REVIEW: Moulin Rouge! The Musical at Sunderland Empire

Moulin Rouge! The Musical 

Sunderland Empire

Until Saturday 27 June 2026

The national tour of Moulin Rouge brings a dazzling taste of Belle Époque Paris to Sunderland, with spectacle, colour, sex, humour and terrific performances, all laced with a hefty dose of pop classics.

Baz Luhrman’s 2001 movie, Moulin Rouge, was audacious and unique. Seeing the lives and loves of the denizens of the most notorious nightspot in 19 th Century Paris through an unashamedly contemporary lens, and set to a score of modern pop songs, seemed risky enough. Adding two leads who were not known as singers seemed almost foolhardy. Nevertheless, its heady mix of vulgarity, spectacle and charm made it a smash hit.

25 years later, the 2018 stage musical is touring, and lovers of the film may wonder how it can possibly deliver the same exhilaration and sheer pizzazz. They need not be concerned. To say that this show fills both the eye and the ear would be a distinct understatement. The show is longer than the film and its score has been expanded with songs by 21st century luminaries such as Lady Gaga and Adele. Even so, Alex Timbers’ direction of John Logan’s book retains all the frantic energy, humour and passion of the original.

The atmosphere is generated by Derek McLane’s wonderfully lavish and over-the-top sets, matched by Catherine Zuber’s sumptuous and sexy costumes, all dexterously picked out and glorified by Justin Townsend’s striking lighting design. Peter Hylenski’s sound design skilfully underpins it all.

The story is not complex. A naive and penniless songwriter, Christian, falls for the Moulin Rouge’s worldly but tender-hearted star performer, Satine. Like most cabaret performers of the time, Satine is also a courtesan and has been promised to the wealthy but ruthless Duke of Monroth by impresario Harold Zidler in return for the funds to prop up the theatre’s ailing finances.

Christian and his Bohemian friends, artist Toulouse Lautrec and choreographer Santiago, persuade the Duke to finance a new production, showcasing Christian’s songs. Christian and Satine conduct a clandestine affair, hoping the Duke will not find out. Meanwhile Satine, in the manner of tragic heroines across the ages, is exhibiting the early stages of consumption. Consumption, of course, is the old name for tuberculosis but in theatre convention it manages not to be bound by the inconvenient facts of the actual disease. Still, nobody comes to Moulin Rouge for historical accuracy. Around this story are set an extravagant array of jewel-bright musical numbers, inventively choreographed by Sonya Tahe. One has to say that, like the other creatives, she totally got the assignment. She is well served by the principals and a fiercely hard-working ensemble. Nobody is phoning it in here.

The leading players are uniformly excellent. Verity Thompson’s Satine brings the necessary diamond-like sparkle, a terrific set of pipes and the right measure of worldliness and vulnerability. Nate Landskroner matches her vocally as Christian, while engagingly personifying the lovelorn and unworldly young artist. Kurt Kansley as Lautrec and Rodrigo Negrini as Santiago draw rich characterisations and provide sturdy support. James Bryers is an imposing and manly Duke, with a strong voice and good moves. Presiding over it all, though, is Cameron Blakeley’s miraculous Harold Zidler. This is a gem of a characterisation. Camp, mischievous, avuncular and commanding by turns, he gives a masterclass in nuance and the sheer joy of performance.

If the first act feels a little superficial and, at first, somewhat overwhelming by virtue of the onslaught of musical numbers, it is true to the spirit of the original. The second act brings more heartfelt emotion and it delivers the tragic denouement most effectively.

I struggle to pick out highlights, given the sheer number of outstanding moments, but I can assure devotees of the movie that all the standout songs are here, along with some very powerful new ones. The exception, if I recall correctly, may be the song ‘Spectacular, spectacular.’ This is ironic because spectacular is what this production undoubtedly is. 

The finale, I should point out, is as lavish and joyous as what went before it, topping out the evening in fine style, to the delight of the enthusiastic Sunderland audience. If you want an escapist night of glitz, glamour and romance, you could hardly do better than this.

Review: Jonathan Cash

Photos: Matt Crockett

Tickets:

 

Moulin Rouge! The Musical runs at Sunderland Empire, High Street West, Sunderland, SR1 3EX from Friday 5 June to Saturday 27 June 2026. Tickets are available online at ATGTickets.com/Sunderland (a transaction fee of £3.95 may apply). For group bookings of 10 or more, submit a request at ATGTickets.com or call 020 7206 1174. The Box Office opens 90 minutes before each performance.

