Apa Events

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We are pleased to announce West End and television leading man Lee Mead will star as the dashing Prince in this year’s must-see pantomime, Snow White, alongside returning HMT favourites Alan McHugh and Jordan Young, from Saturday 1 December. http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/… /snow-white-panto-20…

The Smiths Ltd was formed in Manchester, UK the hometown of The Smiths. After an extensive search to find the perfect Morrissey, the band played their first gig in Manchester to an audience of avid Smiths fans. The response was spectacular and the band now plays at venues and festivals all over the UK. If you never saw The Smiths then this is your chance to experience the thrill of those great songs played live. If you were lucky enough to see them first time around then prep...are to relive that excitement again.
Committed to getting the same energy that Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce had onstage together, the band are also obsessed about getting that live sound just right. With an authenticity and provenance that’s hard to beat The Smiths Ltd are the ultimate tribute.

The Smiths meant everything to a generation… To us they still do.
"Brilliant Smiths tribute band, they are amazing!" - Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets)
“The Smiths Ltd are a class act. They are indistinguishable from The Smiths.” - North West End
“I may have missed The Smiths the first time around, but after last night’s show I felt
that I was really there back in 1983!” - The Hype Media
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Steve Steinman, the creative force behind the hugely successful Vampires Rock, returns with this epic musical concert delivering the best of the best from Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell record-breaking album.

With incredible stage set, superb band, and Steve Steinman’s unique sense of humour and stage presence, the show will have you up on your feet and dancing in the aisles to all the greatest Meat Loaf hits – Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Took the Words Right Out of my Mouth, Anything For Love, Dead Ringer For Love and Bat Out of Hell, to name just a few.

Catch Dara O Briain, one of the most recognisable faces on British TV, as he goes back to his day job as a world class stand up comedian with his eagerly awaited brand new stand-up show ‘Voice Of Reason’.
Beginning in February, the master of audience interaction will be travelling the UK armed with his supersonic wit and provocative observations.
... As well as his adept comedic work, Dara is one of the most in demand faces on British TV as host of BBC Two’s hugely successful Mock The Week, Stargazing Live, Robot Wars and Dave’s Go8Bit.
“A superfit mind that is so fast you have to wear your best trainers to keep up with it” Evening Standard
“His set is a masterclass in intelligent, no-frills stand-up” The Guardian
“If you want a comic who can hold an audience in the palm of his hand for two hours, here’s your man” The Times
"The Irishman’s way of handling his audience, comedic neurons firing away by the billion a second, has to be seen to be believed” The Telegraph
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THE HANDSOME FAMILY
“Unseen is The Handsome Family’s masterpiece”
★★★★ MOJO
... “Rennie Sparks, master of the desert surreal”
“better than the entire second season of True Detective and most of the first as well.” ‘
GOLD’ – #6 TOP 50 SONGS OF 2016 AMERICAN SONGWRITER
“Beguiling tenth album from American husband and wife duo”
‘UNSEEN’ – #47 BEST ALBUMS OF 2016 8/10 UNCUT
‘UNSEEN’ – #5 BEST COUNTRY ALBUMS OF 2016 CLASSIC ROCK
“love, harmony and poetry bind in a brilliant way to obscure beats”
★★★★ ROLLING STONE FRANCE
“Brilliant.”
★★★★ THE INDEPENDENT
“it will be a tough assignment to find a better opening verse this year in music than the one that opens Gold”
“Rennie allowed her imagination to take hold and instead came up with a wild and wonderful tale of violent crime and small town justice. It’s what makes her such an amazing storyteller, and when accompanied by Brett’s sweeping orchestration, makes the duo such a solid and unique musical act.”
8/10 GLIDE MAGAZINE
“Singular alt country duo at their Gothic finest with songs filled with ghosts, wonders and mystery”
★★★★ DAILY MIRROR

