Welcome to the July edition of Showbiz “A packed

July 2015 / Showbiz 70
Booking Dates
Thursday 30th July – Corporate Club
Members and Gold Friends
Friday 31st July – Friends online,
postal and fax
Monday 10th August – Friends in
person and by phone
Monday 17th August – Go4Less
Band E Booking
Tuesday 18th August – Public online,
postal and fax
Tuesday 25th August – Public in
person and by phone
Welcome to the July edition of Showbiz
Another brochure is upon us and although we are currently basking in the heat
of our beautiful English summer we already have a host of incredible new
shows lined up for the cold dark days of winter.
You will already have seen the publicity, and possibly even booked your tickets,
for next summer’s Supercalifragilistic musical Mary Poppins but before then
we have a fantastic choice of musicals, dance, drama and comedy lined up.
Brightening up the New Year, following the fun of Snow White and the panto
season, we have an ice show which promises to dazzle audiences with its jawdropping acrobatics and amazing ice-dance. Cirque de Glace is an ice-show
beyond imagination and guarantees to brighten up the dreary January
evenings. And only a month later we will be hosting Cirque Berserk! – a
showcase of contemporary cirque skills with thrilling stunt action and
incredible talent from a troupe of over thirty jugglers, acrobats and stunt men.
“A packed programme with something for everyone – make sure you get your tickets early,
before they go on public sale."
I am personally very excited about the drama on offer in 2016 especially The James Plays, a phenomenal experience for all
theatre lovers. For two days only this award winning and thrilling trilogy will be at the Theatre Royal. Described by the
Telegraph as “better than Shakespeare” the plays sold out their run at the Edinburgh International Festival and the
National Theatre in London. You can even place yourself at the heart of the action by booking an on stage seat!!
If you’re a musical lover you will be spoilt for choice this season with famous blockbusters Sunset Boulevard, Priscilla
Queen of the Desert, Hairspray and The Bodyguard coming to town. And dance fans are not forgotten with Richard
Alston Dance Company coming back in February and the Russian State Ballet performing Giselle, The Snow Maiden and
The Nutcracker in February.
Matthew Bourne enthusiasts will also be thrilled to know his production of Sleeping Beauty, a gothic romance for all ages,
is now back by popular demand and Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake will also be with us in April. And opera aficionados are
also spoilt for choice with Glyndebourne in November performing Don Pasquale, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail and Saul
during their five day visit and in March English Touring Opera will be presenting Don Giovanni and Gluck’s Iphigenie en
Tauride.
Corporate bookings open on Thursday 30th July 2015 and our dedicated Box Office booking line 01603 598696 will be open
from 9.30am for individual bookings. If you would like to make a group booking please contact Nikki Rice at
[email protected].
Peter's Introduction
"Last year the Theatre Royal paid over 200 Norfolk firms nearly
£1.3 million."
We bought food, drinks, flowers, services, maintenance contracts, advice, cleaning, repairing, printing, tickets,
subscriptions, technical support, chemicals, mops, buckets, window cleaning, snacks, plates, cutlery, waste management
and collection, chocolates, computer assistance, legal advice, artistic input and dozens of other services.
And we paid over £1.5 million in staff wages, most of which was spent locally.
Over 1,700 performers visited Norwich to perform on our stage, bringing with them the best part of £250,000 to spend on
hotels, b&bs, taxis, restaurants and other local services.
I point out these figures not to boast – they’re not substantial enough in the overall economy of Norfolk to make a huge
difference – but to substantiate our claim to be a genuine community asset, responsible for a certain amount of economic
‘churn’ as well as fulfilling our historic mission to be a local and regional hub of artistic excellence.
Our prime responsibility, of course, is to sell tickets, which we do to the extent that in a typical year we sell nearly 400,000
of them in a county whose total population hovers around 900,000. It’s fair to say that there isn’t another institution in
Norfolk that talks so much, so often and with such variety to so substantial a proportion of the population.
In all my years here I’ve never known a time when my colleagues were more hungry to prove that the Theatre Royal has a
great future. But we all know that we can’t do it alone. In all our conversations with our customers and friends we
constantly refer to the amount of activity on and off stage – not just the productions, but also the children’s operas, the
Norse-sponsored Theatre Access project, the proposed Education Centre, David Lambert’s Arts Courses, our collaboration
with David Cholmondeley on Houghton Revisited in 2103 and the LightScape this year – as proof that we know that we
need the support of a wide range of individuals and business friends.
