Matilda the musical
Ezy Ryder
PEOPLE passionate about Woodstock performer and 60s singer Jimi Hendrix should enjoy a night of music in Bracknell.
The Cream Of Hendrix presents a double helping of swinging sounds, mixing Hendrix hits with music from British rock band, Cream.
Audiences can catch this night of nostalgia at Bracknell’s South Hill Park Arts Centre, on Wednesday, May 24. Doors open at 8pm, and tickets cost £15. ■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 01344 484123 or log on to: www.southhillpark.org.uk
Gotta have Faith
A CONCERT of George Michael hits will take place in Bracknell.
Fans of the English singer-songwriter and band member of Wham! can enjoy hearing his music, performed by Steve Mitchell.
The programme focuses on Michael’s later music, some best known hits, and Wham classics.
Dave West, who played bass with Wham! on their first recordings, also joins the band.
The show, Celebrating George Michael, can be heard at South Hill Park Arts Centre, on Friday, May 26. Doors open at 7.45pm, with tickets available for £26.
■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 01344 484123 or log on to: www.southhillpark.org.uk
A night of jazz classics
A QUARTET of musicians playing trumpet and flugelhorn, piano, bass, and drums will perform jazz classics in Maidenhead.
The Mark Armstrong Quartet’s concert will explore the Call And Response styles of Miles Davis and
Wynton Marsalis. The audience can expect spontaneous arrangements that will take everyone off guard – even the band.
Mark Armstrong is a member of the Ronnie Scott’s Orchestra. His music is said to possess the feel-good factor.
The event is at Maidenhead’s Norden Farm Arts Centre, on Friday, May 26. Doors open at 8pm, and tickets cost £16. ■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 01628 788977 or log on to: norden.farm
Drifters celebration
SOUL Kinda Wonderful is a tribute band that breathes life primarily into the music of an American rhythm and blues band, The Drifters, formed in 1959.
Their programme of songs will include hits such as Saturday Night At The Movies, Under The Boardwalk and Stand
■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 01628 788977 or log on to: norden.farm
Go Drowntown
A GRITTY dance theatre performance in Newbury will hold up a mirror to a society at a tipping point.
Choreographer of the piece, Rhiannon Faith, makes socially conscious work that raises awareness and lobbies for change.
Drowntown, depicts six strangers, weighed down by individual darkness, who come to a coastal land.
Seemingly abandoned, there is no one to help, and they each struggle with isolation, shame and failed support systems.
The show explores themes of isolation and suicide and domestic violence, and asks how to save the isolated from drowning.
The event is at The Corn Exchange, on Wednesday, May 24. Doors open at 7.45pm, and tickets are on sale for £17.25, or £14.25 for concessions.
■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 08455 218218 or log on to: cornexchangenew.com
A show with Wurblegobblers
INSPIRED by the works of Roald Dahl, a Newbury theatre show promises fun family entertainment.
All around the world the author’s words are disappearing, not only from books but children’s minds too.
Only a secret organisation, the Ancient Guild of TaleTenders, can save the stories, and they need help.
Brenda Bogg discovers that the words are being eaten by dreaded Wurblegobblers.
She must convince her boss Terry Tibblestick of the danger the stories are in, and restore the words to the books using imagination, play and tenderness.
Roald Dahl And The Imagination Seekers, is at The Corn Exchange, Newbury, on Sunday, May 28. There are two shows, with doors opening at 11am and 2pm. Tickets cost £13.75, with concessions available for £11.25.
■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 08455 218218 or log on to: cornexchangenew.com
ROALD Dahl’s story of a little girl with wit and intelligence, comes to Wokingham
Unloved by her cruel parents, Matilda impresses her schoolteacher, Miss Honey, but is hounded by child-hating headmistress Miss Trunchbull.
But the child’s courage and cleverness see her triumph.
Matilda is performed by Berkshire Theatre School, at the Whitty Theatre.
Performances are on Saturday, May 27, at 4.30pm and 7.15pm, and on Sunday, May 28, at 2pm and 5.30pm. Tickets cost £15.
■ For more details or to book log on to: www.thewhittytheatre.org
Everything’s Coming Up Roses at the Mill
THE Mill At Sonning’s summer musical opens this week.
Gypsy is the story of a burlesque performer Gypsy Rose Lee, and her showbiz mother, Rose, whose ambitions for her two daughters lead her to push them to follow her dreams of stardom.
Music by Jules Style and Stephen Sondheim includes: Let Me Entertain
You, Everything’s Coming Up Roses, You Gotta Have Gimmick, Some People, and All I Need Is The Girl.
The event is at The Mill At Sonning from Wednesday, May 24 through to Saturday, July 15.
Performances are on Wednesdays through to Sundays, with matinées on Saturdays, and some Thursdays.
Tickets cost £85, and include a two course meal at the theatre restaurant before the show.
■ For more details or to book, call the box office on: 0118 969 8000 or log on to: www.millatsonning.com