Ever wondered about what Tim’s toing and froing to America this summer is doing to the ozone layer? Well there’s some redemption as the Belton House gig tomorrow (to which you can till get tickets) is going to be very close to being carbon neutral!
The event will be powered by two generators running on 100% recycled vegetable oil. The oil is collected from the catering industry across the UK and then professionally filtered by a company based in Norfolk. Every aspect of the event, from the stage, the big screen, lighting, sound etc through to the food and bar providers will all be run off of these generators, as indeed will all the backstage elements including Tim’s dressing room.
The generators were brought in the week before the event and provide all the power while the event is being put together, so the only diesel used is by the four lorries bringing in the stage, the big screen, the marquees and the toilets.
Other eco steps taken are:
All event wristbands for staff, contractors, artists etc. are silicone based meaning they can be reused all week rather than a fresh band given each day.
All the waste from the event, including that produced by the public, is collected in two skips back stage after which it is taken to a recycling sorting plant.
Anything which can be recycled is separated out, while food waste goes to bio-fuel generator plants and anything else that can’t be recycled goes to high efficiency incinerators which produce electricity from the waste they burn.
So nothing goes into land-fill and even the gases produced by the incinerators is captured and filtered so nothing harmful goes into the air.
Somerset House, London
Now, we mentioned that there’d be a small, exclusive ticket release for this show, and true to our word, it has arrived! Tickets are very limited and will be restricted to two per customer. Given how quickly the main allocation sold out, we don’t anticipate these staying around for long, so grab yours here!
Three of Tim’s summer gigs will see him performing with the Large Band: Trust in Comedy at Belton House, Lincolnshire; Eden Session near St Austell, Cornwall; and Somerset House, London. Exciting!
We can now confirm that this will involve a 12-piece band, including as usual Pete Clements and Brad Webb, who will be joined by guitarist Tristan Cassel-Delavois and a big horne section. One of the musicians played with Tim on the Heritage Orchestra tour and another, an old chum of Tim’s, Graeme Blevins played on the Timmy The Dog album, ‘Sit’ in 2001 and with Tim for his ‘Yuletide Half Hour’ for BBC Radio Two in 2007.
There are still tickets available for Belton House and Eden. You’ll find links to them via the Gigs page and… heads-up!… if you missed out on the now sold out Somerset House gig then look out for an update, on this site, with details of a small exclusive Somerset House ticket release next week. We hear Angry (Feet) might have more information soon about when they’re released…
At the rest of the summer gigs where Tim is listed as performing with a band, Pete and Brad will be joined by Tristan. Many of these have now sold out but you can still get tickets for Truckfesthere and a few of the others via Gigs.
It’s going to be all change at the Cambridge Theatre as David Leonard takes over the role of the terrifying Miss Trunchbull, the wicked headmistress of Crunchem Hall, on 3rd July. He’ll be filling the big (bogus) bosom left behind by Bertie Carvel after his final show on the 1st July.
Annette McLaughlin is also joining the cast on 21st August as Matilda’s loud, brash mother, Mrs Wormwood, after Josie Walker’s last performance on the 19th August.
They’ll be joining new cast members Steve Furst and Haley Flaherty, who play Mr Wormwood and Miss Honey, and the two new Matildas, Isobelle Molloy and Jade Marner, who have taken over from Sophia Kiely and Kerry Ingram. Hayley Canham will also be joining the company as Matilda in August.
The show is currently booking up until 17th February 2013, and you can grab your tickets from the Matilda the Musical website.
There are also plans afoot to open a production on Broadway in early 2013 – more on that, when details are confirmed.
As we announced hereTim has been cast his in dream role of Judas Iscariot in the rock arena tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. He’s very excited!
The first London show at The O2 sold out within 24 hours of going onsale yesterday, so a second date has been added:
Jesus Christ Superstar will now play at London’s The O2 arena on Saturday 22 September, as well as Friday 21 September.
Tickets for the tour – which will also visit Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, Nottingham and Sheffield, during September and October 2012, went on sale yesterday and are available online from www.jesuschristsuperstar.com.
You may have heard a whisper or two already but today The Really Useful Group and AEG Live officially announce the first ever UK arena tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary rock classic Jesus Christ Superstar with Tim cast in his dream role of Judas Iscariot!
Tim said: “As a huge fan of Jesus Christ Superstar, I’ve always thought it needed 3 key things: a big cast and band; loads of volume; and me playing Judas. I’ve been in two small productions of the show, and understudied the big man both times. I am really bloody excited about this.”
Former Spice Girl Melanie C will play Mary Magdalene, and BBC Radio 1’s Chris Moyles will perform as King Herod, in what is gearing up to be one of the biggest and most spectacular arena tours ever to hit the UK.*
The public will be voting to cast the staring role of Jesus as the contenders perform on the ITV primetime show ‘Superstar’ in front of a panel of live show judges led by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Jesus Christ Superstar will be celebrating 40 years since it first opened in London’s West End when the arena tour kicks off in London on the 21st September before visiting Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham, Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool and Nottingham. The tour culminates in Sheffield on the 21st October. For full details, check out the GIGS page.
