THE countdown is well and truly on for St David’s Day on March 1 and a long weekend of annual celebration concerts.
This time around, we are going to face plenty of choices as there are three west Wales concerts on the schedule at Carmarthenshire Theatres, Theatrau Sir Gar.
A spokesman for Theatrau Sir Gar said: “We’re thrilled to be hosting a St David’s Celebration Concert in each of our three venues in 2024.
“These special events are presented in partnership with Loud Applause Productions and will feature a hand-picked selection of talented Welsh performers.”
First up on the calendar will be the St David’s Celebration Concert at ‘Glowyr’ (The Miners’ Theatre) in Ammanford.
At The Miners’, the evening will brim with musical talent. You’ll be able to enjoy performances from Steffan Hughes, renowned singer and manager of the ‘Welsh from the West End’ collective and Eifion Thomas’s male voice choir from Llanelli, Meibion Elli.
The evening will also feature popular local choir Parti Merched Ysgol Dyffryn Amman.
The evening will be hosted bilingually by the very talented Heddyr Gregory.
The concert is on February 29 (7pm) and tickets are available at £14.50 and £12.50.
Steffan Hughes is a singer and presenter from north Wales. He has performed for the likes of HRH Prince William, Shirley Bassey and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and shared the stage with performers including Paloma Faith, Katherine Jenkins and Russell Watson in iconic venues such as the Wales Millennium Centre, Bridgwater Hall, Cadogan Hall and Sage Gateshead.
He is a member of the Classical Brit Award-winning group Only Men Aloud and has enjoyed performing on several UK Tours, half-time performances at the Principality Stadium during the Six Nations as well as TV performances on This Morning and BBC’s Children in Need.
In 2018, he released his second solo album titled ‘Steffan’ which was featured as album-of-the-week on BBC Radio Wales. He performs regularly on the Welsh language channel S4C and presents his own radio show titled Sioeau Cerdd Steffan (Steffan’s Musicals) on BBC Radio Cymru.
Steffan is the creator of ‘Welsh of the West End’, which became an online viral sensation during lockdown, gaining more than 18 million views and 250,000 likes, entertaining audiences with their show-stopping versions of musical theatre classics.
‘Welsh of the West End’ have performed at iconic venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and the London Palladium, and wowed audiences internationally by reaching the live semi-finals of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent.
March 1, St David’s Day, will see the patron saint celebrations switch to The Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen.
The stage will be dominated by the multi-award-winning Côr Meibion Pontarddulais Male Choir, under the baton of Clive Phillips.
The evening will be hosted bilingually by broadcaster and journalist Garry Owen and will also feature performances from international harpist Dylan Cernyw and a local young choir, soon to be announced.
The March 1 concert kicks off at 7pm and tickets are £18.50 and £16.50. There is a discount price of £15.50 for a Group of 10-plus.
The following day, March 2, the focus switches to Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli.
Top of the bill at Ffwrnes will be popular Welsh tenor Trystan Llŷr Griffiths.
He will be joined on stage by Morriston RFC Male Choir (Côr Rygbi Treforus) and Côr Lleisiau’r Cwm.
The evening will also feature the talented pupils of Ysgol Yr Hendy and will be hosted bilingually by Garry Owen.
The concert starts at 7pm and the ticket prices are the same as for The Lyric concert.
Tickets for the St David’s Day concerts are available from Carmarthenshire Theatres, Theatrau Sir Gar, or from the website at – https://www.theatrausirgar.co.uk/
Meanwhile, Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli has been picked as a venue for a touring production of Verdi’s Macbeth.
One of Shakespeare’s greatest plays is also one of Verdi’s greatest operas.
Mid Wales Opera is staging its first-ever production of Macbeth as the culmination of its Shakespeare Season.
You will be able to experience a gripping tale of power, manipulation and tragic descent as Macbeth, a valiant general, succumbs to his wife’s persuasion, leading to a ruthless quest for the Scottish throne.
Verdi’s magnificent score, with its sweeping melodies and intricate harmonies, propels the psychologically thrilling narrative, while Act 4 introduces a modern twist with the haunting chorus of refugees.
The opera will be sung in English. The Mid Wales Opera company will be accompanied by Ensemble Cymru and a large cast will be supplemented by community choruses.
The opera will be staged at Ffwrnes on March 19. Tickets are £20 and £18.
Macbeth will feature Welsh Soprano Mari Wyn Williams and Canadian-born Jean-Kristof Bouton.
In other news, a Llanelli-based company called Scarlet Musical Theatre Productions will be making a much-anticipated debut this week.
The classic coming-of-age rock musical Spring Awakening will be the first full-scale production for Scarlet Musical Theatre.
The show is being staged at Stiwdio Stepni at Ffwrnes Theatre in Llanelli on February 22 and 23.
With music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater, Spring Awakening is based on the controversial 1891 German play by Frank Wedekind.
Spring Awakening contains partial nudity and sexual content, as well as explicit language. It is recommended for an audience of 16 and over.
Tickets for the February performances in the intimate Stidwio Stepney space are £12.
In March, a brand new musical, produced by National Theatre Wales, is coming to Llanelli.
Feral Monster is described as a ‘banging new musical about an unremarkable teenager’.
It will be staged at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, on Wednesday, March 13 (7pm).
Feral Monster is written by Bethan Marlow and directed by Izzy Rabey, with music by Nicola T Chang.
The cast features Lily Beau, Carys Eleri, Geraint Rhys Edwards, Rebecca Hayes, Nathaniel Leacock and Leila Navabi.
Tickets are available from Carmarthenshire Theatres, Theatrau Sir Gar.
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