Entertainment News

An all-male cast is performing Shakespeare’s comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor when it stops of in Sandwell as part of a national tour.

The Festival Players Theatre Company is staging its open air performance of the classic at The Manor House, in Hall Green Road, West Bromwich on May 29.

Presented in full traditional costume the play brings the roguish but foolish knight Falstaff as he schemes to woo two married women to get his hands on their husbands’ money. But the merry wives are more than a match for him and a comic tale unfolds.

Audiences are encouraged to bring their own chairs, a blanket and enjoy a picnic in the grounds of the 13^th century medieval manor house from 4pm and enjoy the performance which starts at 5pm.

Just weeks after announcing a 26-date summer tour of North America, Queen + Adam Lambert today revealed further live plans for 2017 which will now see the band return to Europe later this year for a series of 24 dates including 12 arena concerts in the UK and Ireland. The tour will showcase a spectacular new stage production and a set list, which the band hints will provide some surprises.

Queen + Adam Lambert’s 11-city UK and Ireland tour will see them perform at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham on 30 November.  The tour is presented by Phil McIntyre Entertainments.

These shows will mark the band’s first full British tour in almost three years, having last performed across the UK in January 2015 when they played 10 sold out shows. Their only UK appearance in 2016 was a one-off headlining set at the closing night of the Isle of Wight Festival on Sunday June 12, part of a 15-date European summer festival tour. Isle of Wight festival organiser John Giddings credited the band with “the greatest show we have ever had”.

For their 2017 tour, the band will unveil a brand new show including a specially designed state-of-the-art production. The choice of performance material will no doubt acknowledge this year’s 40th anniversary of Queen’s biggest-selling studio album to date, News of the World from 1977, which yielded the immortal anthems “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”.

Queen drummer and co-founder Roger Taylor insists the 2017 tour “will look entirely different to the show we took around before. Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don’t use it all. We don’t play to click track. It’s 100% live. We're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that's what we were. The fact that we had hits was just a by-product.”

Guitarist Brian May confirms Queen’s 2017 shows will have a more ambitious musical agenda. “The general public knows the hits, so you've got to cater for that,” he says, “but we can chuck in a few things that people really don't expect. We’ll do quite a bit more of that this time around. There are so many dimensions to Adam, which of course fits with our music. He can get down and do the rock stuff really dirty, and you have all those dimensions, and we can explore that even more.”

Adam Lambert welcomes the challenge of digging deeper into the band’s canon of classics. “What people should know if they came to the shows a couple of years back, is obviously we will still be playing the big hit songs you know and love from Queen, but we thought it would be good to challenge ourselves a bit,” he explains. “Change it up a little bit, change the visuals, change all the technology, change the set list to some degree. We will probably be pulling some other songs out of the Queen catalogue which we haven’t done before, which I am very excited about.”

Based on the hit animated TV series on Nickelodeon produced by Spin Master, PAW Patrol Live! brings everybody’s favourite pups to the stage for an action-packed, high-energy, musical adventure.

When Mayor Goodway is nowhere to be found during the day of the Great Adventure Bay Race, the pups come to the rescue. Join Ryder, Chase, Marshall, Rocky, Rubble, Zuma, Skye and the newest pup, Everest, when they take the stage at the Barclaycard Arena.

Featuring a cast of everybody’s favourite PAW Patrol characters and presented by Life Like Touring, VStar Entertainment Group and Nickelodeon, PAW Patrol Live! shows that ‘no job is too big, no pup is too small’ and shares lessons for all ages about citizenship, social skills and problem-solving as the characters each use their unique skills and teamwork.

The show includes two acts and an intermission, and incorporates an innovative costume approach that brings the pups to life on stage with their vehicles and packs during the all-important rescue mission.

