TWO Carmarthenshire Theatres/Theatrau Sir Gar venues will be playing host to the popular Bronwen Lewis, who is bringing her ‘More from The Living Room’ tour to The Lyric in Carmarthen and Ffwrnes in Llanelli.

Following her hugely successful 2022 tour, Bronwen will be back, recreating the magic of her virtual gigs live on stage.

Bronwen will be performing a new selection of her favourite songs intertwined with endearing storytelling.

The multi-instrumentalist and Tik-Tok sensation showcases a varied repertoire including a new selection of her original songs.

The Welsh singer-songwriter has a wonderfully warm style that sits between Country, Pop, Folk and Blues. She is proudly bilingual and received international acclaim during her time on BBC’s The Voice when she brought Tom Jones to tears. Bronwen also starred in and sang the theme song ‘Bread and Roses’ in the BAFTA Award Winning film ‘Pride’.

The Lyric concert is on January 27. The Ffwrnes concert is on February 17.

In Ammanford, in February, The Miners’ Theatre will welcome the folk group called Pedair.

This week, the theatre announced the show was a sell-out.

Pedair draws on the talents of four of Wales’ most prominent folk artists –  Gwenan Gibbard, Gwyneth Glyn, Meinir Gwilym and Siân James.

As groundbreaking international artists, they thrive on collaboration and the thrill of live performance. With harps, guitars, piano and percussion, their music has captured the hearts of audiences with their sweeping vocal harmonies, fresh interpretations of the Welsh folk tradition, and intimacy of songwriting.

Their first recordings, having emerged during lockdown, gained instant popularity.

Having won the Welsh Album of the Year Award 2023 with their much-anticipated debut album, Pedair’s creative synergy is only beginning to reach its full potential.

The concert is on February 9.

Also in February, The Lyric will be playing host to the touring production of The Elvis Years.

Now in its 20th year, The Elvis Years, led by original West End lead Mario Kombou, will be on its biggest ever tour of the UK.

The stunning show takes the audience on a fantastic journey through all the years The King ruled the airwaves.

With a full cast of West End talent, a spectacular set, breath-taking lights and awesome video content, Mario and the band deliver more than 50 golden greats, charting the rise and rise of the boy from Tupelo – from the early hits That’s Alright Mama, Don’t Be Cruel and I Got Stung all the way through to the legendary Las Vegas concerts with In the Ghetto, The Wonder of You and of course Suspicious Minds.

With more than 12 costume changes, Mario brings the essence of Elvis to every song from every era – the Ed Sullivan Show featuring A Fool Such As I, the Frank Sinatra TV Special including It’s Now or Never, the Hollywood years with Return to Sender and Viva Las Vegas, and the legendary ’68 Comeback Special with If I Can Dream.

The Elvis Years will be at The Lyric on February 23.

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, whilst 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.

Carmarthen-based ladies choir A Choired Taste have resumed rehearsals during their 10^th anniversary year.

The choir is conducted by Sarah Kirby and has built up an excellent reputation throughout west Wales during the last 10 years.

The choristers are particularly proud of their fundraising work for local charities.

Future rehearsal dates are – (Mondays, 7-9pm) on January 29, February 5 and 19 and March 4 and 18.

A choir spokesman said: “It is our 10th year anniversary so there’s lots of exciting things to come this year. New members are always welcome, aged 15-plus.

“It’s a great way to meet friends, be involved in the community, start a new hobby, make you feel good.”

The choir rehearses in Christ Church Hall in Carmarthen.

If you want to find out more, email achoiredtaste2014@gmail.com

You can also check out the choir’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/achoiredtastecarms

A Llanelli-based company called Scarlet Musical Theatre Productions will be making a much-anticipated debut next month.

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, or from the website at – https://www.theatrausirgar.co.uk/

LET me be totally frank: I’m appalled, irritated, exasperated, wounded, infuriated, slightly tearful and a more than a little angry.

In short, I’m upset.