That’s why the Corporate Club is important to us. Not just as an income stream, but as proof that local important
businesses think that what we have to offer is worth supporting; and, I hope, value for money.
Please – take advantage of your discounts on every performance of every production, and of your priority booking period.
To those of you who got prime tickets for Michael Mcintyre and Sarah Millican because you were able to book on the first
day of sales – well done. You’re doing exactly what we want you to do. We may well be the only organisation you know
that likes to be taken advantage of.
As ever, if there’s any way you think we could improve our operation, please let me know. I look forward to hearing from
you.
PW
Houghton Hall - Lightscape
"Mr Turrell plays with light – and our perception of it..."
LightScape: James Turrell At Houghton
Theatre Communications Officer Judy Foster has been
tripping the light fantastic in north Norfolk where visitors
can experience a major new exhibition by a world-renowned
artist who dabbles in illusion.
“I’ve come from strong daylight into a pitch-black corridor and
am tentatively shuffling my way forward, trying to find my
direction with one hand on the wall and the other gently
touching the shoulder of the stranger in front.
It’s an odd, slightly out-of-control feeling and I’m not the only
one stifling a nervous giggle. I can’t help thinking of a fairground
ghost train ride – where being spooked is all part of the fun.
Somehow in the dark we find a bench and sit down to wait and
watch.
I’m in the heart of St Elmo’s Breath – a lightwork installation by
one of the foremost artists of our time – James Turrell.
Mr Turrell plays with light – and our perception of it. Critics have
described his work as ‘otherworldly’, ‘bewitching’,
‘seductive’, ‘mercurial’ and the man himself as a ‘magician’.
Since the mid-1960s, Mr Turrell has played with the way
people experience light and space and his art pieces range
from projection works which fool the eye into seeing solid
objects, to chambers immersed in pure colour and
Skyspaces through which to view the skies.
His LightScape at Houghton follows on from the huge
success of estate owner The Marquess of Cholmondeley’s
2013 Houghton Revisited - an event which saw an historic
collection of paintings amassed by his ancestor Sir Robert
Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister, transported from
Russia’s St Petersburg Hermitage to be reunited with their
original surroundings at the stately home built by him in
the 1720s.
Like Sir Robert, Lord Cholmondeley is a collector of the art
of his time and is already building a unique collection of
contemporary sculpture which can be seen permanently in
the grounds at Houghton, including James Turrell’s
Skyspace ‘Seldom Seen’. Other artists represented include
Rachel Whiteread, Richard Long, Stephen Cox, Zhan Wang
and Anya Gallaccio.
He certainly creates magic.”
This summer, Houghton Hall is hosting a major exhibition of
Mr Turrell’s work -LightScape: James Turrell At Houghton.
The American artist is widely acknowledged as one of the
most important working today, with highly-acclaimed
retrospectives at LACMA in Los Angeles
(2013/14), the MFAH in Houston (2013) and the
Guggenheim New York (2013), so it’s a considerable coup
for Norfolk to enjoy such a major exhibition in this rural
setting.
Photos: Pete Huggins
His evident admiration for Mr Turrell’s work led Lord
Cholmondeley to persuade the artist to mount a full scale
exhibition at Houghton.
Houghton Hall - Lightscape...
"I can’t help thinking of a fairground ghost train ride –
where being spooked is all part of the fun.”
He said: “I love the idea of new art in an old setting and the
great thing about James Turrell’s installations is that you
don’t need to have a deep knowledge of the arts to enjoy
them as you react with pure emotion. All ages, from
children to adults, can enjoy them.”
…and yet nothing had changed in the room. The lights had
not been slowly turned on – they had been there all the
time. The Skyspace ‘Seldom Seen’ plays with your
perceptions in a similar way too, bringing differing reactions
at different times of the day.
The lightworks are displayed in the house, the stable block,
and around the grounds, and on Friday and Saturday
evenings as dusk falls, there is the added attraction of the
specially created illumination of the entire western façade
of the hall.
Once seated inside the subtly-lit wooden chamber and
gazing through the opening skywards, during the day your
eye is drawn to the scudding clouds or the natural shades of
sky from white-grey to brilliant blue and by dusk and night
you see the intensity of the night heavens and later the
stars. It evokes such a feeling of calm that doctors could
prescribe a Skyspace visit for all manner of ills.
