2010 marks the 6th Anniversary of West End LIVE, Westminster City Council’s annual entertainment festival held in the heart of London in Leicester Square.

The event is free for all the family, and visitors can witness a spectacular event including showcase performances from top West End shows and musical acts and experience a wonderful array of interactive exhibits from many of London’s top museums, galleries and cultural institutions.

The event takes place this Saturday and Sunday (19-20 June) from 11:00 to 18:00.

The Spark Children’s Arts Festival is celebrating National Family Week, a national initiative championing family life. The Spark brings children’s arts events to the region, encouraging families to play and spend time together in fun, creative and interactive ways.

The first week of The Spark coincides with National Family Week 31st May – 6th June. The average family spends just 45 minutes a day together according to a poll commissioned by National Family Week last year. National Family Week encourages families to take part in events such as The Spark Children’s Arts Festival to spend more time together.

The Spark Children’s Arts Festival offers families so many opportunities to have fun together during its first week throughout half term and plenty of ways to get stuck in and try something different. From Babyfest at De Montfort Hall on 31st May to Olga Volt the Electric Fairy at Curve on 2nd and 3rd, Drum by Oily Cart at Embrace Arts at the RA Centre from 2nd – 4th June there are wonderful events for everyone to enjoy and each is interactive in its own way. There will be free events at The Spark’s Open Minded Play Spaces in Leicester’s parks ranging from storytelling, to playtime picnics and sculpture and art activities and plus a special visit from the Queen of the Fairies herself at Aylestone Meadows on Wednesday 2nd at 14:30.

During the Spark Festival the Belmont Hotel is offering special deals to families planning to attending one of the events. A family room is available to book at the price of just £99 per room per night for two adults and two children sharing. To take advantage of this great deal for Festival Friends, contact Steve Burton at The Belmont Hotel on 0116 254 4773.

For more information please visit www.sparkfestival.co.uk, call 0116 261 6893 or email admin@sparkfestival.co.uk

31 May – 13 June, 2010

Families in Leicestershire can look forward to two weeks of festivities just for kids as The Spark Children’s Arts Festival returns from 31 May to 13 June. This year’s Spark promises to stir the region’s imagination with an exciting programme to thrill, delight and inspire children of all ages. Venues across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland will play host to a wealth of national and international theatre, music, dance, puppetry and art designed specifically for children.

Last year The Spark got families chalk drawing on the pavements at Highcross, painting the grass red at De Montfort Hall and tightrope walking in a Big Top at Regent College. For 2010 The Spark is bringing internationally acclaimed acts to Leicestershire with some visually stunning performances to mesmerize even the very young. World class companies including Oily Cart, Spoontree Productions, Horse and Bamboo, Barebones and Shona Reppe will delight young audiences during the festival.

Modern classics such as The Gruffalo at De Montfort Hall and Funny Bones at Curve, sit alongside traditional favourites including The Princess and The Pea at community venues and Treasure Island at Loughborough Town Hall. This year’s festival is more diverse than ever – don’t miss Boka Halat’s world music and their amazing Afro Ceilidh.

With engaging arts events to stimulate the whole family, The Spark offers so many opportunities to spend quality time together, go somewhere new and do something completely different. 2010 will see an innovative outdoor production of Grimm’s Fairy Tales at the Botanical Gardens and Leicester Cathedral will be hosting its first ever Spark event. The Spark programme is brimming with unique ideas for family days out with lots of ways to get stuck in and have a go – such as the Spin performance poetry workshops at The Y and a Sculpture Day at Cross Corners – plus many events are free!

The Spark is also delivering the festival right to your doorstep with performances at small community locations and larger venues alike. Many schools in the region are looking forward to Spark performances in their very own classrooms too.

For more information please visit www.sparkfestival.co.uk, call 0116 261 6893 or email admin@sparkfestival.co.uk

With a cast of 25 world class figure skaters who have collected over 250 medals between them the Imperial Ice Stars perform an astonishing version of Cinderella. The story is moved away from the pantomime and Disney film we are all used to and taken back to it’s roots. The tale of an unlucky girl who loses her mother and when he remarries she suffers at the hands of her new step-family but with guidance from a mysterious gypsy woman she makes her way to the ball and captures the heart of the town mayor’s son.