The lightning bolt news that Louis Rees-Zammit is quitting Rugby Union to try his hand at playing American Football came as a massive shock.

Why, oh, why didn’t he give me a ring to ask ‘my’ opinion before making such a bold move?

The 22-year-old will be getting on a plane to Miami, Florida, today, without getting the benefit of my massive sporting knowledge.

I’m gutted.

He’s missing out on my personal experience of American Football – and I’m also miffed because I felt we had started to build a close connection.

Let me explain . . .

Have you ever heard of the theory of six degrees of separation?

It’s simple really. The theory says that we are all linked by chains of acquaintance . . . and we are just six introductions away from any other person on the planet!

In short, I am less than half a dozen handshakes away from Vladimir Putin – should I want to shake the naughty scamp’s hand.

With LRZ, I’ve come very close to shaking his hand.

My son occupied the apartment above LRZ’s in Cardiff.

One evening, LRZ’s takeaway meal was delivered to Lloyd Junior’s door rather than the rugby star’s apartment.

Possible legal action prevents me from disclosing whether the takeaway was consumed ‘on site’ or re-delivered to the correct address.

Doubtless, there are people out there who will reject the six degrees of separation theory, saying that it is impossible in a world of nearly eight billion people.

But evidence gathered by computing giants Microsoft (some 15 years ago, in fact) suggests that it is true.

And, of course, anyone who has played the parlour game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon will know it to be true.

As an aside, the actor Kevin Bacon actually thought the six degrees craze would die out, but when it didn’t he launched a website, sixdegrees.org, bringing together people interested in helping good causes.

But . . I digress . . . the six degrees thing isn’t my main bone of contention with LRZ.

Of much more importance is the fact that LRZ has missed the opportunity to access my knowledge of American Football.

More than 40 years ago I was part of the revolution which brought American Football from its native United States of America to Britain

Indeed, back in the 1980s, at 5’6’ and 10 stone six pounds, I took the field of play as a triallist for the Swansea Dragons American Football team.

At the time, the words rushing, red zone, sack, offensive line, incompletion, drive and end zone meant nothing to me.

The lexicon of American Football could have been written in Hungarian, such was my level of comprehension of the sport.

But all that was to change when my then sports editor, a man with a wicked sense of humour, called me aside one afternoon.

“You play rugby, don’t you? American Football’s roughly the same thing. Get up to Morfa and write 2,000 words by Thursday.”

True, I played rugby (frequently and usually badly) for Nantgaredig RFC in the Towy Valley.

But, I had a suspicion (probably soundly based on fact) that American Football was an entirely different thing.

The Swansea Dragons were based at the old Morfa Stadium, across the river from where the Swansea.com stadium now stands.

My knowledge of the game was not extensive, but I did, at the very least, count an American Football player as a friend.

Albie Evans (now, sadly, no longer with us) was a former New Dock Stars and Llanelli Wanderers rugby union player who had, remarkably, found himself with the New England Patriots in Boston in 1971.

The genesis of this particular Albie adventure lay in a stunt pulled by a Boston

radio station, who staged a ‘Superfoot’ competition in the UK to find the very best goal-kickers.

Albie was one of the winners and found himself on a plane to the USA. He returned with stories galore.

Probably the most important and relevant story was the one which explained that a career as a goalkicker in American Football was less likely (than any other on-field position) to end in serious injury.

The dangers of playing American Football had been flagged up to me before the Swansea trial.

I studied the names of famous American Football players of the time. There was a man called John Riggins – a player nicknamed The Diesel for the comparison to a runaway train. And, of course, there was William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

Neither were on the field the night I trialled at Morfa Stadium – but there were a few lookalikes.

They were helpful in the kit room, where the ‘armour’ of the day represented a bigger challenge than assembling an IKEA desk without an allen key.

The helmet itself was a two-man job. Basically, it was a case of placing the helmet on your head and then getting someone with a bicycle pump to inflate the bladder inside to the point where your head felt like it was going to explode.