A visit to Houghton Hall itself is a treat – there’s much to
see, from the magnificent State Rooms of the Palladian Hall
to the beautiful five-acre walled gardens (both are open
during the summer-long exhibition), the modern sculptures
nestling into their landscape and the expansive deer park.
It’s relaxing, rejuvenating and a world away from the busy
modern world.
LightScape adds, literally, another dimension.
In the exhibition rooms in the house and stables there is yet
more to entrance, from floating light shapes which make
you question your grasp on perspective, to holograms which
dance in front of your eyes, and some of the most intense
colours I have ever seen.
I don’t doubt that children will love these bright shapes and
the fun and puzzlement of working out just what your eyes
are seeing – is it really all in the mind and a trick of the light?
The works range from the artist’s iconic light projections
created in the 1960s to a series of prints and a ‘Tall Glass’
work, as well as a selection of photos illustrating his Roden
Crater project in Arizona where he has spent three decades
transforming an extinct volcano crater on the edge of a
desert into a large-scale artwork from which to view the
skies.
Photo: Pete Huggins
James Turrell’s art may fall into the ‘modern’ bracket but it
hooks you back into a very ancient world when, long before
electric light, our eyes were more attuned to the dark. You
don’t so much ‘see’ his art, as experience it. As I reflect
back on the ten minutes I spent in St Elmo’s Breath (the
lightwork is housed in the estate’s 18th century water
tower – an enjoyable 20-minute stroll from the house
through the park), I am still filled with wonder and
fascination at what unfolded.
From what can only be described as total blindness, slowly
my pupils got used to the dark and started to open and I
began to see the very dim reddish hue of the edge of a
huge square, until by the end my vision was awash with the
full colour of a bright pink illuminated screen and all my
companions had come back into plain view…
And finally, there is the beautiful illumination of the hall at
dusk on Friday and Saturday evenings. James Turrell’s
cleverly contrived showpiece brings out the elegant features
of this historic house in all its glory, detailing what a truly
stunning piece of elegant architecture it is. The lights –
greens, blues, mauves, pinks, reds - play across the hall,
picking out its cupolas, its gilded weather vanes, its classical
statues, colonnades and porticos. There’s no rush, no
darting laser lights, no all-singing all-dancing fanfare – just a
very beautiful and almost imperceptible changing from one
colour to another. It’s a magical and not-to-be missed
experience.
LightScape: James Turrell at Houghton is open from Wednesdays
through to Sundays, and August Bank Holiday Monday, running
until October 24, 2015. There is a variety of ticket options ranging
in price for adults from £10 to £19.50, which can be purchased in
person at the Theatre Royal box office, by calling 01603 598640,
online at www.houghtonhall.com or at the hall on the day.
Norse Group
"Theatre continues to deliver a wide range of opportunities for the Norse Group”
Staff from across the Norse Group continue to make great use of its Corporate Membership of the Theatre Royal - enjoying
the vast range of fantastic performances on offer at the Theatre.
The Group has been proud corporate members since 2006 and over this time it’s the ‘big’ musicals and the annual
pantomime which have proven particularly popular with staff, although more recently, high profile stand-up comedy acts
such as Michael Mcintyre have received lots of interest and rave reviews.
Since 2011, the Norse Group has also worked in partnership with the Theatre Royal to deliver the Theatre Access Project
(TAP), which aims to support students from Norfolk schools to engage with, and increase their access to, live performance,
arts and the theatre. The programme provides opportunities for students to visit the theatre who might otherwise be
unable to, and includes subsidised tickets and travel costs, learning programmes and workshops. To date, the TAP has
worked with 109 Norfolk schools, helping thousands of children and young people aged 7-19 to attend theatre
performances, many for the first time.
Wholly owned by Norfolk County Council, the Norse Group is made up of property consultancy NPS Group, facilities
management provider Norse Commercial Services and care provider NorseCare. As a whole, the Group delivers services to
millions of people across the UK, including Norfolk. Collectively we employ around 10,000 people nationwide and have a
combined turnover of over £250 million.
Our teams are highly motivated and committed to delivering services with both a commercial flair and an accurate
understanding of the public sector. We work with local authorities through a range of partnerships, frameworks and
specifically tailored solutions, and our innovative joint venture model - currently with 18 local authorities, continues to
attract national interest.
