Staffordshire Cover - March_cover 24/02/2014 14:30 Page 1 STAFFORDSHIRE WHAT’S ON WHAT’S STAFFORDSHIRE THE MIDLANDS ESSENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE STAFFORDSHIRE ISSUE 339 MARCH 2014 ’ JADE EWEN Whatwww.whatsonlive.co.uk sOnISSUE 339 MARCH 2014 EX-SUGABABE IN BEN ELTON MUSICAL INTERVIEW INSIDE... JACK WHITEHALL King of Comedy stops PART OF MIDLANDS WHAT’S ON MAGAZINE GROUP PUBLICATIONS GROUP MAGAZINE ON WHAT’S MIDLANDS OF PART off in the Midlands DEXTERS Indie rock band Recover at The Sugarmill EASTERN PROMISE Japan day brings the Orient to Stoke @WHATSONSTAFFS WWW.WHATSONLIVE.CO.UK @WHATSONSTAFFS Crewe Lyceum (OBC) Staffs - Feb_Layout 1 27/01/2014 18:31 Page 1 Contents- Region Two - March_Layout 1 24/02/2014 13:16 Page 1 March 2014 Editor: Davina Evans INSIDE: [email protected] 01743 281708 Editorial Assistants: Jade Ewen Brian O’Faolain [email protected] in Rod Stewart musical 01743 281701 interview p6 Lauren Foster [email protected] 01743 281707 Adrian Parker [email protected] 01743 281714 Sales & Marketing: Jon Cartwright [email protected] 01743 281703 Chris Horton [email protected] 01743 281704 Subscriptions: Adrian Parker [email protected] 01743 281714 Singin’ In The Rain Managing Director: Maxwell Caulfield stars... Paul Oliver [email protected] interview p6 01743 281711 Publisher and CEO: Martin Monahan [email protected] 01743 281710 Graphic Designers: Lisa Wassell Chris Atherton Accounts Administrator Julia Perry King of Comedy - Jack Whitehall back in Birmingham, preview page 22 [email protected] 01743 281717 Website Development: Jim Pallett TO GET THE VERY Charlie F. Contributors: p4 drama explores the effects Graham Bostock: Theatre LATEST LISTING News James Cameron-Wilson: of wartime injury p10 Film; Anita Champaneri: INFORMATION, Eating Out; Music p13 Alev Dervish: Music VISIT: Eva Easthope, Kate whatsonlive.co.uk Evans, Jessica Aston, Comedy p22 Patsy Moss, Jack Rolfe, INCLUDING Jan Watts, Reggie White BOOKING ONLINE Theatre p25 Head Office: 13-14 Abbey Foregate, The Midlands’ most Shrewsbury, SY2 6AE comprehensive p40 Tel: 01743 281777 entertainment website Dance e-mail: [email protected] Follow us on... Film/DVD p43 This publication is Visual Arts p53 printed on paper from a sustainable source and is March 2014 produced without the use Birmingham p57 of elemental chlorine. @whatsonbrum Events MTWTFSS We endorse the recycling Warwickshire 1 2 of our magazine and @whatsonwarwicks p65 would encourage you to Eating Out 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 pass it on to others to Worcester read when you have @whatsonworcs 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 finished with it. facebook.com/whatsonlive 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 What’sOn 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 All works appearing in this publication are copyright. It is to be assumed that the copyright for material rests with the magazine unless MAGAZINE GROUP otherwise stated. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or stored in an electronic system, transmitted in any form or by any 31 means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recording or otherwise, without the prior knowledge and consent of the publishers. News March region two_Layout 1 24/02/2014 15:59 Page 1 News A ROUND-UP OF LOCAL AND NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Celebrating the Black Country Dudley’s Council has announced that a new Black Country Day will take place on 14 July. Plans to celebrate the occasion with a festi- val of activities are well under way, with local musician Garry Sawers (Black Country Gaz) tasked with leading the community involve- ment. Celebrations are planned over two weekends from 6 July, with live music, com- edy, food & drink and arts & crafts events taking centre-stage in various parts of the region. Garry is currently asking anyone who might be interested in getting involved to get in touch. Musicians, artists, street entertain- ers, jugglers, stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, poets and dancers all have a part to play in what should be a memorable first event, so if you’re one of the above - or affiliated to a business, charity, community group or enter- tainment venue that would like to take part - visit www.blackcountryfestival.co.uk for more Cape Town Opera brings Show Boat to Brum information. Following a much-acclaimed production of Porgy & Bess at Birmingham Hippodrome in 2012, Cape Town Opera is returning to the venue this July with a new version of Show Boat. Based on Edna Ferber's novel of the same name, Show Boat is one of America’s oldest musi- cals. Premiered on Broadway in 1927, it tells the story of the old American south by following the lives of performers, stagehands and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River Show Boat. After kicking off its four-date UK tour at the Hippodrome from 2 to 5 July, the show then visits The Lowry, Salford, from 8 to 12 July; Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 22 