REVIEW: Gerry & Sewell at Newcastle Theatre Royal

Gerry & Sewell

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Until Saturday 13 June 2026

Last night I attended a special Gala evening of the return of Gerry & Sewell to the North East at the Theatre Royal and what a night it was.

Adapted from the book (and film) Purely Belter this is an unapologetically proud piece of Geordie Theatre. Conceived in an attic in Whitley Bay five years ago by Jamie Eastlake, he writes ‘stories like ours are rarely told on stages of this scale’ and he’s right. Being a proud, working class Geordie, it is far too rare that we see our stories told and hear our voices especially in such a bold, celebratory manner, so this is refreshing. The second thing I have to mention before talking about the actual show is - the theatre was packed with first time theatre goers, adults who had never been to the theatre, working class men who lapped every second of it up. This has engaged an audience beyond theatre goers and that in itself is one of the most impressive things about Gerry & Sewell, hearing grown men say, “wor lass bought us the tickets and I thought it would be a load of rubbish, I’m not gan to the theatre but here, I’m glad a did, this is class, it’s absolutely hilarious!” was really heartwarming. Edited slightly to take out the expletives but they were in fitting with the show.

Gerry & Sewell tells the story of two very working class young lads on North Tyneside. The story of their dream to get season tickets to see their beloved Newcastle United at St. James Park. There’s more to the story but I’m not sure there should be. That is enough for me and their adventure is what’s really at stake here. The show does have other through plot points but I think they change the pace of the show and jar somewhat, tackling domestic abuse, drug use, homelessness and the harsh realities of being working class in the North East. Gerry & Sewell navigate their way across the North East, stealing and selling to save for their Season Tickets and meet some hilarious characters along the way and get themselves into some amusing situations. Will they ever make it to St. James Park? Gerry’s hope for the boys adventure is the driving force in this narrative, even attending a job centre course for the promise of two tickets…cut to later in the show and they’re sat outside the stadium of light trying to sell two Sunderland tickets! 

From the off this is a tour de force of a show, it feels bigger than the stories we see of the North East. The opening is a rousing, anthemic, feast for the senses, complete with audience flags waving and a thumping opening number to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, this is big, it’s bigger than I expected. The stage set is stunning. Power Props have created an authentic, grubby, dynamic set that authentically feels like you're at a metro station, on the metro and on the streets of North Tyneside. The working metro was sensational. 

Another design choice that needs celebrated is the puppetry. Rusty (a stray dog) was one of the most loveable characters in the show and one of the funniest considering it was a puppet. You totally forgot it was a puppet with its life-like animation, superb facial expressions and the comic timing that would make a pro jealous. 

The show's real success though is in the leads, Dean Logan and Jack Robertson have a chemistry on stage that is electrifying. You can see the sparks, the energy and their love for this show. It’s authentic, it’s fast, it’s raw and they are perfect! I sincerely hope this is not the last time we see them on stage as a duo. 

The show is not without criticism, it feels over stuffed, the movement and dance scenes, while impressive, felt unnecessary and out of place, the drama felt forced and again out of place with the overall tongue firmly in cheek tone of the piece. The surrounding characters felt underwritten and therefore a little two dimensional - in their writing, certainly not the performances. I don't want to say critical things about it because I felt an immense sense of pride watching it, it made me laugh, but I think with a few tweaks here and there, this could be a masterpiece of North East storytelling. 

Gerry & Sewell is hilarious, the cast are outstanding and it’s a proud piece of North East Storytelling. If that’s not enough to get you into the theatre then I’m not sure what is! Go see it (unless you don’t like bad language) and support north east voices. The producer Jamie says in the programme, ‘Please keep an eye on what comes next, because this is only the beginning of our journey to create large scale entertainment in our region. We want to help supercharge the careers of talented people from the North East and ensure that our stories continue to be told on the biggest stages.” Well amen to that Bonny lad!

Review: Stephen Sullivan

Tickets:

https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/gerry-sewell-2/

News: Newcastle Theatre Royal Joins Forces with Regional Theatres to Demand National Recognition

Newcastle Theatre Royal Joins Forces with Regional Theatres to Demand National Recognition

A landmark new alliance launched at Westminster this week is putting independent regional theatre firmly on the political map — and Newcastle Theatre Royal is at its heart.

