NEWS & ENTERTAINMENT

 

Middlesbrough Theatre is proud to present Catherine Gallagher’s "Queen of the Dance" - Irish Dance Tornado - on Tuesday, May 21st at 7.30pm.

Catherine Gallagher is proud to bring to stage an electrifying performance of world class dancing with a new theatrical extravaganza of Irish Dance accompanied by beautiful live music that will entrance and delight.

Sensational and breathtaking solos in abundance from this ex-Riverdance All Ireland Champion and Exponent of Irish Dance together with a precision ensemble of International Irish Step Dancers in this impressive production of Irish Dance as you have never seen it before!

Tickets are £20/Concessions £18. Call the Box Office on 01642 81 51 81 / 729 729 or please visit the Middlesbrough Theatre website.

The stage version of ITV’s best and certainly most highly-respected sitcom to date, Rising Damp will be at Darlington Civic Theatre from Tuesday, May 21st to Saturday, May 25th.

ITV’s top comedy of all time, Rising Damp, comes to the stage in a brand-new production from the Comedy Theatre Company, producers of the stage versions of Victoria Wood’s dinner ladies and BBC TV’s Birds Of A Feather. Directed by original cast member Don Warrington (Philip) and written by the original TV series writer, Eric Chappell.

An un-named northern university town is home to Rupert Rigsby, landlord of arguably the seediest, most run-down boarding house that England has to offer. His unlucky tenants include Ruth Jones, an administrator at the university, Alan, a medical student, and Philip, who is studying town and country planning. Between them, Alan and Philip are the focus and foil of the majority of Rigsby’s many prejudices, usually at the expense of his dignity and standing in the eyes of Miss Jones, with whom he is hopelessly and pathetically in love.

Anyone who remembers the television series will not want to miss this show – and anyone who hasn’t seen it before, shouldn’t miss this chance to catch the original Fresh Meat!

Evenings 7.30pm, Matinees Thurs 2pm, Sat 2.30pm; Tickets £17 - £24.50; Thursday matinee all seats £17; Discounts available including 20% off on first night and Saturday matinee. Call the box office on 01325 486 555 or visit the website at Darlington Civic Theatre to book.

Middlesbrough's Town Hall’s Classical Music Season is set to finish in style with a not-to-be-missed performance from the famous Moscow State Symphony Orchestra - with top Russian cellist Nina Kotova (pictured above) - which takes to the stage on Thursday, May 23rd, starting 7.45pm.

The Russian visitors will conclude a stunning classical season that has also taken in memorable performances from world class international orchestras, from their compatriots, the St Petersburg Symphony, together with the Prague Symphony and the Polish National Radio Symphony orchestras, who have been ably assisted by Town Hall regulars Northern Sinfonia.

Conducted by the leading Russian conductor Pavel Kogan, the Moscow musicians start their programme with a delightful work by Khachaturian, his pulsating Waltz from Masquerade. This will be followed by the great Adagio from Khachaturian’s ballet, Spartacus, made famous when it was used as the theme music for the BBC series, The Onedin Line.

Nina Kotova, the leading Russian cellist, will then join the orchestra to play Shostakovich’s cello concerto which has become one of the most popular works of the cello repertoire.The season ends with Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, known as the Pathetique.

This great masterpiece was conducted by Tchaikovsky only a week before his death. Its combination of dramatic climaxes, stirring marches and a concluding slow movement of overwhelming poignancy makes this work one of the most profound compositions of Tchaikovsky’s extraordinary life.

The performance: Khachaturian - Waltz from Masquerade and Adagio from Spartacus; Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1; Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6.

Tickets are priced from £12.50, with concessions £11.50. Visit the Middlesbrough Town Hall website for more details.

The hunt is on for the best artistic talent from Teesside and the surrounding area to form part of an exhibition that will be shown in Middlesbrough Town Centre later this year.

Supported by mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, and Middlesbrough Council, Show Us Your Art 2013 will see artwork by local artists on display next to works from mima’s collection. Made possible this year with funding from mima’s visual art network, Show Us Your Art is a good example of one of the many ways mima works with and supports the local arts community. The photograph above is one of last year’s exhibited works - Middlehaven Dock by Jack Harrison.

From August 23 to 30, artwork will be shown in shop windows around the town, as well as in a series of temporary galleries at locations such as Middlesbrough Town Hall and mima. Anyone from Middlesbrough and the surrounding area is invited enter their artwork for consideration. Those wishing to enter can go to ShowUsYourArt.com for rules and entry forms.

"The Sleeping Beauty" by Daniel Maclise (1806-1870).

The remarkable legacy of famous Hartlepool shipbuilding dynasty the Gray family is set to be explored in a major new exhibition in the town.

"Gray’s Exhibition" – which is in Hartlepool Art Gallery until Saturday, June 1st – will feature some of the works of art which were donated to Hartlepool by the family as part of the founding of the town’s Museum Service, as well as artefacts relating to Sir William Gray and Company shipbuilders.

Among more than a dozen paintings on display will be ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ – an oil-on-canvas by Irish-born Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) who studied at the Royal Academy and specialised in literary and historical images as well as images of fairies.

Born in Blyth in 1823, William Gray moved to old Hartlepool at the age of 20 and set himself up as a draper – a business which within a decade he had expanded to seven shops across Teesside. William Gray was elected the first Mayor of West Hartlepool in 1887, becoming the only person to have served as mayor of both towns. He died in 1898 aged 75, having also poured much of his personal fortune into charitable and educational works and having been knighted by Queen Victoria.

Although the shipyards have long since gone, the Gray family’s legacy in Hartlepool is extensive. The old West Hartlepool Library stands on land presented to the town in 1894 by Sir William Gray and George Pyman and the family’s private house The Willows became the Gray Art Gallery and Museum and now houses the town’s museum collection.

Gray’s exhibition is part of a wider series of events during the spring and summer commemorating 50 years since the closure of Gray’s shipyards. These in turn are part of the Festival of the North-East, celebrating the region’s innovation and creativity. Hartlepool Art Gallery is open Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and entry is free. For more information visit Hartlepool Libraries website or the Festivals of the North East website.

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