Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat will return to The London Palladium for a strictly limited season this summer.

Jason Donovan will return as the roof-raising Pharaoh, whilst Jac Yarrow is once again taking on the title character which won him critical acclaim and a 2020 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Alexandra Burke will be joining the Joseph cast as The Narrator in the smash-hit sensation this summer.

Linzi Hateley – who starred in the original Palladium production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat – will make a sensational return as The Narrator in special performances this summer. Click here for more information.

Released as a concept album in 1969, the stage version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has become one of the worlds most beloved family musicals. The multi-award-winning show, which began life as a small scale school concert, has been performed hundreds of thousands of times including multiple runs in the West End and on Broadway, international number one tours, and productions in over 80 countries.

VENUE The London Palladium - Argyll Street, London W1F 7TF

TICKETS From £15.00 – No fees

RUNNING TIME Approx. 2 hours (incl. interval)

GALA NIGHT Thursday 15 July 2021, 7pm

THE MUSICAL PHENOMENON RETURNS - Wicked The Musical

Wicked, the West End and Broadway musical phenomenon that tells the incredible untold story of the Witches of Oz, will return to London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre later this year, with performances resuming on Wednesday 15 September 2021. 

Tickets for this booking period, which runs through to Sunday 22 May 2022, go on sale at 10am on Monday 17 May 2021. Wicked will play a Tuesday-Sunday performance schedule, with matinees on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Visit www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk for all information.

Wicked will mark its 15th anniversary at the Apollo Victoria Theatre later in the year and will host a celebratory performance on Tuesday 28 September 2021.

The music and lyrics in Wicked are by the legendary composer Stephen Schwartz (whose enduringly popular musical Godspell celebrates its 50th Anniversary on 17 May 2021), with a book by Winnie Holzman (creator of the landmark American television series My So-Called Life). It is based on Gregory Maguire’s multi-million-copy bestseller, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Soon to celebrate its 15th Anniversary in the West End, the iconic musical has already been seen by over 10 million people in London alone and played almost 6000 performances. Winner of over 100 major international awards, including three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy Award and ten theatregoer-voted WhatsOnStage Awards (including three for ‘Best West End Show’), Wicked is already the 9th longest-running West End musical of all time. 

Michael McCabe, Executive Producer (UK) of Wicked said today: “Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman’s wondrous musical version of Gregory Maguire’s darkly brilliant fable is an allegory for, and of, our times. After the challenging year faced by everyone in our company, we are grateful to them for their resilience and patience and delighted that we can, at last, get back to telling this extraordinary story again. We look forward to audiences returning to Oz and to creating more unforgettable memories for everyone.”

The huge and enduring success of Wicked in London has seen the musical become a fundamental component in the cultural ecology of Victoria, playing a pivotal role in the health of the area’s leisure and hospitality landscape. Wicked draws in audiences from across the UK (as well as internationally) and helps to ensure Victoria remains an outstanding cultural destination The full cast will be confirmed at a later date. 

Wicked has music and lyrics by multi-Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy Award winner Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, The Prince of Egypt; Disney’s Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Enchanted) and is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and adapted for the stage by Winnie Holzman. Musical staging is by Tony Award-winner Wayne Cilento with direction by two-time Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello. 

All future performances will take place under Step 4 of UK Government protocols (all legal limits on social contact removed). Each performance will operate in full compliance with any Government and/or industry COVID-19 safety guidelines as applicable.

www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

Tickets on sale at 10am on 17 May 2021

Performances resume on 15 September 2021

including Sunday matinees 

The Apollo Victoria Theatre, Wilton Road, London SW1V 1LG

Official UK website: www.WickedTheMusical.co.uk

Twitter: @WickedUK  |  Facebook: /WickedUK  |  Instagram: @WickedUK

Notting Hill's Instagrammable Locations

As it’s Easter weekend we decided to get out and about and explore Notting hill in London,
well known for the Notting hill carnival, portobello road market and its amazing instagrammable locations. We caught the central line tube to Holland Park station and within a short eight-minute walk we arrived at the much loved photographed spot of Stanley crescent.