With support from Drunken Prayer: drunkenprayer.com/media/video
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In Twelfth Day’s new album Cracks in the Room, produced by legendary English folk musician Chris Wood and mixed in the USA by Oz Fritz (Tom Waits), a new personal exposure, of fierceness and strength, is evident. It’s their most honest, raw and exciting work yet.
... In the wordless communication that passes between Orcadian fiddler Catriona Price and Peebles harpist Esther Swift as they perform, the strength of their decade-long musical partnership, friendship and shared humour is evident. It’s this depth of connection, and tangible desire to have fun, that gives Twelfth Day its extra edge.
This is not so much a duo, but a two person quartet. Their two distinctly different voices, the fiddle, and the pedal harp, build layer upon layer of a complex and ever-evolving sound, rich with rhythm, harmony and texture. Twelfth Day are happy to be hard to define. Classically trained, they bring outstanding technical ability as well as an adventurous mix of folk, jazz and classical influences to their compositions and arrangements - blended with the folklore and inspirations of their respective Scottish Highland and Lowland upbringings.
“a boldly brilliant record, suffused with dark humour and wildly inventive musicianship” ★★★★★ fRoots "genre‐blending style that is both edgy and inventive. . A bold, intriguing set." ★★★★ The Guardian “challenging, virtuosic music that is far more than the sum of its parts” ★★★★ The Skinny “one of the most rewarding listening experiences to be placed before an audience this year.” Folk Radio UK
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Andy Kirkpatrick – Psychovertical: A Higher Education
Presented by Speakers from the Edge
Top British mountaineer, big-wall climber and winter expedition specialist, Andy has soloed the most difficult routes in the world. A leading expert on climbing gear, Andy is also an award-winning writer and film-maker with an ability to captivate any audience with his unique brand of humorous and motivational story-telling
... In his brand new show, Psychovertical: A Higher Education, which will coincide with the release of the film Psychovertical by award-winning director Jen Randall, Andy Kirkpatrick looks back at forty years of climbing and adventures, from the Alps to Patagonia, Yosemite to Greenland, a story all the things that make life amazing.
Please note that this show is likely to contain strong language. Recommended ages 14+
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The original lead singer/guitarist with the Average White Band through all the classic 70s albums, Hamish has worked with the likes of Diana Ross, George Benson, Chaka Khan and for six years Paul McCartney. In addition to touring with Ringo Starr he leads his own "Super Group". Expect AWB hits and loads of great funk and soul classics, by a band that generates a truly ferocious groove and never fails to blow of the roof!

BY ELLIE STEWART. DIRECTED BY PHILIP HOWARD.
Inspired by the true story of Martin Guerre, The Return is a gripping play about the mystery of identity and the survival instinct, and asks whether we can ever truly know even those we love the best. Commissioned and premiered by Eden Court, and written by Ellie Stewart, a rising star of Scottish playwriting, The Return is produced by the same creative team behind Eden Court’s Not About Heroes in 2015.

The Laramie Project
by Moises Kauffman and members of Tectonic Theater Project
Directed by John Naples-Campbell
... 28th February 2018 to 2nd March 2018
Part of LGBT History Month