My trial instructions were simple: ‘You’re a wide receiver.’

The words cheered me a little as the word ‘wide’ suggested I would be well away from any trouble.

The one thing no-one explained to me is that when you are ‘contained’ within all the so-called ‘safety gear’ you can’t actually see a lot. Your peripheral vision is drastically reduced.

In rugby, when you see the tackle coming you can brace for impact. In American Football, you don’t always see the express train coming down the track.

My trial lasted nine seconds.

I spent the rest of the trial session on the physiotherapist’s treatment table and was promptly carted off to A&E at Morriston Hospital for X-rays. I ‘escaped’ with a badly twisted and bruised ankle.

More than 40 years later, I am still mentally scarred by the experience.

But I still think it’s sad LRZ is departing today without getting some first-hand American Football knowledge from yours truly.

I’m less annoyed than I was when I started writing this column, so (on behalf of most sports fans) I’d like to wish LRZ ‘pob lwc’ in Florida. I think he’ll need it.

LESS NEWS WOULD BE GOOD NEWS

Breaking news!

I’m joking!

I just wanted to grab your attention . . .  like rolling TV news presenters do when the male and female duo (was that format hammered out through an act of Parliament?) become as bored with noodling around with a news story as viewers are of listening to it.

First, the presenters selflessly give you their thoughts on a news story, then bring in an expert to give their six penn’orth, then, in the interest of ‘balance’, bring in someone with an opposing view. And on it goes . . .

Before those of you who ‘Work’ (forgive my loud sniggering!) from home know it, breakfast TV has finished and it’s time for ‘Elevenses’!

Aware they’ve probably sent viewers who aren’t (‘Cough’!)‘Working’ from home into a glassy-eyed zombie state, the presenters suddenly announce, “We have breaking news!”

This causes non-home workers to pay attention and ‘home workers’ to drop their digestive biscuit into their third mug of coffee of the morning, splashing supermarket-brand Latte down the front of their dressing gowns.

Yes, there are occasions when that ‘Breaking News’ is important.

But nine times out of 10, it’s not.

Stories about court cases involving reality TV ‘celebs’ or which football players have been dropped from Saturday’s match trivialise the intended impact of ‘Breaking News’.

The early evening news on BBC TV and ITV, including UK news, World news, sport and the weather is done and dusted in 30 minutes. That’s pretty much how it’s been for decades.

Look through old editions of the Radio Times and you’ll see some teatime news bulletins only lasted 15 minutes, as did regional news.

People also got their news from their papers and the radio – just as we are today.

Nobody thought, “I’m not well-informed enough. Gimme news 24 hours a day!”

I realise it’s much too late now, but I question the need for several TV news channels and wouldn’t miss them if they were all taken off the air so we didn’t have to hear the self-important views of presenters and pundits.

Because I’m old enough to remember when newsreaders just read the news.

——————————-

TAKING STEPS TO GET FIT

Last autumn, a friend of mine who (shall we say *****) was “a little overweight” and told me he’d decided to do something about it.

His timing wasn’t perfect as we were enjoying a meal of chicken tikka masala, onion bhajis, poppadoms and garlic naans.

It was the weirdest Italian restaurant I’ve ever eaten in.

Rather than take out a gym membership or sign-up for the London Marathon he was going to follow the World Health Organisation’s recommendation of walking 10,000 steps a day.

Last week, I saw him strolling along Fabian Way, Swansea, and it was obvious he’d put on weight rather than lost any, so I decided to attract his attention in my usual subtle, diplomatic manner.

“Oi! Chubster!” I shouted – and, fair dos, his head spun around in my direction.

I couldn’t shake his right hand as it was gripped around a half-eaten Greggs pastie – and my right hand contained a half-eaten Greggs sausage roll.

I said, “I thought you were going to walk 10,000 steps a day?” as l brushed little flakes of pastry from my chin.

He explained, “I intended to. But I couldn’t find one building in this city with 10,000 steps to walk up and down.”

