Month: January 2023

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Blackpool gets its own entertainment museum- SHOWTOWN!

Slap bang in the middle of Blackpool Prom, next but one to the iconic Blackpool Tower, Showtown is coming soon! It’s a new attraction that captures the spirit of this amazing town and its vibrant entertainment history.

The museum, opening later in 2023, will welcome people of all ages, allowing them to get up close with the entertainers who put Blackpool on the map. The comedians, dancers, singers, clowns, acrobats, speciality acts and characters who turned the resort into one of the UK’s premier hubs of show business.

You too can get on the dance floor, smell the sawdust, discover the backstage secrets – whether you’re a fun-seeker or future star performer.

And, if you are curious to dive in deeper, then their History Centre is a living archive through which everyone can discover the untold stories of the town and its people. Behind the scenes the museum’s team are right now busy collecting, researching and sharing proof of what makes the town unique.

Most of all everyone is welcome to take part. Share your stories or participate in talks, tours, fun activities, useful courses, learning opportunities and academic study.

Showtown aims to improve the lives of local people by creating approximately 39 jobs, making 20 training placements available, engaging with 40,000 local people through their activities, engaging with 7,500 school children annually, supporting the town’s regeneration plans, raising aspirations and opportunities for local people, and attracting around 300,000 local, regional, national and international visits each year.

It’s a great addition to Blackpool’s entertainment offer and I wish it every success!

Find SHOWTOWN’s website here

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Grants now available for theatre archives!

A lovely array of panto programmes (Oh yes they are!) courtesy University of Kent, Pantomime Archive

Calling all archives! If you, or someone you know, has connections with any type of theatre archive then this may be a great opportunity for 2023. But you’ll need to apply by February 10th.

Cataloguing grants of up to £45,000 are now available from The National Archives and The Wolfson Foundation, with The Pilgrim Trust.

This funding strand of Archives Revealed provides grants of up to £45,000 for the cataloguing of archives. Archives Revealed aims to ensure that significant archive collections, representing the lives and perspectives of all people across the UK, are made accessible to the public for research and enjoyment.

The latest round- Round 6- is open – you can now apply for a cataloguing grant here. The deadline for Phase 1 (Expressions of Interest) is 12.00pm on Friday 10 February. Applicants are strongly advised to read the guidance webpages below before applying.

Applicants are also strongly advised to watch a guidance webinar for the grants which is now available to watch here.

Let us know if you are applying and how your application goes.

Good luck to all applicants!

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Watch a great Sondheim Celebration

On 3 May 2022, Cameron Mackintosh invited many of Stephen Sondheim’s old friends to join him in London’s West End at the recently renamed Sondheim Theatre, for a show to celebrate the late Stephen Sondheim’s extraordinary talents as a composer and lyricist, after Sondheim’s passing aged 91 in November 2021. 

Featuring an all-star cast including Michael Ball, Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Petula Clark, Anna-Jane Casey, Rosalie Craig, Janie Dee, Judi Dench, Daniel Evans, Maria Friedman, Haydn Gwynne, Bonnie Langford, Damian Lewis and Julia McKenzie, amongst others.

Now available on BBCiPlayer, and running just over 2 hours, you can now enjoy this fine tribute to one of the twentieth century’s most important musical theatre talents.

Find STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S OLD FRIENDS here

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Guest writing for Ardent Theatre Company

Happy New (Creative) Year to you all!

I was delighted to be asked to write the first blog post of the New Year for Ardent Theatre company by their Creative Director, Mark Sands.

Ardent have recently achieved a significant milestone in their evolution as a company, by securing a three-year Paul Hamlyn Foundation grant to support the running of the company. This couldn’t have come at a better time, as the company’s next major production, of Tracy Ryan’s STRIKE! opens in April at Southwark Playhouse in London, and is the first production to have signed up to be guided by Equity’s Green Book, outlining how to create and run sustainable theatre productions.

For the blog entry, I thought it would be good to address the country’s productivity gap, explain what has contributed to it and suggest genuine solutions. I think you’ll find it an interesting read.

You can find a link to Ardent’s always-interesting blog here