Features
Allison Udy: bucket-list Lapland trip, coach drivers and more
GTO Allison Udy on the uniqueness of her group and how a coach driver can make or break a trip.
 M.jpg)
To kick start the new year, we round up some top picks for theatre this year.
The West End
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, at Aldwych Theatre is set to open on 21st March. This new stage musical, presented in association with Tina Turner herself, reveals the untold story of a woman who dared to defy the bounds of her age, gender and race. Adrienne Warren has been announced as the actress set to play Tina Turner in the upcoming show. Group tickets are available, with discounted prices for groups with eight or more and groups with 20 or more.
Bat Out Of Hell will return to the West End and will open at the Dominion Theatre on 2nd April.
The musical is based on the albums of Jim Steinman’s collaboration with singer Meat Loaf. The show is story of rebellious youth and love. It will initially be booking until 28th July.
Brief Encounter, at Empire Cinema Haymarket, will open on 11th March and will run until 2nd September. Brief Encounter is set around a chance meeting in a railway cafe.
Pictured: Witness for the Prosecution.
Currently playing at London County Hall, the Agatha Christie play Witness for the Prosecution has now been extended until September 2018. The audience form the jury in this Whodunnit play which stars Catherine Steadman and Jack McMullen.
UK Tours
Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest will be heading on a tour of the nation, starting in January, and Wicked star Kerry Ellis has been given the title role. The tour will begin at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford on 24th January and will conclude at Theatre Royal Windsor on 5th May.
www.theimportanceofbeingearnest.co.uk
The Comedy About A Bank Robbery is now taking bookings until November 2018 at the Criterion Theatre in London and has welcomed new cast members for its new extended period. The show takes place in the summer of 1958. Minneapolis City Bank has been entrusted with a priceless diamond. An escaped convict is set on pocketing the gem with the help of his screwball sidekick, trickster girlfriend and the maintenance man. Group rates are available for those with eight members or more.
www.thecomedyaboutabankrobbery.com
Summer Holiday, a 1960s film featuring the classic hits of singer Cliff Richard, has been adapted for stage and is set to tour the UK during 2018 and 2019. The show will begin its tour on 8th May 2018 at Liverpool Empire. Tickets for Summer Holiday are on sale now and casting is to be announced soon.
www.summerholidaythemusical.co.uk
Pictured: Birdsong
Birdsong, a play adapted by Rachel Wagstaff from the Sebastian Faulks’ novel of the same name, will be touring the UK for the last time next year. Marking the centenary of the end of the World War One, Birdsong will embark on its final UK tour, opening at the Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds on 31st January and concluding on 21st July.
The popular West End musical, Kinky Boots, has revealed that it will be embarking on its first ever UK tour from next September. The show will start its tour at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate on 19th September 2018, returning to the home of the British story.
www.kinkybootsthemusical.co.uk/uk-tour
The popular musical, Jersey Boys, is embarking on its second UK and Ireland tour, and has added new dates and announced its lead casting. The tour will kick off on 16th December at Birmingham New Alexandra theatre. Due to its past success, a further 12 dates have been added to the tour, which will now take the tour into March 2019.
Read about the latest theatre new on our website at www.groupleisureandtravel.com/news
