A True Night at the Theatre for “Top Hat On Stage” at the Birmingham Hippodrome

“Dress to impress! It's Black Tie and Tiara night...” As I walked the red carpet at the Birmingham Hippodrome Theatre last night I could tell I was in for a true night out full of glitz and glamour. Even before the show began I immediately felt like I had been taken back in time to 1930s Broadway: there were ties and tiaras galore and the people of Birmingham had really gone all out for opening night.

The house lights dimmed and to the audience’s delight the conductor appeared and conducted the 23 piece orchestra under the glow of a follow spot; a definite throw back to the golden age of musical theatre. Three times Olivier Award nominee Summer Strallen and Strictly Come Dancing star Tom Chambers are the perfect duo to lead the strong company of 31 in this musical farce based on love and false identity. They play the roles made famous in the film by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, happy go lucky Broadway star Jerry Travers and the sassy Dale Tremont. Tom Chambers delights the audience with his Fred Astaire tap numbers, especially the act one finale when he is joined by the rest of the company, whilst Summer Strallen charms us with her beautiful rendition of “Better Luck Next Time” as she realises her love life is falling to pits. A personal highlight for me was watching the two leads fall in love in a London park as they tap and sing to “Isn’t It A Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain?)”. Pure brilliance! Other highlights include Martin Ball and Vivien Parry’s act two duet “Outside of That I Love You” as they bicker over their marriage, whilst Ricardo Afonso and Stephen Boswell give genius comedic performances as the Italian fashion designer Alberto and the slightly deluded butler Bates. The cast of 31 continue this delightful performance as they simultaneously tap away in company numbers and bring to life scene including a Broadway stage, an upper class London hotel and a Venice beach.

A big round of applause is in order for choreographer Bill Deamer, mixing ballroom, tap and vaudeville styles to create a visual feast for theatre goers. It all looks perfect on a set designed by Hildegard Bechtler who uses sliding flats, beautiful backcloths and revolving beds to take us to nearly 30 locations. And what’s this show without the music? Although the film only had 5 songs, the creative team dug through Irving Berlin’s back trunk to create a beautiful score that takes us back to the golden era of musicals. Although, I couldn’t help but get distracted by some of the sliding flats getting stuck during scene changes, a few backcloths rising too early (and I’m pretty sure Tom Chambers might have been miming a few of his numbers, forgive me if I’m wrong...)

A big cheer should also go to the Hippodrome staff for hosting the “black tie and tiara” dress code and laying out a red carpet. It’s funny how theatres have spent the past few years making shows more accessible by diminishing dress codes and the affluent nature of the theatre, yet a sense of nostalgia filled the air as the audiences agreed that the theatre should be a place where you can get dressed up and feel elegant.

A 5 star production that deserves every success it gets, and if not more! It’s really good to see a piece of new commercial theatre that’s bringing something fresh to audiences. This show feels old in a sense that it takes you back to a time when theatre was an elegant night out, yet it feels fresh and exciting.

The show plays at the Birmingham Hippodrome until 10th September, before continuing its UK Tour.

Visit for tickets and for details on the show and the rest of the tour.

The Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe's Swan Lake at the Birmingham Hippodrome

I have to admit, the actual idea of going to the ballet is often more appealing to me than actually seeing it. Many times I've tried to sit through three acts of wonderful movement, music and scenery but by the end of Act One I'm often ready to go home. However, The Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe's production of Swan Lake disproved my "Act One only" theory.

The production mixes ballet with circus as the company tells the story of Swan Lake. I can't even begin to detail the amazement of the performance: from men dressed as swans en pointe (that's ballet terms for "on their tip toes"), to dancging frogs, clowns dancing on giant spinning globes and swans prancing about the stage on roller skates.

My personal highlight of the night was watching three men balance poles on the shoulders whilst others ran up them somersaulting from one pole to another. The entire Hippordrome audience was captivated from beginning to end. Another great feat for me was watching the principle dancers perform something I never thought I would see: an attitude promenade en pointe on someone's head (another ballet term: "one leg in the air, the other on tip toes, on someones head whilst turning").

I cannot praise this production enough! The company deserves all it's success and I applaud everyone involved with the show. I'd also like to say a big thanks to the Birmingham Hippodrome Frist Night Scheme... I wouldn't usuall book to see a show like this but thanks to them I was able to see a spectacular production that I will never forget. Who knows, maybe the next time I'm at the ballet I'll be able to sit through all three acts?

Six Summer Saturday's - Nofit

Chamberlain Square came to life over the Summer as the Birmingham Hippodrome took over with it's "Six Summer Saturday's" project, bringing live outdoor theatre across the city.

Winning the Euromillions (and my attempt to write something clever...)

I’m not usually one to play the lottery. I’m usually too fixed upon the thought of “it won’t happen to me, I’m happy with my life as it is”. I also usually (ok, all the time) forget to play the lottery. It just doesn’t bother me. However, whenever the media is going crazy reporting on the hundreds of millions of pound rollovers, I can’t help it but get drawn in on the mental world of playing the lottery.

As the world knows – unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past fortnight – recently, there was a Euromillions rollover of £161 million. Pure mentality! I decided to give it a go. I walked to the shop and put on a lucky dip. A dip that I was hoping to be lucky. I had my life planned out; where I was going to invest in property, who was getting their hands on my money, what charities I was going to help out, and what new clothes I wanted to put into the wardrobes in mentioned properties. The dip wasn’t lucky. But then again, neither was anyone else’s in the rest of Europe... It was another rollover.

