LIVE at Starbucks (Blackpool Store, Victoria Street) Sunday 22 February and Sunday 1 March 2015

The Grand Theatre will be presenting two Starbucks™ Sunday Jazz events upstairs at Starbucks Café on February 22 and March 1 from 1-3pm. The event is a non-ticketed FREE event! This is not a ticketed event and entry is free…on the proviso that you purchase a tasty Starbucks ™ coffee of course!

The Jazz Sundays are being held in association with the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) and ETT’s (English Touring Theatre) riotous comedy A Mad World My Masters,which is on at The Grand from Thursday 5 to Saturday 7 March and features a LIVE Jazz band on stage throughout the show!

Grand Theatre Marketing Manager Andrew Howard said,
“The Grand is committed to working in partnership with local businesses. We aim to promote the arts in various ways to let people know what is going on in their local theatre and working with businesses such as HMV, Waterstones and of course Starbucks, we are able to do this. We are all very excited in this new collaboration with such a global brand.”

Starbucks Blackpool Store Manager Steve Garside said,
“Myself and the Starbucks Blackpool Team are looking forward to the Jazz Sundays in conjunction with the Grand Theatre. We feel this is a great opportunity to bring Business together, work along side each other and support ways of promoting the diversity of shows on offer at the Grand, bringing a taste of what is to come to the public in a relaxing atmosphere. This is a first for Starbucks to showcase an event like this, and we hope it will enable more partnerships and raise awareness of this theatre, which is also a charity.”

At the first Starbucks ™ Jazz Sunday, coffee drinkers and music lovers can enjoy the sultry sounds of Bobby and Jemima (AKA Charlese and Matt) who are regular performers in Blackpool, Manchester and Liverpool. On 22 February they will be turning their hand to Jazz with a soul/blues twist. The multi-instrumental talents of Bobby and the deep and soulful voice of Jemima make for a not-to-be-missed Sunday afternoon!

On Sunday 1 March, join us for the second Starbucks ™ Jazz Sunday sessions with the jazz/blues guitarist Tom Vernon and vocalist Nicci Wood. Tom is well known in the local areas for his exceptional guitar playing, and teamed with Nicci’s vocals, a relaxed afternoon will be had by all!
At each event, there will be special offers for A Mad World My Masters tickets that will only be available at the Starbucks ™ Jazz Sunday events- so don’t miss out!

In their first ever collaboration, English Touring Theatre and The Royal Shakespeare Company will be bringing Thomas Middleton’s Jacobean comedy A Mad World My Masters to Blackpool’s Grand Theatre.
London’s Soho, 1956.  Here, glamour rubs up against filth, and it likes it!  The posh mix with musicians, whores and racketeers; virginity is ‘no city trade’, and the dashingly cash-strapped bachelor, Richard Follywit, in pursuit of quick cash and a good time has to live on his wits…

Turning con-man to fool his rich uncle, he variously becomes a lord, a high class call girl, and – God forbid – a poor actor. But a beautiful Soho tart is also on the scam: a whore to some, a religious instructor to others, and a debutante in need of an eligible bachelor to yet more…

Sean Foley and Phil Porter’s edited version of Middleton’s play is faithful to the original text but adapts it to fit the seedy world of 1950s Soho, updating character names and including songs of the time to enhance the biting satire of lust and deception in the life of Bohemian London.
This version of the play is edited by Sean Foley and Phil Porter, with design by Alice Power and sound and music by Ben and Max Ringham.