Stanley Crescent is well known and photographed location due to its blooming pink blossom tree, it was a very busy location with influencers dressed in impressive tutus and pink dresses trying to capture that perfect shot, we could see why people would travel to this location and it was stunning, with the large white house and the contrast of the pink blossoms what wasn't there to like, an amazing corner of London to strike that pose. A frequented location for those wanting to a small oasis of beauty in the middle of London. 

We then made our way to portobello road on our route we passed some stunning homes full of colourful facades which defiantly deserved to be photographed, a must-have capture is outside Alice’s antique shop which was used as a film location for Mr Gruber's antique shop in the movie Paddington Bear 2. 

We headed to Denbigh Terrace here you will find an array of beautiful pastel homes which is great to capture those much-loved insta worthy shots.  Our next destination was Kensington park road when we stopped to buy a Jolly Ginger at Biscuiteers, a much-loved treat in our family, but often we order online so it was great to actually visit the shop in person. Biscuiteers is a beautiful looking shop both inside and out so defiantly worth a visit.

Our final destination of the morning was Luke Mews, here we bumped into a couple of lovely ladies who were also taking pictures, she kindly offered to capture us outside this stunning row of houses, we simply couldn't refuse.

Luke Mews is known for the stunning pink house. Notting Hill has so many amazing places that every photographer would love to capture and most Instagram influencers would be more delighted to share on their feed. We recommended going early morning to avoid the crowds and take a slow walk around the streets, these are just some of the locations, but if you explore you will certainly find more.

Peggy Porschen - king's Road

We were super excited to head down to the King's Road in Chelsea to Peggy Porschen. Peggy Porchen is every influencer's dream with its instagramable pink and floral facade and gorgeous looking cakes.

On arrival, we did what most would and that was to pose for some pictures amongst the floral decor. Once inside we were overwhelmed by the colourful selection of cupcakes and cookies. We opted for two cupcakes from the Easter Collection, an Easter Egg Chocolate Cupcake and a Hoppy Bunny Carrot Cupcake.

Easter Egg Chocolate Cupcake: This chocolate sponge cupcake comes complete with a large swirl of chocolate buttercream topped with a speckled praline egg and fondant sugar flower and leaf.

Our Verdict - The cake had a generous helping of tasty chocolate buttercream, the cake was moist and chocolaty with a light fluffy texture, it was very moreish I enjoyed every single bite, although it was quite pricey, but the presentation and taste made it worth every penny.

Cost £5.50

Hoppy Bunny Carrot Cupcake: A carrot and walnut sponge cupcake, topped with a swirl of lemon cheese frosting, decorated with a fondant sugar bunny, mini carrot, flower blossom, leaf and a mini chocolate egg.

Our Verdict - Once again the sponge cupcake was moist, light and flavoursome as I would expect a carrot cake to be, there were delicate pieces of walnut and carrot throughout, the frosting was sweet with a subtle hint of lemon. The cupcake was absolutely delicious a real treat. Once again a little on the pricy side, but you are paying for a tasty quality seasonal treat. 

Cost £6.00

Easter Cookies: Shortbread vanilla cookies, decorated with a rolled sugar paste fondant with piped icing detailing.

Our Verdict - How could we resist these cute cookies, we purchased two as there was no way we were going to share one, each cookie cost £8.95 which is slightly more than we would have liked to pay, but we appreciated the hand-decorated detail and presentation, the actual cookie was thick crumbly and soft and tasted really good.

Cost £8.95

Overall - We would defiantly return to Peggy Porschen again, Peggy Porschen is an experience that everyone should have a least once in their lifetime. 

