Latest news with #LowryTheatre
The Sun
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Peter Kay fans left gutted after ticket site crashes and venue forced to apologise over gig chaos
PETER Kay fans have been issued an apology after ticket sales for a special upcoming gig descended into chaos. Comedy lovers had logged on to snap up tickets for the one-off show with DJ Sara Cox only to find the website kept crashing. 5 The pair are due to take to the stage in Salford this September for Peter Kay In Conversation With Sara Cox. But when tickets went on sale at 10am on Saturday for the two-performance charity gig at The Lowry Theatre, fans were left struggling to buy them. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one frustrated punter wrote: "Had 3 tickets in basket and then couldn't finish purchase and when tried to get back in everything almost gone. Guess I won't be spending my bday celebration at the Lowry.' Another added: " Peter Kay crashing the internet again!" A third complained that it took him almost two hours to try and buy tickets. One lucky customer added: "Pretty chuffed to have gotten front row accessible tickets for this today before the ticket website fell over for a good while!" Peter has now re-shared an apology from The Lowry on his Instagram account. The message read: "We are aware of the issues this morning regarding booking tickets. "Please bear with us while we try to rectify the problem. "We apologise for any inconvenience caused." A further update from the theatre thanked fans for their patience and confirmed the two performances had eventually sold out. Peter and BBC Radio 2 DJ Sara will be taking to the stage on September 14 at both 2.30pm and 7.30pm. A blurb on The Lowry's website reads: "In these unique and heartwarming shows, the two proud Boltonians will sit down to reflect on Peter Kay's remarkable life and career, including the release of his much-anticipated new memoir, 'Peter Kay's Diary', due later this year. "As part of the conversation, they'll also share and discuss the songs that have shaped Peter's journey – from growing up in Bolton to becoming one of the UK's most beloved entertainers." All profits from Peter and Sara's show will go to Bolton Hospice and Crescent Food Bank Bolton. The performances will also be recorded, to air on television at a later date. Peter has been touring with his Peter Kay Live: Better Late Than Never tour since returning to the stage in 2022. On Saturday night, he took to the Manchester AO Arena and will now be taking a break until July 25. His tour will then run again until early November. During his shows, Peter has endured several encounters with rowdy audience members. In March, he halted his set and threatened to set security on hecklers at London 's O2 Arena. Weeks earlier, Peter had a fan kicked out after he repeatedly disrupted the show by shouting out the comedian's catchphrase "garlic bread". He also sparked controversy after comparing one heckler to actress Lisa Riley. Peter later treated Lisa, who plays Debbie Dingle in Emmerdale, to VIP tickets to one of his shows in the wake of the remark. 5
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Writer and comedian of hit BBC 90s show comes up north as part of tour
Rob Newman, best known for the sketch show The Mary Whitehouse Experience will be coming up north as part of a 2025/26 tour. Rob, who paired with David Baddiel for the hit comedy series will be taking to the stage in Chorley and The Lowry Theatre. The BBC 2 show won both Rob and David a legion of fans, and the duo were the first comedians to play and sell out the 12,000-seat Wembley Arena in London in 1993. They starred alongside Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis in The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the 1990s, before getting their own show, Newman and Baddiel in Pieces. Rob then pursued a literary career before returning to comedy with an added political edge. His blend of lecture and stand-up has seen him cover topics such as evolution, the war on terror and the history of oil. Rob will be embarking on his Where the Wild Things Were tour this year, heading to Chorley Theatre on January 17 and The Lowry on Sunday, February 1. The promo material for the show states: "From Rob Newman comes a barnstorming new stand-up show about where we are and where we're going. From future cities and philistine film directors to Dorothy Parker's Multiverse Diaries. Throw in Pythagorean gangsters, intellectual bingo callers and a crazy character called Arlo - and the result is a hilarious tour-de force utterly unlike anything else you will ever see anywhere else!" For tickets are more information visit the theatre websites. Rob and David went their separate ways until the two were pictured together after Rob got back in touch via Twitter in 2017, after Rob requested tickets to see David's theatre show.
