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They have even inspired a musical, the play and film Sunshine on Leith. The musical has its fourth UK run from April to June this year, with its biggest production to date by West Yorkshire Playhouse. 2018 also marks the 30th anniversary since the release of the Sunshine On Leith album.
August sees The Proclaimers add to their magnificent songbook with the release of their 11th studio album and another UK tour from July to December.
Tickets £34
Thursday 29 March Kazuo Ishiguro // Never Let Me Go
Thursday 26 April Francoise Sagan // Bonjour Tristesse
Thursday 31 May Marcel Proust // Remembrance of Things Past
Friday 22 June Fyodor Dostoyevsky // The Brothers Karamazov
Thursday 27 September John Fowles // The French Lieutenant’s Woman
Thursday 25 October Jane Austen // Pride and Prejudice
Thursday 29 November Boris Pasternak // Dr Zhivago
Thursday 13 December Rudyard Kipling // The Jungle Book
£6.50 Book four or more lectures for £5.50 each
Iconic British band Soul II Soul are embarking on a landmark tour of the UK marking 30 years of hugely influential success, and paying tribute to their legendary debut album, Club Classics Vol 1.
The double Grammy Award winning and five-time Brit Award nominated band will be stopping off in Leicester for the tour, which features a stunning production.
With huge hits including Keep On Movin (which sold over a million copies in the US alone) and the UK number one single Back To Life (However Do You Want Me), Soul II Soul progressed from being one of the leaders of the 1980s warehouse scene to pioneering British black music around the world, and securing commercial success for themselves and the huge amount of artists they have influenced.
During the course of their stellar career the band have sold over 10 million albums worldwide and main man Jazzie B was awarded an OBE for services to music in 2008, as well as winning an Ivor Novello Award for Inspiration, as “the man who gave British black music a soul of its own”.
Tickets £34 £30 £28
7pm doors - please note this is the time De Montfort Hall opens, not the start of the show.
The legendary Joanna Lumley will embark on her first ever live tour, It's All About Me, in autumn 2018.
Joanna will take audiences through her hilarious and interesting adventures from her incredible career spanning more than four decades, recounting some never heard before stories. She will also be joined on stage by friend and producer Clive Tulloh, who will put to Joanna questions from the audience that they’ve always wanted to ask, making the show a unique and hilarious night to remember.
On announcing It’s All About Me, Joanna said: "The thought of this tour next year, travelling across the British Isles and Ireland, has completely taken over my waking hours. It’s utterly thrilling to start planning the stories I can tell, and the rapture (and gratitude, to be fair) with which I shall greet the audiences. Nothing like this has come my way before, and I may have to be dragged off with a hook at the end of each show. Oh people! This is especially for you from me, with masses of love. I think it will be fabulous."
Joanna Lumley icon, national treasure, activist, comedy actress and all-round top girl is barely off our TV screens and appears to have been a permanent fixture in our sitting rooms since she burst onto our screens as Purdey in the New Avengers in 1976. Now in a nationwide tour she will take us through the random journey that started in London in the swinging 60’s. Beginning as Jean Muir’s house model and muse, progressing to becoming a full-blown photographic model, featuring in knitting patterns, mini-skirts, toothpaste commercials and the occasional front cover.
From there Joanna will share her stories of her acting career that includes Coronation Street, On the Buses, Dracula and as a brainwashed Bond Girl in Blofeld’s lair in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Joanna’s breakthrough role was as Purdey, a part for which over 800 girls auditioned. Purdey propelled her to instant fame and created one of the "must-have" hairstyles of the 1970s – the Purdey bob. She became a pin-up figure for a generation of British males who grew up watching her as the high-kicking action girl.
Alongside iconic hairstyles Joanna started to develop a nice side line as adventurer and activist; popping up all over the globe she was often seen gasping at the Northern Lights, turning her bra into espadrilles and finding the source of the Nile.
Then as Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous she became a degenerate role-model for a generation. Winning two BAFTAs, Joanna emerged as one of the best comedy actresses of her generation. For 25 years the adventures of Patsy and Edina have sporadically lurched across our screens culminating in AbFab The Movie in 2016.
This intimate night with Joanna tells some of these tales and more as we gallop through almost 50 years in this business we call show.