The performance features up-tempo music and a cleverly written script, a good introduction to live theatre for young children. Classic theatrical scenery along with a high-tech video wall visually transports families to popular locations from the TV series, like Adventure Bay, The Lookout, Seal Island, Farmer Yumi’s Farm and Jake’s Mountain. During the show, the audience has the opportunity to participate in the adventure and become a part of the PAW Patrol Cheer Team.

Birmingham Bach Choir is one of the UK’s leading large chamber choirs and together with their orchestra and soloists, Paul Spicer will conduct a full Good Friday performance of Handel’s beautiful masterpiece MESSIAH at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Friday 14 April.

Birmingham Bach Choir is one of the City's oldest and most distinguished musical groups. It predates both the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus and the City of Birmingham Choir. The exist to give inspiring live performances to a professional standard that engage with audiences, with a distinctive mix of new and established repertoire.

Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible, and from the version of the Psalms included with the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742 and received its London premiere nearly a year later. After an initially modest public reception, the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the best-known and most frequently performed choral works in Western music.

Paul Spicer began his musical training as a chorister at New College, Oxford. He studied with Herbert Howells and Richard Popplewell (organ) at the Royal College of Music in London, winning the top organ award (the Walford Davies Prize) in his final year. Paul is best known as a choral conductor, partly through the many CDs he made with the Finzi Singers for Chandos records. He conducted Bach Choirs in Chester and Leicester before moving to conduct the Bach Choir in Birmingham in 1992.

Spiagge Soul is a dynamic soul music festival that takes full advantage of Ravenna's sandy beaches, transforming the Adriatic into a mini New Orleans. Now in its 9th year, the Festival, which welcomes international artists from all over the world including the US, Algeria, Africa, Portugal and the UK, is proud to announce The Commitments as its headline act.

Headed up by former Coronation Street star Kevin “Curly Watts” Kennedy, the line up features many of the performers who were in the original West End cast.

2016's Festival saw Ravenna hosting 31 live concerts across 14 locations. Performers included Ruthie Foster and Brooklyn Funk Essentials from the US; Frankie Chavez from Portugal, Faris Amine from Algeria and Primo Nelson from the UK.

Spiagge Soul was launched in Ravenna in July 2009 with the aim of animating the city's Adriatic fronted sandy beaches with freely accessible live concerts. Joyfulness, hospitality and friendliness are the Festival's main characteristics wrapped around a love of soul, funk, jazz and blues music.

It has been an extraordinary six months for James Arthur. After returning with his single Say You Won’t Let Go, James has gone onto achieve multiple #1s, a Platinum selling album, sold out tours and two BRIT’s Nominations. Now he returns with the announcement of his first arena tour. The nine-date tour, with Ella Henderson in support, includes a show at Birmingham’s Genting Arena.

James wrapped up his last UK tour just last month and it sold out in minutes and earned him rave reviews from fans and critics alike. Excited to hit arenas, James commented: “It is unreal that I’ll be doing my first UK arena tour this November! The last tour was the best experience and now I cannot wait to take it to the next level in arenas. Thanks again for the continued support and can’t wait to see you there”.

Billed as The Comeback of the Year by many, James’s run of success shows no sign of slowing down through 2017. He launches his next single later this month and hits the USA again for performances on The Ellen DeGeneres show and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. This Summer, James supports One Republic on their US arena tour, is headlining shows in Europe and Japan and has been confirmed for a number of the UK’s biggest festivals.

James released Say You Won’t Let Go, his first single in over two years, in September and it shot straight to #1 on the Official Singles Chart where it stayed for three weeks and has gone onto sell over four million copies globally and been streamed over 450 million times. The single also topped the UK Airplay Chart and is currently in the Top 10 on the iTunes Chart in the USA. His second album Back From The Edge followed and saw him pick up his first #1 on the Official Albums Chart, going onto achieve Platinum status within just a few months.

Tickets go on sale this Friday at 9am from www.theticketfactory.com.

