When the Philharmonic Hall reopens its doors on October 1 it will become the first major Liverpool entertainment venue to welcome back live audiences. It means the series of 14 socially distanced concerts – a mixture of ‘full’ orchestra, Ensemble 10/10 and smaller recital evenings – are likely to be watched with interest by both other venues in the city and also orchestras across the country. The concerts replace the season programme that was due to take place before it becam

Liverpool Laughterhouse is due to reopen its doors to comedy fans at the end of September. And ahead of that the popular comedy club is announcing its return with a pair of shows as part of the new Liverpool Theatre Festival. Comedy fans will be able to enjoy a laugh at the Bombed Out Church on Saturday, September 12 where there will be two 75-minute Laughterhouse shows, one at 6pm and the second at 9pm. The line-up features Daliso Chaponda, Neil Fitzmaurice and Steve Royle w

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is to stage a series socially distanced live concerts in plans to re-start its disrupted 2020/21 season. But just 240 concertgoers will be allowed into the 1,700-seat Philharmonic Hall auditorium for each hour-long performance, with the programmes also being broadcast online as part of a new On Demand service. And people who buy an On Demand ticket will also be able to watch pre and post-performance Zoom conversations with musicians and artist

Live performance has returned to the city with the inaugural Liverpool Theatre Festival taking place at the Bombed Out Church. The nine-day outdoor festival programme was due to open on Friday, September 11 with actor Andrew Lancel performing Jonathan Harvey’s Swan Song, directed by Noreen Kershaw. However, illness means the performance has now been postponed until Sunday, September 20 when it will close the festival.Ticket holders will be contacted. Twelve festival shows ove

Liverpool’s most talented street musicians are being called on to perform next weekend as part of the city’s Without Walls initiative. Life in Theatre Productions has been commissioned to stage Bev’s Busking Bonanza in Williamson Square on Saturday, August 29. Everyone who performs during the afternoon celebration of live music will receive a £50 fee. Life in Theatre Productions’ Stephen Fletcher explains: “Anyone who’s ever walked through town will know that buskers are a ma

New season, new beginnings? We can certainly hope that the second half of 2021 proves very different to the last 12 months – particularly for theatre. And while things still look dark as lockdown 3 continues to keep us all at home, there is a glimmer of light for lovers of live performance. Because the fact programmes and seasons have been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic has actually led to a packed diary of great shows being re-scheduled for later 2021 – along with the

Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse has teamed up with director Emma Rice’s Wise Children company to present a special Northern online screening of her new production. A live performance of Romantics Anonymous will be streamed to city audiences on September 22. The show, a co-production between Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and Plus Theatre, will come direct from the stage in Bristol as part of a five day ‘digital tour’ from September 22-26 which involves 34 different theatres. P

A charity set up by the late Sir Ken Dodd is set to increase its investment in the new Shakespeare North Playhouse by almost half-a-million pounds. The Ken Dodd Charitable Foundation, controlled by his widow Anne, Lady Dodd, had initially pledged £250,000 to the ambitious new theatre scheme in Prescot, with money going towards the creation of a Performance Garden at the site. Now it has been revealed that investment has been increased to closer to £700,000. Lady Dodd appeared

Merseyside Maritime Museum has reopened, giving visitors the first glimpse of a completely new gallery which celebrates Life on Board. The overhaul of the Royal Albert Dock venue’s second floor gallery space was a week away from being unveiled when the Coronavirus lockdown was implemented in March. Now Life on Board is welcoming its first visitors as the Maritime Museum becomes one of three National Museums Liverpool waterfront venues to reopen their doors to the public. Brit

The national tour of Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! has been put back by 12 months because of the ongoing restrictions caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. The New Adventures version of Tchaikovsky’s sugar sweet favourite, which was previously seen in Liverpool in 2012, was due to come to the Empire next March. Now the dates have been rearranged with the production visiting the Lime Street theatre from March 1-5 2022. The rescheduled dates also mean this is the first time in 18