Smash hit musical The Lion King will finally make a return to Manchester later this year.
The award-winning theatre show had to postpone its run at the Palace Theatre in the autumn of 2020 due to the ongoing coronavirus restrictions.
After a few date changes, the stage adaptation of the 1994 Disney film will be back in the city for a three-month run.
Credit: Deen van Meer
Credit: Deen van Meer
Credit: Joan Marcus
The spellbinding show marries puppetry (there are 232 puppets in every show) and costumes with a huge cast of actors to bring Simba’s tale to life.
The Lion King’s theatre adaptation features all the familiar hits, including The Circle of Life and Can You Feel The Long Tonight, with a soundtrack written by the likes of Elton John, Tim Rice and South African composer Lebo M.
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The musical follows young lion Simba’s journey to becoming King of the Pridelands, joined by other characters such as Timon and Pumba, Nala, Scar, and Zazu.
Blue Planet III live in concert is coming to Manchester next year
Daisy Jackson
The spectacular Blue Planet III will come to Manchester live in concert next year, bringing the hit BBC nature documentary to life with a live orchestra.
The new arena tour will pull together the most breathtaking footage beneath the waves from across the series, curated for a giant Ultra HD LED screen.
Blue Planet III will hit screens later this year, narrated once again by the legendary Sir David Attenborough.
Filmed across four years, it will take audiences everywhere from tropical coral reefs to the darkest depths of the ocean.
When the Blue Planet III Live In Concert show arrives in Manchester, it will be hosted by series executive producer Elizabeth White, who’ll share incredible stories and behind-the-scenes insights from the making of the series.
The score once again comes from Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer, with Thom Lukas and Laurentia Editha for Bleeding Fingers Music, performed live by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
The companion live concert is preparing to take audiences even deeper into the underwater world on an epic audio-visual scale.
Specially curated footage from Blue Planet III will be shown on a state-of-the-art 200 sq metre Ultra HD LED screen – one of the largest of its kind used for an orchestral touring screen show and approximately the size of a tennis court.
Blue Planet III live in concert is coming to Manchester next year. Credit: BBC Studios
The brand-new Blue Planet III Live in Concert will kick off here in Manchester before heading to Birmingham, Glasgow, and London.
Executive Producer Elizabeth White says: “Making Blue Planet III has taken us to places we never imagined we’d film. But there’s something about bringing that footage into a concert arena full of people, with the score performed live all around you, that will be truly special.
“This tour is our chance to share the series on a completely different scale, and I can’t wait to be there live, revealing the extraordinary stories behind what audiences are seeing on screen.”
Hans Zimmer says: “There’s nothing like experiencing this score live with an orchestra, especially when it’s paired with the extraordinary visuals of the life underwater. Thom, Laurentia and I are ecstatic that audiences will be able to enjoy our score in this way.”
Blue Planet III Live in Concert will be at the AO Arena in Manchester on Friday 21 May 2027 – general release tickets start from £40 and go on sale from 11am on Friday 16 October HERE.
Dirty Dancing at Palace Theatre, Manchester – at least one audience member had the time of her life…
Daisy Jackson
For anyone who has watched Dirty Dancing so many times they can practically recite the dialogue, taking on the Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey roles is no small feat – and turning that lakeside romance into a live musical comes with even bigger expectations.
The stage production at the Palace Theatre in Manchester has all the familiar ingredients: the dancing, the music, the forbidden romance and, of course, that lift. But while there are moments when the theatre version captures the exuberance of the original, it doesn’t always manage to recreate its magic.
Charlie Varlet as Baby does a great job of embracing the knock-kneed awkwardness of the teenage star, slowly blossoming into a beautiful dancer who is almost eerily similar to the film’s Jennifer Grey.
And Joel Benjamin plays a striking Johnny, moving lightly for such an enormously muscular actor.
But there are moments where their chemistry fizzles out, too much of the script that focuses on their bickerings and misunderstandings to make you buy into their love story.
At points, it feels almost slapstick, and the result is a restless audience that keeps hooting and hollering at a topless Benjamin when he’s trying to deliver a serious monologue about Johnny’s upbringing. One woman shouts ‘LUCKY YOU’ and cackles as Baby sits in bed with him. It’s not a Magic Mike show, guys.
Where Dirty Dancing the musical shines is when it really makes the most of its full ensemble, with huge dance numbers that see limbs and skirts flying right across the stage.
Ellie Ferguson as Penny in Dirty Dancing. Credit: Danny Kaan
And it’s hard to take your eyes off Penny (Ellie Fergusson), even when she’s lurking in the crowd, so impressive is her stage presence and the execution of her dance routines.
Having a lot of the musicians on the stage is a fantastic touch too – you spot people playing saxophones and clarinets and guitars in a lot of the scenes and it adds a real party atmosphere.
The set design does its best to replicate the iconic moments of the film, but the cast shaking themselves dry under a blue light can’t come close to the magic of the lake scene.
If you’ve watched the film so often you can recite it word for word (guilty), you won’t find a lot of surprises up on the stage – the theatre adaptation sticks pretty tightly to the original plot and script.
Baby (Charlie Varlet) and Johnny (Joel Benjamin)Dirty Dancing is at the Palace Theatre in ManchesterCredit: Danny Kaan
It means that a lot of the moments that would translate best to stage – the underground dance party in the staff quarters, the montage of Baby learning to dance, the Hungry Eyes scene – are condensed into the first half of the musical.
The second half feels a little flat in comparison, just a lot of bickering and storming around the stage… up until that grand finale, when Johnny bursts from the back of the theatre and storms the stage to complete that iconic lift.
It’s worth all the trundle just for that final euphoric moment.
Dirty Dancing is at the Palace Theatre in Manchester until Saturday 3 October, then will return next summer. You can grab tickets HERE.
Daisy Jackson -
12th May 2022 
