New musical La Bamba! (November 21-25), starring Strictly Come Dancing champion Pasha Kovalev and The Wanted’s Siva Kanesraran is one of the highlights of the autumn season at Blackpool's Grand Theatre. A feelgood musical about a young girl with a big voice, big dreams, and an even bigger heart, it's one of several notable shows, including The Real and Imagined History of the Elephant Man (October 17-21) starring Zak Ford-Williams (BBC1’s Better); classic farce Noises Off (October 3-7) with Liza Goddard, Matthew Kelly & Simon Shepherd; the return of the terrifying The Woman in Black (October 31-November 4) and the new supernatural stage phenomenon 2:22 A Ghost Story (April 23-27 2024 ).
Family shows across the season includes Disney’s stage musical Winnie the Pooh (August 14-16); Jurassic Earth Live, featuring the world’s largest walking T-Rex, The Gruffalo’s Child and the return of Peppa Pig.
Celebrity visitors include Noel Fitzpatrick with his new live stage show Beyond Supervet, special forces soldier Jason Fox in Life At The Limit and Ricky Tomlinson in musical comedy Irish Annie’s.
Stand-up nights include Tom Allen, Count Arthur Strong and the return of controversial Frankie Boyle. On the classical side there's Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly, plus Bizet’s Carmen as well as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker.
The pantomime (December 1-January 1) is Aladdin, starring Britain’s Got Talent finalist and long-term Blackpool favourite Steve Royle and West End and Emmerdale star Tom Lister. The new season puts the ribbon on what has been a handsome package of events in the theatre's life in 2023: “We've had an incredible year so far, both through our show programme and in celebrating a renewal in our Arts Council England National Portfolio status," said chief executive Adam Knight.
“The Grand is extremely proud of its creative development team, which this year was shortlisted for The Stage's Community Project of the Year award. Over the next three years we will be working with children, young people, community groups and artists in residence, making more stories to share with more people.
“We continue to power ahead with our carbon reduction programme. In the past few months we have replaced all our auditorium lights and around half of our stage lights with LED equivalents, reducing electricity consumption by over 80 per cent.
“This autumn we look forward to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Friends of The Grand, and to welcoming a spectacularly exciting new season of shows."
More info and tickets here