Theatre News

Corrie! Tour Returns to Northwest, 21 Feb

Britain’s longest-running soap opera which is celebrating its 50th
anniversary – is hitting theatres again with the stage version Corrie! set for the Liverpool Empire in February and Manchester’s Palace Theatre in April. The show promises
“highlights of five decades of Coronation Street, performed live in under two hours”.

Corrie! began life at the Lowry on 12 August 2010, and is written by
scriptwriter Jonathan Harvey.The Salford run was
extended and many of the soap’s stars turned up on opening night, including Shobna Gulati and Barbara Knox.

According to publicity material, the show will feature: “Your
favourite memories from the programme – see the viaduct collapse, the
coach crash and the tram run over Alan. See Frank capture Valerie,
Tracy kill Charlie, Todd kiss Nick, and Gail marry Brian, Martin,
Richard and Joe! All this reduced to two hours of mind-boggling stage
craft!”

Characters featured will include: Ena Sharples, Hilda Ogden, Percy
Sugden, Alf Roberts, Ken and Deirdre Barlow, Curly Watts, Richard
Hillman, Karen McDonald, Jack Duckworth and Bet Lynch.

Phil McIntyre, who is co-producing the show with ITV Studios, told the Daily Mirror:
“I saw the first ever episode of Corrie when I was eight and it’s been
a part of my life since then, so what an honour it is to bring the
whole 50 years back to life ‘live’ on stage.”

And this might not be the only stage incarnation of the much-loved
soap – a musical version has long been rumoured (See {The
Goss::E8821206532547}, 26 Mar 2008).

Corrie! is at the Liverpool Empire from 21 – 26 February and The Palace Theatre in Manchester from 4 – 9 April and tickets are on sale now.