Switch Up The Stage

𝘈 𝘙𝘰𝘭𝘦-𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨! 🎶⁣

Looking for a unique way to start 2025? We’ve got you covered! Switch Up the Stage promises a unique evening as performers from our upcoming productions, Rent and 9 to 5, take on roles they’d never usually play, offering a fresh twist on the musical theatre genre.⁣

🎤 What to Expect:⁣

  • Bold and exciting renditions of iconic songs.
  • Roles reimagined beyond traditional boundaries of gender, ethnicity, or ability.

Here & Now – The Steps Musical

Happiness is only a heartbeat away with Here & Now, the hilarious and heart-warming new musical based on the songs of the multi-million-selling pop phenomenon, Steps. Don’t miss this sparkling celebration of love and friendship when it comes to Hull after its record-breaking world premiere in 2024!

Welcome to seaside superstore Better Best Bargains, where it’s Friday night, the vibe is right, and everyone’s dancing in the aisles. But when Caz discovers the shelves are stocked with lies and betrayal, the summer of love she and her friends dreamed of suddenly feels like a tragedy. Have they all lost their chance of a ‘happy ever after’? Or does love have other plans in store…?

Directed by the award-winning Rachel Kavanaugh (Half a Sixpence, The Great British Bake Off Musical) and written by Shaun Kitchener (Hollyoaks), HERE & NOW features many of Steps’ iconic hits, including ‘5, 6, 7, 8’, ‘Stomp’, ‘Better Best Forgotten’, and ‘Last Thing On My Mind’.

This brand new musical is produced by Steps themselves, ROYO and pop legend Pete Waterman.

FRIENDS! The Musical Parody

Get ready for non-stop laughs with your favourite Friends.

FRIENDS! The Musical Parody, the hit New York and Las Vegas sensation, is a side-splitting musical comedy packed with iconic moments from all ten seasons of the beloved television series.

Featuring an entirely original musical score, the show follows the escapades of the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings.

From the Producers of Hairspray and the Director of the Full Monty, this humorous take on the beloved TV show blends iconic moments with laugh out loud comedy.

Join Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe—as they navigate love, friendship, and life’s ups and downs in 1990’s New York City.

Whether you’re in a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor, or just can’t quit your day job, you’ll be laughing, crying, and quoting your favourite lines all night long!

Warning: May cause spontaneous PIVOT-ing!

Beauty & The Beast

Having staged Little Shop of Horrors, Les Miserables, and Oliver!, Hull’s own State of the Arts Academy return to Hull Truck with the regional premiere of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast – the Broadway musical.

Nominated for 9 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the stage version includes all of the wonderful songs written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, along with new songs by Mr. Menken and Tim Rice.

A classic musical for all the family to enjoy!

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.

Rock of Ages

It is 1987 and the fabled West Hollywood club the Bourbon Room is the seedy, sordid, vibrant heart of the Sunset Strip. The music venue has seen better days but is run by chilled-out former rock impresario Dennis Dupree and tended to by Dennis’s assistant Lonny, it is the essence of rock and roll. When bright-eyed young hopeful Sherrie, a small-town girl hoping to make it as an actress, arrives in town, she bumps into Drew, a Bourbon Room busboy with dreams of rock and roll stardom.

Love-struck Drew convinces Dennis to hire Sherrie, and the stage seems set for romance. But when the Mayor of West Hollywood, persuaded by a couple of scheming German real estate developers, announces his intention to demolish the Bourbon Room and the entire Sunset Strip, the stakes are raised.

Dennis convinces rock god Stacee Jaxx, lead singer of megaband Arsenal, to play the band’s last show at the Bourbon Room, hopeful that the money raised will stop the building from being demolished. But Stacee, a man of massive charisma and equally massive ego, leaves chaos in his wake. In the midst of violent anti-demolition protests, Sherrie, sacked by Dennis, ends up in a nearby strip club and Drew is persuaded to join a boy band. Who can save the Bourbon Room, the young lovers, and the feuding Germans? Only Lonny knows for sure.

Rock of Ages is a big, brash, energetic tribute to classic rock, over-the-top ballads and fierce guitar, combined with the gritty glamour and rough energy of the Sunset Strip. This jukebox musical features ‘80s hits such as “We Built this City”, “I Wanna Rock”, “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “ I’ve Been Waitin’ For A Girl Like You” and is brought to you by the team that graced the Hull Truck stage last summer with the spectacularly successful “Kinky Boots”.

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals.

The Flood

On Boxing Day 2015, the small Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge experienced the worst floods in century. But, as the Valley submerged a community emerged, working together to rebuild their sodden town. Performed by a cast of 5 Actor Musicians, and drawing on the musical and artistic traditions of the area, The Flood is a love letter to a town that refused to give in to the volatility of nature.

Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood

“The most feel-good show in town”⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (The Daily Mail) has spread nostalgia and
laughter throughout the UK and has the seal of approval from Victoria’s very own schoolchums and colleagues.

Featuring the star of BBC1’s ‘All Together Now’, Paulus The Cabaret Geek “King of Cabaret” (The Stage) with Michael Roulston (Fascinating Aïda) on piano, it is an evening of pure joy filled with Victoria’s best-loved songs, including the iconic ‘Ballad of Barry & Freda’ (Let’s Do It) and the classic ‘It Would Never Have Worked’.

This show is for fans of Victoria and for those yet to discover her, to come together and relish her breathtaking wizardry with words.
In telling Victoria’s story, Paulus unfolds his own. A relatable story of a 1970s childhood and what it really means to find your tribe.

So, pair your stilettos with an oven glove, zip up your cocktail slacks and get booking!

Annie

Holding onto hope when times are tough can take a lot of determination, and sometimes, a lot of determination comes in a surprisingly small package. ‘Little Orphan Annie’, the irrepressible comic strip heroine takes centre stage in one of the world’s best-loved musicals just in time for the Easter holidays!

Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, Annie is forced to live a life of misery at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Her world is turned upside down when she’s chosen to spend a fairytale Christmas with famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks. Seeing Annie on the path to happiness, the spiteful Miss Hannigan hatches a plan to ruin Annie’s future, so she can cash in for herself. Come and find out who succeeds in this magical production brought to life by NAPA, Hull’s Northern Academy of Performing Arts.

With its Tony award-winning book and score, including the unforgettable songs ‘It’s The Hard-Knock Life’, ‘Easy Street’, and ‘Tomorrow’, Annie has reminded generations of theatregoers that sunshine is always right around the corner, and you can bet your bottom dollar that you’ll love it!

This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International.

A Very Eclectic Christmas 2024

Saturday 7 December and Sunday 8 December 2024

at Hull Minster, Doors 7pm for 7:30pm

“A Very Eclectic Christmas 2024”. Is an annual Christmas concert extravaganza presented by Eclectic Music, featuring both their wind orchestra and symphony orchestra along with singers from Hull Freedom Chorus.

This year Eclectic’s two biggest ensembles perform in collaboration with Hull’s Freedom Chorus and vocal soloist Chris Lafferty. Bringing you a selection of festive favourites, along with some new seasonal offerings in a diverse programme which is sure to kick off your Christmas with fabulous festive feelings and cheer all set in one of Hull’s most amazing buildings and acoustics, Hull Minster.

Unallocated seating.

The performance on Sunday 8 December will be British Sign Language (BLS) interpreted.

To find out about all things Eclectic Music, please visit their website: www.eclecticmusic.co.uk for more about Hull Freedom Chorus please visit the Council’s website:  Hull Freedom Chorus | Hull

Colourful, moving lights and additional sound will be part of this event.

Tickets can be purchased in advance online via skiddle.com
£10 adult (18 and over) £5 (child), Under 5’s go free!

There will be tickets on the door, but at a higher price so buy online to secure your best, lowest price.

Assassins

9 Assassins! 1 Killer Musical!

John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, and a whole kooky gang of history’s most infamous killers gather for a quirky, murderous convention. In this darkly comic musical, Sondheim takes us on a twisted travel through time, where failed assassins, would-be revolutionaries, and downright crazy people share their stories of obsession, delusion, and the thrill of the kill.

With a score that’s both catchy and chilling, Assassins is a unique and unsettling look at the minds of those who would change the world, one bullet at a time.

Riders to the Sea

A man, full of unshed tears and haunted by the ghosts of his past, finds himself drawn back to the sea, and the memory of his mother, his sisters, and a great loss.

Newly orchestrated for oboe, clarinet and accordion, and with a new dramatic prologue, The Last Bit of the Moon, by Michael Betteridge and ArtfulScribe’s Community Sirens Collective with Antosh Wojcik, Vaughan Williams’ masterful miniature expands into a powerful tale of family, grief and love’s enduring power.

In a production that weaves together live performance, projection and recorded sound,
OperaUpClose bring their own inimitable style to a classic with musical storytelling at its most direct and visceral.

With a new dramatic prologue and chamber orchestration by Michael Betteridge.

The show is captioned throughout as part of the production design.

Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical

★★★★ “It’s a hit! Stuffed with 1990’s pop hits” – Mail on Sunday

Following sell-out seasons in London and New York, the brand-new smash hit musical Cruel Intentions is coming to Hull. Based on the iconic film and inspired by Les Liaisons Dangereuses, it’s packed with ’90s pop classics including the songs of Britney Spears, Boyz II Men, Christina Aguilera, TLC, R.E.M., Ace of Base, Natalie Imbruglia, The Verve, *NSYNC and many more!

Step siblings Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil engage in a cruel bet: Kathryn goads Sebastian into attempting to seduce Annette Hargrove, the headmaster’s virtuous daughter.

