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We’ve teamed up with the Ouseburn Heritage Group to give Culture Club members the chance to visit the Victoria Tunnel. This fascinating structure is just one of the many notable engineering achievements brought about by the development of the region’s coal industry but its unique features make it stand out from the crowd.
The tunnel was surveyed and built as an underground waggonway running for two miles beneath the major urban metropolis of Newcastle. Now only accessible in short stretches, the Tunnel can be entered via Ouse Street in the Lower Ouseburn Valley. Standing today in the Victoria Tunnel with its derelict 1940’s blast walls, it is amazing to think that the brickwork lining this narrow tunnel is over 160 years old. In 1835, Messrs Porter and Latimer began to extract coal from the Leazes Main Colliery near Spital Tongues. They faced the problem of getting the coal to the river Tyne, from where it could be exported to London and other emerging markets. The ideal solution would have been an overland waggonway, but Newcastle’s municipal leaders objected to the disturbance that this would cause, thereby forcing the colliery owners to embark upon this alternative solution.
Construction began on June 27th 1839, and took until January 1842 to complete. It was 2 miles long and 85 feet below the ground at its deepest point. It descended 222 feet from the colliery to the Tyne, and waggons of coal descended under gravity before being wound up again empty. The closure of the Leazes Main Colliery in January 1860 meant that the Victoria Tunnel had a working life of just eighteen years. Although sections were converted for use as air raid shelters in 1939, they were not fully used and only seven entrances were ever built, of which Ouse Street is one.
The Tunnel is widely recognised as one of the most important structures to survive from the early Victorian coal industry and this fascinating tour outlines the valley’s extraordinary heritage.
The public can visit the tunnel by appointment only but thanks to the help and co-operation of the Ouseburn Heritage Group we have arranged two exclusive tours for Culture Club members on Saturday March 25 at 9.30am and 11.30am. We have 12 places available for each time slot.
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Enter the golden years of Las Vegas, when THE KINGS OF SWING make a long awaited return to the Sunderland Empire for one night only on Monday 27 March and Culture Club members can see this extravaganza of a show with a dazzling 2 for 1 offer!
Featuring the 15 piece Nelson Riddle Tribute Orchestra, THE KINGS OF SWING recreates a musical era when everyone fell in love to songs like ‘Come Fly With Me’, ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’, ‘Mack the Knife’, ‘Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime’ and ‘That’s Amore’ to name but a few.
With over 2 hours of 'swinging classics' including numbers by Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald and many more, THE KINGS OF SWING have the looks, sounds, charm and style guaranteed to entertain you with all the swinging hit classics from an era when Swing was King!!
Culture Club members can get 2 for 1 tickets (£17.50 & £16.50) to the KINGS OF SWING on Monday 27 March.
Don’t miss out on this journey back to the intimacy of the golden years.
We've teamed up with Whitley Bay Playhouse to offer Culture Club members the chance to get 2 tickets for the price of 1 for the spectacular Paris Can Can - for one night only!
From the city of the ruffled petticoat and black stockings comes a show with true French flavour. The Park Avenue Theatrical Group of New York, teamed with some of the most creative and prestigious of Parisian showmen, transports audiences to the exuberant and magical world of a 19th century French Music Hall, with a unique contemporary edge.
Drawing on over one hundred years of tradition, this spectacular new joie de vivre encompasses the elegance, excitement and unique energies of the Parisian nightlife scenes of old, that brought to stage world-renowned shows such as Moulin Rouge, Lido and Follies Bergere.
Inspired by the streets and personalities of Paris and the music of Offenbach, the colourful world of Toulouse-Lautrac is recreated as the setting of this lavish musical adventure. Acclaimed French Can Can dancers perform breathtaking award-winning choreography, interspersed with awe-inspiring aerialist displays, acrobatics, juggling, ballroom dancing and song.
Elaborate costumes and scenery, combined with a talented seventeen-strong company of performers, make for a high-stepping extravaganza with a French accent, painting a loving portrait of the romantic era of burlesque entertainment.
For further details visit Paris Can Can's website at www.pariscancan.com
Tickets are £16 but Culture Club members can claim 2 tickets for the price of 1 by calling 0191 252 3505 and quoting Culture Club offer. You must show your Culture Club card when collecting tickets from the Box Office. Ticket offer is subject to availability.