The show is fantastically choreographed from start to finish by Tony Mercer and his team, there are some stunning sequences and lots of leaps, twists and spins as you might expect but carefully combined with touches of character, emotive gestures and physical comedy. There are some wonderful sequences and special effects, including a moment where fire and ice combine and the way the skaters combine to create the clock sequences is outstanding and the search for the girl who the left shoe will fit features some brilliant one legged skating. It really is something else when the skaters fly off the ice and into the air as they are lifted on rope to spin around above the audience. Never have the ugly step sisters been played with such flair. Some fantastic performances especially from the two leads, Olga Sharutenko and Andrey Penkin and also from Cinderella’s father played by Vadim Yarkov.

The costumes too were wonderful, beautifully designed, some of them costing over £4000 to make! For the most part the scenery was created via a huge projection, I’m always a little weary of this technique but with the grandeur of the Royal Albert Hall to compete with this was a smart move and allowed you to really focus on the skating. The music specially composed for the show by Tim A Duncan and Edward James Barnwell and played by the orchestra which added an extra dimension in such a prestigious music venue.

This really is a spectacle of a show and backed up by some wonderful skating and you can see why nearly three million people across thee world have been to watch the Imperial Ice Stars. The run at the Royal Albert Hall is only short so move quickly if you want to catch it in this splendid setting.

25 February – 7 March, 2010

Starting at the end of February the TARA studio present the Shakespeare RE-MIXED Festival. This exciting festival offers contemporary interpretations of classic Shakespeare works which are accessible and have been restyled for a 21st Century audience.

The programme features local and international artists and plays host to a selection of the UK’s best storytellers. Topping the bill is a highly inventive version of Romeo and Juliet presented by Tiny Ninja Theatre, the timeless love story is to be performed by an unlikely cast of vending machine figurines. This pioneering troupe hail from New York and have not been seen in the UK since the RSC’s Complete Works Festival in 2007. Not to be missed, director Dov Weinstein inspires magic and enchantment as miniature toy figures are brought to life and transported to fair Verona.

Othello is the new imaginative reduced Shakespeare production from ArtsBeat, TARA’s dynamic, young people’s theatre group. ArtsBeat’s history of performing innovative re-tellings of classic Shakespeare ranges from Romeo and Juliet to Macbeth and Twelfth Night. This exciting production of Othello fuses contemporary storytelling with energetic performances, a passion for language and powerful narratives.

Jan Blake the storyteller in residence at the National Theatre will deliver the exciting adventure of Pericles, Shakespeare’s tale of the Prince of Tyre who is tasked with deciphering the dangerous riddle set by King Antiochus. King Lear, Shakespeare’s tale of vanity and ambition, is brought to life by fellow renowned storyteller Inno Sorsy.

Also joining in are two vibrant youth theatre groups who join forces to produce a double bill of Shakespeare: Macbeth is presented by Little Actors Youth Theatre based in Cheshire, the young cast use dynamic physical theatre to portray the play’s themes of morality, love and the supernatural; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream by South West Youth Theatre from Earlsfield which is set in a laboratory where nothing is what it seems.

Booking: 020 8333 4457 / www.tara-arts.com
Venue: TARA Studio, 356 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4ES

For the fifth and final part of our Christmas roundup we’re covering some of the shows in the Capital. There’s so much going on this Christmas that we were spoilt for choice and very sorry we couldn’t include every show. Feel free to get in touch with us and tell us about some of the great shows you see over the festive break.

Petrushka
Little Angle Theatre, Angel
Featuring the music of Stravinsky and written by celebrated poet John Agard, this is a fabulous production with real heart. Please see our review of Petrushka.
http://www.littleangeltheatre.com

The Famous Five
Tabard, London : 8 December – 10 January
Enid Blyton’s Five on a Treasure Island brought to life on stage. Anne, Dick, Julian, George and Timmy are all there on stage for a ‘jolly good show’.
http://www.tabardweb.co.uk/

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
artsdepot, London : 5 December – 3 January
Big Wooden Horse present the little known L Frank Baum story, which tells of the origins of Santa Claus who was raised amongst forest folk.
http://www.artsdepot.co.uk/

The Enchanted Pig
Royal Opera House, London : 10 December – 2 January
Original shown at the Young Vic back in 2006 the show comes to the Royal Opera House this Christmas. It’s a family friendly opperetta based on the clasic Romanian fairy story about a princess who is fated to marry a pig.
http://www.roh.org.uk/

Charlie and Lola
Hampstead Theatre : 10 December – 2 January
Everyone’s favourite brother and sister, Charlie and Lola, are spending the Christmas period in Hampstead in their absolutely ever so wonderful stage show! The stars of the hit BBC TV series and books by Lauren Child are brought to life by a magical mix of puppets and music.
http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/

