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Underbelly Festival Southbank 2019 Line-Up: First 74 Acts Announced

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Underbelly Festival Southbank 2019 Line-Up: First 74 Acts Announced UNDERBELLY FESTIVAL SOUTHBANK 2019 LINE-UP: FIRST 74 ACTS ANNOUNCED • 5 April - 29 September 2019, Southbank London SE1 8XX • First headliners confirmed: legendary circus show A Simple Space, Edinburgh FestiVal smash Little Death Club & Drag sensation YUMMY • Podcast Live: a new season brings the hottest new podcasts to the stage • Family Fest runs throughout Easter, featuring: The Gruffalo, The Witch and The Warthog with Julia Donaldson, The Wind in the Willows & Monstersaurus • Underbelly FestiVal Lates: A twist on the classic Big Night Out from Massaoke, Cocoa Butter Club, Blunderland & Silent Disco Show • London Comedy Allstars: a brand-new mixed bill spectacular featuring the likes of Ed Gamble, Josie Long & John Robins Tickets for these shows are on sale today (Thursday 24th January) exclusively via Today Tix and on general sale from Monday 28th January Underbelly FestiVal Southbank - Central London’s home of affordable live entertainment - today announces the first 74 acts of a 2019 line-up which features four new programming strands, as well as its first three headline shows. Opening The Belly theatre, Gravity & Other Myths’ legendary Southbank headliner returns with an all-new cast; the awe-inspiring array of acrobatics, athleticism, games and utterly unique talents known as A Simple Space. Opening the Paradiso Spiegeltent is the London premiere of one of the most successful shows of this year’s Edinburgh Festivals, Bernie Dieter’s Little Death Club: a spectacular cabaret variety show with an all-star line-up of punks, freaks and weirdos from across the globe. Following this will be YUMMY - another breakout smash of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe this drag extravaganza is an explosion of dazzling costumes, electrifying dance, gasp-inducing performance and filthy humour which makes your average episode of Ru Paul look like an Amish funeral. Running alongside these spectacular headliners Underbelly Festival’s new programming model will include a new two-week season Podcast Live which will bring a huge range of the funniest, most fascinating, agenda-settingest podcasts out there to the stage, including one of the most varied, fun, challenging and popular, the woman’s lifestyle sensation Standard Issue which comes to Underbelly live as In Conversation with Standard Issue, A Gay and a non-Gay where two friends offer a hilarious insight into our differences and similarities, celebrated comedians Mark Watson & Sofie Hagen setting the world to rights, Irish sketch comedy, YouTube and podcasting sensations Dreamgun, acclaimed dark audio sitcom about rival funeral directors Wooden Overcoats and a showcase of the Best of the British Podcasting Awards with more to be announced. Underbelly Festival’s biggest family programme ever will kick off with Family Fest – running throughout the Easter Holidays - which includes the acclaimed adaptation of The Gruffalo, The Witch and The Warthog in which live readings from author Julia Donaldson bring her stories to life within a spectacular theatrical world. Other classic children’s tales gracing the Southbank stage include the mega hit Monstersaurus and a new theatrical adaptation of The Wind in the Willows. On top of this spectacular theatre, this year’s family programme includes the ultimate family singalong Massaoke for Kids, the original adult and baby mixed bill comedy Screaming With Laughter and the wildly popular Fun Kids Radio Hour. This year’s comedy programme includes solo shows from John Robbins, Vikki Stone, Mark Watson, Abandoman and Fin Taylor as well as the launch of London Comedy Allstars, a brand-new mixed bill running each Saturday in the Belly theatre with top names set to appear including Ed Gamble, Josie Long, John Robins, Felicity Ward, Jen Brister, Rachel Parris, Phil Wang, Pierre Novellie, Jayde Adams, Ahir Shah, Dane Baptiste, Rosie Jones and many many more. For those looking for a Big Night Out (BNO) with a twist, Underbelly Lates bring together live entertainment, clubbing and a famously buzzing festival atmosphere with a series of unique events including karaoke with a mob mentality in Massaoke, Cocoa Butter Club – the cabaret-variety show made by people of colour where comedy, circus, burlesque and drag are set down neo-soul, R&B and Disco, The Silent Disco Show the only show to mix silent disco with live performance, Blunderland – the legendary mixed-bill cabaret whose previous performers have included Le Gateau Chocolat, Lady Rizo, Empress Stah and Fancy Chance, and Southbank institution Marcel Lucont’s Cabaret Fantastique. Now in its 11th year on the Southbank in the heart of the world’s cultural capital, Underbelly Festival has become a staple of London’s live entertainment scene – the