Our pick of entertainment events in Scotland this week.
An Intimate Evening With Russell Watson
Empire Theatre, Inverness, Friday, Perth Concert Hall, Saturday
One of the world’s most prominent tenors, having sold seven million albums, Russell says he’s finally back to his best after overcoming two brain tumours eight years ago. Regarded as the godfather of classical crossover, he has collaborated with Pavarotti, Lionel Richie, Michael Bolton, Cliff Richard, Lulu, Sarah Brightman, Meatloaf, Mel B and Alexandra Burke, to name a few. His 10th album will be released later in the year.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong
King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Monday Saturday
Voted Best New Comedy Award winners at this year’s Olivier Awards, this laugh-out-loud comedy from the Mischief Theatre Company is fun for everyone especially adults. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society set out to present J.M. Barrie’s classic tale but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong does go wrong, as the accident prone thesps embark on a thrilling adventure to Neverland, with hilariously disastrous results. The ensemble cast includes Laurence Pears, Cornelius Booth, Alex Bartram and James Marlowe.
Charley Pride
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Wednesday
With 36 No 1 hits and 12 gold albums in the States, combined with 30 gold and four platinum internationally, Charley Pride is in the Top 15 all-time country record sellers. From picking cotton in his native Mississippi, Charley ended up working in a smelting plant in Montana after a stint as a baseball player. He moved to Nashville, where he was signed by Chet Atkins of RCA and became the label’s highest-selling act since Elvis. Now 77, the man with the baritone voice is still going strong.
Rites Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Wed-Sat
Rites is a new play by award-winning director Cora Bissett exploring the deep-rooted cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Based on recent interviews and true stories from girls affected in Scotland and the rest of the UK, mothers who feel under pressure to continue the practice, and the experiences of midwives, lawyers, police officers, teachers and health workers trying to effect change in communities. There will be a women-only matinee on Friday and post-show discussions on Thursday and Friday.
The Age Of Adaline
At cinemas from Friday
Gossip Girl Blake Lively plays a woman born at the turn of the 20th Century who becomes forever 29 after an accident stops her ageing. Living mostly alone for the next 100 years, afraid somebody might discover her secret, Adaline’s life becomes even more complicated when she falls for software mogul Ellis (Michiel Huisman). It’s a fairly forgettable exploration of the emotional cost that’s paid as those you care about age and die while you remain your most physically perfect self. Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn also star.
Ruby Wax: Sane New World
Music Hall, Aberdeen, Saturday
The US-born comedian, actor and writer has also become a mental health campaigner and gained a Masters Degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy from Oxford University. This show is based on her critically-acclaimed book, Sane New World, which helps us understand why we sabotage our sanity with our thinking. Sane New World shows the audience how to rewire our thinking to find calm in a frenetic world and how to become the master of our minds. As Ruby herself says, she might not be sane, but she does a pretty good imitation.
Spooks: The Greater Good
At cinemas from Friday
The TV series may have ended in 2011 but the terror threat hasn’t gone away. And so we have Spooks the Movie, a big budget send-off. When a terrorist leader escapes from MI5 custody, Head of Counter-terrorism Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) gets the blame. Forced to resign, Harry disappears without a trace. Former agent Will Holloway (Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington) is brought back from Moscow to discover the truth about Harry’s disappearance and uncovers a shocking revelation Harry is alive and has gone “rogue”.
Twin Atlantic
SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Saturday
The Glasgow band get ready to play one of their biggest ever shows when they make a triumphant return to their home city to play Scotland’s biggest venue. With their massive album Great Divide debuting at No 6 in the UK Album Chart, their single Heart And Soul winning Best Indie Single at the AIM Awards and enthralling festival slots all over the globe, things are looking good for Sam McTrusty and Co. The show will be a warm-up for their slot at this year’s T In The Park festival in Perthshire.
Flashdance
Gaiety Theatre, Ayr, Wednesday Saturday
The show features an iconic score including the smash hit Maniac, along with Manhunt, Gloria and the Oscar-winning title track, Flashdance . . . What a Feeling, as well as 10 original songs created for the musical. Set in Pittsburgh, Flashdance tells the story of 18-year-old Alex, a welder by day and flashdancer by night, whose dream is to obtain a place at the Shipley Dance Academy. When Alex catches the eye of her boss Nick Hurley, their romance shows her the meaning of love and drives her ambition to pursue her dream.
Billy And Tim And The Holy Wee Glesga Ghost
Pavillion Theatre, Glasgow, until May 23
Des Dillon’s play, Singin’ I’m No A Billy He’s A Tim, has become a phenomenon in Scottish theatre and now he’s written a sequel. God gives a dying Glasgow ned the task of getting just one bigot to give up sectarianism before the end of an Old Firm clash. If he succeeds, he lives. If he fails, he dies. Enter Billy and Tim and good luck to the ned in persuading these two clowns. Expect laughter, tears, and a few crazy surprises along the way.
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