Entertainment News

Regarded as the pioneer of house music in the United Kingdom and credited as ‘The First Lady of House Music’, Kym Mazelle will be headlining at The Jam House Birmingham on 6^th April. Already a successful gospel vocalist and a fixture in Chicago's club circuit, Kym Mazelle broke into Europe on the House Music wave of the late eighties. Collaborations with International DJs & producers at the time, found her chart success with ‘Useless’ (Marshall Jefferson), ‘Wait’ (Dr Robert), & ‘Missing You’ (Soul II Soul) during this time.

Music festival Wireless is heading for Haringey again, welcoming some of the industry’s biggest stars. The country’s premier urban festival is due to be held at Finsbury Park on the weekend of July 7 to 9, 2017, with headliners including The Weeknd, Chance the Rapper and Tottenham talent Skepta. The event has been approved by Haringey, subject to agreement from relevant authorities.

Nearly 500 tickets have already been snapped up to see The Little Mix Tribute show at The Albany Theatre next month (April) with organisers saying the ‘Sold Out’ signs could go up before the end of March. With breath-taking dance moves, replica costumes and some of the finest vocals, this is a high-energy show from beginning to end, packed with all Little Mix’s greatest hits and suitable for all ages.

Seeing the launch of its large print access guide, a leading arts centre will be giving free activities for all abilities funded by players of the Peoples’ Postcode Lottery. mac Birmingham will be providing freely availability  recorded on mac’s large print access guide website prior to the event on Saturday 11 March. The guide highlights the many facilities and assistance on offer, helping to ensure all visitors feel informed and welcomed. Visitors can enjoy a portrait exhibition curated by mac resident band Switch and resident theatre company Spectra. Switch will also perform a medley of their songs in the afternoon.

Tesco colleagues across the West Midlands are preparing to roll back the clock for a totally awesome 80s themed fundraiser to kick-start the third and final year of the National Charity Partnership. During the weekend of 3-5th March 2017, the nationwide ‘Final Countdown’ weekend will see 300,000 Tesco colleagues raise money to help improve the health of the nation. Tesco colleagues will be bringing back the fashion and energy that made the decade so great to stores with activities including getting physical with aerobic exercise and nostalgic 80s toys, music and movies.

Something futuristic is taking shape in the historic grounds of Compton Verney Art Gallery and Park, in rural Warwickshire. British artists Alex Hartley and Tom James are creating The Clearing – a vision of the future, on the shores of the gallery’s lake, where people can come to learn how to live in the collapsing world that’s coming our way. In the middle of The Clearing, the artists are now building a geodesic dome to house the project.

Derby's FORMAT International Festival of Photography will take place between March 24 and April 23 in 2017. A truly world class biennale event, FORMAT is widely acknowledged as one of the world's leading international contemporary festivals of photography, as well as - in terms of visitors and scale of programme - the largest event of its kind in the UK. FORMAT17 will display work by over 200 international artists and photographers across 30 exhibitions, alongside a photobook market, portfolio reviews and a series of innovative events and performances

A new production called Rise is taking to the B2 stage at the Belgrade Theatre this March, performed by some of the Midlands brightest young female talent and directed by Associate Director, Justine Themen. Aged from 9 to 25, the all-female cast form the Belgrade’s Young Company, comprised of some of the most promising members from across the theatre’s youth groups.

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber will be hosting a showcase of music by Birmingham Conservatoire students at Artrix Arts Centre in Bromsgrove on Wednesday 29 March. The internationally renowned cellist, who is Principal at the Conservatoire, will introduce both the music and his hand-picked musicians in a unique programme of popular classics – from artists such as Chopin, Mozart, Schubert, Strauss and Tchaikovsky – played and sung by five of the Conservatoire’s finest students.

Multi-platinum-selling artist J. Cole has announced that he will hit the road for a 57-city world tour.  The “4 Your Eyez Only” Tour hits Birmingham’s Barclaycard Arena on 14 October. The North Carolina-bred Cole is touring in support of his fourth album, the Platinum-certified 4 Your Eyez Only, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart in December. Each of its ten tracks has notched a place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

A Thai artist who mixes Western and traditional Eastern imagery has been selected to display his artwork as part of a UK exhibition recognising new talent. Thailand born Tuschara Kiewpukdee who graduated from Birmingham School of Art, part of the Birmingham City University, was one of 31 emerging artists in the West Midlands region chosen to display their work at art galleries and heritage sites.

To celebrate World Book Day’s 20th anniversary (2 March) vet charity PDSA has teamed up with award-winning children’s writer Hilary Robinson to launch its annual writing competition. The competition is open to budding young writers, aged 16 or under, and this year’s theme is Animal Heroes. This coincides with Hilary’s latest book Flo of the Somme, which tells the story of a heroic dog who worked in the WW1 battlefields, delivering medical supplies to injured soldiers.

University of Wolverhampton Applied Arts second year degree students are exhibiting a range of glass and ceramics artwork inspired by a visit to local National Trust property, Wightwick Manor. The FREE exhibition – Reflections of Wightwick – will be held at the White House Cone Museum in Stourbridge from Saturday 25^th February until Sunday 5^th March open at 10.00 am until 5.00 pm.

Walsall College Performing Arts students will be showcasing their talents to the public when they perform a National Theatre play entitled ‘FOMO’ in The Venue, the college’s unique theatre space. ‘FOMO’ is one of 10 brand new plays written especially for National Theatre’s youth festival, Connections, by a selection of the best playwriting talent in the UK.

The winner of 10 Tony and 5 Olivier Awards, Billy Elliot the Musical will be at Birmingham Hippodrome for the first time ever from Tue 7 Mar – Sat 29 Apr 2017. Seen by almost 11 million people worldwide,Billy Elliot the Musical is set in a northern mining town against the background of the 1984/85 miners’ strike and follows Billy’s journey from boxing to ballet class where he discovers a passion for dance that inspires his family and whole community and changes his life forever.

Imagine 20 pianists, TV star and impressionist Alistair McGowan and celebrated actor Simon Callow in an all-night musicfest, plus a pianist who cycles through the night across the UK, arrives at dawn and sits down to play…  Well now you don’t have to! For one night only (Friday 3 March at Town Hall Birmingham) Birmingham Conservatoire has put together a ‘Piano All-Nighter’ – a nocturnal ‘pianothon’ of featuring some of today’s greatest pianists, celebrity guests and musicians from its own ranks.