to 26 July; and Dublin’s Bord Gais Energy Theatre, 29 July to 2 August. Commenting on Cape Town Opera’s return to Birmingham, Stuart Griffiths, Chief Executive of Birmingham Hippodrome, said: “We’re very excited to be opening the first ever UK tour of Black Country Gaz Cape Town Opera’s Show Boat here at the Hippodrome in July. This is part of the theatre’s ongoing ambition to bring the city the best in international performance from the finest com- Bikers invited to get their panies across the world. It’s another hugely busy and exciting year for us, with visits by inter- national companies in the spring for our Dance Festival, from St Petersburg’s Mariinsky motors running... Opera in the autumn for The Ring Cycle, and now, with this return visit after their great suc- More than two thousand bikers are this cess with Porgy & Bess, Cape Town Opera performing once again in Birmingham.” Spring expected to take part in a twenty- three-mile ride-out from Meole Brace in Shrewsbury to the RAF Museum Cosford, as Art showcase for South Jersey Boys out on tour part of the 2014 Bike4Life Fest. Shropshire One of the West End’s most successful The 27 April event is taking place in support musicals embarks on its first ever UK tour of two local charities - the Midlands Air A brand new event is taking place in South later this year, stopping off at two Midlands Ambulance and the Royal Air Force Shropshire this Spring. The Shropshire Hills venues along the way. The multi-award-win- Museum. Organised in collaboration with the Art Week is aimed at encouraging artists and ning Jersey Boys uses a documentary-style Safer Roads Partnership and West Mercia makers to open their studios to the general format to present the story of Frankie Valli Police, this year’s event is supported by public, and to exhibit work which showcases And The Four Seasons, and features numer- radio station Planet Rock, which also hosts the area’s landscape and wildlife. ous iconic hits, including Sherry, Big Girls the live music stage. The event takes place at various yet-to-be- Don’t Cry and My Eyes Adored You. The Promising plenty to entertain non-bikers, disclosed venues from 31 May to 8 June. Jersey Boys shows at the Regent Theatre, Bike4Life Fest features trade stands, bike We’ll keep you posted... Stoke-on-Trent, from Tuesday 28 October to dealers and arena displays. Saturday 8 November, and at the New Seeking poets in Lichfield... Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, from Tuesday 9 December to Saturday 3 January. The Lichfield Poets, a group formed in 2006 Tickets for both dates are now on sale. for likeminded wordsmiths, is inviting fellow poets to submit entries for a new competi- tion. Poems can be on any topic and in any style. They should be in English (or English dialect) and not have been published or accepted for publication elsewhere, includ- ing online publications. Since its formation, the Lichfield Poets group has contributed to the Lichfield Mysteries, the Lichfield Festival, and performed at the Lichfield Garrick. For further information on details, rules, reg- ulations and information, email [email protected] 4 www.whatsonlive.co.uk News March region two_Layout 1 24/02/2014 15:59 Page 2 Birmingham gallery takes art into the Black Country Arts Council England has awarded Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery £210,000 to enable it to take art into the Black Country - by boat! Part of a three-year programme, Black Country Voyages will see Ikon’s Slow Boat travel along the region’s industrial canal routes - from Smethwick to Stourbridge, Sedgley to West Bromwich and Birchills to Aldridge. Along the way, the boat will host various art-led activities, including workshops and performances. Those lucky enough to encounter Slow Boat on its journey will be invited to get involved by contributing thoughts and ideas, and in so doing may influence the development of the programme. The funding has been awarded as part of Arts Council England’s £45million Strategic Touring programme. Ed Vere Theatre to sponsor local football team Festival of stories coming to Ironbridge museums this Easter A celebration of children’s literature takes place at two of Ironbridge Gorge’s museums this Lichfield’s Garrick Theatre has announced a Easter. The Ironbridge Pop Up - a free one-day event - aims to bring ‘children and families new partnership with Lichfield City Football together to enjoy and participate in stories by creating a magical event where play, experi- Club. The sponsorship deal, which initially ment, creativity and collaboration are celebrated’. lasts a year, will see the theatre provide Fantasy author Sarwat Chadda’s Marvel Comics-inspired interpretations of classic myths will brand new kits for the club’s under-fourteen be told through roaming performances and monster puppets, while novelist Julia Golding’s team, and is just one of a number of local Arthurian Pavillion will feature medieval gameshows, knights, minstrels, and the legendary youth projects with which the Garrick is Round Table.