Tickets £61 £41 £31
Multi-platinum selling artist Jessie J returns with live dates in 2018 and brings The R.O.S.E Tour to venues across the UK this November. The highly anticipated tour, which kicks off here in Leicester, follows the release of her new album R.O.S.E. The four-part album comprises R.O.S.E. (Realisations), R.O.S.E (Obsessions), R.O.S.E. (Sex), and R.O.S.E. (Empowerment). Listen HERE.
Jessie J first heralded R.O.S.E. with the single Think About That, singing an honest lyric giving her heartbeats an insight into her new feel and sound. Followed by the release of Not My Ex which has already reached 7 million Spotify streams and 20 million YouTube/VEVO views. In addition to working on the anticipated release, Jessie J also launched a sold out headline tour of intimate venues worldwide, and contributed I Got You (I Feel Good) to the Fifty Shades Freed Original Motion Picture soundtrack.
Most recently she had tremendous success in China, joining the TV show Singer - a singing competition where she performed each week in front of a television audience of 250 million with a grand finale viewership of 1 billion. Not only was Jessie J the first international artist to ever compete alongside the biggest artists in Asia, but also the first to ever win.
Tickets £34
Deacon Blue are delighted to announce their 2018 Tour, To Be Here Someday, a celebration of 30 years of Deacon Blue.
The last five years have been something of a renaissance for the band, and a prolific surge of creativity that has spawned three new albums released in quick succession, including 2016’s studio album Believers, which became their highest charting album in 23 years. To Be Here Someday is a tour that celebrates the band’s entire career, and will see them play some of their biggest ever shows.
The tour’s title To Be Here Someday is a line from their iconic single Dignity and encapsulates the band’s hopes, their passion and joy in being able to share with their fans the biggest songs from throughout their career. As has become a feature of their live shows, they will present a set list that will change night by night but will always be full of classic Deacon Blue.
Tickets £41 £31
Formed in the late 70s by Sheffield-based computer programmers Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware, The Human League evolved into one of the seminal 80s electro pop bands. Fronted by former hospital porter, Philip Oakey – and featuring female vocalists Susan Ann Sulley and Joanne Catherall – the band have gone on to sell millions of records, inspired two generations of artists, written some of the all-time great classic pop songs, had #1’s across Europe and the US and yet still remain fiercely independent.
With Midge Ure's Band Electronica
Tickets £61.50 £41.50
Nish Kumar: It’s In Your Nature to Destroy Yourselves
Double Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee Nish Kumar is taking his brand new show on a nationwide tour of the UK! The title is a quote from Terminator 2. There will be jokes about politics, mankind’s capacity for self-destruction and whether it will lead to the end of days. GOOD FUN STUFF. He's the host of the Mash Report which you might have seen on BBC2, or on a Facebook video posted by someone you went to school with but haven't spoken to in a while.
As seen on Live at the Apollo (BBC2), Taskmaster (Dave), Live From the BBC (Netflix), QI (BBC2) Have I Got News For You (BBC1) and Joel & Nish Vs The World (Netflix/Comedy Central).
“One of the best young comedians we have.” The Times
“A masterclass by a no-frills stand-up at the height of his powers.” The Guardian
“Intelligent, inventive, thought-provoking and delivered with a passion, urgency and enthusiasm that makes an hour feel like a fantastic ten minutes.” Time Out
Rose d’Or winner – Best Radio Comedy
“A very clever boy.” Nish Kumar
Tickets £24
Music fans are invited to the biggest party of the year as the unstoppable Magic of Motown show steams into town!
Seen by over a million people, it's no surprise that the show is one of the biggest success stories in British theatre history, even performing for Her Majesty the Queen, as special guests at the Royal Variety Performance.
Prepare yourself for 40 back-to-back classic Motown hits, glittering costume changes, dazzling dance moves and outstanding musicianship in this explosive concert experience.
Celebrate the sound of a generation as the timeless music of Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jackson 5, Smokey Robinson and more, are sensationally recreated for you by an exceptionally talented cast and band.
