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Damon Brown performed in our very first Jazz Steps season, 25 years ago. – with this return being a deliberate nod to our anniversary! He’s performed with his own groups and with the band Killer Shrimp back in 2010. His no-nonsense trumpet style wins him many fans. We tracked him down to Seoul, South Korea, and invited him over for a rare UK appearance, backed by a superb trio.
Damon Brown (trumpet)
Leon Greening (piano)
Adam King (Bass)
Matt Skelton (drums)
The Edison Herbert Trio have a reputation for their engaging grooves, sensitive ballads and foot tapping numbers that mix the familiar with the new in a refreshing way. Edison is a sensitive and melodic guitarist and his trio bring excitement, verve and vitality to everything they play. He is revisiting some ‘My Favourite Tunes’ that include some stand-out jazz standards.
Edison Herbert (guitar)
Jose Canha (bass)
Josh Smout (drums)
Discover the enchantment of ballet with this sparkling festive treat for the whole family.
Join Clara at a delightful Christmas Eve party that becomes a magical adventure once everyone else is tucked up in bed. Marvel at the brilliance of Tchaikovsky’s score, as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker fight the Mouse King and visit the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince in the glittering Kingdom of Sweets. Peter Wright’s much-loved production for The Royal Ballet, with gorgeous period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, keeps true to the spirit of this festive ballet classic, combining the thrill of the fairy tale with spectacular classical dancing.
BALLET
Choreography – Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov
Company – The Royal Ballet
Music – Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
A modern Mexican classic of magic realism provides the basis for The Royal Ballet’s new full-length work, reuniting Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon with the creative team who transformed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and The Winter’s Tale into dance, composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley.
The ballet is inspired by Laura Esquivel’s novel – a captivating family saga where the central character’s emotions spill out through cooking to influence everyone around her in startling and dramatic ways. In this co-production with American Ballet Theatre, Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra also acts as musical consultant for Talbot’s newly commissioned score, and Wheeldon has worked closely with Esquivel to reshape her richly layered story into an entertaining and engrossing new ballet.
BALLET
Choreography – Christopher Wheeldon
Company – The Royal Ballet
Music – Joby Talbot
Elvis is an epic, big-screen spectacle from Warner Bros. Pictures and visionary, Oscar-nominated filmmaker Baz Luhrmann that explores the life and music of Elvis Presley, starring Austin Butler and Oscar-winner Tom Hanks.
A thoroughly cinematic drama, Elvis’s story is seen through the prism of his complicated relationship with his enigmatic manager, Colonel Tom Parker.
As told by Parker, the film delves into the complex dynamic between the two spanning over 20 years, from Presley’s rise to fame to his unprecedented stardom, against the backdrop of the evolving cultural landscape and loss of innocence in America. Central to that journey is one of the significant and influential people in Elvis’s life, Priscilla Presley.
Telegraph ★★★★ Mirror ★★★★
Independent ★★★★ Times ★★★★
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
With Austin Butler, Tom Hanks
2hrs 30 mins // US 2022
Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75th anniversary this Season. The ballet’s opening night in 1948, featuring Moira Shearer and Michael Somes in the lead roles, was received rapturously. After over a decade away from the Royal Opera House stage, Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story returns, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love.
BALLET
Company – The Royal Ballet
Music – Sergey Prokofiev
In the court of Princess Turandot, suitors who fail to solve her riddles are brutally killed. But when a mysterious Prince answers one correctly, suddenly he holds all the power –and a glorious secret. When life hangs in the balance, can love conquer all? Puccini’s score is rich in musical marvels (featuring the famous aria ‘Nessun dorma’), while Andrei Serban’s production draws on Chinese theatrical traditions to evoke a colourful fantasy tableau of ancient Peking. Antonio Pappano conducts Anna Pirozzi in the title role and Yonghoon Lee as Calaf.
OPERA
Company – The Royal Opera
Music – Giacomo Puccini
When Rosina falls in love with a mysterious young suitor who calls himself Lindoro, she must use all her cunning –and a little help from her local barber –to outwit her calculating guardian Dr Bartolo. Expect heart-melting serenades, ridiculous disguises and a fairytale ending waiting just out of reach. From the barber’s famous opening number ‘Largo al factotum,’ with its cry of ‘Figaro!Figaro!,’ to Rosina’s feisty aria ‘Una voce poco fa,’ Gioachino Rossini’s comic opera is a riotously entertaining affair. Rafael Payare makes his Royal Opera House debut conducting an outstanding internationalcast that includes Andrzej Filończyk, Aigul Akhmetshina, Lawrence Brownlee and Bryn Terfel.
OPERA
Company – The Royal Opera
Music – Gioachino Rossini
Approximately 3 hours 45 minutes (including two intervals)
A dazzling showcase marking 60 years of the Friends of the Royal Opera House.
The Royal Ballet’s dazzling Principals lead an evening not to be missed, their sparkling talents a perfect fit for a diamond anniversary. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Friends of Covent Garden, this programme recognises the amazing support of all ROH Friends past and present.
The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory in classical, contemporary and heritage works. It will also include world premieres of short ballets by choreographers Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti as well as The Royal Ballet’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.
BALLET
Company – The Royal Ballet
Puccini’s opera of passion, friendship and heartbreak features a star-studded cast, conducted by Kevin John Edusei.
Paris, 1900. Penniless writer Rodolfo believes that art is all he needs – until he meets Mimì, the lonely seamstress who lives upstairs. So begins a timeless love story that blooms, fades, and rekindles with the passing seasons. But while the couple’s friends Marcello and Musetta passionately row and make up, a force greater than love threatens Rodolfo and Mimì.
Richard Jones’s production evokes the vivid contrasts of fin de siècle Paris, from Bohemian apartments to glittering arcades.
OPERA
Company – The Royal Opera
Music – Giacomo Puccini