For details on the venue please visit www.whitleybayplayhouse.co.uk
Following the popularity of the Swan Lake competition we ran in October we are delighted to be able to give 3 lucky Culture Club members the chance to win a pair of tickets to see the Moscow Ballet - La Classique perform Coppélia at The Journal Tyne Theatre.
Coppélia, whose true identity is revealed by the ballet’s subtitle – The girl with Enamel Eyes – is a love story infused with charm and comedy. There’s an eccentric old toymaker, Doctor Coppélius, the feisty Swanilda, her fiancé Franz and the amazingly life-like doll, Coppélia, together with a supporting cast of youthful, mischievous characters.
This delightful production of the much-loved Coppélia captures the imagination with the passion, humour and magic of the ballet.
World-renowned soloists Evguenia Novikova, Nataliya Lazebnikov, Vladislav Ivanov, Andrey Lyapin, Vladimir Novikov and Denis Pivovarov, lead the Moscow Ballet Company under the direction of Elman Melikov.
The show will run on Monday March 27 and Tuesday March 28, 2006. Tickets cost £15, £17 and £19.50 each and are available by visiting www.thejournaltynetheatre.co.uk or by calling 0870 145 1200
Ellen Kent & Opera International are coming to the Sunderland Empire Theatre from March 28 – April 1, 2006 with two great masterpieces of the 19th century - Puccini’s powerful love story ‘La Bohème’ with the famous aria ‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’ and Verdi’s Masterpiece ‘Rigoletto’, starring Isla the golden Eagle.
This week we are offering Culture Club members the chance to purchase tickets at a special discounted rate for the opening night of La Bohème on Tuesday 28th March at the Sunderland Empire. Members can purchase two tickets for the price of one for this performance with our great offer.
La Bohème is one of the most romantic operas ever written. This is a classic tale of Parisian love and loss, boasting many famous arias including Your Tiny Hand is Frozen, They Call Me Mimi, and Muzetta’s Waltz. The set reflects the Bohemian art of the late 19th Century, with a stunning Cubist design backdrop and costumes by one of Russia’s leading designers Alexandr Krivoshein who has worked at the Bolshoi and Kirov. The carnival scene will include dancers and street entertainers providing fantastic colour and recreating the romantic atmosphere of this Parisian love story.
La Bohème includes local school children from the Hartlepool and Darlington Stagecoach Theatre Arts School as extras in the performance taking part in the street scenes set in the Parisian lanes. Ellen Kent always encourages local children to get involved in the arts and invites them to become part of her productions where ever she tours in the U.K.
The Ukrainian National Opera of Odessa in collaboration with the Chisinau National Opera offer some of the world’s leading talents to feature in this production. The cast includes the soprano Irina Vinogradova who stars in the lead role as Mimi, soprano Rosa Lee Thomas, who sang in Ellen Kent’s opera productions at the Royal Albert Hall and Maria Tsonina, the talented soloist who won the Vienna Opera House Young Opera Singer Competition. The international tenor Ruslan Zinevych, who performed with Pavarotti, will sing Rodolfo.
The opera is sung in Italian with English Subtitles. The cast is subject to change.
We've teamed up with the Lit & Phil to invite Culture Club members to attend a special event with author and literary critic, D.J. Taylor.
D.J. Taylor will be reading from his new novel ‘Kept: A Victorian Mystery’ and taking your questions on Monday March 20, 2006 at 7pm. The event will be held in the Lit & Phil Library located at 23 Westgate Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Madness, greed, love, obsession, Machiavellian plotting and a great train robbery….. Kept: A Victorian Mystery is a captivating story about the extreme and curious things men do to get - and keep - what they want.
D.J. Taylor is an author and literary critic, reviewing regularly for the Independent and the Sunday Times. Among his published works are the hugely influential and much debated ‘A Vain Conceit: British Fiction in the 1980s’, a biography of Thackeray, and ‘After the War: The Novel and England since 1945’. His previous novels include Great Northern Land and Real Life.
This is a great opportunity for book lovers to meet the fascinating D.J. Taylor. Don't miss out!
We have 20 places to give away.
Back in October we organised a walking event for Culture Club members and we were overwhelmed by the response. Thanks to the great feedback about the Kirkwhelpington walk we've decided to run another event with the same company - but this time we've changed location.
Jon Monks from Shepherds Walks will lead our Culture Club group on the Harbottle Crags Walk on Saturday March 18, 2006. It will begin at 10.30am at West Wood Car Park (Forest Enterprise car park). This car park is situated on the left-hand side at the far side of Harbottle Village, as you drive up the Coquet Valley (grid reference – NT 926049). The walk is 4.8 miles (7.78 km) with an estimated walking time of 3 hours.
