Royal and Derngate, Northampton W/C 5 October 2009

Never forget those Take That hits!

Philip Olivier will star in the National UK tour of Never Forget, the hit musical with the songs of Take That, when the show plays at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October.

Philip played the popular role of Tim O’Leary in Channel 4’s Brookside for seven years, and his other TV credits include roles in Holby City, The Royal and Hollyoaks in the City. He most recently won the reality TV series The Games and was also runner up in the hit TV show Celebrity Come Dine With Me.

Featuring the incredible catalogue of songs by Britain’s favourite pop group Take That, Never Forget is a feel-good romantic comedy about triumph over adversity – certainly the perfect antidote for today’s troubled times. Join the ride of a lifetime as Ash and his mates take a roller coaster journey of fame, fortune and friendship on the way to realizing their dreams.

Packed with the classic Take That songs, including the smash hits A Million Love Songs, Could It Be Magic, It Only Takes A Minute, Do What You Like, Love Ain’t Here Anymore, Relight My Fire, Pray, Back For Good, Babe and, of course, Never Forget.

The show features a cast of 21 actors/singers/dancers, a live band and a 20 strong children’s chorus drawn from the local community. Spectacular special effects keep the action pumping with the largest rain curtain ever created for the stage as well as magical water animation.

Whether you are a devoted Take That fan or someone just looking for a chance to party with one of the splashiest (literally!) musicals to hit town, there’s something for everyone in this show that has audiences on their feet and cheering night after night.

Don’t miss Never Forget when it takes to the Derngate stage from Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October. Tickets are priced from £30 to £19 and can be booked by calling the Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk. Could it be magic? Yes, it could!

Young America - two exciting tales of youth and passion from the masters of American drama

Following on from the success of this summer's critically acclaimed Ayckbourn at 70 season, this autumn Royal & Derngate presents gripping tales of youthful passion and thwarted hopes with two early masterpieces of 20^th Century American drama in its Young America season. An exciting young cast – including Life on Mars star Liz White – brings to life Eugene O'Neill's Beyond the Horizon and Tennesse Williams' Spring Storm, the latter a European Premiere. With the two plays performed in rotation by the same company of actors, the Young America season runs from Friday 9 October to Saturday 14 November.

Beyond the Horizon, by Eugene O’Neill, is considered by many to be the first modern American tragedy. Robert is about to start a new life across the ocean while his brother Andrew looks forward to settling down on the family farm. The realisation that they love the same woman results in them swapping lives and changing forever the path of the Mayo family, in a powerful story of youthful dreams crashing into reality and the human spirit being tested almost beyond endurance. This was the first of O’Neill’s plays to be professionally produced, and a sensation on Broadway when first seen in 1920, earning him a Pulitzer Prize. It enjoyed a successful run in the West End, but has been largely forgotten since.

Tennessee Williams’ Spring Storm was written when he was a playwriting student at Iowa University, and was re-discovered among his papers in 1999. Set in a Mississippi town full of small-minded gossips and young people brimming with life, it follows the tale of the beautiful and charming Heavenly and her host of young male admirers. When forced to make a decision between her handsome and wild lover, Dick, and the seemingly respectable and sensitive Arthur, they are all caught up in a storm  that threatens to tear their lives apart. This autumn's production at Royal & Derngate will be the first time the play has been staged outside America.

Laurie Sansom, Artistic Director of the Royal & Derngate, directs the season, and has assembled a talented young cast. In both productions Liz White, who is best known as Annie in BBC TV’s Life on Mars, plays the central female role, with handsome young actors Michael Malarkey (in his professional debut) and Michael Thomson taking on the roles of rival lovers, in two contrasting tales of tangled passions.

Laurie says, “The Young America season is exceptional – two plays that have rarely or never been seen before in Britain, by playwrights who would go on to write masterpieces of the American theatre.  Both plays are characteristic of youth – they revolve around the dreams and passions of young people trying to find their way in life, against the backdrop of an early twentieth century America that is a melting pot of idealism and social tension.”

Beyond the Horizon and Spring Storm can be seen as part of the Young America season which opens on Thursday 15 October and runs until Saturday 14 November. Tickets are on sale now priced from £27 to £11, and can be booked by calling the Box Office on 01604 624811 or online at www.royalandderngate.co.uk. The two plays are being performed in rotation, giving the opportunity to see both plays in one day on certain dates. For more details of dates and times visit the theatre’s website or call the Box Office.

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