Tenerife hosted a record-breaking number of 116 national and international TV, film and photo shoots in 2016, 28 more than the previous year, according to the latest figures released by the Tenerife Film Commission. These productions, attracted by the island's tax incentives and stunning landscapes, generated total revenues of €6.5 million.

The Tenerife Film Commission, the brand of the Tenerife Tourism Corporation responsible for promoting the island as a filming location, also reveals that photoshoots were the most popular filming activity in 2016, with 58 in total. These were followed by advertising shoots (18), TV programmes (15) and films (6), amongst others.

Mr. Ricardo Martínez, Director of the Tenerife Film Commission, says: “We are extremely proud of reaching this record number of productions. Since the creation of the Tenerife Film Commission in 2000, we have welcomed over a thousand local and international production companies, which have collectively generated revenues of €80 million.”

Amongst the 17 UK productions filmed in Tenerife in 2016 were BBC series Silent Witness and Dr. Who (filming at the Teide National Park for the second time) and ITV programmes Take Me Out and The Holiday Show (pilot episode). Tenerife was also the backdrop for some UK advertising and photo shoots for brands including Jaguar Cars, John Lewis, Schuh and Asos.

Spanish productions dominated the shooting of films last year. Highlights include 1898. Our Last Men in the Philippines (directed by Salvador Calvo and starring Luis Tosar and Karra Elejalde) and Oro (directed by Agustín Díaz Yanes and starring Raúl Arévalo, Óscar Jaenada and José Coronado).

As well as its wide variety of striking landscapes and 3,000 hours of sunshine a year, international companies filming in Tenerife can benefit from a reduced rate of VAT (7%) together with a tax rebate of up to 35%. Further benefits are explained in the latest video from the Tenerife Film Commission.

Welsh duo Into The Ark finished second on the 6th series of The Voice UK - which made its debut on ITV1 for the first time - starting 7th January 2017 and concluding with the grand final on 2nd April 2017.

After tens of thousands of singers entered the competition to win a record deal, Into The Ark, sang, played, performed and battled their way to the runners up spot behind winner Mo Adeniran.

Coach and mentor, Sir Tom Jones received a very pleasant shock when presenter Emma Willis revealed Into The Ark had made the final two - Sir Tom was caught sweraing live on TV.

About his ‘surprise outburst’ on live TV - Sir Tom Jones said afterwards “I was so shocked and because I believe in them [Into The Ark] so much ... it gives me a boost to know that the public believe like I do in these boys.”

On finishing as runners up, Dane Lloyd said, “We can’t believe it. We’re so grateful to have the best mentor you could ever have ... and we get to go on tour with Tom! Thanks to everyone who voted. Seriously, thank you”. Taylor Jones added, “Does life get much better than touring with such a great guy AND a Welsh legend?”

Into The Ark have just announced their own first UK & Ireland 16-date Headline Tour – which has already sold out in venues across the UK – including Cardiff, St Albans and Bristol. Following this Into The Ark will then support Sir Tom Jones on tour throughout June and July.

Sir Tom Jones said, “We’re going to do some shows together. It’s a tour that I’m going on and the (Into The Ark) boys are coming with me. Definitely looking forward to having the guys on board. Can't wait!”

The British Public proved once again that the best should always win, and the hotel worker from Warrington who was brought up in foster care came out on top of this years The Voice competition, which for the first year was shown on ITV.

With stiff competition from Jamie Miller and Into The Ark, Mo Adeniran, who was coached by Jennifer Hudson on Team JHud following his audition of 'Iron Sky' in the beginning, Mo was pushed to the limit in the final, but came through proving the bookies right to back him.

Massive appreciation from The Phoenix has to be given to Jennifer Hudson and the British Public for backing Mo through the series to the very end, as this was a monumental finish to the series!

