Friendsical - A Parody Musical about Friends

The Ward Academy is proud to present  MUSICALITY.

‘Because who doesn't want a world where everyone bursts into song and dance'

Inspired by the wonderful world of Musicals, our children will be performing a selection of scenes, songs and routines from popular Musicals that are dear to all our hearts! 

This show promises to make you smile, sing along and more importantly have a great time!

Come along and step into MUSICALITY.......

1pm – Worsley & Bolton Show
5pm – Middleton & Knutsford Show

School Information:

The Ward Academy is a unique Theatre & Creative Arts School for children of all ages to explore and express their unique personalities and talents.

We hold weekly classes based around the North West (Worsley, Middleton, Bolton, Knutsford) offering classes to children aged 3-16.

Our classes offer the specialism of drama and performing arts with an original curriculum full of innovation, creativity and fun!

We also run a successful Casting Agency where our class children have the opportunity to audition for roles in TV, Theatre, Commercials, Film and Voiceover. Visit our agency website:
www.thewamanagement.com.  

Or for more information on our school please visit our school website:
 
www.thewardacademy.com 

SHOWCASE returns!

Seven musical theatre companies bring you selections from their favourite

West End & Broadway shows.

Supporting Teenage Cancer Trust

DIVORCED ★ BEHEADED ★ LIVE!

The international smash hit musical SIX makes its royal return to Salford!

Multi award-winning, with a spectacularly successful sound-track storming charts across the globe, this sell-out Tudor take-off has ‘an incredibly strong and powerful message. Boundary-pushing, genre-redefining’ (The Australian) and is ‘pure entertainment’ (The New York Times).
 
From Tudor Queens to Pop Princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing five hundred years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. These Queens may have green sleeves but their lipstick is rebellious red.

Think you know the rhyme, think again...

Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE!

★★★★★
‘The most uplifting new British musical I have ever had the privilege to watch’
Evening Standard

★★★★★
‘80 minutes of exhilarating entertainment from 6 killer Queens.
They will, they will rock you!’
Daily Express

★★★★★
‘SIX is a marvellous show. A royal treat’
Daily Telegraph

★★★★★
‘Smart. Sassy. I’d give this ridiculously fun musical six stars if I could”
Sunday Express

★★★★★
‘Captivating and exhilarating. Do yourself a favour and go and party with SIX.
You won’t regret it!’
Attitude

★★★★
‘Bursting at the corset with 21st Century sass and attitude’
Daily Mail

 

IDENTICAL is the twin-sational new musical based on Erich Kästner’s novel THE PARENT TRAP.

This classic tale tells the story of twin girls separated at birth and reunited by chance at a summer camp ten years later. To get to know their parents and reconcile the two halves of their family, they decide to swap places and live each other’s lives.

Best known for the ever-popular Disney movies which made stars of Hayley Mills in 1961 and Lindsay Lohan in 1998. This world premiere is directed by Trevor Nunn responsible for some of the world’s greatest musicals (Les Misérables, Starlight Express, Cats and Sunset Boulevard) and comes from the producer of Top Hat, The Play That Goes Wrong and the international hit musical Six.

Identical has music and lyrics by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, the multi award-winning writers of the West End hit Honk! who also created a new score for the international smash-hit Cameron Mackintosh/Disney production of Mary Poppins, and a book by Stuart Paterson.

IDENTICAL is the must-see musical of the summer.

Age guidance: 8+

THE DOUBLE OLIVIER AND TONY AWARD-WINNING WEST END AND BROADWAY SMASH-HIT TOURS THE UK AND IRELAND FOR THE FIRST TIME.

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY CONOR MCPHERSON
MUSIC AND LYRICS BY BOB DYLAN

Celebrated playwright Conor McPherson (The Weir, The Seafarer) boldly reimagines the legendary songs of Bob Dylan, like you’ve never heard them before, in GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY. A heart-breaking and universal story about family and love, hailed by the Observer as the 'NO.1 THEATRE SHOW OF THE YEAR'.

It’s 1934 in the heartland of America and we meet a group of wayward souls who cross paths in a time-weathered guesthouse. Standing at a turning point in their lives, they realize nothing is what it seems. But as they search for a future, and hide from the past, they find themselves facing unspoken truths about the present.

Now audiences in _______ have the chance to experience this 'magnificent' (Standard), 'astonishing' (Guardian) and 'piercingly beautiful' (Independent) production brought vividly to life by an extraordinary company of actors and musicians.

"BOB DYLAN's songs have never sounded so
HEARTBREAKINGLY PERSONAL & UNIVERSAL.
AS CLOSE AS MORTALS COME TO HEAVEN ON EARTH"
- Ben Brantley, The New York Times (Critics Pick)

★★★★★
"A show that transports the soul. Incredible"
Times

★★★★★
"Powerful, affecting and original."
Sunday Express

★★★★★
"Conor McPherson weaves magic with Bob Dylan's songs"
The Observer
★★★★★
Guardian, FT, Telegraph, Independent, Broadway World, City AM, Whatsonstage.

The true story of the world’s most unlikely buoy-band.

When a group of Cornish fisherman come together to sing the traditional sea shanties they’d sung for generations, they hoped to raise a few quid for charity. Nobody, least of all them, expected the story to end on the Pyramid stage of Glastonbury…

FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS is a brand-new musical based on the true story of the Cornish singing sensations, and the hit 2019 film.

A group of fishermen are spotted by a fish-out-of-water music manager on a trip from London, who must learn there is more to life then selling your sole for fifteen minutes of fame.