On Wednesday 10 June 2026, one of the North East's most beloved cultural institutions joined four fellow independent theatres at a Parliamentary Reception in Westminster to launch the Regional Independent Theatre Alliance — RITA. It was a moment that Marianne Locatori, Chief Executive of Newcastle Theatre Royal, described as long overdue.

The alliance brings together Newcastle Theatre Royal, Birmingham Hippodrome, Leeds Heritage Theatres, Marlowe Canterbury and Norwich Theatre under a shared banner that challenges the way government and policy-makers have traditionally thought about theatre. These are not subsidised organisations dependent on Arts Council England revenue funding, nor are they purely commercial operators driven by profit. They occupy what RITA describes as "the third way": independent, not-for-profit, mission-driven theatres that are financially self-reliant whilst remaining deeply rooted in the communities they serve.

The event, sponsored by Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, drew together theatre leaders, parliamentarians and sector stakeholders in Westminster, and sent a clear message to government: this part of the cultural ecology has been invisible for too long.

The Case for Change

The numbers presented at the launch make a compelling argument. Across its five founding members, RITA represents more than 8,000 theatre seats and over 2.6 million annual attendances. Combined gross income exceeds £83 million, and the alliance projects a five-year economic impact of £781 million. But it is the ripple effects beyond the stage door that tell the fuller story. RITA's venues generate £52 million a year in local audience spending — filling restaurants, pubs, taxis and hotels — contribute more than £27 million through local supply chains, and support over £10 million of Arts Council England-funded touring work through their stages each year.

For the North East, Newcastle Theatre Royal is the living embodiment of that impact. A Grade I listed landmark in the heart of the city, the theatre produces, presents and partners with artists and companies locally, nationally and internationally, giving audiences access to world-class work whilst serving as a creative and civic anchor for the wider region.

Marianne Locatori: 'Investment in the Third Way'

Speaking at the Westminster launch, Newcastle Theatre Royal's Chief Executive made clear what is at stake — not just for the theatre, but for the city and region it calls home. Marianne Locatori said:

"Our theatres are rooted in the communities they serve. The work on our stages and the impact of our creative engagement programmes reflects the places and people around us, creating far-reaching social and economic value.

"At Newcastle Theatre Royal, we see every day how investment in the 'third way' supports jobs, skills, confidence, and pride of place, helping our city and region to thrive.

"Our theatres are more than performance venues; they are cultural hubs that bring people together and strengthen communities. While RITA is not asking for ongoing subsidy, we do need recognition, support and co-investment to future-proof our buildings, so they remain fit for purpose for generations to come."

It is that final point — the need for capital investment in ageing buildings — that underpins much of RITA's ask to government. Newcastle Theatre Royal's Grade I listed home, like many of the RITA venues, carries the weight of history alongside the costs of maintenance. The ambition is not a handout, but a partnership: a national co-investment strategy in which government matches venue investment of up to £10 million per venue over five years.

What RITA is Asking For

The alliance set out three clear asks at the Westminster launch. First, that policy and funding frameworks formally distinguish the independent not-for-profit model from both subsidised and purely commercial theatres, counting and supporting it accordingly. Second, that a regular data-sharing mechanism be established between RITA and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, building the infrastructure needed to make the sector's contribution properly visible. Third, that government champions and supports a national co-investment strategy for independent theatre capital renewal.

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, whose support helped bring the launch to Parliament, said: "This launch is about bringing an awareness of RITA's Third Way model to Westminster and demonstrating how independent theatres are self-sustaining community pillars. RITA's members are driving growth across the UK, creating jobs outside of London and powering cultural hotspots. I'm excited for the future of this alliance."

More Than a Stage

For Newcastle Theatre Royal, the case extends well beyond bricks and mortar. The theatre's Creative Development programme — built around three strands of Creative Engagement, Creative Futures and Creative Growth — reaches young people, professional artists and communities across the region. It develops new work, supports talent, and uses the arts as a vehicle for wellbeing and community cohesion.

This is precisely the kind of work that gets overlooked when the cultural sector is viewed through the binary lens of "subsidised" versus "commercial". Newcastle Theatre Royal generates its own income and reinvests it in the region — in the people, the artists and the audiences of the North East — without a banker of last resort. RITA's argument is simply that this model deserves to be seen, counted and supported.

With RITA now formally launched, and with some of the UK's most significant regional theatres united behind a shared platform, the North East's flagship theatre is helping to write a new chapter — not just for Newcastle, but for independent regional theatre across the country.