Which sort of made sense…

I did some research into this ‘10,000 steps a day’ idea to see if it was another number randomly picked out of the air like the ‘Five pieces of fruit a day’ advice of a few years back.

It started in 1964 when the Kyushu University Of Health And Welfare in Japan discovered that by walking 10,000 steps a day, a person could walk off 20% of their daily calorie intake.

So…if we took 50,000 steps a day we could walk off 100% of our daily calorie intake.

Trouble is, if we walked 50,000 steps every day, at the end of the first week we’d end up in Hereford.

I wonder if there’s a Greggs there?

THERE’S been a warm welcome in Llanelli for the return of a singing group tailored specifically for people with dementia, their friends and families.

The Welsh National Opera’s Cradle Choir initiative was launched at Ffwrnes Theatre, Llanelli, last year.

It has now returned to action after the festive break, with the first session held yesterday (Tuesday).

Future sessions are on Tuesdays for the next six weeks.

Welsh National Opera (WNO) is partnering with Carmarthenshire Theatres (Theatrau Sir Gar) and Ffwrnes for the project.

The Cradle Choir initiative expands on existing choirs in Milford Haven and Llandeilo.

WNO Cradle Choirs are for people living with dementia, their friends and families and aim to provide fun, inclusive sessions where daily challenges and cares can be left at the door and connections made and enabled through the joy of community singing.

Cradle Choirs have proved to be significant hubs for social connection within the community. They encourage participants to step out of their typical daily routine with a dose of singing.

The Cradle Choir project is part of the wider WNO Cradle scheme which seeks to raise awareness of the disease within schoolchildren, through a variety of workshops.

Sessions in Llanelli are led by David Fortey (Cradle Choir Vocal Leader) and pianist Mark Jones, who will incorporate a wide range of music from stage and screen to folk songs and popular music.

After the sessions, there are refreshments and an opportunity to socialise with other members of the choir.

WNO Producer Jennifer Hill said: “Members of our existing choirs in Milford Haven and Llandeilo tell us how much they value the companionship and fun they have singing together on a weekly basis and so being able to further extend the reach to another area and a more urban setting is very exciting.

“We’ve been very lucky to have support on the ground from fantastic people and organisations who are embedded in their communities and hope to be able to add to their amazing work.”

If you would like to find out more about the Cradle Project or are interested in joining one of the choirs, please contact Jennifer Hill at jennifer.hill@wno.org.uk

Sessions in Llanelli are at 2pm on the following dates – January 23 and 30, February 6, 13, 20 and 27.

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, whilst 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.

Meanwhile, Carmarthen-based ladies choir A Choired Taste have resumed rehearsals during their 10^thanniversary year.

The choir is conducted by Sarah Kirby and has built up an excellent reputation throughout west Wales during the last 10 years.

The choristers are particularly proud of their fundraising work for local charities.

Fortnightly rehearsals started this week. Future rehearsal dates are – Mondays, 7-9pm) on January 29, February 5 and 19 and March 4 and 18.

A choir spokesman said: “It is our 10th year anniversary so there’s lots of exciting things to come this year. New members are always welcome, aged 15-plus.

“It’s a great way to meet friends, be involved in the community, start a new hobby, make you feel good.”

The choir rehearses in Christ Church Hall in Carmarthen.

If you want to find out more, email achoiredtaste2014@gmail.com

You can also check out the choir’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/achoiredtastecarms

In other news, a Llanelli-based company called Scarlet Musical Theatre Productions will be making a much-anticipated debut next month.

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, or from the website at – https://www.theatrausirgar.co.uk/

“THE trouble with kids* today, eh?”

How often do we hear people tut-tutting and complaining about the younger generation?

Quite often, I guess, when you see random ‘feral’ gangs hanging around street corners.

But it is worth reminding ourselves that the vapers and alcopop-swiggers are a minority.

Most children today are polite, respectful and a credit to their parents and schoolteachers.