Handbagged - Susie Blake
"The Queen has become more and more a part of my life.”
From making the country laugh in hit TV shows to proving her versatility as an
actress with some of this country’s most highly-regarded companies, Susie Blake
does deserve the title national treasure.
And her latest role may well cement that unofficial title as she plays the Queen
in the West End comedy smash Handbagged which is on its way to Norwich
Theatre Royal.
From Victoria Wood’s prim and proper TV announcer to Deirdre Barlow’s best
friend via a host of parts in the West End and touring theatre, Susie Blake has
done it all.
But her latest role is certainly going to be a right royal challenge in more ways
than one.
She is preparing to play the Queen in Handbagged, the West End comedy hit which follows the relationship between the
monarch and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during the Iron Lady’s 11 years in power.
It chronicles their weekly meetings through a host of key events and, though it does reflect some of the major events and
news stories which shaped history, it also sees how the relationship between the two most powerful women in the land
evolves and changes
Susie admits the role will be a challenge but also strangely comforting. “The Queen has become more and more a part of
my life. As you get older and you lose your parents, you think she is the one person who has been around all the time I
have been alive. For a lot of us, she is the only monarch we have known and has been a constant presence.”
The play itself was something that appealed to Susie after she saw it in the West End. “My good friend, the actor Jeff
Rawle, was in it and I just thought it was terrific. I got such a lot from it,” she said.
And while a lot of it merely imagines what the two most powerful women in the land talked about, Handbagged also looks
at the many moral issues they faced while maintaining a sharply comic core. Susie explained: “It is really interesting to see
that a lot of the things they were doing were right. You also find yourself having more sympathy with Mrs Thatcher. She
really did believe she had come up with the best solutions for dealing with problems, and that she and the Queen would be
on the same page.”
When she discovered she had got the part after enjoying it in the West End, she was delighted particularly as she is a great
admirer of the director Indu Rubasingham. “I have worked with a lot of great directors during my career but Indu is
absolutely terrific,” she said. “It is going to be a fantastic play. I think you will see both women quite differently. They find
some of the things quite difficult to deal with because of their backgrounds and the way they see things."
Handbagged - Susie Blake...
"Irresistibly mischievous. Sovereign fun.”
As we chat on a boiling summer day, Susie admits she does love having the chance to do what she does. Her week so far
included posing as the Queen at a photo-shoot to promote the play which comes to Norwich Theatre Royal on November
10-14, and layering on the fake tan to play the mother of comedian Greg Davies in the TV comedy Cuckoo, so life is certainly
varied.
It is all a far cry from her start in the performing world training at the world-famous Elmhurst Ballet School. Susie recalled:
“Dame Margot Fonteyn was the celebrity of my childhood and everyone wanted to be her.” Susie is grand-niece of the
Norfolk born acting great Sir John Mills meaning Hayley and Juliet Mills are her first cousins once-removed, which also
helped her early acting training. “I think I was a bit of a ‘buy two, get one free’ deal there. I got in half price because of
them,” she joked.
“I think it was just fantastic there because I learned so much, particularly a lot of the discipline that is needed in acting. It is
something I had never thought of before today. I do hate being five minutes late for something. Having said that, I don’t
think I ever really had a proper education.”
From there she went on to the Arts Ed and Lamda drama schools before beginning her professional career at Leeds
Playhouse.
From there, her career has taken many twists and turns. Her theatre career encompassed productions for the Royal
Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre which is the birthplace of so many Alan
Ayckbourn plays, UK tours of The Rocky Horror Show and Boeing Boeing, and even a spell in the West End playing Madame
Horrible in Wicked.
Handbagged - Susie Blake....
"Outstanding. Witty and Confident"
But she has also forged a hugely successful TV career too with one of her first high-profile small-screen appearances in Russ
Abbot’s Madhouse where she starred opposite the likes of Les Dennis, the late Dustin Gee, and Michael Barrymore, as well
as Russ himself. “I was only really a support-player on that show but they just had the most amazing costumes and sets. It is
such a shame they are not repeated. I guess Russ wants to protect them, but they were great programmes,” she said.
One of her best-known roles was the beautifully-spoken continuity announcer on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, a skill which
has helped her win many a role. Susie remembers: “People saw me on Victoria Wood and thought I was middle-class. I got
another job because someone thought I was Northern and came from Manchester. In fact, I had to talk with a Birmingham
accent all the way through Cuckoo. I think I pulled it off."