Preview: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Newcastle People's Theatre

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Newcastle People's Theatre

Tuesday 9 June to Saturday 13 June 2026

 

"I am going to find out who killed Wellington and make it a project. Even though Father told me not to."

 

It is a simple enough premise. A dead dog. A determined fifteen-year-old. A neighbourhood full of doors that might be better left closed. But in the hands of Simon Stephens, adapting Mark Haddon's bestselling novel for the stage, what begins as a neighbourhood mystery becomes one of the most celebrated pieces of theatre of the past two decades. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time arrives at Newcastle's People's Theatre in Heaton from Tuesday 9 June to Saturday 13 June 2026.

 

Published in 2003, Haddon's novel was an immediate success, winning the Whitbread Book of the Year prize and going on to sell millions of copies in more than forty languages. Its narrator, Christopher Boone, is a mathematically gifted fifteen-year-old who processes the world differently from those around him. When he discovers his neighbour's dog Wellington dead in the street, stabbed with a garden fork, at seven minutes after midnight, he resolves to investigate. His father has told him to leave it alone. Christopher, characteristically, does not leave it alone.

 

The detective inquiry that follows takes Christopher far beyond the familiar geography of his Swindon home, eventually drawing him into the unfamiliar chaos of London and forcing him to confront truths about his own family that are considerably more unsettling than anything he expected to find at the end of his road. Haddon's achievement was to write a novel that is simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a family drama, a puzzle narrative and a portrait of a mind that sees the world with unusual clarity and unusual difficulty. Stephens's stage adaptation, which premiered at the National Theatre's Cottesloe space in 2012 under the direction of Marianne Elliott, found ways to externalise Christopher's interior experience that the novel's first-person prose could only imply. The production went on to win seven Olivier Awards and subsequently transferred to the West End and Broadway, where it won five Tony Awards including Best Play.

The play asks its audience to experience the world as Christopher does: where crowds are threatening, touch is intolerable, information arrives in overwhelming quantities, and numbers and logic provide the only reliable comfort. The staging that made the National Theatre production famous used a grid-covered box set, with performers doubling as both characters and physical elements of Christopher's mental landscape. It is a technically inventive piece that demands considerable commitment from its cast, not merely in terms of performance but in the physical co-ordination that the staging requires.

The People's Theatre production is directed by Sam Burrell and stars Zachary Douglas as Christopher, the role around which the entire play pivots. Douglas carries the weight of almost every scene, and the demands of the part are substantial: Christopher rarely leaves the stage, narrates his own story, performs complex mathematical calculations aloud, and must convey both the rigorous internal logic and the profound emotional vulnerability of a character who is, in many ways, far more self-aware than the adults who surround him. Alison Carr plays Siobhan, Christopher's teacher and the person to whom he reads his account of the investigation. Siobhan is, in many respects, the audience's guide to Christopher: the character most capable of translating between his world and the conventional social world the rest of the cast inhabits.

Sean Burnside plays Ed, Christopher's father, a man who loves his son and is simultaneously overwhelmed by him. The role requires considerable nuance: Ed is neither villain nor simple sympathetic figure, but a parent doing his imperfect best under circumstances that test him beyond his resources. Sara Jo Harrison plays Judy, whose position in the story becomes clear only as Christopher's investigation deepens. Eileen Davidson takes the role of Mrs Alexander, a neighbour whose conversation with Christopher early in the play proves more consequential than either of them anticipates. The ensemble, completing the large cast that the play requires, comprises Cat White, Charlie Milne, Colette Knowles, Lauren Kinnersley and Tim Clark.

The production runs at the People's Theatre on Stephenson Road in Heaton, which has been staging non-professional theatre in Newcastle since 1911 and is the leading amateur theatre company in the North of England. Founded over a century ago, the theatre operates a 500-seat Main Auditorium and a Studio Theatre, producing up to fifteen shows a year across both spaces. Every production is mounted entirely by the company's members, covering performance, direction, design, technical operation and front of house. The organisation has a long track record of working to professional standards, and a number of its members have moved into professional theatre. For this production, the Main Auditorium provides the scale that a piece of this ambition requires.

