Summer Seasons Kicks Off Second Month

Summer Seasons Kicks Off Second Month

There is definitely something for everyone as the Newcastle Summer Season enters its second month.

August’s live performances begin in style with a bit of blues on Friday 5 August with ‘Ronnie Greer and Band’s Tribute to Muddy Waters and the Chicago Greats’. Blues guitar legend Ronnie Greer has been at the centre of the Irish blues scene for over 40 years with his distinctive guitar style being critically acclaimed. Ronnie has shared the stage with some of the best blues musicians in the history of the music, and he brings his powerhouse band to Newcastle to pay tribute to them.

Focusing on the Chicago blues style on this occasion, Ronnie and the band, which includes slide guitarist/vocalist Anthony Toner and keyboard wizard John McCullough, will recreate the searing intensity of blues greats such as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Buddy Guy, and Howlin Wolf to name but a few. This superb show has been described by the BBC’s Ralph McLean as, “Proper blues from a proper bluesman”. Tickets for this show are priced at £14/£12 Concession.

Enjoy double bills of drama with ‘Noel Cowards Relative Values’ and ‘See How They Run’ coming to the Newcastle Community Cinema.

On Friday 12 and Saturday 13 August, ‘Noel Cowards Relative Values’ is a vivid and vigorous farce, as an English lord and his glamorous film star girlfriend arrive at his family home. His mother is underwhelmed, her maid is distraught and girl-guides are running loose on the lawn. There may be more awaiting the Hollywood celebrity than the cocktails and country gardens that she had expected. 

‘See How They Run’ comes on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 August. The Reverend Lionel Toop's wife, Penelope, is an ex-actress. While Lionel is away from home Penelope receives a visitor – Clive, who at present serves in the army, is a former actor friend of Penelope. He invites her to dine in town which is out of bounds to servicemen, so he dresses in Lionel's blacks. Unfortunately Miss Skillon, a parishioner, sees the couple repeating one of their theatrical scenes and draws the wrong conclusion. Matters become even more complicated when Lionel arrives, followed by the Bishop of Lax, Penelope’s uncle and a German POW disguised as a vicar. The result is Mayhem! Tickets for both shows are priced at £14/£12 Concession

The last in the Leesa Harker Trilogy, ‘Maggie’s Feg Run’ hits Newcastle on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 August. The loveable Maggie Muff is back in the highly anticipated sequel to ‘50 Shades of Red White and Blue’ and ‘Dirty Dancin in le Shebeen’. The one you’ve all been waiting for!

Maggie and Big Sally-Ann are on top form as they head to Benidorm on a ‘Feg Run’ to smuggle cigarettes home and sell for a profit. What with Billy Scriven getting someone up the duff, and Igor the Dogger being caught out having ten kids and a wife, the chums need a holiday! Sun, Sea, Sangria and Sticky Vicky! Sure what more is there to want? But it turns out to be a holiday they will never forget. Tickets for this show are priced at £18/£16 Concession.

The Newcastle Summer Season will close on a high with one of the biggest tribute bands around.  ‘The Bjorn Identity’ will take to the stage on Friday 26 August. Ireland’s top live Abba tribute show has taken venues by storm with their authentic Abba concert experience. With top notch vocal performances frighteningly close to the real thing, handmade costumes that replicate the original designs, a good second place to Agnetha’s famous ‘Rear of the year’ and even a real life married couple, all adds to their authenticity. ‘The Bjorn Identity’ continue to astound audiences young and old, capturing both likeness and sound. If you are a true Abba fan you are in for a real treat! Tickets for this show are priced at £15/£12 Concession.

Shows start at 8pm (bar available from 7pm) at the Newcastle Community Cinema. For further information and to book please contact Newcastle Visitor Information Centre on 028 4372 2222 or Down Arts Centre on 028 44 61 0747.

The Newcastle Summer Season is a fantastic family festival with something for everyone. There will be children’s circus performances every Saturday afternoon and Live Band performances on Sunday afternoons taking place outside the Newcastle Centre. To check out the full programme go to www.downartscentre.com.