Tag Archives: Dance

Ballroom glitz: 100 years of Blackpool Dance Festival

1pm, Saturday 23 May 2020, Grand Foyer

Rebecca Antrobus, Showtown’s Assistant Curator, will take you on a glorious waltz through time, right back to the creation of the oldest and most famous competitive dance event, the Blackpool Dance Festival.Using archive footage and exploring the stories of the people behind its creation and huge success, this talk will explain why Blackpool is so significant within the world of dance.

So grab your favourite dance partner and get yourself down to the Winter Gardens.

Tickets £3.
Booking is essential

SPECIAL OFFER:  Why not head in early for a film? Get a ticket to this talk and see Hindle Wakes (1952) in the Art Deco Opera House at 11am (12:30pm finish) for just £2 extra.

Buy Tickets

Hindle Wakes

Year: 1952
Running Time: 1 hour 30 mins
Director: Arthur Crabtree
Genre: Romance, Drama

11am – 12:30pm, The Opera House

This is the the fourth (and last) screen adaptation of the famous Stanley Houghton play of the 1910s. During a seaside holiday to Blackpool, mill worker Jenny meets Alan the son of the mill owner and agrees to spend the week with him in Llandudno. 
Wanting to keep this a secret from her parents, Jenny gets help from her friend Mary to conceal her whereabouts, but disaster strikes during a boating accident. When the parents find out the truth they pressure the couple to get married, but Jenny thinks otherwise.
 
Hindle Wakes’ true star is Blackpool. You’ll see a number of familiar (and since lost) locations such as the Pleasure Beach, Tower and South Shore Open Air Baths and take a nostalgic trip back in time to the Winter Gardens of the 1950s, where you can see the Empress Ballroom, Floral Hall and Grand Foyer in all their glory.

Watch out for the Lancashire mill-workers speaking in cut-glass RP tones

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Need to book by phone? Please call 01253 478624.

Blackpool Dance Festival runs from 21 – 29 May celebrating and celebrates its centenary this year.  To find out more about the festival visit: www.blackpooldancefestival.com 

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In partnership with Showtown. Blackpool’s side-tickling, eye-popping, toe-tapping, mind-boggling museum of fun and entertainment.

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That’s Entertainment (1974): Opening Night Celebration

Doors open 6:30pm, Screening starts 7pm, Party Starts at 9:15pm, Friday 15 March 2018

Year: 1974
Running Time: 2hours 15 mins
Director: Jack Haley Jnr
Starring: Gene Kelly, Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell, Lena Horne, Esther Williams, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, Howard Keel, Cyd Charisse, June Allyson, Clark Gable, Mario Lanza and many more.
Cert: U

Join us for a night of Hollywood glamour as we celebrate the Film Festival’s 5th birthday and the Opera House’s 80th with a selection of iconic music and dance numbers from MGM’s greatest musicals and a swinging dance party.

In 1974 MGM enjoyed one of its biggest box-office hits with That’s Entertainment, a compilation of musical highlights from the studio’s golden days. Introduced by a stellar line-up of on-screen hosts including Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, and Liza Minnelli, you’ll enjoy a variety of classic film clips in both color and black-and-white. Experience generous helpings of classic MGM musical numbers from iconic films such as Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis, An American in Paris and High Society.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to see these brilliant performances with lots of laughs fabulous song and dance routines and a sparkling restoration on the Opera House big screen, this is an event not to be missed!

 

Dance Party!

Make sure that you wear your dancing shoes as we’re holding a 1940s dance party after the screening in the Grand Foyer with singer Aaron Whiteside, tap dancing from the cast of 42nd Street,  live dance band the Billionaires and oodles of birthday cake! Meet some colourful 1940’s characters and jive the night away in style!

 

Tickets

Standard Entry £10:

  • Cocktail on arrival in the Art Deco circle bar
  • Ticket for Film Screening in the Opera House

Film + Party Entry £15:

  • Cocktail on arrival in the Art Deco circle bar
  • Ticket for Film Screening in Opera House
  • Entry to the vintage dance party in the Grand Foyer: Live music and dance and cake!

VIP Entry £20:

    • Cocktail on arrival in the Art Deco circle bar
    • Ticket for Film Screening in Opera House
    • Entry to the vintage dance party in the Grand Foyer: Live music and dance
    • Reserved front-row tables at the party.

Buy Tickets

This event is a fundraiser to restore the 35mm film projectors in the Opera House.

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Opening Night Party: Some Like it Hot (1959)

Doors open 6:45pm, Screening starts 7:30pm, Friday 16 March 2018, Opera House

Year: 1959
Running Time: 121 mins
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon
Cert: 12

We’re heading down to Florida with Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators in this fabulous musical comedy starring screen legend Marilyn Monroe with the iconic Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.