The Curious Incident is a play that has retained its capacity to move and surprise through successive productions around the world, partly because the questions it raises about family loyalty, honesty, and the difficulty of navigating a world that was not designed with you in mind are not questions that date. Christopher's journey from Swindon to London is, among other things, an account of what it takes to face the things you cannot control and keep moving anyway. The play's emotional force comes not from sentimentality but from the precision with which it observes the consequences of the small decisions that adults make and the large ways in which those decisions shape the children around them.

Performances run Tuesday to Saturday evenings at 7.30pm, with no matinees scheduled during this run. The show is suitable for a general audience, though parents of younger children may wish to note that the play deals with themes of family breakdown and loss, handled with care but not avoided.

 

Tickets:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time runs at the People's Theatre, Stephenson Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 5QF from Tuesday 9 June to Saturday 13 June 2026 at 7.30pm. Tickets are priced at £16.50 and £14. Available from the Box Office on 0191 265 5020 (option 2) or online at www.peoplestheatre.co.uk. 

Preview: CBeebies House Party Live at Stockton Globe

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CBeebies House Party Live

Stockton Globe 

Sunday 9 August 2026

There is a particular kind of chaos that descends on a household when small children discover their favourite television characters are coming to town. CBeebies House Party Live is the show responsible for a great deal of that chaos across the UK this summer, and on Sunday 9th August it arrives at Stockton Globe for two performances.

The show is written and directed by Justin Fletcher MBE, the BAFTA award-winning performer best known to young audiences as Mr Tumble. Fletcher has been at the heart of CBeebies for years, and this touring production carries his fingerprints throughout, from its energetic pacing to its commitment to inclusive performance. Every show features a BSL interpreter, ensuring that deaf children and families can share fully in the experience. Makaton signs are also woven into the fabric of the performance through Mr Tumble himself, whose long-running series Something Special has introduced thousands of children to this communication system.

Mr Tumble is among the headline names joining the Stockton date, and his role in the party has a suitably domestic flavour: he is in charge of the food. Given his track record of cheerful catastrophe, things may not go entirely to plan, and that unpredictability is part of the appeal. Fletcher describes the show as "the party of ALL parties", and while that is his character talking, the production does appear to deliver on the promise.

The wider cast assembled for the tour reads like a who's who of the CBeebies schedule. Andy Day, Mister Maker (Phil Gallagher), George Webster, Evie Pickerill, Nigel Clarke, Rebecca Keatley, Rhys Stephenson, Joanna Adeyinka-Burford, Dodge (Warrick Brownlow-Pike) and Duggee are all part of the rotating lineup. The show has been produced by the same team behind CBeebies House and CBeebies Bedtime Stories, giving it a coherence and warmth that reflects those much-loved programmes.

What children can expect on the day is a live show built around participation: dancing, singing, streamers, giant jellies and plenty of bubbles. There is also a CBeebies Bedtime Story woven into the running order, though the show makes clear that sleep is very much off the agenda. The energy is deliberately high, the staging colourful, and the running time free of an interval, which tends to suit the attention spans of the target audience well.

The Manchester Evening News described the production as "Glastonbury for kids", while the Reviews Hub called it "bursting with colour, music, laughter and a whole lot of love", both giving it five stars. These responses come from a 2025 run of the show, and the 2026 tour is described as bigger and brighter than that outing.

Stockton Globe is an appropriate home for this kind of event. The venue opened in 1935 on the High Street and has hosted everyone from The Beatles to Sadler's Wells Ballet. Its art deco interior, restored following a multimillion-pound refurbishment funded by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, makes for a vivid setting. For many of the children in the audience on 9th August, it will be their first proper theatre trip, and the Globe gives that occasion the setting it deserves.

Tickets:

CBeebies House Party Live plays Stockton Globe, 153A High Street, Stockton-on-Tees TS18 1PL on Sunday 9th August 2026. Performances are at 11:00am and 2:00pm. The show runs without an interval. Tickets are available at www.atgtickets.com/shows/cbeebies-house-party/stockton-globe/ or www.stocktonglobe.co.uk. For group bookings of ten or more, call 020 7206 1174 or submit a request online via the ATG Tickets website.

 

 

Preview: Moulin Rouge! The Musical at Sunderland Empire

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Moulin Rouge! The Musical 

Sunderland Empire

Friday 5 - Saturday 27 June 2026

 

Paris, 1899. A penniless American writer, a dazzling courtesan, a flamboyant impresario and a scheming duke walk into the most famous nightclub in the world. It sounds like the opening of a joke, but the story that unfolds is anything but. Moulin Rouge! The Musical arrives at Sunderland Empire from Friday 5 June to Saturday 27 June 2026, marking a landmark moment for the venue as the production makes its way across the globe on its first ever world tour.