This lovely walk explores the Harbottle Crags, a nature reserve managed by Northumberland Wildlife Trust. From the summit of the crags you are treated to some spectacular views of the quaint village of Harbottle situated down below.
After you descend through a wooded section you follow a track where again the views of the Cheviot Hills in the distance takes your breath away. You then return back in to the village following the ‘Border County Ride’, which takes in a restored Lime Kiln before dropping back down to the River Coquet with it’s abundance of wildlife.
The route is good under foot, but strong shoes are recommended. The walk is strictly limited to 20 places. Please note - Members should take a packed lunch, as you will be stopping on route.
Red Shift are set to storm Durham with their brand new adaptation of Ted Lewis’ 1970 cult classic, Get Carter on stage at the Gala Theatre from Monday 13 – Wednesday 15 March. A neatly plotted and superbly written revenge tragedy for the modern age; Get Carter is a shocking, provocative tale of sin and redemption set in the pool halls and brothels of northern England, which offers a darker, seedier take on the ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ era.
Jonathan Holloway’s unpredictable adaptation side-steps the famous movie, drawing directly on Ted Lewis' brilliantly plotted post-censorship pulp thriller novel. The show is underpinned by startling stage design and a punishing soundtrack featuring full-volume hits of the late 60’s and early 70’s - a total theatre experience!
Yorkshire barman Frank Carter is found dead following a suspicious road accident, leaving his only daughter Doreen alone and vulnerable. His estranged brother Jack, a London gangster, defies his infamous Godfather-type bosses and travels up north to hunt down Frank’s killers and lay some old ghosts to rest. Hell-bent on revenge, Jack sets in motion a grim chain of events involving a heroin overdose, razorblades and cold-blooded murder. Jack intends to hit and run, but by the end of the weekend, finds himself staring up into the barrel of his own gun.
Tickets for this show normally cost: Adults £10, Concessions £8, Friends and all tickets on Monday £7.50.
The Gala is offering tickets to Culture Club members for only £6 on any performance from 13 – 15 March at 7.30pm.
Ellen Kent & Opera International are coming to the Sunderland Empire Theatre from March 28 – April 1, 2006 with two great masterpieces of the 19th century - Puccini’s powerful love story ‘La Bohème’ with the famous aria ‘Your Tiny Hand is Frozen’ and Verdi’s Masterpiece ‘Rigoletto’, starring Isla the golden Eagle.
This week we are offering Culture Club members the chance to purchase tickets at a special discounted rate for the opening night of Rigoletto on Thursday 30th March at the Sunderland Empire. Members can purchase two tickets for the price of one for this performance with our great offer.
Rigoletto is a tale of a dissolute duke and a jester whose overwhelming love for his daughter leads to tragedy. Rigoletto will be starring a golden eagle called Isla with a seven-foot wingspan.
This spectacular magnificently-staged production is inspired by the tradition of Renaissance painting. Based on a play written by Victor Hugo it was originally called ‘The King Amuses Himself’, and was banned by censors due to its sexual content and political nature. Verdi turned the story into an opera, renamed it Rigoletto and recreated the setting as a licentious court.
The opera is sung in Italian with English Subtitles. The cast is subject to change.
This offer is open to Culture Club Members only and valid only on specified date. The offer is valid for the top three price brackets only (£31.00, £28.50, £25.00), should not to be used in conjunction with any other offer or discount and is subject to restrictions and availability. Please note that when booking through the box office by telephone a booking fee applies.
As part of the Newcastle Science Festival 2006, we are offering Culture Club members the chance to win one of the last pairs of tickets to the Theatre of Science and meet the stars of the show.
Dr. Simon Singh returns to the Newcastle Science Festival with Prof. Richard Wiseman in a jaw-dropping demonstration, which will see the acclaimed duo generate six-foot long bolts of electricity between two transformer coils.
As a finale to this spectacular 60-minute science show, one of the performers will put their life at risk as they enter a cage, which will absorb the full force of the potentially lethal million volt strikes. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
This is an opportunity not to be missed and is exclusive to Culture Club members. This prize is for the 3.30pm show on Sunday March 12, 2006. The Theatre of Science is free of charge, in conjunction with Newcastle Science Festival and is now sold out! Please note that this event is only suitable for age 14+.