Gulf Today
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gulf Today
How working-class Manchester kids became theatre troupe
Maira Butt, The Independent In the grey skies above the city of Salford, Zeus, Hera and Hermes recline, playing with the fates of the mortals living below. Powerless to their might, a band of Olympians defy their commands, wrestling to regain control of their freedom and their lives. The message of Gods of Salford — an original play that's just been staged in Manchester — is blunt. It's meant to be. This was a production that didn't at all shy away from its working-class origins. It was also the product of 25 young, first-time actors from working-class backgrounds, who were tasked with reimagining tales from Greek mythology as raucous testaments to class-driven defiance. The play came about between Manchester's Lowry Theatre, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary, and the not-for-profit Not Too Tame, which has long incorporated working-class people and culture into the fabric of its being. 'It shows people what Salford's made of and to remember us,' the play's director Jimmy Fairhurst tells me. 'We're not something small. We're here, we're big, we're bold, we're northern, and that's what the show's all about.' The approach feels timely, too, in the wake of the Netflix sensation Adolescence, which followed a 13-year-old boy accused of murder. Actor Stephen Graham, who also co-created the series, discovered its young star, Owen Cooper, through an intentional auditioning process that targeted working-class communities in the north. Cooper, who lived on a Warrington council estate at the time of his audition, is soon set to star in Emerald Fennell's adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Graham calls the young actor's success the show's 'greatest achievement'. Cooper's rise to fame is unusual, though, with the current landscape in British acting relatively bleak when it comes to working-class talent. A study last year found that working-class representation in the TV and film industry has plummeted to its lowest level in a decade, with only 8 per cent self-identifying as from that background. Fairhurst, who also plays Zeus in the production, is only too aware of that fact. Describing himself as a modern-day Billy Elliot, Fairhurst says it took years for him to overcome doubts about his ability — or his right — to pursue a career in TV and theatre. 'It was a big hurdle to overcome,' he says. 'If you're from a certain background and your parents aren't headmistresses or prime ministers, you're told 'Don't make a fuss'.' It was something felt in each of the young people cast in the show as well, adds Jenny Riding, director of learning and engagement at the Lowry. 'Giving themselves permission has been a massive challenge for the actors,' she says, adding that the young stars have often struggled with feelings of 'self-sabotage'. As a response, Riding, Fairhurst, and their team have developed a person-centred approach that puts the needs of young performers at the forefront. Each part of the process takes into account their sensitivities, with several individuals overcoming complex life circumstances such as mental health, homelessness and foster care, to make it to the stage. Support that is offered includes things as simple as the use of fidget spinners in rehearsals — which have helped performers with conditions including anxiety or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — to transport help for those unable to afford it. More often than not, though, what is most provided is a sense of hope. 'Sometimes, because they don't feel that they're worth it, it can feel easier to quit and leave than it is to be told that you've failed again,' Fairhurst says. 'This is where the pastoral care side of it comes in. In a professional setting they might have lost their chance, but we reconnect with them and give them some support and encouragement and help get them back in the room.' He continues: 'There is an untapped scene on the coalface of culture, and that is because working-class people don't consider themselves or don't believe that they are artists,' says Fairhurst. 'There's a bloke down the road from me who passed away and there were boxes of poetry under his bed. No one knew. And all these people go, 'Oh that's not for me, or the likes of me', and I think there's something (important) about us going, 'no it is'. If you don't hear your voices or see your stories, how do you know that you're relevant? How do you know you've got a voice?' He's seen the promise of this first-hand. A 55-year-old friend of his, a joiner by trade, found his first job in the media via a set-building company that provides props for TV and film. It's proof, Fairhurst adds, that it's never too late to change your life. For 19-year-old Callum, who lives in supported accommodation, the change has been immediate. He first came across the Lowry through a scheme that provided those at risk of homelessness with free theatre tickets (in addition to other support). 'I came to a show called My Beautiful Laundrette and I met Jenny for the first time at the doors,' he says.