This breath-taking concert spectacular takes you on a musical journey through all your favourite songs, including: Ain’t No Mountain, Signed Sealed Delivered, Grapevine, Get Ready, Dancing In The Streets, My Girl, Blame It On The Boogie, Uptight, Endless Love, My Cherie Amor, All Night Long, Heatwave and many, many more.
This is a tribute show and is no way affiliated with any original artists/estates/management companies or similar shows.
Tickets £27.50 £25.50
Buy nine get 10th ticket free
Carers scheme available, receive a free companion ticket
One of the world's greatest classical singers Alfie Boe brings it back to the UK, announcing a 2019 tour in what is becoming another landmark year for the much loved tenor. Last month, Alfie revealed his return to the solo spotlight with the release of his vibrant and instantly classic album As Time Goes By.
The record, released in November, celebrates the golden era of music from the 30s and 40s, a time that is often overlooked - sandwiched as it is between the roaring twenties and rock 'n' roll.
Alfie is one of the best-loved vocalists of his generation and a hugely successful, multi-platinum selling artist. He has triumphed on theatre stages and in concert halls around the world and has two recent UK #1 albums under his belt for albums Together and Together Again, made with his great friend Michael Ball. The duo also won two Classic BRIT Awards earlier this year for Best Album and Group of the Year.
"I'm excited to get back on the road, especially with a new record that I'm so proud of. These songs are at their best when performed live!" says Alfie.
He adds, "We'll be enjoying some of great songs from my previous records, but I more than anything want to bring back to life an era when British audiences discovered a brand new kind of American music, full of energy, optimism and romance. I'd like to transport people to a time in their lives, a moment or even a style. I hope you all enjoy being transported there as much as I do!"
Tickets £66.50 £51.50 £36.50 VIP* £176.50 £126.50
*Ultimate VIP meet and greet £176.50
Seat in the first two rows
Exclusive and very limited photo opportunity to meet Alfie Boe in person
Have your photo taken with Alfie Boe by our VIP manager
Exclusive Alfie Boe VIP gift
Official Alfie Boe signed programme
Custom VIP tour laminate
* Up Close VIP £126.50
Seat in the first ten rows
Exclusive Alfie Boe VIP gift
Limited edition official Alfie Boe VIP tour lithograph
Custom VIP tour laminate
After the success of last year’s huge sell-out theatre tour, Collabro are going back on the road with a mammoth 51 dates across the UK.
Collabro, the world’s most successful musical theatre group, met in 2014 for their first rehearsal at a London pub, just a month later went on to rouse the whole of Hammersmith Apollo into a standing ovation during their first ever public performance of Stars for the Britain’s Got Talent judges.
Having triumphed in their semi-final heat with over 63% of the votes, they then won the overall competition with one of the biggest majorities ever. This subsequently led to them joining Simon Cowell’s label Syco, and hence becoming label-mates with the likes of One Direction, Little Mix, Susan Boyle and Il Divo.
Tickets £44 £34 £21 VIP* £130.50 £100.50
*Collabro Diamond VIP Package £130.50 (only available via See and Ticketmaster)
Seated on the front row
Meet the members of Collabro and have your photo taken with them pre-show
A personalised signed photo of the group
VIP gift chosen by Collabro
Tour specific diamond VIP package laminate
Entry into a prize draw to win a box for the Royal Albert Hall show**
*Collabro Gold VIP Package £100.50 (only available via See and Ticketmaster)
A top price seat
Meet the members of Collabro and have your photo taken with them pre-show
A pre-signed photo of the group
VIP gift chosen by Collabro
Tour specific gold VIP package laminate
Entry into a prize draw to win a box for the Royal Albert Hall show**
Doors 7pm - please note this is the time the hall opens not necessarily the starting time of the performance.
**Message from Collabro:
As part of our very special journey, we'd love fans to join us on the final night of the tour, at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall! So, anyone who purchases a VIP Diamond or Gold ticket at any date on the tour will be entered into a draw. One lucky winner will win a VIP box at the Royal Albert Hall for them and four friends. Plus, the chance to come backstage for a private meet and greet with Collabro before the show.
We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead!
So it's time to prepare yourselves for two amazing shows with Horrible Histories live on stage! Using actors and ground-breaking 3D special effects, these two astounding shows are guaranteed to thrill you and your children. Historical figures and events will come alive on stage and hover at your fingertips!