The show is one hour long and can be seen at the Centre for Life on Sunday 12 March at 3.30pm.
Science Festival information and bookings Line 0191 243 8292 www.newcastlesciencefestival.co.uk
An Evening with Aled Jones and Friends will be appearing at the Journal Tyne Theatre on March 14 2006 for one night only and you could be there! We have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky Culture Club member and their guest.
The concert will feature material taken from his two gold selling albums “Aled” and “Higher”. It will also retain the very popular section “Ask Aled a Question” where the audience are invited to ask Aled a question of their choice.
Aled is known mainly for being a boy-star whose breath-taking performance of 'Walking InThe Air' helped make the Raymond Briggs cartoon 'The Snowman' an annual Christmas favourite. Aled has continued to perform and record classical and choral music at the highest levels.
His first album “Aled” released in September 2002 went straight to number 1 in the classical charts and into the top 20 pop charts selling in excess of 300,000 copies. His new album ‘Higher’ is once again a mix of classical and pop tunes.
Presenting a Sunday morning show for Classical FM and an arts programme for BBC One Wales Aled remains in the public eye and in 2004 took part in the popular BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing.
Tickets cost £21.50 each and are available by visiting www.thejournaltynetheatre.co.uk or by calling 0870 145 1200
AV Festival 06 is the UK's newest, and largest, international festival of digital arts, music, games, film and new media. It has over 90 events, in NewcastleGateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland between 2-12 March.
We've teamed up with Sponsors Club for Arts & Business and AV Festival 06 to invite 25 Culture Club members and their guests to an evening of exclusive exhibition openings in Sunderland on Tuesday 7 March.
AV Festival 06 have commissioned four international artists to produce works of art to be unveiled in Sunderland on this special evening:
The Autotelematic Spider Bots by Kenneth Rinaldo & Matt Howard Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens
March 8 - 19
A gaggle of uncanny and seemingly alive Spider Bots will live inside the museum, interacting with each other and visitors
autoinducer Ph-1 (cross cultural chemistry) by The Phumox Project: Andy Gracie & Brian Lee Yung Rowe
Northern Gallery For Contemporary Art
March 8 - April 13
A mesmerising water garden manipulated by artificially intelligent software systems.
Swell, by Anthony McCall
The Reg Vardy Gallery
March 7 - April 7
A fifty foot horizontal projection inspired by the North East's coastal landscape, drawing the visitor into a three dimensional envelope of solid light.
Wonderland by Claire Davies
National Glass Centre
Nightly 17.00 - 00.00, March 2 - April 30
A projection created from the artist's investigation into 'nano-vision' in which organic lines extend along the façade of the National Glass Centre.
This VIP invitation entitles you to entrance to all of the exhibitions on Tuesday March 7, 2006. The tour starts at 5.15pm at the Sunderland Winter Gardens with the opening of The Autotelematic Spider Bots by Ken Rinaldo & Matt Howard.
They look like spiders, see like bats, communicate like twittering birds and are programmed to interact and react with you. This awe-inspiring artificial life installation is a new revolutionary invention - and you get to see it first!
The tour will then continue to the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (between 6pm and 7pm) where you can enjoy the autoinducer Ph-1 (cross cultural chemistry), the most unusual garden you will ever experience. The 'garden' is made up of three pool systems manipulated by brand new artificial intelligence. As well as being aesthetically engaging the sheer theatricality of life unfolding and developing before your eyes inspires a sense of wonder.
From 7pm to 8pm the tour moves to the Reg Vardy Gallery for the opening of Swell by Antony McCall. Developed by one of Britain's most acclaimed visual artists, Swell is a fifty foot horizontal projection inspired by the North East coastal landscape. Situated at the meeting place of sculpture and cinema, this new work draws the visitor into a three-dimensional envelope of projected 'solid light'.
From here, the tour will move to the National Glass Centre for the launch of the outdoor projection 'Wonderland' by Claire Davies (8pm to 9pm). To end the night Culture Club members are invited for a party at the National Glass Centre with a world premiere of an audio visual performance by leading audio visual artists D-Fuse.
Complimentary refreshments will be served at each venue and there will be a festival bus to transport all guests in between each exhibition. Guests may join or leave the tour at any point along the way.
This unusual and unique event is strictly limited to 50 places.
From the team behind smash hit Rock 'n' Roll musicals The Roy Orbison Story, Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar, Laurie Mansfield and Bill Kenwright present the brand new musical This is Elvis.