There was ample evidence of this fact at a public speaking competition held in Llanelli this week.

Children, as young as 12 and no older than 16, took part in the annual Rotary Youth Speaks competition.

The competition starts with club-level heats, building up to area, district and then national finals.

The competitors in the Llanelli Rotary Club competition were bidding to take the first steps in following the example set by three pupils from Carmarthen’s QE High School, who won the national final last year.

Violet Lloyd, Anna Duffy and Holly Whittal-Williams were the Senior team winners in the final of the Rotary Great Britain and Ireland Youth Speaks Competition, which took place in Rugby, Warwickshire.

In the main hall of Llanelli’s St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School on Tuesday night, the opening debates in the club-level competition tackled some thought-provoking subjects.

Is Net Zero a curse?

Is space exploration a worthy investment?

Is homework an unnecessary burden on today’s youth?

Should we try and actively limit the population of the planet?

They were topics which would leave some seasoned politicians struggling, but the youngsters debated the pros and cons of the subjects in timed 15-minute sessions.

In some cases, the pupils gave their arguments For and Against without any notes – and with little sign of public speaking nerves.

And, if that wasn’t enough of a test, they had to field a random ‘audience question’, thinking on their feet to deliver a response.

At the age of 12, I could barely deliver a coherent thought at the family dinner table, let alone to a large audience.

So, like many others in the audience at St John Lloyd School, I was filled with admiration for the way the youngsters conducted themselves.

In an age when some people are quick to condemn youngsters for being products of the Playstation and iPhone Age, it was a tonic to see how the pupils had researched their arguments, carefully tip-toeing around the traps of ‘Fake News’ to produce sensible opinions around their chosen subjects.

The ambition of the Rotary competition is to help pupils build self-confidence and develop public speaking skills.

On the evidence of Tuesday evening, that’s two ticks in the success column.

There’s also a third tick as the youngsters taught this old hack a few tricks about public speaking!

* I had to wrestle long and hard about the use of the word kids in the opening sentence of this column. As a young ‘indentured’ trainee/cub reporter, I was always instructed to avoid the word.

“Kids,” my first editor always shouted at me, “are young goats, boy, not children! On this newspaper, we use the word children, not kids!”

———————————————————————-

THE departure of the great JPR Williams from the field of play came as a shock to all who loved and admired the ‘hard as nails’ Welsh rugby full-back.

There are those of us who grew up as teenagers in the 1970s, looking up to JPR and the great Welsh Grand Slam players as sporting idols.

For many years, JPR kept a holiday caravan at Hillend next to Llangennith Beach, Gower.

The sight of JPR chilling out with a relaxing jog along the beach was one which stirred the memory banks, conjuring up flashback images of the No15 in his pomp – flowing hair, sideburns and rolled down socks, bursting through defences and then chasing back in time to deliver bone-crunching tackles.

In your head, of course, all those JPR memories are accompanied by the soundtrack of a commentary by the great Bill McLaren.

Those were the days, eh? Rugby’s golden age.

In the JPR hit parade, who could forget that steam train shoulder charge of French wing Jean-François Gourdon in 1976?

Who could say they weren’t left furious by the incident which left JPR looking like ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ after being stamped on by a New Zealand prop while playing for Bridgend against the All Blacks in 1978?

And who is ever likely to forget the two brilliant tries he scored against England in 1976?

In 1972, in the epic 35-12 defeat of Scotland in Cardiff, JPR was forced to leave the field with a fractured jaw.

A friend, who shared a birthday with JPR, swears that after the match a ‘repaired’ full-back turned up for post-match drinks at The Angel Hotel in Cardiff. I, for one, will happily believe that story.

As a full-back, JPR was . . . well . . .simply colossal.

That he should be taken from us by something as random as bacterial meningitis (annual incidence in the UK being 1 in 100,000) is particularly cruel.

It is, however, a sharp reminder that the Grim Reaper stalks us all.

