Latest news with #Royal&Derngate
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Choreographer has a ball as debut lands panto win
A dancer said winning a top pantomime award for choreographing her debut solo venture was "mental". Ebony Clarke took home the Pantomime Awards best choreography prize for her innovation on Cinderella at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. Ms Clarke said that after being in the theatre industry for about 10 years, and "looking after people's" work, she decided it was time to do it "on my own". Being involved in the show by Evolution Productions, that ran during December, was "a dream", she said. The winners of the awards were announced at a ceremony in Woking, Surrey, last Sunday. Ms Clarke said she had performed in pantomimes and been associate director and choreographer on a number of hit shows including Romeo & Juliet and Everybody's Talking About Jamie. "I was like 'Hey I want to try and do this on my own and see if I can do it' and Emily and Paul, who run Evolution Productions, were like 'Yeah we're going to give you a shot' and Northampton was the the one and here we are. "It's mental." Her success was down to planning, and "working out what songs we're putting in, how long it's going to be, whose going to be in that number, what the sets look like, what principals are in it, all the logistics, before we start getting creative with the choreography". Working with the cast, including Andy Day from BBC's CBeebies was a joy, she said. "He was so ready for anything I threw at him. "His song, that opened Act Two, Boom Boom Shake the Room, he loved it, he was so good. "The whole process was a dream." She said "it's been a mental couple of week" as she had been to the Olivier Awards 2025, for her work as resident choreographer on the recent West End show, Why Am I So Single, by the same team behind Six The Musical. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. 'Oh yes they did': Pantomime audience rises by 12% Historic theatre celebrates new Christmas show Panto: 'Joy on stage is the tip of the iceberg' Pantomime Awards 2025 Royal Derngate & Northampton Evolution Productions
BBC News
19-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Northampton choreographer says pantomime award is 'mental'
A dancer said winning a top pantomime award for choreographing her debut solo venture was "mental".Ebony Clarke took home the Pantomime Awards best choreography prize for her innovation on Cinderella at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton. Ms Clarke said that after being in the theatre industry for about 10 years, and "looking after people's" work, she decided it was time to do it "on my own". Being involved in the show by Evolution Productions, that ran during December, was "a dream", she said. The winners of the awards were announced at a ceremony in Woking, Surrey, last Sunday. Ms Clarke said she had performed in pantomimes and been associate director and choreographer on a number of hit shows including Romeo & Juliet and Everybody's Talking About Jamie."I was like 'Hey I want to try and do this on my own and see if I can do it' and Emily and Paul, who run Evolution Productions, were like 'Yeah we're going to give you a shot' and Northampton was the the one and here we are. "It's mental."Her success was down to planning, and "working out what songs we're putting in, how long it's going to be, whose going to be in that number, what the sets look like, what principals are in it, all the logistics, before we start getting creative with the choreography". Working with the cast, including Andy Day from BBC's CBeebies was a joy, she said. "He was so ready for anything I threw at him."His song, that opened Act Two, Boom Boom Shake the Room, he loved it, he was so good."The whole process was a dream."She said "it's been a mental couple of week" as she had been to the Olivier Awards 2025, for her work as resident choreographer on the recent West End show, Why Am I So Single, by the same team behind Six The Musical. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Royal & Derngate to host National Theatre Connections Festival
Hundreds of young performers will take to the stage at a theatre in the county as part of a national Royal & Derngate theatre in Northampton will host 16 schools and youth groups at this year's National Theatre Connections participating local organisations include Kettering Science Academy, Wollaston School Theatre Company, Kingsthorpe College, and Pegasus Performing Arts in Corby. Jo Gordon, chief executive at the Royal & Derngate, said: "It's a great opportunity for young people from across the region to work on some exciting new plays, and to come together to perform and take part in workshops, and meet kindred spirits." The event, which is now in its 30th year, celebrates young people's engagement with theatre and the arts. Each year, the National Theatre commissions a collection of new plays written for young performers, providing a platform for emerging talent and fresh plays this year include Brain Play by Chloë Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirett, YOU 2.0 by Alys Metcalf, Fresh Air by Vickie Donoghue, No Regrets by Gary McNair, and The Company of Trees by Jane part of the festival, the theatre's Young Company will stage a revival of Saba's Swim by Danusia Samal - a drama about a young girl navigating grief and identity as she reconnects with her cultural heritage through the power of Gordon added: "It's always wonderful to have so many young people in the building for this fantastic annual event and the atmosphere in the building for the week is incredible."The National Theatre Connections Festival 2025 runs from 31 March to 6 April. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Theatres in the East are recovering five years after Covid