Tickets for the UK tour go on sale at 9.00am on Friday 18th May 2012, priced at £45-£65 and will be available online from www.jesuschristsuperstar.com.
Tim will be flaunting his unique antipodean-accented voice on the UK airwaves over the next couple of days so if you have the urge to hear him chat about his plans for the future, be sure to tune into one or more of the following shows:
Richard Bacon – 15th May
BBC Radio 5 Live
Approximate Timmy Time (ATT): 2pm
Scott Mills – 15th May
BBC Radio 1
ATT: after 2:30pm
Jo Whiley – 15th May
BBC Radio 2
ATT: between 8pm and 9:30pm
You can tune into these shows from anywhere in the world, and they’ll also be available internationally on iPlayer for seven days after they’ve been broadcast if you miss them.
Hey! You can still grab tickets to all these festivals, at which you’ll be able to catch Timmy twinkle toes as he jets back and forth between all his pretending to be a rock star in California and pretending to be a rock star at various UK festivals, over the next few months.
Tim’s appearing on The One Show tomorrow 11th May at 7pm on BBC One.
He’ll be chatting with Chris Evans and Alex Jones about Matilda The Musical, Californication and summer festivals, so expect musical insights, sexy speculation about the upcoming TV role and maybe even advice on wellies or canvas. Something for everyone. He’ll also be and performing ‘When I Grow Up’, one of the songs he wrote for Matilda The Musical, live on the show. The other guest is Des O’Connor.
If you miss it tomorrow evening you’ll be able to catch it on the BBC iPlayer for seven days.
Want to see Tim record a BBC Radio 4 programme? Well it’s your lucky day as he’ll be recording Chain Reaction on the 15th May at the Shaw Theatre in London.
The show is tag-team interviewing with the previous week’s interviewee become that week’s interviewer instead. Tim was interviewed by Derren Brown in January so it’s now his turn to do the interviewing, with his guest being journalist and author Caitlin Moran!
You can apply for free tickets to the recording here, but do remember that having a ticket doesn’t always mean you’ll get in, so turn up early if you’re successful.
For those unable to make it due to not being near London, the shows will be broadcast over the summer and we’ll keep you updated when air dates are confirmed.
Imagine if Tim was cast away on a desert island and he was only allowed to take eight bits of music, one book (plus the entire works of Shakespeare and a philosophical or religious work) and one luxury item with him.
Just think about the gentle sea breeze ruffling his ratty, golden mane; the sand getting in between the hairy toes of his bare, naked feet and those warm rays of the sun as they caress his beautifully tanned, soft skin… erm… what was I saying again?
Oh yes, this is what Tim will be doing on Sunday 6th May at 11:15am on BBC Radio 4 on Desert Island Discs, so if you’re curious as to what he’d bring along with him, wherever you are in the world, be sure to tune in and find out!
Update: If you do happen to miss Mr Sandy Toes first time around, then it will be repeated on Friday 11th May at 9am and up on iPlayer shortly after it airs. The programme will also be available indefinitely as a podcast. Go here to download it once it’s available.
As you may have gathered from this blog (or from the news), last week I managed to score myself an acting role in a TV show. This is obviously very exciting for me… but there is a downside.
Unfortunately, spending 3 months filming in LA during a summer in which I’d booked a lot of gigs in the UK is quite the time-space conundrum. Like so many such problems, it has been largely solved by the burning of fossil fuels: I will be flying to and from California an unhealthy number of times, often going from Heathrow straight to a gig.
It’s going to be an invigorating and mental-health-challenging summer.
However, with great regret and much gnashing of teeth, I’m afraid I’ve had to pull out of a couple of gigs. Below is the list of the gigs from which I have had to extract myself. I am genuinely sorry that I will be causing some people disappointment and/or inconvenience. Those of you who have been following my movements for a while will know that I don’t pull out of gigs lightly. So…
Scope’s Big Comedy Night, 20th May, Hammersmith Apollo.
It goes without saying, I think, that this cancellation is heartbreaking for me, and a proper pain in the arse for the wonderful organisers. However, I know that it is going to be a farkin’ fantastic night regardless. The line-up is brilliant and diverse and intelligent and hilarious. (Details here). The organisers are hot on the case of finding someone to replace me on the bill… and we’ll announce that as soon as we figure out who it’s going to be. Scope is a brilliant charity, and there are still tickets left. Please tell your friends to go.
If it so happens that you only bought your ticket so you could see stupid old me, then you are a little bit of a nutcase, but I understand. I guess. If you contact the people from whom you bought your tickets and tell them that you have been listening to your PM and have decided you don’t care about people with disabilities, you will be able to get your money back. (I’m joking, of course. (About the not caring bit, not about the money back thing. That’s real. (I love you.)))
Bury St Edmunds, 27th May.
