Georgina Butler
Writing. Dancing.

NEWS: Join the party when Northern Ballet returns with ‘The Great Gatsby’ – Milton Keynes Theatre, May 2022

 

Everyone is invited to a sparkling revival of Northern Ballet’s The Great Gatsby at Milton Keynes Theatre this month.

This Jazz Age ballet swings through the Roaring Twenties, bringing the lavish lifestyle and complex relationships depicted in the pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel to the stage. Ambition, passion and obsession drive his tragic story of wealth, excess and doomed love affairs.

Nick Carraway arrives on New York’s Long Island in 1922 in pursuit of the American dream. Here, he reconnects with his incredibly rich cousin, Daisy Buchanan, and her husband, Tom. As an observant and inquisitive outsider, Nick is well placed to wonder whether their union was ever true love or has instead always been a marriage of convenience. When he is introduced to Jordan Baker, a no-nonsense professional golfer and socialite, he is immediately interested in her and they start casually dating.

Nick is most intrigued by his neighbour, Jay Gatsby – a mysterious millionaire who throws extravagant parties to escape reality and chase his past happiness. As Nick learns more about the self-made man behind the glitz and glamour, he realises that everything Gatsby does is in pursuit of an impossible dream.

 

Promotional photo of Northern Ballet dancers Nicola Gervasi and Antoinette Brooks-Daw in costume as Gatsby and Daisy from The Great Gatsby. The male dancer is holding the female dancer by the waist during a supported jump and fireworks are lighting up the night sky behind them.

 

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NEWS: Celebrate individuality with ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ – Milton Keynes Theatre, April 2022

 

Dust off your glad rags, step into your highest heels and pass it on that coming-of-age musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie visits Milton Keynes Theatre this month.

The show, which is about an openly gay schoolboy who dreams of being a drag queen, was inspired by the true story of sixteen-year-old Jamie Campbell. A 2011 BBC documentary, Jamie: Drag Queen at 16, chronicled the teenager’s experiences when he defied the bullies and attended his school prom wearing a dress.

The documentary highlighted that fierce drag queens have to start somewhere – the fabulousness of the contestants featured on RuPaul’s Drag Race is hard-won! Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jamie’s determination to celebrate his true self captured the attention of creatives Jonathan Butterell, Dan Gillespie Sells and Tom MacRae. The trio devised a musical inspired by the trailblazing teen’s lively spirit and personal battles. Then a film followed too.

In Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, the misfit who comes out of the darkness and struts into the spotlight is named Jamie New. Supported by his loving mum and loyal friends, he stands up to the haters, decides to be happy and searches for a place where he can belong.

 

Everybody's Talking About Jamie. Layton Williams as Jamie. Layton is a mixed-race performer with close-cropped, bleached blonde hair. He is wearing a blue school blazer, blue-and-yellow striped school tie and black trousers and shoes. He is dancing alongside similarly dressed performers in a classroom scene.

 

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NEWS: Splash-hit musical ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ returns – Milton Keynes Theatre, April 2022

 

Singin’ in the Rain, the classic toe-tapping musical that gave bad weather a good name, returns to Milton Keynes Theatre this month.

Hailed a success at Chichester Festival Theatre and critically acclaimed in the West End, Jonathan Church’s production is forecast to bring all the spirit of the beloved Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film to venues nationwide on its current UK tour.

The show will shower theatregoers in Milton Keynes with charming comedy routines, glorious songs and high-energy dance numbers from Monday 11 April, for one week only. There is a hundred percent chance of both sunny entertainment and rain – the spectacular staging means audience members at the front of the stalls should expect to get a bit wet!

 

The Singin' in the Rain company. Performers wearing black trouser suits and bowler hats pose with closed umbrellas tucked under their arms as water pours down from the rafters.

 

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NEWS: Matthew Bourne’s ‘Nutcracker!’ invites dance fans to Sweetieland – Milton Keynes Theatre, February 2022

 

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! arrives for performances in Milton Keynes from Tuesday 15 February and theatregoers can expect a feel-good treat.

Choreographer Sir Matthew Bourne’s whimsical dance-theatre take on the traditional coming-of-age Christmas ballet retains Tchaikovsky’s glorious score but adds some scrumptious surprises. Described by Bourne and his company, New Adventures, as a ‘show for all seasons’, Nutcracker! indulges the evergreen themes of self-discovery – growing up, dreaming big and falling in love for the first time.

The updated scenario rejects the festive family scenes used in the opening of the original ballet. Instead, plucky protagonist Clara is reimagined as a young girl who is incarcerated in a Dickensian orphanage. After a pitiful Christmas Eve party, she dreams of happier times.

Pull on your winter coat and follow Clara’s journey from Dr Dross’s gloomy orphanage, across a shimmering frozen pond and into the riotously colourful candy kingdom of Sweetieland.

 

Nutcracker! Matthew Bourne's New Adventures dancer Enrique Ngbokota as Cupid.

 

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NEWS: Prepare to be dazzled by ‘Dreamgirls’ – Milton Keynes Theatre, January 2022

 

Award-winning musical Dreamgirls is on the road for its first UK tour and performances in Milton Keynes start this month.

The show, which will visit Milton Keynes Theatre for a two-week run from Tuesday 25 January, promises to deliver an extraordinary story and unforgettable vocals.

According to the production’s tagline, ‘there’s a story behind every dream’. Indeed, Dreamgirls transports audiences to a revolutionary time in American history to share a cautionary, yet ultimately uplifting, tale of stardom. Based on the showbiz aspirations of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles and James Brown, the musical charts the tumultuous journey of a girl group.

It’s the 1960s and friends Effie, Lorrell and Deena form a singing trio. Naïve but talented and ambitious, the girls must contend with a white-dominated music industry, manipulative managers, rivalry and heartbreak in order to find personal and professional success.

 

Dreamgirls UK Tour publicity image. Three black women, wearing gold dresses, stand side by side with their backs to the viewer. They are posing with their arms up as if to announce their arrival.

 

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