RIP JPR.

A NEW Llanelli-based company called Scarlet Musical Theatre Productions will be making a much-anticipated debut next month.

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.

Set in 19th-century Germany, the musical tells the story of teenagers discovering the inner and outer tumult of adolescent sexuality.

The original play was written sometime between autumn 1890 and spring 1891, but did not receive its first performance until 1906, when it premiered at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin under the direction of Max Reinhardt.

The play criticises perceived problems in the sexually-oppressive culture of 19th century Germany and offers a vivid dramatisation of the erotic fantasies that can breed in such an environment. Because of its controversial subject matter, the play has often been banned or censored.

In the musical version, alternative rock is employed alongside traditional folk music to give added impact to a powerful story.

The original Broadway production of the musical of Spring Awakening opened at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 2006.

The production won eight Tony Awards, including Tonys for Best Musical, Direction, Book, Score and Featured Actor.

The show was revived in 2015 on Broadway and garnered three furtherTony Award nominations, among other honours.

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.

Meanwhile, 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.

The promotional blurb for the production sets the scene . . .

‘Expelled from school and not even able to get a job at the chippy, Jax (she/they/whatever) is a cocky, loveable teen living with her Nan in a tiny, boring village.

‘When Jax meets Ffion, with her smart talk and loud looks, sparks fly.

‘Queer teenage lust brings together this unlikely match in all its messy, clumsy and awesome glory.

‘Feral Monster follows Jax and her noisy, opinionated brain as they navigate love, identity, class and family.

‘Mashing up grime, Rhythm and Blues, soul, pop and rap, the soundtrack moves from the high highs to low lows of the hormonal rollercoaster of adolescence.’

Feral Monster is supported by the Performing Right Society (PRS) Foundation’s Open Fund and John Ellerman Foundation, as part of National Theatre Wales’s Dramaturg programme.

Tickets are available from Carmarthenshire Theatres, Theatrau Sir Gar, or from the website at – https://www.theatrausirgar.co.uk/

In January and February, two Carmarthenshire Theatres venues will be playing host to the popular Bronwen Lewis, who is bringing her ‘More from The Living Room’ tour to The Lyric in Carmarthen and Ffwrnes in Llanelli.

Following her hugely successful 2022 tour, Bronwen will be back, recreating the magic of her virtual gigs live on stage.

Bronwen will be performing a new selection of her favourite songs intertwined with endearing storytelling.

The multi-instrumentalist and Tik-Tok sensation showcases a varied repertoire including a new selection of her original songs.

The Welsh singer-songwriter has a wonderfully warm style that sits between Country, Pop, Folk and Blues. She is proudly bilingual and received international acclaim during her time on BBC’s The Voice when she brought Tom Jones to tears. Bronwen also starred in and sang the theme song ‘Bread and Roses’ in the BAFTA Award Winning film ‘Pride’.

The Lyric concert is on January 27. The Ffwrnes concert is on February 17.

In February, The Lyric will be playing host to the touring production of The Elvis Years.

Now in its 20th year, The Elvis Years, led by original West End lead Mario Kombou, will be on its biggest ever tour of the UK.

The stunning show takes the audience on a fantastic journey through all the years The King ruled the airwaves.

With a full cast of West End talent, a spectacular set, breath-taking lights and awesome video content, Mario and the band deliver more than 50 golden greats, charting the rise and rise of the boy from Tupelo – from the early hits That’s Alright Mama, Don’t Be Cruel and I Got Stung all the way through to the legendary Las Vegas concerts with In the Ghetto, The Wonder of You and of course Suspicious Minds.

With more than 12 costume changes, Mario brings the essence of Elvis to every song from every era – the Ed Sullivan Show featuring A Fool Such As I, the Frank Sinatra TV Special including It’s Now or Never, the Hollywood years with Return to Sender and Viva Las Vegas, and the legendary ’68 Comeback Special with If I Can Dream.

The Elvis Years will be at The Lyric on February 23.