Chi Chi London

When I was asked if I would like to try a Chi Chi London dress from their bridesmaid's collection, I jumped at the chance, I have purchased a couple of Chi-Chi London dresses in the past and always loved their design styles, they are high quality and the maxi length dresses are the perfect fit and length for my 5ft 7in height and size 12 frame. Choosing any Chi Chi dress is always easy, as they have so many beautiful styles available in a range of adorable colours sizes.

I opted for this Laced Bridesmaid Maxi Dress in Blue with open back detail.

 

The dress has long soft laced full-length sleeves and lace detailing which extends across the bodice of the dress, it has a  silk band on the waist followed by a finely pleated skirt which giving the dress an elegant flowing appearance, it's a maxi length which is perfect for me.

I felt like a princess in this gorgeous dress, the colour is an amazing light baby blue and the fit is true to size. I now own three Chi Chi dresses and have recently purchased another one for the summer. Chi Chi London has a gorgeous range of Cocktail, Prom, Evening and Maxi Dresses as well as accessories and shoes to help you complete your perfect outfit. check out www.chichiclothing.com to see this dress and more, along with their entire Bridesmaid Dresses range www.chichiclothing.com/wedding-hub.

Chocface - Edible Chocolate Images

We both adore Chocolate and taking selfies, so imagine our delight we learnt we could combine the two using ChocFACE. ChocFACE allows you to turn any image into a box of edible chocolate photos, the hard part is selecting the images you want to eat, but after some deliberation, we chose our photos and placed our online order and within a few days they arrived.

The Chocolates came in a cute red box, inside are six individual chocolate photos five small and one large, the images are made using edible food colouring, the images are clear and crisp just like a real photo, each image is printed onto a thin layer of white chocolate which then sits on a thick Belgian milk chocolate base. 

We loved that you can customise your chocolates with a name or message making them extra special and personal.

Our Verdict - Absolutely loved ChocFACE, this cute little box of edible images made our day, it's such a wonderful gift to give and receive, so much so, we certainly will be using Chocface in the near future, there is something always quite special of giving a personal gift like this. ChocFACE costs £14.95 for a personal unique gift we think it's worth every penny. 

Check out chocFACE.com to create your own personalised box of chocolates.

Hayward Gallery To Re-Open: New Events At The Southbank Centre

The Southbank Centre today announces that the Hayward Gallery will reopen on 19 May, with two much-anticipated, solo exhibitions by Matthew Barney and Igshaan Adams. The announcement comes as a new slate of events for Inside Out, an online season of music and literature are released. This next instalment of the popular digital series will see the Southbank Centre’s Resident Orchestras performing at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, marking the first time the much-loved venue has been open since it closed last March due to Covid-19. 

The orchestras are joined by a roster of leading international artists, including conductors Ben Gernon, Enrique Mazzola, Fabien Gabel, Robin Ticciati, Rory MacDonald, Ryan Bancroft and Sir Mark Elder and soloists Alexandra Dariescu, Denis Kozhukhin, Paul Lewis, Pavel Kolesnikov and Steven Isserlis. A further series of Inside Out events will be announced in the coming weeks. The Southbank Centre’s reopening plans will then be announced in due course, subject to government guidance.  

 

Hayward Gallery - Matthew Barney: Redoubt 

19 May – 25 July 2021

From 19 May through 25 July 2021 the Hayward Gallery presents Matthew Barney: Redoubt, an exhibition of the renowned artist and filmmaker’s latest body of work. The exhibition, the artist’s first major museum show in the UK in over a decade, presents a group of monumental sculptures, and more than forty engravings and electroplated copper plates. Also included is the UK premiere of Barney’s new eponymous film, a ‘breathtakingly beautiful’ chronicle that explores the complex relationships between humans, and the natural world. Set in the sublime wintry landscape of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountain range, the feature-length film intertwines themes of artistic creation in a contemporary reworking of the classical myth of Diana and Actaeon. Redoubt presents a major new direction in Barney’s practice, and advances his notable shift in materials over the past decade, from the plastic and petroleum jelly of his earlier works to the cast metals that figured prominently in River of Fundament, 2014. With Redoubt, Barney combines traditional casting methods and new digital technologies in an unprecedented way to create artworks of formal and material complexity as well as narrative density. The four large-scale sculptures in the exhibition derive from trees harvested from a burned forest in the Sawtooth Mountains. Formed out of molten copper and brass, the unique casts incorporate enlarged militarised elements, giving the sculptures a hybridised aesthetic that is both imposing and intricate.