And she has enjoyed incredible success. She recalls filming early scenes in another huge small screen hit The Darling Buds Of
May unsure whether or not it would be a hit with the viewers. Susie said: “That was another programme which just turned
out to be so popular. I can remember sitting on a cricket pitch with Celia Imrie wearing the sorts of dresses your mum would
choose, and wondering whether it would be a success."
As Susie looks back at her career, she takes a very modest approach to how things have worked out for her. “I feel very
blessed. I hate saying that but it is true. I think it is because I don’t think I have ever been a star or a celebrity. Because I
have never been in that position, I am lucky that I don’t stop working.”
When she is not acting, Susie loves being at her beloved allotment (“I did have to give it up and it has taken me nine years to
get it back. It is a great place to be”) and also loves spending time with her son and grandchildren, as well as her good friend
former actor Victor Elphick who used to live with her mother and acts as a great sounding board for Susie.
In fact, although Susie believes Handbagged will be her Norwich Theatre Royal debut, Victor performed there in a thriller
during the 1940s and is hoping to revisit the city with Susie during her visit.
So all in all, Susie admits life is good at the moment and is looking forward to touring the country in the play. She said: “I
have got a great job. I did a photo-shoot dressed as the Queen one day last week and then the next, I was covered in fake
tan playing Greg Davies’s mum in Cuckoo. There are not many other professions like that.”
That variety and challenge does create some parallels with her role as the Queen, minus the fake tan, of course
Inside Story & HighTide Festival
You are invited to Inside Story: an introduction to
the new season’s brochure.
On Monday 20th July 2015, from 6-7pm, Marketing Director, Mark
Hazell, will exclusively reveal the back story behind the new shows in
the latest brochure. This programme is Norwich Theatre Royal’s
largest to date, and we are very excited about its diverse content.
With video highlights and insider knowledge he will explore
productions, providing a more detailed overview of acts to ensure
you don’t miss out on any of the new season’s super shows.
This is an invitation-only event, organised for our most valued
supporters and friends. We have 60 free places available – to book
your seat please contact the Development Department - email:
[email protected] or call 01603 598556 /
598525.
We look forward to seeing you then.
HighTide Festival: September 2015
There is still time to book for Norwich Theatre Royal’s day excursion to the
HighTide Festival in Aldeburgh on Sunday 13th September. Tickets are £65
per head, with a £2 discount per ticket for Friends.
The ticket price includes return travel from Norwich, entry to three
performances, welcome drinks, a buffet lunch and light supper.
Attendees are asked to arrive at Norwich Theatre Royal (main entrance) at 10:15, ready for departure at 10:30.
The coach will arrive back in Norwich for 20:00. The performances that we will be attending are The Big Beach Sing on
Aldeburgh beach, an optional Q&A with Sir Richard Eyre and Kate Mosse, and a premiere of Al Smith’s play Harrogate.
To book your place, please call the Box Office on 01603 630000 or contact Melanie McGhee
([email protected])
Corporate Club
"You’ve seen the shows, but how much do you know about Norwich
Theatre Royal?"
For over 40 years the Theatre Royal (Norwich) Trust Ltd has been a registered charity with education as its focus. Any surplus
we make is dedicated to improving the theatre’s facilities or our extensive education programme
Our Performance in 2013/ 2014:
· 415,000 tickets sold
· 433 performances – 102 different shows
Our Audience in 2013/ 2014:
· 78,000 customers
· 11,500 friends of the theatre
Make up of Audience 2013 2014:
- 20-24 year olds:
- 25-65 year olds:
- 65+:
31,563
97,118
80,124
Our Marketing Machine:
· 160,000 brochures printed three times a year, each one including your logo evidencing your support of the theatre
· Brochures distributed across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambs and mailed to 12500 Friends of the Theatre
· Full colour Circle magazine distributed to 12500 friends three times a year
· 4000 daily visits to website
There is a myriad of ways in which you could become more involved with the Theatre - from advertising in one of our
magazines or brochure to sponsoring an event or show. Perhaps you would like to have your company logo on our safety
curtain. Or maybe support us by advertising on our ticket backs, ticket wallets or in our programmes or magazines?
If you would like to find out more about any of our work or if you would like to become more involved with Norwich Theatre
Royal please contact Paula Sanchez, Development Director on 01603 598558