Carmel ThomasonOliva Tweest was ground-breaking when it debuted as the UKs first Afrobeats musical in 2013. Since then the African-born, global genre has grown in popularity to become increasingly more known on the mainstream, being hailed by BBC Radio as the...
Manchester 2018 is celebrating the year of the giant bee and the city is buzzing on it. Across the region more than 230 colourful sculptures are waiting to bee discovered and at Quays Life we are loving the hunt. Each sculpture on the trail is...
Julia Donaldson is the outrageously talented, prize-winning author of some of the world’s best-loved picture books including modern classics The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, which together have sold over 17 million copies worldwide and have...
Fifty years after her 1960s heyday, Dusty Springfield remains one of Britain’s best loved and most successful singers, with a place in both the US Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame. But while her breathy, soulful voice may be instantly...
Growing up in a north east mining village I know all too well the part miners’ wives played in supporting the miner’s strike of 1984-85. Their protests were often ones of survival; sitting for hours on the cold city streets, raising awareness of the...
It’s more than 10 years ago since I first saw Mamma Mia! and I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen it on stage, at cinema and on TV since then. But as the band strikes its first note, ABBA’s feel-good, disco beats hook me right back in...
It’s pink, fluffy and even has two puppies – Legally Blonde is as sweet and light as candy-floss, and OMG, you guys, this is the last week of the tour! It’s 11 years since we first met Elle Wood, the pink princess turned legal eagle, in the 2007...
When we meet Noel Lynch he looks like your average 50-something man, but like novelist, Maeve Binchy who created him, he’s a born storyteller. And as he takes us back 25 years, we are about to find out, all is not always as it seems. Noel rewinds to...
It feels a natural progression these days for popular children’s books to make their way to the stage, especially when the author is Julia Donaldson. Tall Stories, whose previous productions at the Lowry include Donaldson’s The Gruffalo and Room on...
Making Maxine Peake an Associate Artist of the Royal Exchange has enabled a growing creative partnership with Artistic Director, Sarah Frankcom, in which both actor and director are given freedom to explore the boundaries of their disciplines. After...