Iconic buildings and venues across Wales will light up in red this evening as part of a UK-wide day of action highlighting the urgent government help the sector needs during the Covid-19 crisis. The live events industry across the UK will come together in solidarity to host a series of creative action to help save the live events and entertainment sector which is on the verge of collapsing without financial support from the government. Hundreds of venues are expected to…

Wales Millennium Centre has announced that the venue will remain closed until at least January 2021, due to the devastating impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the theatre industry. Productions that have been cancelled or postponed include The Lion King, Welsh National Opera’s autumn season, The Book of Mormon and The Phantom of the Opera, which were all due to take place in the Centre’s 1,850 seat Donald  Gordon Theatre. Wales Millennium Centre’s annual international festival, Festival of Voice, will…

REVIEW OF ‘ON YOUR FEET’ – BY ALAN COULTHARD I must confess that ‘juke box musicals’ are a guilty pleasure of mine, although I know they are not to everyone’s taste. Broadly they fall into two types, firstly where the original artist uses the opportunity of a film or stage musical to perform songs from its catalogue. These date back to the 1940s and include films such as the Beatles ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ and ‘Spice World – The Movie’….

CLUB TROPICANA – WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE – 13 AUGUST 2019 By Alan Coulthard Most people love a good juke box musical and ‘Club Tropicana’ definitely comes into that category.  In fact, it is quite brilliant! What I like most is that, rather than use the lyrics and titles of the songs to progress the plot in the style of ‘Mamma Mia’ (which some would say is ‘artificial’ and ‘contrived’), in Club Tropicana the songs are weaved more naturally into the…

  “This timeless story of forbidden love, repressed emotions and teenage discovery is no better told than by the young.” First things first, this is Matthew Bourne’s Romeo + Juliet, and there are so many changes to the original version. Shakespeare scholars may question ‘why’ the story changes as Romeo and Juliet is supposed to be about power, corruption, gang violence, young love and tragic consequences, and the effects on the people that become trapped in that crossfire. So yes,…

Currently showing at the Wales Millennium Centre until the 27th April 2019 is the the musical production of The Bodyguard, which closely follows the plot of the the 1992 film starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner. Starring as Rachel Barron is Alexandra Burke, she who won The X-Factor, so her impeccable voice is never questionable but can a great singer actually act?! Yes she can, and that means both serious and comedic, timings were spot on too. She portrays the…

Performances for the Curious opens next month at Wales Millennium Centre with a new spring season of over 35 thought-provoking and joy-fuelled performances (15 March-17 May), adding to the already vibrant offer in Cardiff Bay. All shows are now on sale, with new play CLASS (1-4 May) coming to Wales for the first time to complete the season. CLASS is a parent-teacher meeting gone wrong and an explosive confrontation over learning difficulties, love and entitlement as two recently separated parents…

Currently showing until the 1st December at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff is the stage production of Saturday Night Fever. If you can recall, (those old enough to remember) that this film ‘only’ became a massive hit once the music was in the charts at the time, so it makes sense that Bill Kenwright’s production of Saturday Night Fever is all about the music, dancing, and with enough dialogue from the film to give the audience an idea of…

There will be one last chance to celebrate the Royal Air Force’s centenary when the RAF in Concert tour arrives in Cardiff this October for a special performance. The concert tour marks the end of a series of exciting events that have been staged around the UK this year serving to commemorate and celebrate the Royal Air Force as well as inspiring the next generation of Servicemen and women. The RAF in Concert tour, which reaches Wales Millennium Centre on…

    Following their World Tour, Flawless are back in the UK performing even more dynamic and creative dance routines like you have never seen before! Stars of the smash-hit movies Street Dance 3D 1 & 2 and two-time winners of the World Dance Championships, Flawless came to the fore on TV’s Britain’s Got Talent a few years ago and their popularity has continued to rise ever since. This fantastically high energy, acrobat-fused, FEEL GOOD, family show follows the journey…