Matthew Barney: Redoubt was originally organised by the Yale University Art Gallery. 

Please find the full press release for Matthew Barney: Redoubt HERE.

 

Igshaan Adams - Kicking Dust

19 May – 25 July 2021

In May 2021, the Hayward Gallery presents the first solo exhibition in the UK of South African artist Igshaan Adams (b. 1982). The 2018 winner of the prestigious Standard Bank Young Artist Award, Igshaan Adams lives and works in Cape Town. The artist’s cross-disciplinary practice combines aspects of weaving, sculpture and installation whilst exploring concerns related to race, religion and sexuality.

The exhibition consists largely of new work produced during an artist residency Adams undertook at the A4 Foundation in Cape Town and on the occasion of the show. Presented as a single immersive environment with suspended sculptures, large-scale floor based weavings and tapestries hung on the wall, the installation responds to Hayward’s iconic Brutalist gallery space. Each work, and the exhibition as a whole, is composed of multiple patterns that explore the potential of woven material to reflect not only the multiplicities of Adams’ own identity but of broader cultural interchange. 

Please find the full press release for Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust HERE.

 

Resident Orchestra - London Philharmonic Orchestra

The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and London Sinfonietta return to the Southbank Centre in March and April for streamed concerts featuring world-renowned conductors and soloists, as well as programming for young people. The events announced today will run to 28 April, with subsequent digital programming from 28 April onwards to be announced in due course. Tickets will be available to the general public from 2pm on Friday 5 March. The London Philharmonic Orchestra presents six concerts filmed by Intersection (formerly Silent Studios) which will be available for audiences to watch for free on Marquee.tv from 24 March. The concerts will be streamed every Wednesday at 8pm from 24 March and will feature conductors Enrique Mazzola, Robin Ticciati and Sir Mark Elder, as well as soloists Steven Isserlis, Denis Kozhukhin and Alexandra Dariescu. Programme details for later concerts will soon be revealed but will include two of the Orchestra’s titled conductors Karina Canellakis and Vladimir Jurowski, who conducts his final concerts at the Royal Festival Hall before stepping into the Conductor Emeritus role.

Tickets will be free for the first seven days after broadcast and concerts will be captured before their premiere date. Full details for the LPO’s upcoming events at the Southbank Centre are available here.

The Philharmonia Orchestra presents two global streams to be presented on the orchestra’s own dedicated channel. On Thursday 25 March, the Philharmonia will be joined by conductor Ryan Bancroft and pianist Paul Lewis for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 27 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. On Thursday 1 April, Rory MacDonald will then lead the orchestra for a programme of Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, with Pavel Kolesnikov performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Tickets start at £10 and concerts will be captured before their premiere date. Full details for the Philharmonia’s upcoming Inside Out events at the Southbank Centre are available here.

The London Sinfonietta’s ‘Sound Out Online’ is the orchestra’s annual concert for children and young people and goes online for the first time to bring pupils closer to iconic contemporary music from the past century (22 March). As part of the orchestra’s Composition Challenges scheme, the concert features new works submitted by young people, as the London Sinfonietta continues to inspire a new generation of composers to get creative with classical music. 

This event is free and will be streamed live on YouTube, exclusively for the Southbank Centre on Monday 22 March from 2 – 2.50pm. It is designed for Key Stage 2. Further details are available here.

