Mercury Theatre - Colchester 101

Simply the Best – Totally TINA

25th February 2016colchester101

She’s 76 now, so if you haven’t already, you may never get a chance to see the real Queen of Rock & Roll, Tina Turner, in the flesh. But you can see the next best thing, Totally TINA at Colchester’s Mercury Theatre in April.

Having headlined the 2015 Glastonbudget Festival last year (the biggest tribute festival of the year), Totally TINA comes to Colchester – Mercury Theatre on Monday 25^th April!

Totally TINA is an award-winning tribute to the Queen of Rock and Roll, Tina Turner, being given the “Official UK number one” honour by the Agents Association of Great Britain.

Currently touring the UK theatres in a full production version with live band, dancers and our leading lady Justine Riddoch.

Rather than being a biography, this show focuses on Tina’s live concert career, replicating scenes from various tours over the last 50 years with custom twists and turns created by Justine and her cast.

Justine has been singing professionally for over 22 years now and has worked extensively in theatres and on national TV, she is also a much sought after session vocalist for some of the biggest record labels in the UK.

In her early career she could be seen treading the familiar cabaret scene as a dynamic vocalist and could boast knowing over 5000 songs, becoming a human jukebox at venues.

But it was in 2002 that her career would change direction. After winning ITV’s “Stars in their Eyes” as Anastacia, her tribute show “Justine is Anastacia” was in great demand and she spent the next 6 years performing as her around the world, enlisting a live band to create more of a show feel. When Anastacia stopped releasing albums and her popularity waned, it was time to change direction again.

Having been told on many occasions she really sounded like Tina Turner, Justine set herself the challenge to become the closest copy she could be. But this was going to take some transformation. After hours of scrutinising video footage, watching mannerisms and movements, hand making the all important wig, deciding which costumes to copy, listening to patter and hundreds of versions of the same songs from different decades, the band and Justine created Totally TINA.

The boys in the band were informed that girls would have to be a big big part of this and surprisingly no one complained! A troupe of professional dancers were hand-picked, choreography based on Tina’s live shows and our own unique creations were created and the whole production was rehearsed, tweaked and rehearsed again.

So get ready to Shake your Tailfeathers, with the Queen of Rock and Soul, Live from Nutbush and Simply the Best!

Monday 25^th April

Time: 7.30pm

Tickets are available from the Mercury Theatre box office.

Box Office No: 01206 573948

Book online

For more information on Totally TINA:

Official Website

Facebook

Twitter

2016 Video Promo Trailer

Bringing Back the Bucks!

2nd February 20162nd February 2016colchester101

If you like to get your nostalgia groove on once in a while then the Mercury Theatre has the perfect night coming up for you when Cheryl, Mike and Jay formerly of Bucks Fizz will be bringing the 80s back to Colchester.

It is 35 years since Bucks Fizz stormed to the top of the charts around the world after winning The Eurovision Song Contest for the UK with the skirt ripping song “Making Your Mind Up”!

The Band’s line up is classic Eurovision – two boys, two girls, dance routines, harmonies and extravagant outfits.

Originally put together as the perfect winning act, Bucks Fizz went far beyond their original Eurovision remit and as one of the biggest selling bands of the 80’s became a global phenomenon. “Making Your Mind Up” became a number one hit across the world selling more than four million copies. The legendary skirt-ripping routine propelled them to overnight success charting at No. 1 in 9 countries beyond the UK.

Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Jay Aston are joined by Bobby McVay, himself a Eurovision veteran having represented the UK in 1983 with the band, Sweet Dreams, singing “I’m Never Giving Up”, which came a credible sixth in the competition.

Cheryl says, “I cannot believe it is 35 years since we won The Eurovision Song Contest! We are looking forward to celebrating with fans old and new. We recreate our familiar hits both vocally and visually which takes the audience on a nostalgic journey back to the 80’s.”

Like a good champagne, their performances have matured, and they still manage to hold all the fun, vitality and passion of performances of the record breaking tours of the 1980’s. Recent appearances at the nostalgia festivals, including Here and Now, Rewind and Let’s Rock, have reminded the Great British public of the power of The Fizz, as every person in the crowd finds themselves singing along and dancing to hits of their youth, and on 21st March fans young and old have the chance to catch them on their Make Believe Tour at the Mercury Theatre.

The once 10 year old screaming fans of the 80’s are now 40 year old mums who bring their own 10 year olds – The Fizz’ appeal spans the generations!

This year will also see the release of their most recent album Fame & Fortune on vinyl in a collector’s presentation box. They are also in the studio with a world-renowned producer recording yet another album – a collaboration that the fans will be thrilled about.

THEY ARE MAKING THEIR MINDS UP TO KEEP ON FIZZING.

Monday 21^st March

Mercury Theatre, Box Office 01206 573948

Website

For further information on CHERYL, MIKE & JAY formerly of BUCKS FIZZ, check out the following website/social media links below:

Official Website

Facebook

Twitter

A Night of Flamenco

29th December 201529th December 2015colchester101

On Saturday 7th May 2016 Colchester’s Mercury Theatre plays host to the passionate and seductive art form of Flamenco when the Jairo Barrull Flamenco Company present:

El Llanto Se Mueve (The Cry Moves)

Flamenco dancers Jairo Barrull and Irene ‘La Sentio’ are joined by a full cast of award winning gypsy musicians from Andalucia to evoke the pure essence of flamenco’s soul: el llanto (the cry).

Jairo said: El Llanto is the root, the beginning of everything flamenco. El Llanto is purity, beauty, sadness and suffering. It is the mixture of cultures, identities and it is history. It is the voice of our ancestors, The Untouchables caste that came from India centuries ago. The singer’s cry that interacts with the cry of the guitar strings is what inspires me and makes me move. It makes me lose myself in my dancing and brings about that magical moment on stage. What some might call ‘El Duende’.

Jairo Barrull has been performing professionally since he was seven years old. He comes from one of the most charismatic gypsy flamenco families in Andalucía ‘Los Negros de Ronda’ also known as The Del Gastor family. Jairo has performed all over the world including a performance at the Vatican for the Pope John Paul II when he was just 13 years old and in sell out shows at the Alte Oper of Frankfurt with German juggler Francis Brunn in ‘Incognito’ and at the Berliner Philharmonie where the German press repeatedly declared him ‘The Hope of Dance’. In 2009 he formed his own flamenco company which has presented flamenco shows ‘Barrull’ and ‘Dos Ramas’ in some of the most prestigious flamenco festivals in the world.

Flamenco dancer Irene ‘La Sentio’ has performed extensively throughout Spain and in 2008 she became a finalist in the ‘Concurso Nacional del Cante de las Minas’. In 2010 Irene joined Farruquito’s company and participated in two of his shows including ‘El Baile Flamenco’ where she toured South America and received great reviews. Irene currently resides in Madrid where she performs regularly at the ‘tablaos’ Casa Patas, Villa-Rosa and El Tablao de Carmen.

Jairo Barrull press review:

“An artist so remarkably accomplished and even elegant at every moment”

Los Angeles Times

Irene ‘La Sentio’ press review:

“Irene’s feet, neat and blunt, a real hurricane of force”

Manuel Sualis, Jerez Jondo

For more information please visit www.jairobarrull.com

Date: Saturday 7^th May 2016

Venue: Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, Essex CO1 1PT

Time: 7.30pm

Tickets: £20 & Discounts

Call: 01206 573948 or visit www.mercurytheatre.co.uk