 

The show is rooted in Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to receive eight Academy Award nominations, winning two. That film dazzled audiences with its maximalist visual style and its jukebox approach to pop music, colliding songs from wildly different eras into a single, breathless romantic tragedy. The stage adaptation takes that template and pushes it further still, building an entertainment that runs two hours and forty-five minutes – including an interval – and draws on more than 70 songs spanning over 160 years of music, from Offenbach to Lady Gaga. In total, the production credits 165 songwriters administered by 31 publishers: a feat of rights management as much as artistic vision.

 

The story is, at its heart, a love story told under pressure. Christian, a young bohemian writer newly arrived in Paris, falls for Satine, the star performer at the Moulin Rouge. Their connection is immediate and passionate, but the club’s imperious host Harold Zidler has already promised Satine’s time and attentions to the Duke of Monroth, a man of considerable wealth who assumes that money can secure whatever he desires. Christian’s allies in his battle for Satine’s heart include the painter Toulouse-Lautrec and Santiago, a tango dancer of formidable reputation. What follows is part love story, part spectacle, part musical mash-up, with the fate of the Moulin Rouge itself tangled up in the outcome.

 

Leading the Sunderland cast is Verity Thompson as Satine, opposite Nate Landskroner as Christian. Cameron Blakely takes on the role of the larger-than-life Harold Zidler, with Kurt Kansley as Toulouse-Lautrec, Rodrigo Negrini as Santiago, and James Bryers as The Duke. Kahlia Davis plays Nini, Ellie Jane Grant is Arabia, Scott Sutcliffe takes the role of Baby Doll, Claudia Kariuki plays La Chocolat, and Ann Sophie joins the company as Alternate Satine. They are supported by an ensemble of twenty-five performers, including Joe Burrell, Gracie Caine, Alisha Capon, Nathalie Chaves, Sol Childs, Kamau Davis, Martin Dickinson, Ike Fallon, Francis Foreman, Tessa Fox, Lucie Horsfall, Sayaka Kato, Jacob Kohli, Nathan Mariniello, Matt Powell, Daisy Quainton, Chloe Radford, James Revell, Phoebe Roberts, Samuel Routley, Nathan Saxon, Fraser Stewart, Sorcha Stephenson, Craig Watson and Frazer Woolcott.

 

The creative team behind the production is formidable. Direction is by Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, with choreography by Tony Award winner Sonya Tayeh. The book is by Tony Award winner John Logan, who has also received three Academy Award nominations for screenplays including Gladiator and The Aviator. Music supervision, orchestrations and arrangements are by Tony Award winner Justin Levine. The design work is equally well-credentialled: Tony Award winner Derek McLane is responsible for the sets, Tony Award and Olivier Award winner Catherine Zuber designed the costumes, and Justin Townsend and Peter Hylenski – both Tony Award winners – handle lighting and sound respectively.

 

Those costumes deserve particular attention. The production deploys over 300 costumes in total, incorporating more than 1,200 different fabrics and trims, with over 200 pieces appearing on stage on any given night. The level of decoration is extraordinary: more than 150,000 crystals are used across the show, with the costumes worn by Satine alone accounting for approximately 20,000 of them. A single pair of Satine’s gloves carries around 1,500 crystals. It is the kind of detail that audiences may not consciously register, but which collectively creates a visual density that is entirely deliberate. This is a show about excess, and the design makes no apologies for it.

 

The show received its world premiere on Broadway in 2018 and has since accumulated a remarkable awards haul: ten Tony Awards in 2021 (including Best Musical), an Olivier Award, two Drama League Awards for Outstanding Production of a Musical, five Drama Desk Awards and ten Outer Critics Circle Award honour citations. It is currently running simultaneously in New York, London, Cologne and Utrecht, as well as a North American tour. The world tour launched in Edinburgh in 2025, and Sunderland is one of the venues welcoming it as it travels across the globe. Hamburg opens in November 2026, followed by a return season in Sydney in March 2027.

 

For Sunderland Empire itself, the arrival of a production at this scale is fitting. The venue, which opened in 1907 after its foundation stone was laid by Vesta Tilley, has been the North East’s principal receiving house for major touring productions throughout its history. Operated by ATG Entertainment, it has welcomed West End transfers, opera, ballet and major touring musicals, and its auditorium is one of the largest in the region. A show of the scale of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, with its elaborate sets, extensive cast and extraordinary costume count, is precisely the kind of production the Empire exists to host.