Stick Man
Soho Theatre : 10 December – 10 January
The world is a dangerous place for Stick Man. A dog wants to play with him. A swan builds a nest with him. He even ends up on a fire! Will he ever get back to the family tree?
http://www.sohotheatre.com/

and finally a plug for the show I was involved with…

James and the Giant Peach
Polka Theatre : 13 November – 13 February
Join James and his new-found insect friends as they embark on an extraordinary adventure which takes them halfway around the world. Along the way there are dangers and excitement, friends and enemies, music and laughter. Will James survive the journey and find the new life he longs for?
http://www.polkatheatre.com/

We hope you have found our Christmas Roundups useful and you all enjoy whichever shows you catch this Christmas.

Best wishes for a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year,

The FCTBlog team

This time we’re looking at the top children’s and family shows from across the north of England.

White Christmas The Musical
Lowry, Manchester : 27 November – 9 January 2010
The spectacular stage musical of the classic 1954 movie starring Bing Crosby makes its North West debut at The Lowry featuring the voice of Aled Jones.
http://www.thelowry.com/

The Secret Garden
West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds : 8 December – 23 January
Francis Hodgson Burnett’s beautiful story of young Mary Lennox who is is suddenly orphaned and she has to adapt to life in wintry Yorkshire. Spoilt Mary is won over by her caring maid Martha and her brother, animal lover Dickon, and the enchantment of a very special garden.

Grimm Tales
Library Theatre, Manchester : 5 December – 23 January
The Brothers Grimm’s twisted tales adapted by Carol Ann Duffy. These aren’t the fluffy tales you’ll find at other venues showing this Christmas at other venues across the country but dark and sometimes scary but a winner for the over sixes who love their gore.
http://www.librarytheatre.com/

Santa’s Naughty Elf
Customs House, South Shields : 19 – 24 December
Join Santa and his elves for a brand new Christmas sing-a-long adventure where all the all children will meet Santa and receive a special gift.
http://www.customshouse.co.uk/

Spaceship ’87
Royal Exchange, Manchester : 16 December – 02 January
A fluorescent voyage exploring the power of the imagination, travelling through space, hopes and fears, accompanied by a classic 1980s soundtrack. A little girl’s bedroom has been turned into a spaceship – a place to dream of astronauts, aliens and asteriods. But there is a storm which threatens to destroy everything and only the little girl can stop it.
http://www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk/

In the third part of our Christmas Roundup we are looking at the children’s and family shows in Scotland, there’s some real treats north of the border this year. Don’t forget to get in touch with us and let us know if you’ve seen or are planning to see any of these shows and let us know if you enjoyed it.

Peter Pan
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh : 26 November – 2 January
Always a festive favourite, Peter Pan comes to the Royal Lyceum in a world-class Christmas sprinkled with fairy dust. Join Peter, Wendy, John and Michael Tinker Bell and the Lost Boys for an awfully big adventure as they do battle with the wicked Captain Hook and his pirate crew! Crocodiles go tick-tock and little boys never have to grow up! It’s guaranteed to have you hooked!
http://www.lyceum.org.uk/

Zorro
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh : 5 –24 December
The caped crusader provides some swashbuckling fun this Christmas at the Traverse Theatre. Lock swords with Zorro as he ricochets from one sticky situation to another in a world where adventure is the name and justice is the game!
http://www.traverse.co.uk/

Little Red Riding Hood
The Arches, Glasgow : 2 December – 3 January
A joyous little production of the classic fairy tale of the mischievous girl in the red cape. Suitable from the very young to the very old.
http://www.thearches.cfco.uk/

The Nutcracker
Theatre Royal, Glasgow : 12-31 December (followed by a tour until 6 February )
The Scottish Ballet’s version of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is a fresh and vivid production. Scottish Ballet are a continually growing company with a lot to offer and have had huge success in previous years with Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.
http://www.scottishballet.co.uk/

The Night Before Christmas
Macrobet, Stirling : 1 – 31 December
A heartwarming tale for the little ones about Carol, a girl who hates Christmas and all things festive, until she meets a lonely elf who helps her discover the magic of Christmas.
http://www.macrobert.org/

The Snow Baby
Howden Park Centre, Livingston : 16-31 December
Howden Park Centre celebrates its first Christmas with glitter and lights, fun and activities and a very special Snow Baby. A lady spends her life wishing for for just one thing, someone to share Christmas with. One magical Christmas eve she wishes on a star and the magic of Christmas brings her a special visitor for just one day.
http://www.howdenparkcentre.co.uk/