Aldwych Theatre, London
Running time: To be confirmed.
Age Restrictions: TBC
Tickets from £59.25
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Shalamar are one of the most successful soul groups of all time, selling 25 million albums worldwide. Formed in 1976, the band enjoyed their first hit single the following year with the Motown inspired medley 'Uptown Festival'.
The 'underground soul club' hits continued with 'Take That To The Bank' in 1978, followed by 'Right In The Socket' and the infectious ‘The Second Time Around’, which dominated the airwaves through Autumn 1979.
In 1982, the whole world fell under the spell of Shalamar with the release of the ‘Friends’ album (which sold over on million copies in the UK) and in particular, 'A Night to Remember' – although it was not perhaps the song but the image of Jeffrey Daniel performing the 'Moonwalk' live on British Television for the first time on Top of The Pops that stopped a nation in their tracks.
Fast forward 35+ years and the band, still with original members Jeffrey Daniel, Howard Hewitt alongside Solar Records Dick Griffey, daughter Carolyn Griffey continue to thrill audiences all over the world with their stage show. "A Shalamar concert is a giant party" says Jeffrey Daniel, "From the moment we step on stage to the moment we finish the audience becomes part of the show - they’re up on their feet dancing and singing along".
Now Shalamar bring their Greatest Hits 2019 tour to the legendary Aldwych Theatre – without doubt, the combination of the best 80s Disco / Soul band on stage at the home of London’s #1 80s musical is something you won’t want to miss!
Aldwych Theatre
Aldwych Theatre
49 Aldwych
London
WC2B 4DF
THE ALDWYCH THEATRE, LONDON
History of The Aldwych Theatre
Origins
The Aldwych was built as a pair with the then Waldorf Theatre (now called the Novello Theatre), both being designed by W.G.R. Sprague. Funded by Seymour Hicks, in association with the American impressario Charles Frohman, and built by Walter Wallis of Balham, the ornate decorations were in the Georgian style. The theatre was constructed on the newly built Aldwych.
The Aldwych Theatre opened on 23 December 1905 with a production of Blue Bell, a new version of Hicks' popular pantomime Bluebell in Fairyland. In 1906, Hicks' The Beauty of Bath, followed in 1907 by The Gay Gordons played at the theatre. In February 1913 the theatre was used by Serge Diaghilev and Vaslav Nijinsky for the first rehearsals of Le Sacre du Printemps before its controversial première in Paris later that year. In 1920, Basil Rathbone played Major Wharton in The Unknown. From 1925-1933, The Aldwych Theater became the home of Ben Travers's farces, also known as The Aldwych Farces. Members of Travers's company included Ralph Lynn, Tom Walls, Yvonne Arnaud, Norma Varden, Mary Brough, Winifred Shotter and Robertson Hare. In 1933, Richard Tauber presented and starred in a new version of Das Dreimäderlhaus at the Aldwych under the title Lilac Time. From the mid-1930s until about 1960, the theatre was owned by the Abrahams family.
Post-war years and Royal Shakespeare Company
Vivien Leigh, who had won an Academy Award for the film version, appeared in a 1949 production of A Streetcar Named Desire at the Aldwych Theatre London, which was directed by her husband, Laurence Olivier. Bonar Colleano co-starred as Stanley.
On 15 December 1960, after intense speculation, it was announced that the Royal Shakespeare Company of Stratford-upon-Avon was to base its London productions in The Aldwych Theatre for the next three years. In fact they stayed for over 20 years, finally moving to the Barbican Arts Centre in 1982. Among many notable productions were The Wars of the Roses, The Greeks, and Nicholas Nickleby, as well as numerous Shakespeare productions.
During absences of the RSC, the Aldwych theatre hosted the annual World Theatre Seasons, foreign plays in their original productions, invited to London by the theatre impresario Peter Daubeny, annually from 1964 to 1973 and finally in 1975. For his involvement with these Aldwych Theatre West End seasons, run without Arts Council or other official support, Daubeny won the Evening Standard special award in 1972.
In 1990-91, Joan Collins starred in Private Lives at London's Aldwych Theatre. Other notable recent productions are listed below. The theatre is referred to in Julio Cortázar's short story Instructions for John Howell (Instrucciones para John Howell) in the anthology All Fires the Fire (Todos los fuegos el fuego).
The Aldwych Theatre is amongst the many West End theatres that are reported to be haunted.
Aldwych Theatre Recent Productions
An Inspector Calls (August 25, 1993 - January 21, 1995)
Indian Ink (February 27, 1995 - January 6, 1996) by Tom Stoppard
The Fields of Ambrosia (January 31, 1996 - Februayry 11, 1996) by Joel Higgins and Martin Silvestri
Present Laughter (February 27, 1996 - April 20, 1996) by Noel Coward
Tolstoy (April 30, 1996 - May 18, 1996) by James Goldman
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (November 6, 1996 - March 22, 1997) by Edward Albee
Tom and Clem (April 14, 1997 - July 26, 1997) by Stephen Churchett
Life Support (August 5, 1997 - October 18, 1997) by Simon Gray
The Boys in the Band (October 29, 1997 - December 20, 1997) by Mark Crowley
Amy's View (January 14, 1998 - April 18, 1998) by David Hare
Whistle Down The Wind (July 1, 1998 - January 6, 2001) by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman
The RSC's The Secret Garden (February 27, 2001 - June 2, 2001) by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon
Mahler's Canversion (October 2, 2001 - November 3, 2001) by Ronald Harwood
Thunderbirds FAB (December 11, 2001 - January 6, 2002) by Andrew Dawson, Gavin Robertson from Gerry Anderson
Top Girls (January 9, 2002 - February 2, 2002) by Caryl Churchill
Mother Clap's Molly House (February 8, 2002 - March 23, 2002) by Mark Ravenhill and Matthew Scott
Bedroom Farce (April 8, 2002 - June 29, 2002) by Alan Ayckbourn
Fame - The Musical (September 6, 2002 - April 22, 2006) by Jacques Levy and Steve Margoshes
Dancing In The Streets (April 27, 2006 - July 16, 2006)
Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story on Stage (September 28, 2006 - ) by Eleanor Bergstein
A Round-Heeled Woman (30 November 2011 – 14 January 2012)
The Aldwych Theatre Current Production
Top Hat - The musical (April 2012 – ), by Irving Berlin
Travel by train: Charing Cross. Nearest tube: Covent Garden/Holborn/Charing Cross /Temple
A great night everyone was up singing and dancing ....it was 1983 again
Posted by Jaspin on 20/05/2019
Shalamar, Aldwych Theatre, London - 19th May 2019