We've teamed up with the Sunderland Empire to offer Culture Club members 2 for 1 tickets when This is Elvis is in the building on Monday 3 to Saturday 8 April.
It's 1968, the major musical event of the year is the first live TV special for Elvis Presley in what will come to be known as 'The '68 Comeback Special'. Drawing phenomenal ratings, this event re-establishes Elvis as the major entertainment star of the decade, and twelve months later Elvis stars at the International Hotel in Vegas, performing live for the first time in seven years, and securing his place in history as the King of Rock 'n' Roll!
Charting his momentous journey back to stardom, This is Elvis captures the story of a pivotal and challenging period of Elvis' life and career. The show features the TV special and his rehearsal sessions with new musicians, his disputes with Colonel Parker and increasing isolation from Priscilla and his triumphant return to the stage, the historic Las Vegas concert, which saw Elvis performing at the very height of his powers.
This is Elvis recreates all the drama leading up to the comeback as well as staging the monumental concert itself, and features Elvis' greatest ever hits, including: Heartbreak Hotel, Blue Suede Shoes, Hounddog, Love Me Tender, All Shook Up, Jailhouse Rock, Are You Lonesome Tonight? Suspicious Minds, and many more!
Culture Club members can get 2 for 1 on the top three ticket prices (£17.50, £19.50 and £24.50) for performances between Monday 3 - Thursday 6 April.
We may have said goodbye to January but those dark mornings and chilly winds seem to be hanging round for a bit longer. To try and combat those winter blues, we've teamed up with The Sponsors Club for Arts & Business to bring you the perfect tonic - we're inviting you to an evening of theatre at the Priory Theatre in Tynemouth on Saturday March 4, 2006.
The play we've chosen is entitled 'The Sexygenarians' - a lighthearted comedy about 3 single, ageing gentlemen and their romantic misadventures. Finding themselves with time on their hands and becoming intrigued by a newspaper article, Colin, Charles and Geordie decide to found an escort agency 'for the discerning woman'. Following a disastrous collective first date, the trio are shocked by the changes that have taken place since they were last single and they decide to change their gameplan - with hilarious consequences.
Priory Theatre, Tynemouth is located on Percy Street (tel 0191 257 5186).
The play is written by Peter Drake, directed by Gordon Russell and produced by Running Water Theatre. John Winter, Rachel Ramsay, Eddie Peacock and Gordon Mounsey play the parts of Charles, Maxine, Geordie and Colin respectively.
Runningwater Theatre was established in 2003 with the intention of supporting and developing the work of artists living in the North East. The aim of the group is to produce and perform accessible work for the theatre and other media. The first piece the company produced was The Prisoner’s Friend, which toured in the North East and Yorkshire, supported by a grant from The Arts Council, England. It then ran at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2004 to great acclaim.
The Culture Club sponsored evening is being held on Saturday March 4, 2006. The event is strictly limited to 100 places.
If you can’t make it to our event then you can still catch a performance. The play is touring the North East over the coming months.
March 2 at Priory Theatre, Tynemouth (tel: 0191 272 8401)
March 31 and April 1 at The Little Theatre, Gateshead (tel: 0191) 272 8401)
May 11 and 12 at Saville Exchange, North Sheilds (tel: 0191 252 3505)
June 16 at The Playhouse, Alnwick (tel: 01665 510785)
June 22 at The Town Hall, Bishop Auckland (tel: 01388 602610).
Tickets can be purchased by contacting each individual venue. Tickets cost £6 / £5 (adult / concession) at Tynemouth and Gateshead. Prices for other venues are to be confirmed.
Looking for an original gift to treat yourself? Stuck for a truly inspired present to ensure this Valentines is even more memorable than the last? Art Evolution has the solution, offering you access to over 80 artists producing work across painting, photography and sculpture. Whether you decide to buy via the online gallery, www.artevolution.co.uk, or commission a bespoke piece of artwork Art Evolution will provide advice and support along the way. With sale prices starting from a mere £35 and commissioning prices beginning at £75 the gallery dispels the myth that modern art is only affordable to a minority. Art Evolution isn't simply a gallery they are an art buyer's personal shopper. They will offer a helping hand to ensure you purchase the right work for the right space, provide advice on suitable framing and presentation of work and guide you through the commissioning process.
Art Evolution is offering Culture Club members an exclusive discount of 15% off the purchase or commissioning of artwork between 03/02/06 and 03/03/06.
 
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