A TV comedian, a classical take on nightclub sounds and an improvised West End musical comedy are among the headliners of a summer festival in Rugby.
Festival on The Close, Rugby’s annual festival in aid of Cancer Research UK, will feature performances by Paul Sinha, Symphonic Ibiza, and Showstopper The Improvised Musical.
Comedian Paul Sinha, aka The Sinnerman from ITV’s The Chase.
Other acts announced for the festival, much of which is staged at an outdoor arena at Rugby School’s famous pitch The Close, include percussion-dance-theatre act Stomp, Britain’s Got Talent street dancers Flawless, and an Adele tribute act.
Manford’s Comedy Club will open the festival on Saturday June 22, headlined by comedian Paul Sinha – best-known for ITV’s The Chase – alongside a line-up of comedians hand-picked by Jason Manford.
Symphonic Ibiza will play a headline show on the Sunday, fusing full symphony orchestra with high tempo beats, a live DJ and a vocalist.
Showstopper will take to the outdoor stage on the Monday, where a cast of West End stars will create a new musical comedy from scratch, based on audience suggestions.
Members of the world-famous Stomp will perform live with student stompers on the Tuesday, followed by Flawless.
On Wednesday June 26, Hometown Glory: A Tribute to Adele will bring Adele’s hits to life, at the outdoor arena.
Elsewhere at the festival, Sir Gregory Doran – Shakespeare director and former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company – will take to the Macready Theatre stage to discuss his life and work, and award-winning actor Stephen Smith will perform his one-man musical Apple of My Eye, which follows the story of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Other shows include Bliss Sinfonia, featuring some of the country’s finest young soloists, and a performance of Henry Purcell’s Te Deum by the celebrated Canzona Baroque orchestra with Rugby Choristers.
Festival Director Dr Tim Coker said: “I am thrilled to bring household names here to Rugby.
“We are also excited once again to be able to welcome over 2,000 children from schools across the region to join our free creative workshop programme, providing unique opportunities to dance with the cast of Stomp, or to immerse themselves in our interactive science, technology, engineering and maths activities as part of the festival’s STEAMFest.”
Further shows and acts are due to be announced in due course.
Visit www.thefestivalontheclose.co.uk for more information.
