Season Preview round-up
On Friday 18 May, we hosted our latest Season Preview event, giving our Curve Members, Supporters and Friends an exclusive look at the shows and events we have in store at Curve over the next few months.
Our Season Previews contain a mix of performances and conversations from the people involved in creating and bringing exciting work to Curve. Read on to find out what happened on the night!
This time, we kicked things off with a performance from Anton Stephans, who played the Ghost of Christmas Present in our 2017 Made at Curve Christmas production of Scrooge the Musical. Anton soon had the audience up on their feet and dancing along, ready for the night ahead.
This Season Preview was hosted by Matt Hemley, News Editor at theatre publication The Stage. Joined by Curve’s Chief Executive Chris Stafford and Artistic Director Nikolai Foster, Matt took us through the evening, finding out more about the theatre and what audiences can expect to see at Curve in the near future.
We then welcomed Curve Associate Artist and award-winning dancer and choreographer Akram Khan to the stage to speak about XENOS, his final performance as a dancer in a full length piece. Watch the video below to hear more about the Curve co-production which will come to the theatre as the only regional venue in the UK Fri 21 and Sat 22 September.
Entertainment icon Shiamak Davar’s company Shiamak UK brought an electrifying and energetic dance performance to our Season Preview, with 15 talented dancers in beautiful costumes taking over the stage with authentic choreography and Bollywood flair. Shiamak UK’s incredible Spirit of India will come to Curve Fri 1 and Sat 2 Jun.
We made two very exciting announcements at this Season Preview evening, the first of which was the title of our upcoming Made at Curve Christmas Studio production for children and their families – The Cat in the Hat!
Based on the classic book by Dr. Seuss, our co-production with Rose Theatre Kingston will be directed by Curve’s Associate Director Suba Das, with Set and Costume Design from Isla Shaw and original songs from Cameron Mackintosh Resident Composer Tasha Taylor Johnson. On sale to Curve Members and Groups from 23 May and on general sale from 1 Jun, you can read more about the show here and stay tuned for more exciting updates on the production coming soon!
Next up we heard more about this year’s Curve Young Company and Community production of Fiddler on the Roof. Rehearsals are already underway for the show, with Director Sarah Ingram working with a cast of over 120 talented people from Leicester and Leicestershire.
Our very own Tevye (Bill Hinds) and Hodel (Hannah Willars) also gave us a preview of the production with their performance of Far From the Home I Love.
This September, we will stage the world premiere Made at Curve production of Memoirs of an Asian Football Casual, a gritty and entertaining drama based on the life of former Baby Squad football hooligan Riaz Khan. Supported by De Montfort University, the production will be directed by our Artistic Director Nikolai Foster and the script has been adapted by Curve Associate Artist Dougal Irvine who joined the stage with Riaz. Watch the video to find out more about this coming of age story which will take us right back to the streets of 1980s Leicester.
Earlier in the day, it was announced that we would be opening the UK premiere of Broadway musical ON YOUR FEET!, based on the inspirational life and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan, before the show heads to the London Colisuem. We were absolutely thrilled to welcome international pop superstar Gloria Estefan herself to Leicester and to the stage at Curve to talk about the show and how she feels to see it come to the city.
We also surprised Gloria with a phenomenal medley of her greatest hits, performed by our remarkable Curve Young Company.
Finally, Molly Lynch, who audiences will remember as Betty Schaefer in our award-winning production of Sunset Boulevard closed the evening with a performance of Ira Gershwin’s The Man I Love.
We’d like to thank all of our guests and everyone who joined us for the evening, your support means everything to us.
Make sure to take a look at our social Imprint of the night here!
We’ll see you at the next one!