Entertainment News

Birmingham has been chosen as the first city in England to welcome Scandinavia’s popular après ski themed Heidi’s Bier Bar. Not only will it be the biggest Heidi’s to date, but it will also be the first to serve food.

Located on Broad Street, REKOM – which also operates PRYZM Birmingham – is investing £1.5 million to transform the former Bierkeller site into an Alpine getaway, creating 50 new jobs. Local contractors have also been hired to carry out the works.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) today announced full details of its festive programme of productions for Winter 2022 including the world premiere of the stage adaptation of Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbour Totoro which will open at London’s Barbican for a strictly limited run from 8 October 2022, plus the return of David Edgar’s critically-acclaimed adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, playing in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon from 26 October 2022.

A new painting that looks down on the canal over the Black Sabbath bench on Broad Street has been created by local artist Paula Gabb.

The artwork captures the view from the Barajee Indian restaurant which lies opposite the ‘heavy metal’ bench and features visitors admiring what has become a major landmark for tourists to Birmingham.

Appearing in the latest John Wick film alongside Keanu Reeves, Scott Adkins recently took some time out to recover at Active Clinic in Edgbaston, in Birmingham.

As well as being a very famous actor appearing in films like The Bourne Ultimatum, Scott is also an expert martial artist and gymnast, who takes his sports recovery very serious.

Grosvenor Road Studios, formerly the renowned Hollick & Taylor Studios, has been Birmingham’s best keep secret for over sixty years and now music lovers have the chance to step inside to hear live music.

Xhosa Cole, the acclaimed 24 year-old saxophonist who won the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year in 2018, will perform an exclusive gig at Grosvenor Road Studios, featuring saxophonist James Romaine.

Wolverhampton Grand Theatre’s panto star, Tam Ryan has been named Best Panto Comic at the 2022 UK Pantomime Associate Awards for his hilarious, critically acclaimed performance as Buttons in the 2021/22 production of Cinderella. The awards were held on Tuesday 19th April at a star-studded ceremony at the Trafalgar Theatre in London's West End, hosted by UK Pantomime Association President Christopher Biggins, a total of 27 awards were presented with categories ranging from performers to production.

A collaborator for everyone from Sir David Attenborough to Coldplay, the renowned and award-winning composer Ilan Eshkeri will release the new album ‘Space Station Earth’ on May 13th via Sony Masterworks. The album will be accompanied by an immersive, out-of-this-earth tour created in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), which will debut at London’s Royal Albert Hall on May 15th. Today Eshkeri continues to build anticipation towards the release of the new album by sharing the new single ‘Stars’. 

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) announced that Gregory Doran will step down as Artistic Director from today after 35 years with the Company including the last ten years as Artistic Director. Gregory will begin rehearsals next week for Richard III with Arthur Hughes in the title role and will remain with the Company as Artistic Director Emeritus until the end of 2023.

Birmingham Hippodrome has announced a line-up of new productions for 2023, with newly announced productions including Birmingham Hippodrome Associates Motionhouse’s family show Starchitects (3 – 4 Feb 2023), the award-winning Matthew Bourne’s Sleeping Beauty (7-11 Feb 2023) and the return of Titanic The Musical (18-22 Apr 2023) as part of the hit production’s 10th anniversary tour. Completing the line-up of new shows for Spring 2023 is feel-good celebration of soul, The Commitments (24-29 April 2023) which will arrive in Birmingham after a record-breaking five-year run in London’s West End.

The UK’s leading pregnancy and parenting event, The Baby Show, is returning LIVE to Birmingham’s NEC from Friday 13 May to Sunday 15 May 2022. Sponsored by Lidl GB, The Baby Show is the nation’s largest and ultimate shopping destination for new and expectant parents and provides everything they need for their recent or impending arrivals.  

Around 100 jobs are being created with the launch of NX Newcastle, the new identity of the former O2 Academy on the city’s Westgate Road, which is the latest £1.75m venture by independent organisation Electric Group.

Set to re-open in October this year following a state-of-the-art refurbishment, work has already begun to overhaul the venue, which originally opened as a cinema in 1927.

Birmingham Rep have released the first production images from their world premiere production of Grimeboy, which plays until Sat 30 Apr.

Grimeboy is the unmissable new play from Casey Bailey, the Birmingham Poet Laureate and winner of the Greater Birmingham Future Face of Arts and Culture 2020.

Breakdancing magician and finalist of Britain’s Got Talent 2020, Magical Bones has taken his new magic show Black Magic back on the road, following an impressive sold-out run at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This tour encompasses some rescheduled dates from his 2020 tour along with the new shows.

The sight and sound of a brass band will be familiar to many. What you might not know, however, is that “banding” has a vast and dedicated following, with thousands of bands meeting weekly across the country, indeed throughout the globe, to hone their craft.

As luck would have it, the very best of those bands will be coming to the UK later this month, for what’s deemed to be the biggest event in the global brass calendar.

Nina Nesbitt’s latest single ‘When You Lose Someone’ represented a tremendous leap forward for the future pop icon, quickly reaching 5 million streams as she prepares to take her career to a new level with her upcoming third album. Just as immediate as the songs that powered her huge second album ‘The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change’, the song’s heart-wrenching take on grief provides an emotional punch that adds new potency to her pop-oriented addictiveness.

The very best brass bands from across Europe will be visiting the UK later this month, for what’s deemed to be the biggest event in the global brass calendar.

From 28 April - 1 May in Birmingham, the European Brass Band Festival will be the biggest brass banding event of its kind to take place in the UK in many years and will feature over 70 bands across its four day run.