In October 1998 in the middle of the prairie outside Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Shepard, a 21 year old student at the University of Wyoming, was tied to a fence post, severely beaten, robbed, tortured and left, alone, to die. His body -- battered, bloody, barely clinging to life -- was discovered eighteen hours later. He was rushed to the hospital and put on life support. He died five days later. The reason for this brutal crime? Matthew Shepard was gay. Five weeks later, Moisés Kaufman and fellow members of the Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, and over the course of the next year, conducted more than 200 interviews with people of the town. From these interviews they wrote the play The Laramie Project, a chronicle of the life of the town of Laramie in the year after the murder. In the 20th anniversary year of Matthew’s death the themes and issues of this play are now more than ever.
John Naples-Campbell, director and ambassador for the Matthew Shepard Foundation here in the UK, brings his award-winning production to Aberdeen with a local cast wanting to continue Matthew’s legacy of hope and erasing hate.
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Fickle Friends
Today, Fickle Friends release details of their hugely anticipated debut album. ‘You Are Someone Else’ will be released on March 16th 2018 on Polydor Records., alongside a massive 18-date headline UK tour.
Blessed with the same dedication to writing quirky anthems on their own terms as The 1975, the brittle icy synth flourishes of Chvrches and a new era indie pop IT girl in singer Natti Shiner, Fickle Friends have established themselves as the essential new Brit...ish indie-pop band of 2018. They’ve played over 350 live shows together, been playlisted regularly on Radio 1 with an incredible string of singles including ‘Brooklyn’,
‘Glue’ and ‘Swim’Hello Hello’, headlined a sold-out London Forum – and all before announcing their debut album. Until now…
‘You Are Someone Else’ is an irresistible debut record, effortlessly capturing both the joy and uncertainty of growing up a 2017 millennial. Songs addressing social awkwardness, self-doubt, anxiety and the qualms of growing into young adulthood all through a prism of perfect timeless pop.
Current single ‘Hard To Be Myself’ is an undeniably brilliant pop anthem for a pre-loading generation of wasted youth that flips lyrically from gloriously hedonistic abandon to naked self-analysis, while tracks such as ‘Lovesick’ Wake Me Up’ addresses angsty obsession and the art of over-thinking. The album as a whole pivots around relationships and their tireless effects on the young mind, exploring the highs and lows of dating, falling in love and of course, breaking up.
Fickle Friends are ultimately a great indie band with killer tunes who have worked hard at their trade and built a devoted fanbase the old fashioned way – playing as many shows as they could for as little cost, booking their own shows and writing songs on the road. Now, after huge festival shows at Reading and Leeds and a sold out Forum in London, things are slightly easier, but the dedication to writing undeniable songs and playing great gigs remains the same and they look set to dominate festival bills next year and play their debut album to the masses.
On writing their debut album, Natti says, " I guess overall this album mostly talks about the feeling that like you don’t fit in your own life, forever craving something else. I felt like I was stuck in a perpetual nightmare of bad relationships and worry for so long and this collection of songs kinda pulled me out of that. We wrote and produced the bulk of everything between Jack’s bedroom, the tour van and LA so it’s been mostly DIY with an array of producers allowing us to get that extra 20%.
We always wanted to make a record that made people dance and think at the same time. If any of these songs help anyone feel cool, or strong or even just less alone then we’ll have achieved what we wanted.
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BY ELLIE STEWART. DIRECTED BY PHILIP HOWARD.
Inspired by the true story of Martin Guerre, The Return is a gripping play about the mystery of identity and the survival instinct, and asks whether we can ever truly know even those we love the best. Commissioned and premiered by Eden Court, and written by Ellie Stewart, a rising star of Scottish playwriting, The Return is produced by the same creative team behind Eden Court’s Not About Heroes in 2015.

Following a record-breaking UK and Ireland Tour, the smash hit blockbuster is back – and larger than life!
Based on the story and characters from the Oscar®-winning DreamWorks Animation film, this hilarious and spectacular production turns the world of fairytales upside down in an all-singing, all-dancing, must-see musical comedy.
Join Shrek, (Steffan Harri) and his loyal steed Donkey as they set off on a quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Fiona (Laura Main) from her towe...r, guarded by a fire breathing love-sick dragon. Add the vertically challenged Lord Farquaad, a gang of fairytale misfits, and a biscuit with attitude, and you’ve got an irresistible mix of adventure, laughter and romance, guaranteed to delight audiences of all ages!
The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artists subject to holiday, illness or events beyond the producers’ control.

"Joyous. The most fun you'll ever have. A monster hit!" ★★★★ The Mirror
"Deliciously funny. Spectacular" ★★★★ Daily Telegraph
'Shrektacular' ★★★★★ Sunday Telegraph
'Tremendous' ★★★★★ Daily Express
Please note, haze and strobe lighting are used in this production
Running time: 2 hours 30 minutes
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A Play, A Pie and A Pint does what it says on the tin. Join us after work for a tasty bite, tipple and top new theatre from some of the country's best talent. The performances take place in The Lemon Tree Lounge. Your pie and pint will be available from one hour prior to the start of the performance.

Host Russel D McLean (founder of Glasgow’s Noir at the Bar) hosts this informal gathering of festival and local talent for a night of readings and hijinks. The format originated in Philadelphia and has sprung up around the world, to become an international phenomenon. Anything can happen: you’re likely to hear new work, readings from published novels, maybe even a song or two. Get up close and personal with some of your favourite writers, in a relaxed setting.

Join us for a refreshing tipple at our not to be missed Poisoned Cocktail Party. Under the expert guidance of Dr Kathryn Harkup, author of A is for Arsenic and Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, we’ll treat you to three specially concocted cocktails, all prepared using some of Agatha Christie’s favourite poisons. Our very own Granite Noir cocktail will feature on the menu and non-alcoholic versions will be available. Drink them if you dare!