And so, farewell Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko, no longer ‘Liverpool’s latest signing’ but off to pastures new after 15 years at Hope Street. Fifteen years encompassing Capital of Culture (the opening ceremony! The Viennese balls!), several acclaimed Proms appearances, a host of well-received foreign tours, multi award winning recordings and more than 500 concerts. This final season should have been a 10-month celebration enjoyed by packed houses and with plenty of farewell par

A spectacular 72ft long bridge is set to form the centrepiece of a free three-day event in the heart of a North Liverpool community next month. Bridge, taking place in the city’s County ward from August 5-7, will include three days of free activities and two evenings of entertainment. The 72ft long, 19ft tall bridge structure will be built at Breeze Hill – known locally as ‘the Rezzy’ – a mile north of Goodison Park. As part of the whole three-day project, people will be enco

A new piece of work by Liverpool-based artist Emily Speed will be premiered at Tate Liverpool this autumn. Flatland, a new film installation, is Speed’s first major solo exhibition in a UK gallery and follows her announcement as the successful applicant in the inaugural Art North West scheme - an open call for artists based in the region to submit ideas for a project or exhibition to be shown at the Royal Albert Dock-based gallery. Speed’s artistic practice examines the relat

Young actors from the Everyman and Playhouse are taking their latest production outside for a five-show run in the Bombed Out Church this month. Members of YEP will perform Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy Macbeth at St Luke’s in Leece Street from July 21-25. In this new adaptation, street corners replace kingdoms, there are pocket knives rather than broadswords, and gangs instead of armies – as well as a female Macbeth. The show was due to be staged last summer, but like so many

Wirral’s Williamson Art Gallery and Museum has been closed while ‘emergency engineering work’ is carried out on the venue’s ventilation system. Wirral Council said the closure was expected to last ‘around a week’ depending on the availability of a contractor. A statement from the council, which owns the Victorian building in Slatey Road, Birkenhead, said: “The work is necessary to improve existing ventilation and air flow throughout the building and was identified this week d

Samantha Womack and Cameron Blakely have been confirmed to head the cast when the musical comedy version of cult classic The Addams Family comes to the Liverpool Empire this autumn. Womack will play Morticia and Blakely is Gomez in the production which visits the Lime Street theatre from October 19-23. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and has a shocking secret that only Gomez knows; she’s fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a res

What’s more fickle than a Shakespearean lover’s kiss? That would be the British summer– as audiences are well aware. So, while the first half of Imaginarium Theatre’s vibrant production of As You Like It at Reynolds Park in Woolton was temperate summer’s day, it was full-on (winter and) rough weather as the action reached its climax after the interval. Still, swapping wine glasses for waterproofs (and some stoical souls defiantly juggling both) is practically part of the shar

We’ve probably all been to a party like it at some time in our lives – a night of high spirits, boozy flirtations…and a couple arguing by the bins at the end of the evening. And director John Young sets out his stall early on in this pacy summer version of the Merry Wives of Windsor, opening with a few punchy bars of Elton’s Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting. The snappy party soundtrack, played and sung by the cast, also includes Cyndi Lauper’s 80s classic Girls Just Wann

A Liverpool-led campaign to commemorate late Beatle manager Brian Epstein has been re-launched under a new name and with a wider focus. The Brian Epstein Legacy Project was originally unveiled as the Brian Epstein Statue Project in September 2019 with the aim of raising £60,000 for a statue of the city-born musical entrepreneur. Now, following a pause in the campaign due to the impact of the pandemic, a fresh appeal has been launched which hopes to raise £100,000. The funds w

A new classical music festival will see live concerts across venues in Wirral this month performed by some of the region's top professional musicians. The inaugural Wirral Chamber Music Festival takes place from July 16-18 and is the brainchild of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra's leader Thelma Handy and cellist Alex Holladay. The programme will feature live brass, string and gypsy jazz concerts, all performed in Covid-secure surroundings. The festival opens at St