Weaving a web of secrets and temptation, their crusade wreaks havoc on the students at their exclusive Manhattan high school. It’s not long before the duo become entangled in their own web of deception and unexpected romance, with explosive results…

The iconic movie set to the decade’s best songs is an irresistible combination and with over forty 4 and 5 star reviews, it’s the ultimate ’90s night out.

Includes 24 iconic ’90s songs from
Britney Spears | Boyz II Men| Christina Aguilera | TLC | R.E.M. | Ace of Base | Natalie Imbruglia | The Verve | *NSYNC and many more!

★★★★ “Very funny, very sexy and very entertaining” – Daily Star Sunday

Trigger warnings: Contains haze, flashing lights, strong language, and mature themes including but not limited to: explicit sexual language and behaviour, racial discrimination, drug usage, abuse, accidental death, question of consent. Audience discretion advised. As Cruel Intentions is set in 1999, some of the language reflects that time.

Age guidance 15+

Menopause the Musical 2

Starring Carli Norris (Doctors, Hollyoaks, Eastenders), Maureen Nolan (The Nolans), Rebecca Wheatley (Casualty) and Daniele Coombe (West End Star), we present the final UK tour of the smash-hit Menopause the Musical 2 – Cruising Through Menopause.

In this hilarious sequel to our sell-out hit Menopause the Musical®, we fast forward five years to catch up with the same four characters for tales of their lives, loves and losses as they set off on the high seas.

Hot flushes, mood swings, memory lapses and weight gain Cruising Through Menopause is truly funny, heartfelt and reassuring look at the “joys” of menopause. When your life is a bumpy ride full of twists and turns, it’s hard to find and keep true friends. But step on board and we’ll take you on a trip of self-discovery, love and friendship all backed by a soundtrack of hysterical parodied hits!

For these four ladies the menopause was not the beginning of the end, but the beginning of a beautiful friendship where love conquers, and friendships never fail.

So, all aboard and we’ll have you laughing and maybe even crying, as you join us for Menopause the Musical 2 – Cruising Through Menopause.

Age guidance 16+

An Evening of Burlesque

Roll up, roll up, this scintillating night out of sparkling entertainment is back. And it’s bigger than ever.

Join us for the good old-fashioned night out as we bring you the ultimate variety show, blending stylish cabaret, comedy, music, circus, and burlesque to light up all your senses.
With world-class entertainers and stars of the stage and screen – prepare for an extravaganza of glitz and glamour. Expect fun, feathers and fabulous costumes as we pick from the finest selection of specialty artistes, cabaret and circus stars, comedians and champagne showgirls.

An Evening of Burlesque is filled with artistic spectacle that has enraptured audiences for centuries. This sensational variety show brings together a bounty of beautiful stars for an unrivalled variety show for the 21st Century. Expect the unexpected with plenty of glitter and glamour.

It’s cocktails and cabaret o’clock.

Content is subject to change. Over-18s advised

★★★★★ “A must-see for any fans of a classic cabaret, an amazing troupe of performers, this wonderful show is full of glitz, glam and wonder.” – Curtain Call Reviews

★★★★★ “The UK’s longest running burlesque show made its West End debut and proved that it is the ultimate variety show.” – FabUK Magazine

★★★★★ “What a treat! Billed as ‘a night of laughter, cabaret, mystery and glamour’, it does entirely what it says on the tin.” – FairyPowered Productions

“The whole evening was fun, warm, sexy, sassy. . . “ – Grapevine Magazine

Queenz: Drag Me To The Disco

Queenz are back with a brand new show! Join the gals for an electrifying, live vocal, drag-stravaganza, where Dancing Queenz and Disco Dreams collide for the party of a lifetime. After two trailblazing years of touring the country, a run in London’s West End, and accumulating countless 5-star reviews, Queenz has rapidly ascended as one of the world’s most successful drag shows.

Featuring more sequins and surprises than ever before, the gals are ready to drag you to the dancefloor and serve up the ultimate celebration of powerhouse popstars & dazzling disco divas.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Get ready for the adventure of a lifetime as the West End smash-hit production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe comes to Hull on 30 September – 4 October.

Step through the wardrobe into the magic kingdom of Narnia where a world of wonder awaits.

Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they meet new friends, face dangerous foes and learn the lessons of courage, sacrifice, and the power of love.

Watch the nation’s favourite novel, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, come to life on stage in this spectacular production which is guaranteed to delight all ages.

PRESS QUOTES

★★★★★
“Spectacular”
Metro

★★★★
“A fantastical family treat”
The Telegraph

★★★★
“Exhilarating production, spellbinding spectacle and perfect puppetry”
The Guardian

★★★★
“Superb. There’s no denying its charm. It’s hard to beat.”
The Stage

★★★★
“The most riveting spectacle.”
The Guardian