and Wooster turn up in Perfect Nonsense at The Dukes in Lancaster.

Curtains for Opera House

Joining Jason Manford when Curtains comes to Blackpool Opera House will be Ore Oduba as Aaron Fox.

Operatic triple treat for Chester

English Touring Opera returns to Storyhouse in Chester with Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Mozart’s Così fan tutte and the St John Passion by J S Bach.

A play of dance and protuberances

A new absurdist play by Peter Mortimer comes to Tyneside in March

Lost Happy Endings in Darlington starts tour

balletLORENT begins a national tour of The Lost Happy Endings at Darlington Hippodrome.

Quiz Night coming to a venue near you?

A UK tour of a new production, The Last Quiz Night on Earth, could be coming to a venue near you.

The Spine heads for UK tour

20 Stories High presents its latest production The Spine on a UK tour.

Paul Simon show homeward bound

A stage show celebrating the life and music of Paul Simon has more tour dates for 2020.

Girl power goes on tour

A new production of Emma Rice’s musical adaptation of Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers is set to tour.

RSC to present Wars of the Roses in Stratford

The Royal Shakespeare Company will stage all three parts of Henry VI in the Swan Theatre, Stratford as part of its winter 2020 season.

Love Never Dies tour includes Manchester

The first-ever UK tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies will play Manchester Opera House.

Monster of a writing challenge

A creative writing challenge has been launched alongside the UK tour of A Monster Calls.

Some Mothers tour for St Helens

Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em comes to St Helens Theatre Royal.

Peter Andre smoothes his way into Grease

Peter Andre will star—at certain venues—in the 2020 UK tour of Grease.

Guy musical returns to the region

Guy: A New Musical, that premièred in 2018, comes to the Waterside in Sale.

Dialling up a new Murder tour

A new production Dial M for Murder is touring the UK.

Ballet world première for Manchester

English National Ballet will create a new version of the classic 19th century ballet Raymonda to be given a world première in Manchester.

RSC to produce “miracle” play The Winter’s Tale

William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale “is not a problem play but a miracle of a play which turns and twists at lightning speed and with acute understanding of the human heart,” according to Erica Whyman who will direct it for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Rojo's first ballet in ENB season

English National Ballet artistic director Tamara Rojo's will direct and choreograph her first ballet, Raymonda, after Marius Petipa, which will première in Manchester before a UK tour.

Love Never Dies tour to start in Leicester

Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s follow-up to The Phantom of the Opera, is to go on its first UK tour and will open at Leicester’s Curve in September 2020.

Epic poem takes to the roads

Murray Lachlan Young tours his family theatre show and virtual reality experience The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps this spring.

National tour for graduate dancers

The UK’s original graduate dance company, Transitions Dance, presents an eclectic programme of new work.

Bourne's Nutcracker back at Lowry

Matthew Bourne’s take on The Nutcracker visits The Lowry, Salford.

Thriller homecoming for David

Manchester-born singer David Julien marks two years starring in Thriller Live in the West End by headlining the show in his home city, February 10–15.

Girls to have fun at Stafford before national tour

A “no holds barred comedy romp through everything life throws at a modern day woman”, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is to open at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre at the start of a national tour.

New musical tours the NE next week

Guy, a modern-day gay love story musical, tours the region from 3 to 8 February 2020.

Merseyside author's home gets blue plaque

The new stage production of Helen Forrester’s By The Waters Of Liverpool opens at the New Brighton Floral Pavilion in Wirral.

Women's soccer scores in new play

Mikron Theatre will be premièring Amanda Whittington’s new play Atalanta Forever which looks at the story of pioneering women in football.

Change at the top at NTC

Gillian Hambleton retires from Northumberland Theatre Company and her successor is named.

Louise Jameson to direct Hawdon's Revenge

A new production of Robin Hawdon's psychological thriller Revenge, presented by the Crime and Comedy Theatre Company, will open at Greenwich Theatre before touring nationally.

Ute Lemper's Manchester date for UK tour

Ute Lemper is to tour the UK with Ute Lemper: Rendezvous With Marlene.

Soap stars throw a Birthday Party

Tristan Gemmill and Michelle Collins to star in Harold Pinter's comedy The Birthday Party at The Lowry in Salford.

Buddy headed back to Lowry

Buddy—The Buddy Holly Story will celebrate its 30th anniversary year on a UK-wide tour.

Ghost Stories

Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson

The Marriage of Figaro

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte

My Mother Said I Never Should

Charlotte Keatley

Extraordinary Wall [of Silence]

The Company

The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel

Paul Hunter

Llyfr Glas Nebo

Manon Steffan Ros

Ten Times Table

Alan Ayckbourn

Les vêpres siciliennes

Giuseppe Verdi with libretto by Eugene Scribe

Green Door

Ann Brown

Guy the Musical

Story and lyrics by Leo Mercer, music by Stephen Hyde

Trojan Horse

Helen Monks and Matt Woodhead, translated by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense

The Goodale Brothers

The Strange Tale of Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel

Paul Hunter

I Think We Are Alone

Sally Abbott

Once

Music and lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová; book by Enda Walsh, bas...

Two Clowns, One Cup

Grace Gallagher and Crystal Quinney Barella

Ask Me Anything

Written by The Paper Birds with music and lyrics by Rosie Doonan

The Gift

Janice Okoh

Kneehigh's Ubu

Carl Grose, adapted from the original by Alfred Jarry

Blithe spirit

Noel Coward

Night of the Living Dead - Remix

What Happened to Agnes

Nishla Smith

My Night With Reg

Kevin Elyot

The Last Temptation of Boris Johnson

Jonathan Maitland

The Croft

Alli Milles

The Political history of Smack and Crack

Ed Edwards

Band of Gold

Kay Mellor

Once Upon A Time... The Misadventures Of The Brothers Grimm

Abigail Anderson, Seamus Allen, Mark Dawson and Lauren Silver

Curtains: A Musical Whodunnit

Book by Rupert Holmes, original book and concept by Peter Stone, music by Joh...

Ten Times Table

Alan Ayckbourn

God of Carnage

Yasmina Reza, translated by Christopher Hampton

Priscilla Queen of the Desert The Musical

Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott based on the Latent/Image Specific Films Moti...

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

James Hyland

The Book of Mormon

Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

Band of Gold

Kay Mellor

Ubu!

Carl Grose, adapted from the original by Alfred Jarry

The King and I

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II