Commitments for Playhouse
2020 tour hits Edinburgh in October
The Edinburgh Playhouse is set to host The Commitments musical in October 2020, near the start of a major new UK and Ireland tour.
The 36 date tour kicks off in Bromley at the beginning of October 2020, arriving at the Playhouse for the week beginning Monday 12 October. It will spend December at Glasgow’s Theatre Royal and end up at Plymouth’s Theatre Royal in July 2021.
The Commitments musical has been adapted from his own novel by Booker prize winning author Roddy Doyle and is directed by Caroline Jay Ranger.
The story of young working class music fan Jimmy Rabbitte, who shapes an unlikely bunch of amateur musicians and friends into the finest soul band Dublin has ever produced, features over 20 soul classics performed live on stage.
The show follows the journey of two members of a frustrated synthesiser band who turn to Jimmy, the local music expert, for help. Placing a classified advert in a music paper, Jimmy auditions a number of wannabes before finalising the new line up who he names The Commitments.
humour
The humour kicks in as the band get to know each other and their instruments, and proceed through early rehearsals for their first gig.
Just as they improve and begin to get a name for themselves they combust.
Doyle self published the original novel in 1987, funded by a £5,000 loan from his bank manager. Despite early disapproval from the music press, an endorsement from Elvis Costello helped create a cult hit and it was picked up by Random House – then made into an Oscar-nominated film in 1991.
Doyle hadn’t originally planned to write the musical adaptation himself but found himself answering all the questions the producers and other writers were asking.
challenge
“The biggest challenge was finding the way to tell a musical story about a group of people who can’t play their instruments and who aren’t a band,” he says. “How do you get music in there from the very beginning?
“I wanted to go for well known songs, but also there to be a few surprises in there. Soul often isn’t about the song itself, it’s about the way it is sung or how it’s interpreted. The songs were chosen because they help tell the story.”
Casting for the tour will be announced at a later date.
Listings
The Commitments
Edinburgh Playhouse, 18 – 22 Greenside Place, EH1 3AA.
Monday 12 – Saturday 17 October 2020
Evenings: 7.30pm; Mats Weds, Sat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
Glasgow Theatre Royal, 282 Hope St, Glasgow G2 3QA
Monday 7 – Saturday 26 December 2020
Evenings (not Fri 25): 7.30pm; Mats Weds, Sat: 2.30pm.
Tickets and details: Book here.
The Commitments on tour: | |||
---|---|---|---|
28 Sept – 3 Oct 20 2020 | Bromley Churchill Theatre |
08448 717 620 | Book online |
5 – 10 Oct 2020 | Sheffield Lyceum Theatre |
0114 249 6000 | Book online |
12 – 17 Oct 2020 | Edinburgh Playhouse |
0844 871 3014 | Book online |
19 – 24 Oct 2020 | Darlington Hippodrome |
01325 405405 | Book online |
26 – 31 Oct 2020 | York The Grand Opera House |
08448 472 322 | Book online |
2 – 7 Nov 2020 | Llandudno Venue Cymru |
01492 872000 | Book online |
9 – 14 Nov 2020 | Nottingham Theatre Royal |
0115 989 5555 | Book online |
16 – 21 Nov 2020 | Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre |
0844 576 3000 | Book online |
23 – 28 Nov 2020 | Milton Keynes Milton Keynes Theatre |
08448 717652 | Book online |
30 Nov – 5 Dec 2020 | Bradford Alhambra |
01274 432 000 | Book online |
7 – 21 Dec 2020 | Glasgow Theatre Royal |
0844 871 7647 | Book online |
2021 | |||
4 – 9 Jan 2021 | Peterborough New Theatre |
– | Book online |
11 – 16 Jan 2021 | Northampton Royal & Derngate |
01604 624 811 | Book online |
18 – 23 Jan 2021 | Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre |
029 2063 6464 | Book online |
25 – 30 Jan 2021 | Truro Hall For Cornwall |
01872 262466 | Book online |
1 – 6 Feb 2021 | Southend on Sea Cliffs Pavilion |
01702 351135 | Book online |
8 – 13 Feb 2021 | Southampton The Mayflower Theatre |
02380 711811 | Book online |
15 – 20 Feb 2021 | Bristol Hippodrome |
0844 871 3012 | Book online |
22 – 27 Feb 2021 | Dartford Orchard Theatre |
01322 220000 | Book online |
1 – 6 Mar 2021 | Norwich Theatre Royal |
01603 63 00 00 | Book online |
8 – 13 Mar 2021 | Ipswich Regent Theatre |
01473 433100 | Book online |
15 – 20 Mar 2021 | Birmingham Hippodrome |
0844 338 5000 | Book online |
22 – 27 Mar 2021 | Hull New Theatre |
01482 300 300 | Book online |
29 Mar – 2 Apr 2021 | Newcastle Theatre Royal |
08448 11 21 21 | Book online |
5 – 10 Apr 2021 | Leeds Grand Theatre |
0844 848 2700 | Book online |
12 – 17 Apr 2021 | Cork Opera House |
+353 21 427 0022 | Book online |
19 – 24 Apr 2021 | Dublin Bord Gais Energy Theatre |
0818 719 377 | Book online |
26 Apr – 1 May 2021 | Belfast Grand Opera House |
02890 241919 | Book online |
3 – 8 May 2021\ | Reading The Hexagon |
0118 960 6060 | Book online |
10 – 15 May 2021 | Liverpool Empire |
08448 713 017 | Book online |
17 – 22 May 2021 | Aylesbury Aylesbury Waterside Theatre |
08448 717 627 | Book online |
24 – 29 May 2021 | Portsmouth Kings Theatre |
023 9282 8282 | Book online |
31 May – 5 Jun 2021 | Manchester Palace Theatre |
0844 871 3019 | Book online |
7 – 12 Jun 2021 | Blackpool Opera House |
0844 856 1111 | Book online |
21 – 26 Jun 2021 | Wimbledon New Wimbledon Theatre |
0844 871 7646 | Book online |
28 Jun – 3 Jul 2021 | Plymouth Theatre Royal |
01752 230440 | Book online |
ENDS