original, biggest and best pop-up festival providing world class performance at affordable prices across two distinctive and atmospheric venues, a sumptuous array of street food and drinks, and some of London’s finest outdoor bars. Underbelly directors Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood said: “After celebrating a decade on the Southbank last year we’ve looked at ways to keep our programme fresh and surprising, while always retaining Underbelly Festival’s ethos of high-quality entertainment at an affordable price. We’re delighted to be able to announce three first class and totally distinctive headliners which do exactly that. “We’re also bringing a wider and higher quality range of family shows than ever before - starting with a jam-packed Easter holiday, producing our own comedy nights which will bring the largest ever collection of the best comedians in the business to the Southbank, bringing some of London’s most unique nights out to life, and - in Podcast Live – creating a platform specifically to put this brilliant (and still-growing) artform on stage for the first time at the festival.” As part of the exclusive Today Tix pre-sale, tickets for every show will be available from just £13. www.todaytix.com | www.underbellyfestival.com | Or Via the Today Tix App For media enquiries please contact Gregor Cubie at Borkowski: [email protected] | 0203 176 2700 ENDS IMAGES: www.dropbox.com/sh/z4Vw1ccdwsd7Vph/AADw_N4iI3sJrBJbnnyqP916a?dl=0 Site images photo credit David Jensen: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/spn2t6an81ikrw1/AABau3MAUiLjsLqN0gxo30c2a?d l=0 NOTES TO EDITORS Underbelly FestiVal 6 April – 30 September Southbank, London, SE1 8XX www.underbellyfestival.com @UnderbellyFest | www.facebook.com/UnderbellyFestiVal | INSTA: underbellyfest About Underbelly Underbelly is a UK based live entertainment company. Their events and festivals division is one of the largest operations at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, selling over 460,000 tickets for over 200 shows, in 22 venues over 25 days in 2018. 2018 was the sixth year Underbelly produced Edinburgh’s Christmas for City of Edinburgh Council (2017/18 saw a record breaking 781,520 tickets issued to visitors from 47 different countries), and the second year of producing Edinburgh’s Hogmanay also on behalf of City of Edinburgh Council, which in 2017-18 welcomed 160,000 over 3 days. 2019 marks the eleventh year of Underbelly Festival on the Southbank - one of the biggest multi-arts offerings in London - with over 100 shows programmed over 6 months on the South Bank. Underbelly also produces Christmas in Leicester Square, Udderbelly Festival in Hong Kong, West End Live in Trafalgar Square for Westminster City Council and the Society of London Theatre. Underbelly Productions is the theatrical arm of Underbelly, presenting, producing and promoting a diverse programme of international work. In 2017, in association with Cameron Mackintosh, they produced a major revival of the classic musical Five Guys Named Moe, which ran for 30 weeks at the purpose-built Marble Arch Theatre. This scorching production garnered rave reviews and was nominated for 3 Whats On Stage Awards (including Best Musical Revival) and as Best Entertainment and Family at the 2018 Olivier Awards. In 2017 they were also Associate Producers on the UK Premiere of the musical Big Fish starring Kelsey Grammar, which enjoyed a sold-out Christmas run at The Other Palace. As part of the 2018 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Don’t Tell Me Not to Fly a one-woman cabaret featuring a revolving cast of some of the West End’s favourite leading ladies premiered in the 900- seat McEwan Hall. In 2018 Underbelly sold over 1.5 million tickets to their various events. About TodayTix TodayTix is a global ticketing platform connecting audiences to live performances around the world. Through effortless access to the best prices, insightful guidance to the top shows and thoughtful service at each moment along the way, TodayTix enables people to discover the best that their city has to offer. Operating in the world’s most iconic arts markets, TodayTix secures the best discounted and premium-priced tickets available for the shows everyone is talking about in New York City, London’s West End, Toronto, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Seattle, Philadelphia, Connecticut, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Melbourne, Australia. Since launching TodayTix in New York City in December 2013 by life-long friends and Broadway producers Merritt Baer and Brian Fenty, the company has quickly amassed partnerships with more than 1,200 arts institutions globally. To learn more, visit www.todaytix.com or download TodayTix for iOS or Android. SHOW LISTINGS (ALPHABETICAL) A Gay and A Non-Gay Genre: Podcast Date: 8 June Time: 5pm (6pm) Venue: The Spiegeltent Ticket Prices: £12.50 (£11) A
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