Packed with more musical treats than you can fit in a lobster pot, this is a feel-good voyage about friendship, community and music which smashed box office records when it premiered in Cornwall in Autumn 2021. So climb aboard, find your sea legs and allow yourself to fall for this critically acclaimed musical, hook, line and sinker.

Based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel and adapted for the stage by Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winner Marsha Norman, Allee Willis, Brenda Russell and Stephen Bray, The Color Purple tells the powerful and life-affirming story of courageous heroine Celie. Abused and oppressed throughout her youth, Celie embarks on a journey through joy, despair, anguish and hope, discovering her own unique voice thanks to the incredible women in her life. From an unbreakable bond with her sister Nettie, to friendship with fiercely independent Sofia and a life-changing affair with glamorous singer Shug Avery, Celie learns to love herself.

With a profoundly evocative score by Grammy award-winners Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray and drawing inspiration from jazz, ragtime, gospel and blues, this landmark musical celebrates life, love and the strength to stand up for who you are and what you believe in.

DISCO FEVER LIVE returns for a 5th year with The Real Thing - 'You To Me Are Everything' / 'Can't Get By Without You' / 'Can You Feel The Force' - and Odyssey - 'Native New Yorker'/ 'Use It Up And Wear It Out' / 'Going Back To My Roots'.

Written by Willy Russell, the legendary BLOOD BROTHERS tells the captivating and moving tale of twins who, separated at birth, grow up on opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with fateful consequences.

Few musicals have been received with such acclaim as the multi-award-winning Blood Brothers. Bill Kenwright’s production surpassed 10,000 performances in London’s West End, one of only three musicals ever to achieve that milestone. It has been affectionately christened the ‘Standing Ovation Musical’, as inevitably it “brings the audience cheering to its feet and roaring its approval” (The Daily Mail).

The superb score includes Bright New Day, Marilyn Monroe and the emotionally charged hit Tell Me It’s Not True.

Stockport Operatic Society will present TOP HAT, This will bring the glamour of Hollywood’s golden age and the glorious, tap-dancing magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to the Plaza Theatre in one of the greatest dance musicals of all time whilst travelling between New York, London and Venice.

Packed full of Irving Berlin's greatest hits including "Puttin' on the Ritz" , "Isn't This a Lovely Day" (To Be Caught in the rain)?, "Cheek to Cheek",and "Top Hat,White Tie and Tails" , TOP HAT is an exhilarating celebration of 1930's song and dance.

Phizzical, Belgrade Theatre Coventry and New Wolsey Theatre present

Love and betrayal in the golden age of Bollywood cinema. Laila, a blooming starlet is romanced by the dashing hero Sikandar in the 1970s. They star in blockbuster musicals where heroes wear their hearts on their sleeves and rescue beautiful damsels from the clutches of villains who pave the mean streets of Bombay with gold.

Laila and Sikandar’s passion is ignited secretly between the pop and disco numbers. Soon the boundaries between what is real and what is imaginary start to blur. When the deceit is unmasked, the intensity of their emotions threatens to burn everything in the city of hope and dreams. Will there be a happily ever after for the star crossed lovers?

Actress, author, vlogger and award-winning West End sensation Carrie Hope Fletcher is heading out on her first ever UK tour.

Carrie Hope Fletcher - An Open Book will see the musical theatre star play a series of unmissable theatre shows in May and June 2023 including a date at The Lowry’s Lyric Theatre on Sunday 28 May.

Performing songs from her incredible career expect fan favourites including hits from Heathers, Les Miserables, The Addams Family and many more interspersed with chat about Carrie’s fascinating life and career.

Strictly Ballroom The Tour Limited
By Agreement with Global Creatures
Proudly Presents

Strictly Ballroom The Musical

Strictly Ballroom The Musical, based on the award-winning world-wide film phenomenon, is heading out to tour the UK and Ireland, starring Strictly Come Dancing’s Kevin Clifton!

With direction from dancer, choreographer, theatre director and Britain’s favourite TV Judge, Craig Revel Horwood, Strictly Ballroom the Musical will be will be foxtrotting around the UK from January 2022.

Bringing together a cast of over 20 world class performers, Strictly Ballroom the Musical follows rebellious young ballroom dancer, Scott Hastings. When his radical dance style see him fall out of favour with Australian Federation, he must dance with beginner, Fran. Together they find the courage to defy tradition and discover that to win, your steps don’t need to be strictly ballroom!

Featuring toe tapping numbers such as Love is in the Air, Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps and Time After Time, as well as several wonderful new songs by internationally acclaimed artists including Sia, David Foster and Eddie Perfect. This spectacle is sure to make for an unforgettable evening under the glitter ball that will send your heart soaring!

In the final hours of 14th April 1912 the RMS Titanic, on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, collided with an iceberg and 'the unsinkable ship' slowly sank. It was one of the most tragic disasters of the 20th Century. 1517 men, women and children lost their lives.

Based on real people aboard the most legendary ship in the world, Titanic The Musical is a stunning and stirring production focusing on the hopes, dreams and aspirations of her passengers who each boarded with stories and personal ambitions of their own. All innocently unaware of the fate awaiting them, the Third Class immigrants dream of a better life in America, the Second Class imagine they too can join the lifestyles of the rich and famous, whilst the millionaire Barons of the First Class anticipate legacies lasting forever.

With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Peter Stone (Woman of the Year and 1776), the pair have collectively won an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, an Olivier Award and three Tony awards. The original Broadway production of Titanic The Musical won five Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Book. This stunning production celebrates the 10th anniversary of its London premiere where it won sweeping critical acclaim across the board.

“A TRIUMPH
The day after seeing it, I went back again.
IT’S THAT GOOD.” The Times