A celebration of Dale Meeks’ life and career will raise money for a trust set up in the much-loved actor’s name.
A Night for Dale
North Shields The Exchange 1856
Sunday 15th October 2023
Sam Wonfor previews a fundraising event in North Shields that celebrate's the life of Dale Meeks.
Star of Byker Grove and Emmerdale, Dale died suddenly in April this year. A passionate supporter of the arts in his native North East, Dale’s friends set up The Dale Meeks Together We’ll Be Okay Trust to celebrate Dale’s life and benefit young performers in the region.
The Trust’s first fundraising event will fittingly be an evening of entertainment on stage at The Exchange 1856 in North Shields.
Charlie Hardwick, Dave Johns, Jayne Mackenzie, Steffen Peddie and Craig Richardson will be among the many stars of stage and screen taking to the stage to perform some of Dale favourite music – courtesy of a live band fronted by Jonny Winter - comedy and sketches as well as sharing their personal tributes to their late friend.
A spokesperson for A Night for Dale, said: “We wanted to remember Dale and set up a trust in memory of him, 'Together We'll be Ok’ which was a Cannon and Ball favourite of his.
“Organising a night to celebrate his life seemed the best way to start and launch the trust. We were inundated by response from Dale’s friends and have a host of fantastic talent, all wanting to contribute including Mr I Daniel Blake himself, Dave Johns and the lovely Charlie Hardwick from Emmerdale, to name a few.
“The night will be jam packed with comedy, musical theatre and sketches highlighting Dale’s life and career.”
Dale began his acting career as a child performer in theatre productions at The Tyne Theatre before going on to make his professional debut on BBC1 in the hit BBC drama Byker Grove, playing leader of a gang from rival youth club Denton Burn alongside Ant and Dec. He went on to play Simon Meredith in Emmerdale and also played roles in Breeze Block, Heartbeat, George Gently, Casualty and Catherine Cookson dramas The Wingless Bird and Trotter.
He also took the winners podium on Stars In Their Eyes for his take on the Blues Brothers alongside Mark Charnock.
As well as his screen career, Dale was also a regular on stage, appearing in the Royal Exchange’s critical hit production of The Producers in 2019, in the role of Franz. He twice appeared in Nikolai Foster’s production of A Christmas Carol in Birmingham and Leeds, and played the role of Amos in the touring production of Chicago.
Other theatre performances include The Flint Street Nativity at the Hull Truck Theatre, the West End production of Love Never Dies and more than 20 pantomimes, including roles alongside Mickey Rooney and Paul Michael Glaser.
And if all that wasn’t enough – he was also the frontman of South Tyneside blues act Shake Your Tail Feather. During the last five years of his life, Dale was writer and director for Mendes Management pantomimes and also played Abanazar in Jersey (Chanel Islands) In Aladdin - the panto he wrote.
His last performance saw him play Rory Sutcliffe in ITV drama, The Hunt for Raoul Moat (2023).
Tickets:
A Night For Dale will take place at The Exchange 1856, North Shields on Sunday 15th October at 7.00pm.
Tickets, priced at £20 are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/dales-trust
All proceeds will be donated to The Dale Meeks Together We’ll Be Okay Trust. The trust will raise money for Theatre projects and educational plays and benefits young performers giving them a valuable opportunity to get an insight to performing and acting for stage and screen.
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