Arguably the best and most popular comedy ever made, join us for a screening of Billy Wilder’s classic screwball tale of cross-dressing Jazz musicians, gangsters, and a knockout blonde.

When down on their luck jazz musicians (Curtis and Lemmon) witness a speakeasy gang war, they find themselves out of a job and on the run from a ruthless gangster. Broke and looking for somewhere to hide, a gig with Sweet Sue and her Society Syncopators at a Florida beach resort seems like the perfect getaway. There’s just one problem: the Syncopators are an all-female band, and Joe and Jerry aren’t women – yet.

Armed with some dodgy wigs and wobbly falsettos, Joe and Jerry manage to join the Syncopators, where they meet Sugar Kane: a hooch-swilling, ukulele-playing knockout with a soft spot for badboy saxophone players. Barely able to believe their good fortune, things start to go off the rails for the pair when they begin to attract unwanted attention from lecherous millionaires and some familiar faces show up at their hotel for a gathering of the country’s most dangerous criminals.

 

59 years after its original release and including brilliant performances,  lots of laughs and a sparkling restoration on the Opera House big screen, this is an event not to be missed!

 

Dance Party!

Make sure that you wear your dancing shoes as we’re holding a 1920s dance party after the screening in the Grand Foyer with live dance band the Billionaires. Meet some colourful 1920’s characters and Charleston the night away in style!

Buy Tickets

Standard Entry £10:

  • Cocktail on arrival in the secret speakeasy bar
  • Ticket for Film Screening in the Opera House

Party Entry £15:

  • Cocktail on arrival in the secret speakeasy bar
  • Ticket for Film Screening in Opera House
  • Entry to the 1920s swing dance party in the Grand Foyer: Live music and dance

VIP Entry £20

  • Cocktail on arrival in the secret speakeasy bar
  • Ticket for Film Screening in Opera House
  • Entry to the 1920s swing dance party in the Grand Foyer: Live music and dance
  • Have your souvenir photo taken by our professional photographer in our art deco setting – includes print and postage.
  • Reserved front-row tables at the party.

This event is a fundraiser to restore the 35mm film projectors in the Opera House.

Please note that we have weekend wristbands available for £45 and £50.

If you have already bought opening night tickets and want to upgrade when the full programme is announced, please contact us and we will arrange this for you.

See Facebook event

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You were never lovelier

Opening Night: You Were Never Lovelier (1942)

Doors open 7:15pm, Screening starts 8pm, Friday 3 February

Year: 1942
Running Time: 97 mins
Director: William A. Seiter
Starring: Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth, Adolphe Menjou, Isobel Elsom, Leslie Brooks
Cert: U
You Were Never Lovelier 

We’re heading down to Argentina for this romantic musical comedy starring dance legend Fred Astaire and the iconic Rita Hayworth

This clever cocktail of humour, romance and stylish musical numbers features music from composer Jerome Kern (Ol’ Man River, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, The Way You Look Tonight) and lyricist Johnny Mercer (Jeepers Creepers, Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, Moon River) in a sparkling digital restoration.

Astaire plays Robert Davies, a dancer who likes to have a flutter on the horses. After losing his money gambling, he looks for a job in a Buenos Aires nightclub and is soon pulled into the middle of an elaborate scheme where he falls for Maria – the club owner’s daughter played by Hayworth.

There are intrigues a-plenty as Maria mistakes Robert for a fictional admirer concocted by her meddlesome father, but how long can they keep up the charade when love is on the cards?

Released in 1942, this lavish production must have provided much needed escapism from the war, set in a far-away location with infectious Latin sounds from Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra, beautiful costumes and a heavy dose of Hollywood glamour.

Hayworth is a beautiful dancer, gracefully keeping step with Astaire, who said in his autobiography that she was his favourite dancing partner. Whether a romantic, graceful waltz or a high-energy tap routine the dance numbers are exceptional and promise to keep your toes tapping all night long!

Dance Party!

Make sure that you wear your dancing shoes as we’re holding a swing dance party after the screening in the Grand Foyer with live dance band the Billionaires.

Tickets are available online now.

Standard Ticket £10:

  • Cocktail on arrival
  • Film Screening in Opera House

VIP ticket £15:

  • Cocktail on arrival
  • Film Screening in Opera House
  • Entry to the 1940s swing dance party in the Grand Foyer: Live music and lindy hop dance

This is a fundraising event to restore the 35mm film projectors in the Opera House.

Buy Tickets

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