So, my days came and passed and the media was buzzing with the news of the Euromillions. A single winning ticket would make you instantly richer than half of Hollywood’s royalty; they’d make a gazillion pounds a year with interest; and they’d be extremely happy.

It came to Euromillions day and my head was preoccupied with more important priorities. I was walking through the city and I glanced down at my watch... 7.25pm. Wait. Is it Euromillions day? What time is the cut off? Can I still play? I whip out my phone and start to Google... I had five minutes left to buy what could be the most important ticket of my life. I run into a newsagent and grab a pen. It had run out! My heart stopped. The Euromillions site on my phone said I had four minutes left. The man in the queue before me handed me a pen as more people hurried into the store to play the game. It seemed like the whole of Birmingham had forgot to put their lucky dip on. I put my numbers down. Three minutes to go. I run over to the counter where there was an old lady having issues with payment... My heart is pounding, my hands are sweating, and my phone is counting down. I get to the front of the queue as more people rush into the store to play tphe game. Two minutes... My ticket is printed just in the nick of time. I relax; I pay and get out the store. As I get out a taxi had just pulled up. My luck was in: it’s not every day I walk out a store a taxi has just pulled up. Surely luck was on my side... Tonight was my night to win my fortune.

I spend all night refreshing my phone waiting for the numbers to be published online.

I didn’t win the jackpot. However, I did win £2.90 with two matching numbers... Erm, great. I made a profit of 90p. Wow.

The next morning I find myself desperately thirsty. I look in my pocket and find my winnings. I felt a sense of achievement. All that hard work and panic the night before seemed like it paid off. I go and get my extra hot grande skinny vanilla latte and sit looking out the Starbucks window, waiting for a friend. Relaxation. Heaven.

So, when you find yourself with five minutes left to win millions of pounds, just think of the happiness £2.90 could bring you the next day in the form of a hot Italian beverage. It’s life’s simple things...

Dirty Dancing First Ever National Tour (coming to the Birmingham Hippodrome Summer 2012)

The kind people at the Birmingham Hippodrome invited me along to an exclusive press launch for the first ever national tour of “Dirty Dancing” today. First of all, I’m not going to lie; I’ve never seen the movie or the stage show – I’ve been living under a rock...The event was held at Aston Villa Football Ground and included a tour of the ground, drinks reception, lunch, exclusive performances from cast members and a Q&A / photo session.

Upon arrival we were greeted nicely and offered drinks before being shown a stadium tour. The tour included seeing the conference rooms, the pitch and (my favourite part) seeing the home team’s dressing room. I was amazed by the rooms – who knew there were hidden safes behind the team’s shirts? (I’m gonna guess anyone who loves football already knew this...)

Checking out the Villa's dressing room... Click for a bigger version.


After bumping into same familiar faces from other Hippodrome events fellow blogger Alex and I made our way to the main event...

Sitting at one of the press tables, chit chat and socialising was at the top of the agenda - I need to get used to these events and remember that when someone asks “where are you from?” they don’t mean my area, they’re in fact asking me what newspaper, company, ticket agent or TV / radio station I’m from. Following on from a lovely lunch provided by the Hippodrome / Villa Ground, the event began.

Dirty Dancing preview... Click for a bigger version.

James Leece and Charlotte Gooch burst onto stage performing the “Mambo” number: a hot Latin sequence with lifts galore. Karl Sydow (producer of the production) then took to stage to give the audience a general talk about the film, the show and the new tour. Chris Holland and Shonagh Daly then gave us an amazing performance of the song “Do You Love Me?" before all five of the Dirty Dancers held an open question and answer session.

Some interesting questions from the crowd revealed that the tour will include all the famous scenes from the movie (including the water scene, the log scene and of course the infamous lift) and that the production will follow closely to that of the recently closed West End show. However, the original set has been slightly adapted for touring venues (like every other big West End tour). The cast also told some quirky anecdotes about the “lift” going wrong in performances. Who knows? Maybe you’re there the night when Baby’s family have to stop her from face-planting the stage. Before going, the cast gave an extraordinary performance of the famous song “Time of My Life”.

James Leece and Charlotte Gooch perform for the press... Click for a bigger version.

The Hippodrome also revealed today that Dirty Dancing will be the last production to be performed on the current stage. On the 12th August 2012 the theatre will close its doors to undergo a million pound redevelopment of the main stage: a deck that has been there for decades and has seen some of entertainment’s most famous faces perform on it.

After a photo call it was time to leave; my train was full of other audience members discussing how excited they are to see the show (most of them have booked tickets over a year in advance).

Recently closed at the Aldwych Theatre, Dirty Dancing opened in the West End in 2006, breaking all box office records with advance ticket sales of over £15 million, which made it the fastest-selling show in West End history. It has since played to over 1 million people, receiving nightly standing ovations and continuing to enthral and delight. The show is sure to sell out at the Hippodrome soon so booking early is advisable.


Dirty Dancing will appear at Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday 4 July to Saturday 25 August 2012.

Ticket Prices: £20-£55 (Concessions available)

Book online www.birminghamhippodrome.com or telephone 844 338 5000.

For more information on the show visit www.dirtydancingonstage.com