Lady Gaga’s Joanne World Tour - one of 2017’s hottest tours – keeps getting hotter and hotter with sold out shows and additional dates added in response to extremely high demand throughout North America and Europe.  Due to ongoing fan demand, 3 final concerts have been added to the Joanne World Tour line-up in 2017 including a date confirmed at Birmingham’s Genting Arena.  This is in addition to her date at the Barclaycard Arena. Tickets for the new show will go on sale this Friday, 31^st March .

Gaga will be traveling the globe with the ‎Joanne World Tour, performing the concert dates throughout Europe and the UK before returning to North America in November and December this year.

Grammy and Golden Globe winner and Academy Award-nominated Lady Gaga is a one-of-a kind artist and performer. She has amassed an outstanding 30 million global album sales and 150 million single sales, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Gaga is also one of the biggest forces in social media with over 61 million likes on Facebook, over 65.1 million followers on Twitter and over 21.3 million followers on Instagram. Her fifth studio album “Joanne” was recently released and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, marking her 4th consecutive #1 album - the first female to do so in the 2010s.

The Wolves Mayor Rock Fest will take place at The Slade Rooms on Saturday, April 8. Councillor Ian Brookfield, driven by his love of rock music, has teamed up with Facebook fan group Rockers Through the Ages to organise the event at the Broad Street venue, with doors opening at 4pm.

It will showcase some of the best upcoming rock talent in the City of Wolverhampton.

Bands that will be appearing include The Bad Flowers, Shyyne, Electus, Iconic Eye, The New Saints and Voodoo Sioux.

They will be joined by a rock DJ for what promises to be an extravaganza of music in aid of the chosen charities of the Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Barry Findlay -  Samaritans of Wolverhampton, The MS Therapy Centre, and Wolverhampton Help for Heroes.

The Mayor said: "It’s great to see the Rock Fest back and I am happy that Councillor Brookfield has organised it again for three great charities to benefit.

"We're looking forward to showing off the fantastic musical talent we have here in City of Wolverhampton.

"I'd like to thank everyone who is taking part - we have a cast of more than 100 and they are all giving their time for free."

It’s never been so good, for British Black music – and its stars – as two of the country’s biggest names are fronting an advertising campaign alongside two other biggies from these shores. Shortlisted as ‘Men of the Moment,’ international singing star, Craig David , and king of grime, Wiley, joined world boxing champion, Anthony Joshua and ‘ The Revenant ’ actor Will Poulter in promoting the latest Lynx male grooming product in the new advert. The four famous faces were specially selected by Olympic diver Tom Daley, DJ Mista Jam and TV presenter Reggie Yates, who also shortlisted 30 prominent male personalities who are “shaping our times and challenging male stereotypes in 2017.” For Wiley, who along with Dizzee Rascal , Kano and Lethal Bizzle , was at the forefront of the very British, underground, music genre to be recognized by the mainstream, it’s further proof, if ever it was needed, that ‘grime’ isn’t going anywhere – anytime soon. With fellow grime star, Stormzy, also ‘smashing it’ in the wide conscience of British music, the door is wide open for others to follow...for some time to come!​

Mountains on Stage, the film festival dedicated to mountain sports, launches in the UK for the first time this April.

Following a successful winter edition, the festival will tour the UK with six dates in April, showcasing six films that vary in running time from six minutes to fifty nine minutes in length. Themes include, paragliding, bouldering, classic rock climbing from the 1980's and mountain biking in snow.

The films are either in English and when not, are subtitled.

Founder of Mountains on Stage, Cyril Solomon, comments: “We had such a great reaction from our first ever UK winter tour that we have decided to come back for the summer. There's a huge culture of climbing and mountaineering in the UK and we know these films will be of great interest to participants of the sport. But, even if you're not into rock climbing or mountaineering, these films will inspire people in many different ways.”

One of the films (Blocheads) has especially been scheduled for the UK tour only and it's a history of the sport of Bouldering, something that has particular resonance with UK climbers, the others have all been selected based on their originality, reputation and uniqueness.