Five years since the curtains came down on theatres across the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, those in the industry have told the BBC it is recovering but challenges remain. What has been the impact and what is the future looking like now? Within minutes of the announcement by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 16 March 2020 that people "should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues", Norwich Theatre Royal cancelled that evening's performance of Les Misé lockdown took its toll, in the summer its parent group announced it would have to shed 217 staff following "huge financial losses"."Five years on, it's incredible to sit here and reflect that we have come out of it, and actually this organisation feels stronger than it's ever been," says the theatre's chief executive, Stephen Crocker. 'To suddenly stop was unheard of' Recalling how he felt at the time, Mr Crocker says: "It was a feeling of shock, I think, and something that was completely and utterly unprecedented."This building only closes for about a day and a half every year, so to suddenly stop and in such a way was unheard of."It was not alone - across the country theatres were all closing their doors. 'It was frightening for the whole sector' In Northampton, the Royal & Derngate closed for more than a year between March 2020 and May 2021. Due to lockdown, it was losing £1m a month. Soon after lights hit the stage again, fears about crumbling concrete forced another closure. It now faces a threat from its grant being cut by a struggling about when coronavirus hit in the UK, chief executive Jo Gordon says: "I think it was frightening for the whole sector - the resilience that the staff teams had to show, developing partnerships and holding on to each other as we navigated through Covid and out the other side, as quite a changed industry."Annual grant funding from Arts Council England and West Northamptonshire Council contributes 15% of the theatre's annual income, with it earning the remaining 85% from tickets sales, bars sales and other Gordon says: "Our audiences are central, their attendance, their coming to see shows, we have to be really smart to keep our pricing accessible and how we encourage repeat attendance." 'Work dried up overnight' For actor Josiah Eloi, who grew up in Northampton, the pandemic struck when he was in his final year of a degree. "I had no idea what was going to happen," he says."About two weeks after graduating in 2020, the industry just shut down for the next three years."The now 25-year-old says the challenge to increase audience numbers remains."Getting people to come to live theatre, for smaller venues, theatres just trying to get people out of their living rooms and into theatres, is really tricky."In December, the Royal & Derngate's locally produced Christmas show ran for the first time since performance was the Jolly Christmas Postman, with Samuel Morgan-Grahame playing the title Covid hit, Morgan-Graheme, 34, was just finishing a short-run performing in Amélie in the West End."My wife was four-months pregnant," he says. "I felt worried because work just dried up overnight and we had to plan for our expanding family." Theatres are still recovering, he says."It feels to me that people are still hesitant to come out and take risks on theatre - especially with things they don't know, or newer stuff or innovative work."Five years ago, Northampton-based actor and musician Ellen Chivers was performing in a show that was says: "I guess there was a point where we thought will we all be sat in a theatre together again next to people, but there was the belief it would happen."The 37-year-old worked at a Royal Mail sorting office in Crick for eight months during lockdown as a parcel sorter, which "felt really good to feel useful".Only in the past 12 months has she returned to acting. She hopes the industry will keep investing in new talent. During the Covid pandemic, the Arts Council distributed £2,766,691 through the Emergency Response Funding and the government's Culture Recovery Fund to organisations in the East of a statement, an Arts Council England spokesperson says the funding was set up to tackle the crisis."We know that the pandemic has had a profound impact on the cultural and creative sector, with organisations and practitioners continuing to overcome ongoing challenges such as rising costs. "We're doing all we can to continue supporting them."BBC Politics East is broadcast on Sunday, and can be seen on BBC iPlayer. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
