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Full Spring Season Announced including the U.K Premiere of CRUSH – A New Musical By Maureen Chadwick

With 2014 drawing to a close, Coventrys Belgrade Theatre has announced details of the final shows to feature in its upcoming Spring 2015 Season including the UK premiere of new musical comedy Crush, Only A Day, a heart-felt and thought-provoking new childrens drama from the pen of Martin Baltscheit, Em Hussains searing study of family betrayal, Blood and the uplifting Broadway smash hit Cougar The Musical.

Set in an all-girls boarding school at the dawn of the swinging sixties, Crush is a sizzling new musical comedy from the pen of Maureen Chadwick (creator and writer of hit TV dramas Waterloo Road, Footballers Wives and Bad Girls) and features music and lyrics by Kath Gotts (Bad Girls The Musical and The Realness). Crush is directed by Anna Linstrum (High Society, The Sound of Music and Spend, Spend, Spend).

With hockey sticks to the fore, toe-tapping tunes, witty lyrics and soaring ballads, this fresh, contemporary tale of high-school rebellion and romance gives a new twist to Mallory Towers and The Girls Own Annual, inviting young hearts of all ages to run free in a fight to the finish!

Crush will make its UK premiere on the Belgrade Main Stage from Fri 4 Sat 19 Sept 2015. The show will then play Theatre Royal Brighton (22-26 September) and Richmond Theatre (29 Sept 3 Oct). Crush is presented by Big Broad Productions, in co-production with the Belgrade Theatre Coventry.

Flying into B2 from Sat 7 Sat 21 Feb, Only A Day is a funny, sad and thought-provoking new play for ages 7 and under from the pen of acclaimed German childrens author and illustrator Martin Baltscheit with translation by David Henry Wilson.

A fox and a wild boar keep watch over the hatching of a mayfly. Aware that it lives for only a day, they are faced with a dilemma. Who cares about a mayfly anyway? But when they meet a beautiful flying insect, who has spent years preparing to hatch into the world, they have to think again.

At once tender, sad and touching, this masterful story of the cycle of life and the power of friendship promises to be a theatrical highlight of the Belgrades Spring Season.

This will be followed by a new co-production of Em Hussains Blood with Tamasha Theatre Company. Running in B2 from Sat 28 Mar Sat 11 Apr, this searing tale of love, lust and betrayal, based upon Lorcas Blood Wedding, offers an urgent and deeply affecting study of fractured family ties and the conflicts operating at the very heart of contemporary Pakistani communities in Britain.

This May, the Belgrade is delighted to be joining forces with Coventry-based opera company Hightime, who bring their new production of Hansel and Gretel to the B2 stage from Thurs 7 Sat 9 May. In this new English translation of Engelbert Humperdincks classic opera based on the Grimm fairytale of the same name, magicians, clowns and acrobats combine together to bring the magic of opera to life for a whole new generation of fans.

On the prowl from Sat 16 May Sat 6 Jun, the Belgrade is thrilled to present Cougar The Musical, a soulful, sassy and provocative new musical about three women of a certain age saying yes to life and learning that true happiness lies within.

Directed by Belgrade Theatre Creative Associate Patricia Benecke, this uproarious new musical from American playwright Donna Moore makes its UK premiere at the Belgrade Theatre following smash hit success in New York where it ran for over two years off Broadway.

The Belgrade has also announced details of a number of high quality touring productions visiting the theatre next Spring including gothic fireside tale The Mist in the Mirror, Agatha Christies gripping thriller The Secret Adversary and Arnold Ridleys knockabout comedy The Ghost Train.

Adapted from the novel by Susan Hill, author of The Woman In Black, The Mist In The Mirror is a tense and atmospheric new production combining visual innovation, originality of staging and stunning multi-media effects. Produced by Oldham Coliseum and pioneering touring company Imitating the Dog, this unique, otherworldly and unsettling production runs on the Main Stage from Tues 14 Sat 18 Apr and is a must-see for fans of immersive theatre and spine-chilling mystery alike.

This will be followed by a visit from The Watermill Theatre company production of Agatha Christies classic detective novel, The Secret Adversary from Tues 28 Apr Sat 2 May. Set in London at the height of the roaring 1920s, this gripping tale of political intrigue follows the dizzying adventures of unlikely heroes Tommy and Tuppence who, having returned from home from war flat broke and unemployed, quickly find themselves embroiled in a perilous world of criminal conspiracy, murder and mayhem.

Completing the Belgrades triple-bill of classic mystery, Arnold Ridleys riotous comedy thriller The Ghost Train bursts onto the Belgrade Main stage from Tues 12 Sat 16 May. Stranded in the waiting room of an isolated railway station on a dark and stormy night, a group of travellers react with various degrees of credulity to the station masters warning of death to anyone who sets eyes on the ghostly train that haunts the line. With rumours of mysterious hauntings in the air and the station masters patience running low, will any of the crew survive to make it through the night?

Other touring shows going on sale include Marcia Laynes exhilarating new, one-woman play, Bag Lady which visits B2 on Sat 28 Feb, a new UK tour of Sex In Suburbia starring Claire Sweeney on Thurs 12 Mar and determined to grow old disgracefully, all-female comedy cabaret Fascinating Aida returns with a brand new show Charm Offensive on Fri 13 Mar. This will be followed by a visit from the ever popular Moscow Ballet with the Tchaikovsky classic Sleeping Beauty from Fri 20 Sat 21 Mar.

Among the one-night concert shows also going on sale this November are all-girl pop-tribute Little Chix hosted by Free Radios JD on Sat 24 Jan. Swinging onto the Main Stage for one night only, BBC Big Band bring their timeless repertoire and signature swagger to the Belgrade Main Stage on Sat 28 Feb. This will be followed by a visit from multi award-winning vocalist Claire Martin OBE and legendary saxophonist and vocalist Ray Gelato in A Swinging Affair on Wed 3 Jun. Other one-night concerts coming soon to the Belgrade include feel-good family classics Sing-a-long a Frozen followed by a visit from Sing-a-long a Dirty Dancing on Sat 9 May.

Recreating the original sound of The Clash, Radio Clash & The Neville Staple Band will rock the Belgrade Main Stage on Sat 14 Mar in an authentic recreation of their iconic 1978 UK concert tour. Fans of swinging 60s pop can look forward to a triple bill of classic entertainment with the arrival of The Cavern Beatles on Wed 6 May followed by a visit from Kast Off Kinks on Tues 23 Jun and Roy Orbinson and The Travelling Wilburys on Sat 27 Jun. Recreating the original sounds of Swedens very own fab four, the ever-popular ABBA Mania return on Sat 6 Jun whilst Freddie fans can look forward to a night of high-energy rock n roll in Killer Queen on Fri 26 Jun.

Other newly announced one-night shows include Champions of Magic on Fri 27 Feb, Celtic song and dance spectacular Essence of Ireland on Tues 17 Mar and Louis Pearls The Amazing Bubble Man on Fri 10 Apr. For a full list of one night concert shows on sale this November, visit the Belgrade Theatre website at www.belgrade.co.uk

Tickets for all of the above shows go on sale to Friends of the Belgrade Theatre today (Fri 21 Nov) at 10am and go on sale to the general public on Mon 24 Nov at 10am. For more information and to book tickets, call the Belgrade Theatre Box Office on 024 7655 3055 or visit the website www.belgrade.co.uk where tickets are cheaper.

ENDS