MILTON KEYNES THEATRE SPRINGS INTO ACTION WITH A STUNNING NEW SEASON

Celebrating 10 years, Milton Keynes Theatre is preparing for the most fantasmagorical Spring season yet bursting with sensational shows. Highlights include the return of international award-winning masterpiece Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, 3 weeks of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and two weeks of the delightful Calendar Girls.  With all-star casts including Lynda Bellingham, Alison Steadman and Marti Pellow.

They say good things come in threes and that couldn’t be truer as the season kicks off with the first of our trio of marvellous musicals; the razzle dazzle smash hit Chicago (25 – 30 Jan) starring Marti Pellow as Billy Flynn and Emma Barton (Eastenders) as Roxie Hart. Based on real life events in the roaring 20s, featuring a sexy sassy nightclub singer, double murderess, smooth talking lawyer and a cell block of sin, it would be a crime to miss it!

Musical fans can prepare to be amazed when family favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flies into Milton Keynes for three weeks (23 Feb – 13 Mar) bringing with it sensational sets and stunning special effects and a cast and crew of over 100 (including 10 dogs!) Jam-packed with magical songs including Truly Scrumptious, Toot Sweets and Hushabye Mountain will Jeremy and Jemima outwit the dastardly baron and the famously evil Childcatcher?

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical triumph Whistle Down the Wind (26 Apr – 01 May) completes the trio.  The extraordinary uplifting tale based on the famous sixties film starring Hayley Mills shows how powerful love can be when childhood innocence collides with the cynical adult world.  A truly powerful tale.

Drama enthusiasts will be delighted to see two weeks of feel good fun as Calendar Girls (15 – 27 Mar) based on the inspiring true story of the group of ordinary women who do something quite extraordinary when they pose for a WI calendar with a difference.  The real life calendar girls sparked a global phenomenon and the stage show has done the same becoming one of the fastest selling tours ever.  Starring Lynda Bellingham, Gemma Atkinson, Judith Barker, Debbie Chazen, Letitia Dean and Jan Harvey, Calendar Girls is selling out across the UK so make sure you get your tickets early!

This will be followed with Alan Bennett’s comedy, Enjoy, which opened in the West End to rave reviews and now visits Milton Keynes with the original cast including Alison Steadman and David Troughton.  Enjoy is set in Bennett’s home town of Leeds in back-to-back housing which is due for demolition.  When a sociologist comes to observe the ageing couple in their day to day life normality takes a decidedly atypical and hilarious turn. Guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles.

The world class Welsh National Opera return for their annual visit (30 Mar – 03 Apr) with 3 spellbinding classics. One of the world’s best loved operas, Tosca by Puccini, tells a tale of desire, deception and self sacrifice set in Napoleon’s time, Bizet’s masterpiece Carmen is full to the brim of instantly recognisable music and set on the 1929’s Orient Express The Abduction from the Seraglio by Mozart will delight in its comedy.

Dance aficionados can look forward to the return of Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (01 – 06 Feb) and Northern Ballet Theatre’s Peter Pan (20 – 24 Apr).

Crowned as a modern day classic the iconic Matthew Bourne production of Swan Lake is perhaps best known for replacing the traditional female corps de ballet with a menacing male ensemble.  Matthew Bourne blends dance humour and spectacle with extravagant award winning designs by Lez Brotherston to create a provocative and powerful Swan Lake for our times.  Northern Ballet Theatre’s magical family ballet Peter Pan is a timeless classic whose story which has delighted children for generations.  This breathtaking production brings all the charm of this famous story to life through dance.  With magical puppets and death defying feats of flying this is the perfect treat for young and old alike.

If that wasn’t enough there is an abundance of one night shows to look forward to.  The Glenn Miller Orchestra will take you in a trip down memory lane with a spectacular evening of music to whisk you Back to the Forties (19 Jan).  The award winning Eva Cassidy Story Over the Rainbow (11 Feb) continues to touch audiences and has received standing ovations across the UK and That’s Amore (12 Feb) celebrates the life and career of Dean Martin thorough musical classics like Volare, Mambo Italiano and Sway.  

For those who like a laugh you will be spoiled for choice as for one night only Milton Keynes is visited by Rhod Gilbert and The Cat That Looked Like Nicholas Lyndhurst (13 Feb),  Top female comedy trio, Fascinating Aida (07 Apr), Jimmy Carr on his Rapier Wit Tour(24 & 225 May), award winner Dara O Briain (29 May) and The Armstrong and Miller Show (17 Oct).

For just two nights Derren Brown (8 – 10 Apr) will bewilder and baffle audiences as only he knows how and due to popular demand will return for another one-off performance on 25 Jun. Another unique theatrical experience will be Traces, a high energy display of urban acrobatics which took the 2007 Edinburgh festival by storm will wow Milton Keynes with their thrill a minute circus skills.

A sneaky peak into the rest of the year reveals upcoming shows Alan Bennett classic The History Boys (17 – 22 May), The Agatha Christie Theatre Company with Witness for the Prosecution (14 – 19 Jun) and the Neil Sedaka musical Laughter in the Rain (07 – 12 Jun).  Not forgetting the ultimate feel good show Hairspray starring the one and only Brian Conley (21 Sep – 09 Oct).

General booking for the new season opens on 18th November.  Make sure you don’t miss out and book your tickets now at Milton Keynes Theatre Box Office 0844 871 7652 or visit www.ambassadortickets.com/miltonkeynes

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