A number of new touring productions will be heading to the Lyceum and the Playhouse in 2023 and 2024. Including a mix of returning favourites and brand new shows, tickets will be going on sale to Centre Stage members on Saturday 10 June, then on general sale on Saturday 17 June.
Lyceum
Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s much-loved Calendar Girls the Musical returns from Tuesday 19 – Saturday 23 September. Following the death of an adored husband, a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women's Institute are prompted to do an extraordinary thing and set about creating a nude calendar to raise money for charity.
‘Let's Get Together and Feel Alright' as the Rush Theatre Company present The King of Reggae from Wednesday 25 – Thursday 26 October. This narrated musical touches every aspect of the King of Reggae’s musical, spiritual and political journey, featuring over 20 of his iconic hits such as One Love and No Woman No Cry.
The International Classic Ballet Theatre presents The Nutcracker from Tuesday 9 – Saturday 13 January. The enchanting tale of Clara’s adventures with her Nutcracker Prince is full of magic and wonder for audiences of all ages. Tchaikovsky’s delightful score is performed by a live orchestra during this classic ballet.
I Should Be So Lucky, the official Stock Aitken Waterman musical, plays from Tuesday 16 – Saturday 20 January. Ella and Nathan, a young couple, hopelessly in love, and about to take the biggest step of their lives – marriage. Until it all goes wrong… Head from the aisle to the isles with the soundtrack of a generation with music from pop royalty including Kylie Minogue (I Should Be So Lucky), Rick Astley (Never Gonna Give You Up), Jason Donovan (Especially for You), Bananarama (Love In The First Degree) and so many more, all woven into this original story.
Direct from The London Palladium, the sensational new production of The Wizard of Oz comes to Sheffield from Tuesday 30 January – Saturday 3 February. One of the world’s most beloved musicals, join Dorothy, Toto, and friends on an unforgettable adventure down the yellow brick road to the merry old land of Oz.
30 years since the launch of the trailblazing, smash-hit TV series, the Globelink News team are back, and now live on stage for the very first time with Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening! Starring the original cast members Susannah Doyle, Robert Duncan, Ingrid Lacey, Neil Pearson, Jeff Rawle, Stephen Tompkinson and Victoria Wicks, the iconic BAFTA and EMMY award-winning comedy is reimagined in this brand-new topical commentary on the cutthroat world of 24 hours news. Bursting with razor-sharp wit and classic British humour from Tuesday 6 – Saturday 10 February.
Supernatural thriller 2.22 A Ghost Story, the new stage phenomenon that has taken the West End by storm, haunts the Lyceum from Tuesday 13 – Saturday 17 February. Jenny believes her new home is haunted, but her husband Sam isn’t having any of it. Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is getting closer. So they’re going to stay up until 2:22….and then they’ll know. Written by award-winning writer Danny Robins.
Mischief Theatre return with their riotous spin on a timeless classic; Peter Pan Goes Wrong plays from Monday 19 – Saturday 24 February. The much-loved members of the Cornley Drama Society are back on stage, battling technical hitches, flying mishaps and cast disputes as they attempt to present J.M Barrie’s classic tale. But will they ever make it to Neverland?
After a decade of ground-breaking high concept shows involving overarched interlinked narratives, massive sets and enormous comedy props, Stewart Lee enters the post-pandemic era in streamlined solo stand-up mode. One man, one microphone, and one microphone in the wings in case the one on stage breaks. Pure. Simple. Classic. Basic Lee. Running on Thursday 14 – Friday 15 March.
Playhouse
Over in the Playhouse, a number of exciting new plays will also be going on sale.
Will Tell and the Big Bad Baron comes to the Playhouse on Tuesday 24 October. A fun-filled comic adventure about Wilhelmina Tell's attempt to rescue her folk-hero dad from the wicked Baron Boris’s deepest darkest dungeon. A hilarious new play for the whole family.
Paper Mug Theatre presents Steve and Tobias versus Death on Saturday 28 October. In this throat-ripping zombie thriller, Tobias hates mash and Steve hates Tobias, but when they discover their Mom to be patient zero in a world of flesh-eating zombies, there's no time left for 'feelings'. Pitting the depths of horror against the hysterical instability of family, watch brothers torn apart get pieced back together, only to be torn apart all over again.
An ARC Stockton Production co-commissioned by the Albany, BAC, Cambridge Junction and Theatre in the Mill and Northern Stage: YOU HEARD ME, a true story by Luca Rutherford, runs on Monday 30 October. YOU HEARD ME is a story of discovering quiet power in a moment of making a lot of noise. YOU HEARD ME is about the stories we tell. The ones that get retold. The ones we hide behind. The ones we have the power to re-make, re-mould and disrupt.
5 Years plays on Wednesday 1 November. Would you exchange five years of your life for the perfect body? Yasmin has decided that she would. She is about to undertake a radical procedure that promises to deliver the perfect body and the happiness that seems just out of reach. But at what cost? 5 Years is a new comedy–drama that asks, ‘what do we lose in the pursuit of perfection?’
Full of humour and beauty, Penguin plays on Thursday 9 – Friday 10 November. Hamzeh Al Hussien’s extraordinary story takes you on a tour of his village in Syria, Za’atari camp in Jordan, Gateshead and inside his mind. A place full of music, dancing, fantasies and marbles. Hamzeh invites the audience to be his childhood friends, to hold up the moon to light his way, and into his dreams: brushing the dust from his clothes, and taking the stage.
parler femme is a dance-based triple bill celebrating innovative and inspiring stories about women, playing on Saturday 11 November. Experienced through live performance, screen and immersive technologies, the work is the latest from South Yorkshire’s Tala Lee-Turton Productions.
Brand new musical Gwenda's Garage plays on Tuesday 14 November. 1980s Sheffield. A women’s car repair workshop. Lesbian action at its zaniest, craziest, its most serious – where anything can happen and usually does. This is a concert performance: work in progress. Written by Nicky Hallett and Val Regan and directed by Jelena Budimir. An Out Of The Archive project, funded by Historic England.
BONFIRE plays on Wednesday 15 – Thursday 16 November Leon’s gone live. Stood in his Nana’s lounge, blasting the Sugababes, Leon’s determined to confront the demons of his past; both digital and physical. Through pop music, movement and storytelling BONFIRE is a sharp monologue-play exploring growing up on the internet in rural Derbyshire, reclaiming queer identity and resisting shame.
Tin Cat Entertainment proudly presents England & Son from Tuesday 28 – Wednesday 29 November. A one-man play written specifically for the award winning political comedian Mark Thomas, be taken on a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, empire, stolen youth and stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him.
Journey to A Town Called Christmas from Friday 15 – Saturday 30 December. Clementine dreams of a gingerbread village where chocolate coins are currency, and laughter hangs like baubles in the air! The happiest place on Earth. Or at least it used to be… Together with a cantankerous caretaker and a glitching robot, can you help her save the day, and the town called Christmas? A brand-new show for adventurers aged 3+ and their grown-ups. Brought to you by Gala Durham and Wrongsemble.
Tickets for all new touring productions go on sale on sale to Centre Stage members at 10am on Saturday 10 June, then on general sale at 10am on Saturday 17 June. Tickets can be booked through the Box Office in person, over the phone on 0114 249 6000 or at the link below.