Terrible Tudors
From the horrible Henries to the end of evil Elizabeth, hear the legends (and the lies!) about the torturing Tudors. Find out the fate of Henry's headless wives and his punch up with the Pope. Meet Bloody Mary and see Ed fall dead in his bed. Survive the Spanish Armada as it sails into the audience!
Also showing Awful Egyptians.
Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 April 2019
Full Price £18 - £21.50 Children £13.50 - £17.50
Wednesday 17 April 7pm
Thursday 18 April 2pm
Friday 19 April 7pm
Saturday 20 April 2pm
Sunday 21 April 3pm
We all want to meet people from history. The trouble is everyone is dead!
So it's time to prepare yourselves for two amazing shows with Horrible Histories live on stage! Using actors and ground-breaking 3D special effects, these two astounding shows are guaranteed to thrill you and your children. Historical figures and events will come alive on stage and hover at your fingertips!
Awful Egyptians
From the fascinating Pharaohs to the power of the pyramids, discover the foul facts of death and decay with the meanest mummies in Egypt. Are you ready to rumble with Ramesses the Great? Dare you enter through the Gates of the Afterlife? It's the history of Egypt with the nasty bits left in!
Also showing Terrible Tudors.
Thursday 18 to Sunday 21 April 2019
Full Price £18 - £21.50 Children £13.50 - £17.50
Thursday 18 April 7pm
Friday 19 April 2pm
Saturday 20 April 7pm
Sunday 21 April 11am
Britain’s best-selling classical artist of the last 25 years, Katherine Jenkins OBE has announced the release of her new album Guiding Light, out 30 November via Decca Records. The release is also accompanied by the announcement of Katherine’s new 2019 tour An Evening With Katherine Jenkins.
For Katherine, the new album represents the culmination of a deeply emotional journey which began when her beloved father, Selwyn, died and found a new path when she became a mother. It is an album which speaks of life, hope, acceptance and a universal spirituality, and for Katherine there is a sense of a greater purpose to her performance.
Katherine will be touring new album, Guiding Light this spring and will be joined by one of the UK’s most versatile orchestras, The London Concert Orchestra, under Musical Director Anthony Inglis for the majority of the tour. The orchestra can be heard regularly at the Barbican, Royal Festival Hall and The Royal Albert Hall, providing audiences with an eclectic repertoire from popular classics and opera, to hits from films and musicals. The London Concert Orchestra has worked with Katherine for the last two years in her series of hugely popular Christmas concerts.
Tickets £56.50 £41 £31
Diamond package £166.50
Gold package £86.50
“Brilliant, a triumph for rock history. Well deserved standing ovation at the end.” Bedford Today
“This is serious stuff, the orchestration is sublime.” Evening Standard
Produced by Concept Concerts this production, acclaimed by a Sunday Times journalist as “mighty, moving and unstoppable,” sees eight-piece band, The Goldhawks, deliver a stunning live performance of The Who’s smash hit concept album, Quadrophenia. From the very first show it has received standing ovations.
Released over 40 years ago in October 1973, The Who’s second rock opera was Pete Townshend’s homage to a pivotal moment in British youth culture. The album tells the story of Jimmy, a Mod, by chronicling his dissatisfaction with life, work, love, home, and family life. It served as an ode to teenage angst and counterculture rebellion, as well as a criticism of the British class, economic and educational systems - but you don't need to be clued up on the history of the Mods and Rockers to enjoy this show. At its core, Quadrophenia, which peaked at number two on the UK and USA charts, is just about teenage confusion, conflict and frustration.
Backed with exciting, and sometimes heart-wrenching, large-screen projection of archival footage, the emotions, tension and raw power that the music demands is delivered masterfully by the fabulous, charismatic band, The Goldhawks, with amazing replication of The Who’s sound.
To send you home on an even bigger high there are a few all-time classic Who hits to close the show!
"Absolutely first class.....Having toured with The Who for 10 years I can safely say that this band is the next best thing and the closest you will ever get to the real thing." Wolfy Foxlow, close friend of Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey
https://www.facebook.com/quadrophenialiveband
Tickets £23.50