This one is a solo show, and is therefore going to be rescheduled for 9th September. If you can’t make it on this new date, I can only grovel and submit myself to your furious anger… and obviously you’ll be able to get your money refunded here.
Cheltenham Science Festival, 13th June.
I was really looking forward to this! I was going to perform “Storm” and do a cool Q&A with Robin, I think. However, it goes without saying that the festival will have many more exciting and smart people than I, so while I feel bad, most of all, I’m jealous that you’re going and I’m not! If you had tickets to see me, go here to find out who could see instead, or call the Box Office on 0844 880 8094 for refunds.
Cambridge Summer Ball, 19th June.
Oh geez, this was going to be a hoot. I’m not too worried about you ball-goers (it’s going to be a ridiculously fun night without me, and the rest of the line up is deadly), but the band and I were pumped to be asked and really looking forward to it. Next year maybe?! Sorrrrrrrry Cambridgians. Hope you have a ball.
Not So Silent Movies, King’s Place, 29th June.
This was going to be really interesting – a chance to do a bit of improv and work with brilliant musos on a cool concept. I’m gutted not to be able to take part and very sorry to rob you of the chance to see me look like a chump up against proper players. If you had tickets, Kings Place will be in touch and you will receive a full refund. (any questions you can call the box office on 020 7520 1490)
Again, huge apologies to those I’ve let down. And thank you to the organisers of these events who have been so understanding and supportive of my decision.
Tim will be playing the opening night of the Summer Series at Somerset House, London, at 7.30pm on July 7th. He will performing with the fabulous Large Band, including the perpetually lovely Pete & Brad.
Tickets go on general sale on April 27th at 9am and are £27.50 – £52.50 (plus booking fee). They are available online via Ticketmaster or by phoning 0844 847 2461.
However, if you are especially keen, there is a presale starting at 9am on April 26th, with tickets available here.
You can find out more details and see who else is performing at the rest of the summer’s concert series on the Somerset House website.
Tim’s long-term evidence-free claim of being an “actor” is soon to be put to the test: he’s landed the role of “coked-up rockstar” Atticus Fetch in the sixth season of Showtime’s Californication.
The show revolves around David Duchovny’s character, writer Hank Moody, who will work with Fetch to write a musical based on one of his novels. Apart from the coke bit, it honestly shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Tim. If you’re interested in spoilers, there are a few more plot details over at Playbill.
The series is set to air early next year in the US, and will most likely make its way over to the UK and Australia too. Once air dates are confirmed, we’ll let you know so that you can tune in to see Tim doing his acting thing!
We hear that – in true Californication style – his opening scene will involve quite a lot of Tim-flesh, so if that’s your thing…
Today, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) have launched a new social networking platform, myShakespeare, for the London 2012 Festival, to mark the start of the World Shakespeare Festival (WSF), the biggest ever celebration of Shakespeare.
myShakespeare, which is supported by BP, is free to access and users can create their own unique searches, based on a particular moment in time, and share their personal data visualisations through Facebook and Twitter.
Tim says: “Saying Shakespeare was a good writer is like saying space is big… The Royal Shakespeare Company produced this festival to celebrate the incredibly diverse ways in which Will’s work still lives, and – most importantly – to encourage you guys to get in amongst it.”
Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director, says: “We hope that people will join [the] conversation, either by blogging or through Facebook and Twitter, and make myShakespeare their Shakespeare.”
Tim is the first to join the conversation, introducing the project in the video below in his own very special way. So whether Tim is the sun to you or you compare him to a summer’s day (he makes you sneeze?); whether you love to see him play the Fool or even if, for you, it is all about his Bottom… take a look at what he has to say about myShakespeare especially if you think the soul of the man is in his clothes…
Feel free to comment below on how you might “get in amongst it” and whether you find the end of the video a comedy or a tragedy…
It was quite an evening for Matilda The Musical at the 2012 Laurence Olivier Awards! Matilda had received ten nominations and tonight skipped away with SEVEN awards, a record haul for a single show, including Best New Musical.
Rob Howells won Best Set Design and Simon Baker Best Sound Design. Best Director went to Matthew Warchus with Peter Darling claiming Best Theatre Choreographer. Members of the cast triumphed too with Best Actor in a Musical for Bertie Carvel and the four Matildas: Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, Eleanor Worthington Cox & Sophia Kiely shared the award for Best Actress in a Musical, breaking the record for the youngest Olivier Award-holders.
To see the full list of ten nominations earned by Matilda the Musical, the maximum for which it was eligible, see this earlier blog post. The full list of award winners can be found here.
Many congratulations to Tim and everyone at Matilda The Musical for such an amazing achievement.
It’s going to be all change at the Cambridge Theatre as David Leonard takes over the role of the terrifying Miss Trunchbull, the wicked headmistress of Crunchem Hall, on 3rd July. He’ll be filling the big (bogus) bosom left behind by Bertie Carvel after his final show on the 1st July.
You may have heard a whisper or two already but today The Really Useful Group and AEG Live officially announce the first ever UK arena tour of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legendary rock classic 
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