 

Previously announced online music and literature events as part of Inside Out include Skin (4 Mar), Black Country, New Road (6 Mar), London Contemporary Orchestra (19 Mar), Bell Orchestre (13 Mar), Hanif Abdurraquib (25 Mar), Out-Spoken (28 Mar), Kazuo and Naomi Ishiguro (5 Apr), Olivia Laing (30 Apr) and Jhumpa Lahiri (6 May). Tickets are on sale. Further details are available here. 

Winter Light - Free Open - Air Exhibition 

Winter Light (extended until 28 March) is a free open-air exhibition that enlivens the site’s iconic buildings and the Riverside Walk with luminous, playful and thought-provoking artworks during the darkest months of the year. Featuring a range of leading international artists, Winter Light includes artworks, new commissions and a series of poems that make ingenious use of light, colour and animation whilst touching on diverse concerns. 
At a time when we view so much of the world through digital screens, the artists in this exhibition celebrate how the medium of light can transform our physical spaces. Their artworks also explore ideas about nature, politics and society, gender, aesthetics and the act of looking. Winter Light includes artworks by artists including: Simeon Barclay, David Batchelor, James Clar, Shezad Dawood, Kota Ezawa, Navine G. Khan-Dossos, Suzie Larke, Tala Madani, Tatsuo Miyajima, Louiza Ntourou, Katie Paterson, Jini Reddy, Tavares Strachan, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Emma Talbot and Toby Ziegler.

Imagine A Story

Coinciding with World Book Day, the Southbank Centre is inviting 40 primary schools to take part in this year’s creative writing project Imagine a Story, giving young children the chance to become published authors. Children’s author Zanib Mian and illustrator Selom Sunu are collaborating on the project, which is open to classes of Key Stage 2 children (years 3 – 6), with online applications closing Sunday 14 March. In this project inspired by a ‘game of consequences’ each school group writes one segment of a creative story based on a framework devised by Zanib Mian (Planet Omar: Operation Kind – published for World Book Day 2021; Planet Omar: Incredible Rescue Mission; Planet Omar: Unexpected Super Spy), the author of brilliant and diverse children’s fiction, who will inspire them to develop their collaborative work in classrooms to support their development and personal wellbeing. 
These chapters will then be combined into a collection of short stories and professionally published by the Southbank Centre, with illustrations by Selom Sunu (Ghost; Patina; Sunny; Lu; Look Both Ways) Zanib Mian and Selom Sunu will read the final stories which will be live-streamed to participating primary school classrooms in July and each child will receive a copy of the published book. In addition, the Southbank Centre’s nationwide participation programme, Art by Post has been shortlisted for "Award for the Best Larger Social Prescribing Project" as part of the Social Prescribing Network Awards. The ceremony is on 4 March with winners to be announced from 3.30 – 5pm.

 

FURTHER EVENT INFORMATION

Inside Out listings here. 

Matthew Barney: Redoubt

19 May – 25 July 2021

Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Prices: from £12.00 (also includes entry to lower galleries Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust).

Southbank Centre Members go free

Igshaan Adams: Kicking Dust

19 May – 25 July 2021

Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX,

Prices: from £12.00 (also includes entry to upper galleries Matthew Barney: Redoubt).

Southbank Centre Members go free

The Hayward Gallery new opening times:

11am – 7pm, Wednesday – Saturday

10am – 6pm, Sunday

Closed Monday and Tuesday

Further information:

www.southbankcentre.co.uk / customer@southbankcentre.co.uk

Online pre-booking is essential for everyone, including Southbank Centre Members and members of the press. ID may be requested on arrival for discounted tickets.

Tickets and further information: Tickets will go on sale soon (Southbank Centre Members free)

www.southbankcentre.co.uk / 020 3879 9555

Twitter: @haywardgallery

Instagram: @Hayward.Gallery

Facebook: www.facebook.com/haywardgallery/