On Stage with Pete Price: Shirley Valentine, Blood Brothers, Red or Dead and more from Liverpool’s theatres

Each month Liverpool legend Pete Price lifts the curtain and takes you into the spotlight of Liverpool’s best theatres.

Not only will he look at the shows on right now that you should see, he’ll look ahead to let you know what’s coming while also re-living some of his – and the city’s – favourite moments on stage from years gone by. 

Pete’s never short of an anecdote or an opinion, so here are the shows and stars that have got him talking in March …

What I’ve seen recently

If I say Now That’s What I Call A Musical at the Empire is the most frustrating show to watch, it’s not a criticism – it’s because you’re sitting down when you really just want to dance! It’s all about the class of ‘89 getting back together and what’s happened to them. Sonia was fabulous although I’d have liked to have seen more of her, I had no idea Nina Wadia, who’s such a good actress, could sing like that and what a powerful voice Sam Bailey’s got. It felt like a story everybody could relate to and I thought it was tremendous. 

I did the Peaceful Hour on Radio City for 40 years and I recorded my part for this play at the Royal Court so I was dying to see how it worked. The central character loves the Peaceful Hour, she’s a fan, so it’s on throughout. It does feel a bit strange to be in a show and also in the audience but it’s very flattering and I believe it’s done phenomenally well. It’s obviously special to Liverpool audiences because The Peaceful Hour was so well-loved but it’s a love story so you could take it anywhere and I hope they do.

What’s coming up

Blood Brothers is returning to Liverpool Empire this week as the theatre celebrates its 100th anniversary. This is the show that just keeps on giving and it really does get more and more powerful each time you see it. It’s the first of two shows coming to the Empire stage as part of its centenary year, with Boys From The Blakstuff here next week. Where would this city’s theatre scene be without the Liverpool Empire – happy anniversary all.

Book tickets for Blood Brothers here.

Red or Dead, the story of Bill Shankly, is coming to the Royal Court from March 21 and I saw the rehearsals and couldn’t believe how good it was. It’s got a huge cast, there’s a choir on stage, so it’s going to be a very interesting piece of theatre. Shankly’s are ginormous shoes to fill but I think Peter’s going to be incredible.  

Book tickets for Red or Dead here.

War Horse at the Empire is one to look out for next month. I’ve seen it four times and it takes my breath away. I interviewed Joey the horse the last time he was in Liverpool and spoke to the puppeteers. I said ‘guys, it must be amazing to be in this horse’ and there was silence. The guy holding the reins said, ‘when they’re in that horse, they’re Joey, you’re interviewing the horse not them.’ I made sure I asked the rest of the questions to Joey!

Book tickets for War Horse here.

Sharing the spotlight

The reviews for Shirley Valentine have been amazing – what a fantastic 60^th birthday present to Liverpool from the Everyman. I first met director Stephen Fletcher when he came in last minute to the panto with Cilla in 2008 as the Prince. He’s directing this with Helen Carter as Shirley and they’re best mates so you can feel the magic between them. This is the second Shirley Valentine I’ve seen, as well as the film of course, and I think Helen could absolutely give Julie Walters a run for her money. 

The showdown

I need to have a rant … how much longer do we have to put up with people opening sweet wrappers as soon as a show starts? It’s dreadful and they make no effort to do it quietly even. I actually stood up in the interval of one performance and said, ‘excuse me sir, on behalf of everybody in this audience, will you open your sweets now for the second half’ and everybody applauded. I took my hearing aids out the other week because it was so horrendous – I had no idea what they were saying on stage but there was no point anyway because I couldn’t hear a thing for all the rustling!

Get the latest theatre news for Liverpool HERE.