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Summer at Chelmsford Theatres

The new summer season at the Civic Theatre and Cramphorn Studio has just been announced.  The summer season offers a host of live music, drama, comedy, family productions and musicals; something for everyone. Some of the highlights include;

The life and songs of the greatest glam rocker of them all, Marc Bolan, will come to life when the musical ‘20th Century Boy‘ hits the stage. Marc Bolan had a truly fascinating life, a teenage model, a face around London, a poet, a dreamy acoustic soul, a dandy electric warrior who led the Glam Rock pack with his band, T-Rex, and a champion of punk. Marc was arguably the biggest rock star that the UK had ever seen and was hailed as ‘bigger than The Beatles’ by the British press. It was during those glory years that T-Rex featured Bill Legend on drums, who later moved to Chelmsford and could be found playing in Christian bands in churches around the city. The smash hit musical will mark the 40th anniversary of Marc’s tragic death, and will feature many of his greatest T-Rex songs, which were a permanent feature in the pop charts throughout the 1970s. Expect to hear classic T.Rex songs such as Metal Guru, Hot Love, Ride a White Swan, Get It On, I Love to Boogie, Children of The Revolution and many, many more solid gold hits. ‘20th Century Boy’ comes to the Civic Theatre on Thursday 28 June and runs until Saturday 30 June, with the performances starting at 7.45pm and with a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm.

Some highlights for music lovers include a performance of Mike Oldfields’s classic album ‘Tubular Bells’ by Phil Toms and his band when they play ‘Tubular Bells Live!‘ on 3 June at 7.30pm. Apart from performing the whole album, Phil and his band will also play Mike’s hit singles ‘Moonlight Shadow‘ and ‘To France’, as well as many others. Russell Watson will bring his ‘Serenade’ tour to the Civic Theatre on Monday 4 June. The world-renowned tenor who ‘sings like Pavarotti and entertains audiences like Sinatra’, will be accompanied by a pianist and a choir. If you love Irish music and dance; the spectacular ‘Rhythm of The Dance‘ comes to the Civic on Friday 27 July, and features world champion dancers, a traditional Irish band, singers and a gifted cast, in a celebration of Irish culture. If the golden age of rock’n’roll’s more your thing then you’ll want to see ‘Rock and Roll Revolution‘. Packed with over 40 hits, the show takes the audience through a tour of the 1950s music that changed the world. You’ll be rocking and rolling in the aisles when this show comes to the Civic on Thursday 13 September. The ‘Johnny Cash Roadshow‘ stops off at the Civic on Saturday 15 September, and it is the only show endorsed by the Cash family, and is a career spanning tribute to the ‘Man in Black’. ‘King for a Day‘ is the Nat King Cole story which arrives at The Civic on Wednesday 19 September, whilst ‘Fastlove‘, the tribute to George Michael makes a welcome to Chelmsford on Saturday 22 September, after stunning the Civic’s audience last year.

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The main attraction for drama is ‘My Mother Said I Never Should‘, by Charlotte Keatley. Set in the north of England and London, the play details the life of four women in a period of social change. Written in 1985, the award-winning play is the most performed work by a female playwright worldwide. The drama is staged on Tuesday 30 and Wednesday 31 October at the Civic Theatre.

The classic comedy of Morecambe and Wise is celebrated in ‘An Evening with Eric and Ern‘ on Friday 21 September. The loving homage is crammed full of classic comedy sketches, faithfully recreated by the duo that created the West End hit ‘Eric and Little Ern’. Relive those classic routines and songs that enthralled a nation.

Fans of stand-up comedy will have several dates for their diary. One of Britain’s top entertainers, Brian Conley, will be at The Civic on Thursday 10 May, with his ‘Still The Greatest Entertainer – In His Price Range’ show. Star of several Radio 4 shows, Mark Steel, returns to the Civic on Thursday 24 May, while Chris Ramsey stops off on Wednesday 6 June, with his ‘The Happy Just To Get Out Of The House Tour’.

Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s classic children’s book ‘The Gruffalo’s Child‘ is brought to life on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 July. What will happen when the Gruffalo’s Child ignores her father’s warning and tiptoes out into the snow? Find out when this award-winning, magical, musical adaptation hits the stage.

For full details and to book tickets on any of the shows, visit www.chelmsford.gov.uk/theatres or call the Box Office on 01245 606505.

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