 

Critical response to the show has been consistent and enthusiastic wherever it has played. Reviewers have highlighted the relentless energy of the performances, the ingenuity of the musical arrangements and the sheer visual commitment of the design. The Mail on Sunday described it as displaying “sheer high-octane energy,” while The Observer praised it as “a whirling machine in which set, choreography and music lavishly fuse.” The Times noted its “spectacle and a dash of fairy-tale romance,” and the Telegraph, Metro and Sunday Express all landed on the same word: spectacular.

 

Performances run Monday to Saturday at 19:30, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 14:30. The show is recommended for ages 12 and above, and audiences should be aware that the production includes strobe lighting.

 

Tickets:

 

Moulin Rouge! The Musical runs at Sunderland Empire, High Street West, Sunderland, SR1 3EX from Friday 5 June to Saturday 27 June 2026. Tickets are available online at ATGTickets.com/Sunderland (a transaction fee of £3.95 may apply). For group bookings of 10 or more, submit a request at ATGTickets.com or call 020 7206 1174. The Box Office opens 90 minutes before each performance.

REVIEW: The Ballad of Johnny and June at Newcastle Theatre Royal

The Ballad of Johnny and June

Newcastle Theatre Royal

Until Saturday 6 June 2026

The story of Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash is one that has long captured the imagination, and this brand-new musical, currently on UK tour and visiting Newcastle Theatre Royal this week, makes a strong case for why their story deserves a stage of its own. With Olivier and Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff at the helm, the production carries considerable theatrical pedigree, and the result is a show that combines the story with some well executed music that will please the fans.

The narrative is framed in an intriguing way, told through the eyes of John Carter Cash, the couple's son. This perspective gives the story an intimacy that a more conventional biographical approach might have struggled to achieve. We follow Johnny and June through the turbulence of their professional lives and personal struggles, as well as the slow-burning romance that would eventually define both of them. The writing does not shy away from some of the the harder edges of their story, including the battles with addiction and the complications that came with loving someone as complicated as Johnny Cash. It is a story of two people who were, in many ways, each other's salvation, and the show handles that with care and without sentiment.

The two central performances carry the production with real conviction. Christopher Ryan Grant, known to musical theatre audiences from Million Dollar Quartet, brings a physicality and brooding intensity to Johnny Cash that feels lived-in rather than impersonated. He has a natural authority on stage and handles the emotional complexity of the role with confidence. 

Alongside him, Christina Bianco brings warmth, wit and considerable vocal ability to June Carter Cash. Bianco, whose credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and The Wizard of Oz, finds the steel beneath June's charm with notable skill. The interplay between the two leads that gives the show some emotional weight, though at times their relationship comes across as performative. 

Ryan O'Donnell backs up the six piece band on his acoustic guitar, as well as narrating the show as their son John. The supporting company of ten, including Tyneside's very own Pete Peverley, holds up their end of the bargain throughout, ensuring the world around the two leads feels populated and genuine.

The music is, of course, central to everything here, and the show does not disappoint on that front. The songbook is substantial, drawing on decades of material from two of country music's most enduring figures. From I Walk the Line and Ring of Fire through to Sunday Morning Coming Down and Hurt, the selections cover a great deal of ground emotionally and stylistically, and the full band on stage gives each number a live energy that a recorded score could never replicate. The harmonies between Grant and Bianco are well-matched, and there are moments, particularly in the duets, where the music does what no amount of dialogue could. For those familiar with the Cash catalogue, there is the pleasure of recognition; for those coming to the music fresh, there is simply a great deal to enjoy. The music is, indeed, one of the highlights of the show.

The Ballad of Johnny and June is a production that respects its subjects without treating them as untouchable icons. It finds the human story inside the legend, and it tells that story with skill, heart and a great deal of very good music. As the narration keeps saying, don't let the truth get in the way of a good story and this production is as much about spending an evening listening to great songs rather than getting hung up on the accuracy, or timescale, of events. The story is inoffensive to the subject matter , yet there are hints of darker stuff, but ultimately, this is a musical that will probably fade away in the coming years. Newcastle audiences have a short window to catch it before the tour moves on.

Review: Stephen Oliver

Photos: Pamela Raith

Tickets: https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/the-ballad-of-johnny-june/