Sun-soaked summer musical Club Tropicana and kids’ comedy Billionaire Boy headline a hot new line-up of shows heading to the Belgrade Theatre for 2018-19. Joining an already exciting programme for the coming months, the newly announced shows also include two Christmas productions and the world premiere tour of Leo Butler’s All You Need Is LSD.
Kicking things off 14-17 November, the critically acclaimed company Told by an Idiot team up with one of the UK’s finest playwrights for the first ever production of All You Need is LSD. Inspired by Leo Butler’s own participation in LSD medical trials in 2015, this exhilarating comedy offers a darkly humorous look at the ongoing drugs debate.
Then from 1-29 December, there’s Christmas comedy in Nick Walker’s latest “alternative pantomime”, aimed at an adult audience. Set in 1918 amidst the raging battles of the First World War, the Sleeping Beauty-inspired Over the Top features an all-female cast, following a touring suffragette acting troupe as they get stuck behind enemy lines. Led by Sergeant Beauty, a crack team of daredevil troops set off on a perilous rescue mission – but will any of them make it back to Blighty in time for Christmas?
There’s festive fun for little ones as well, as panto legend Iain Lauchlan presents the latest in his series of pre-school friendly Christmas shows, Santa’s Sparkly Surprise. Join Rudolph and Mouse for a magical adventure as they bring Christmas to the North Pole, including a chance to meet Santa himself and receive an early Christmas present.
Then in February a new adaptation of David Walliams’ bestselling Billionaire Boy comes to Coventry in a co-production by the Belgrade Theatre and Nuffield Southampton Theatres. Running 20-23 February 2019, this hilarious musical tells the story of one boy’s unexpected rise to fortune, and questions whether money really can buy happiness.
Finally, from 7-11 May, audiences are invited to see in the summer with the chart-topping anthems of the electric 80s in summer musical Club Tropicana. With their wedding date looming on the horizon, two young lovers find themselves with cold feet ahead of the big day. Deciding to take a break, they each escape separately to warmer climes – unaware that they’ve checked into the same hotel! Drinks flow and tans glow, but beneath the sunny façade, the hotel itself is being threatened with closure. Can the staff save the day, and will the budding bride and groom get back together? Find out when Club Tropicana comes to Coventry in 2019.
