Dreamscape – Toyah Willcox Fansite

Toyah’s panto for Christmas 2012, Sleeping Beauty, opens at The Marlowe Theatre this evening.

A number of the dates have already sold out at the 1200 seat capacity theatre.

The panto, one of Toyah’s longest ever, runs until 20th January and there are over 90 performances in total, including a thigh-slappingly exhaustive three on Saturday 22nd and 29th December.

This is Toyah’s 16th panto (in 17 years) and the third time she has played the Bad Fairy in Sleeping Beauty.

Toyah’s first panto appearance was in the title role of Jack & The Beanstalk at the Theatre Royal, Norwich in 1996. Since then she has played Peter Pan, Aladdin, the Genie, the Bad Fairy and the Wicked Queen in a variety of successful pantomimes across England.

Panto time is always a busy period for Toyah news but this year it has been exceptionally busy. View all of our Sleeping Beauty related news here.

• View further Sleeping Beauty information, show dates & times, and ticket booking details, at The Marlowe Theatre website, here.

• Three Of A Kind: Tracey Ullman recreates Toyah’s I Want To Be Free promo video back in the early 80s. (Thanks to Stephen Bennett Troake)

• Lorraine: Toyah tweeted a photo from the filming of ITV1’s Lorraine earlier this week. As far as I’m aware the footage hasn’t been shown yet. Maybe it will be this morning.

• Heart: Appear in the Panto: For one night only you will appear alongside Gareth Gates, Toyah Willcox and Katrina Bryan. You could be staring on stage in this years Panto – Sleeping Beauty at the Marlowe Theatre Canterbury. For the evening performance on Thursday 20th December you will be in the panto alongside Toyah Willcox and Gareth Gates.

• Under Ground Theatre, Eastbourne: Jubilee: A film with attitude, features punk icons Adam Ant and Toyah Willcox. (The 35th anniversary of the film – Showing on Thursday 25th April 2013 – Visit the cinema’s website)

• Don’t Talk To Me About Heroes: A great, and rare, Toyah photo from 1980 on a t-shirt!

• Like Punk Never Happened: Smash Hits Archive: November 25 – December 8 1982 issue. A so-so review of Warrior Rock by Fred Dellar – Direct link here.

• Pop Quiz: One day till December, time to try to get into the festive spirit (vodka?), here’s the full edition of Toyah on BBC1’s Pop Quiz, Christmas Eve 1984. (View larger versions of the screen caps here).

Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo: Vintage TV: Thursday 29th November: 2.00pm
Cosy up with family and friends as Toyah Willcox brings you 30 of the finest Christmas songs and a sprinkling of festive stories, surrounded by an extraordinary variety of creatures great and small.

As mentioned earlier this week, Toyah and her Sleeping Beauty co-star Gareth Gates are guesting on ITV1’s Lorraine. The appearance was pre-recorded yesterday.

Lorraine: ITV1: Wednesday 28th Nov: 8.30am
Morning show with a topical mix of entertainment, discussion and showbiz glamour, as well as featuring the latest fashion, food and celebrity gossip. (Thanks to Paul Lomas)

Update: Toyah’s appearance didn’t happen today unfortunately! Maybe tomorrow?

A collection of great behind-the-scenes photos from the Sleeping Beauty script read through, costume fittings and rehearsals have been added to The Marlowe Theatre’s Facebook. View by clicking below. (Photos © The Marlowe Theatre/Tim Stubbings)

• Visit Canterbury: Sleeping Beauty at The Marlowe Theatre: Last year’s pantomime was seen by more than 83,000 people, so book early to avoid disappointment! (Thanks to Michael)

• Kent Online/Dover Mercury: Festive Lights Switched On: Panto stars Toyah Willcox and Gareth Gates help Dover Mayor Cllr Anne Smith and deputy Mayor Cllr Ronnie Philpott light up the town for the festive season.

• Tim Stubbings Photography: Sleeping Beauty rehearsals at The Marlowe Theatre Canterbury; A great selection of cast photos.

• Dover Xmas Lights, Toyah/Gareth Gates: Actors/singers Toyah Willcox and Gareth Gates, promoting the Marlowe Theatre panto (Canterbury), at the Dover Xmas lights switch-on, Market Square, Saturday, Nov 24, 2012.

• Great photos of Toyah in Market Square, Dover on Saturday during the Christmas Lights Switch-On. (Thanks to Angus Turner for the photos)

• Apologies! My tv guide had the first showing of Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo on Vintage TV as airing this Thursday but it was actually broadcast tonight between 7 and 10pm. Luckily there are numerous other opportunities to watch. View the dates and times here. (Thanks to Kevin McNamara)

• Baby Satellite: A demo of the track ‘Baby Satellite’ which samples the fabulous Toyah Willcox. The song it samples is Homeward from Ophelia’s Shadow. (Thanks to Dave Powell) 

• Toyah on Tour 2013: Love Is The Law 2013 Tour is already in the planning, and dates are going in thick and fast for late Sept/ Oct/ early November. The tour will be called LOVE IS THE LAW & GREATEST HITS……. bit of a mouth full but promoters want all ages to come! (Source: Toyah’s November blog)

Numerous new dates and venues have been added to the Hormonal Housewives 2013 UK Tour. Toyah and Julie Coombe will travel the length and breadth of the UK during Spring 2013, playing over 70 dates. Tickets are already selling well.

Is your man more James May than Christian Grey? Then grab your girlfriends and head for a hilariously funny evening with the Hormonal Housewives – what they can’t teach you about modern womanhood isn’t worth knowing!

• View a report on Hormonal Housewives 2013 at the UK Theatre Network.

A very brief video interview with Toyah, recorded in Canterbury on Saturday, from ITV Meridian: Panto season is almost upon us – oh yes it is! And across the region, the stars are encouraging us get into the Christmas spirit. In Canterbury they’re gearing up for Sleeping Beauty at the Marlowe Theatre with Pop Idol finalist Gareth Gates and Toyah Willcox in the lead roles. (Click below to watch the clip, and view larger versions of the screen caps here)

Toyah and Gareth Gates are guesting on Lorraine this week, the morning magazine show that directly follows breakfast programme Daybreak.

Lorraine airs on ITV1 weekday mornings, 8.30 to 9.25am and is also available on ITV Player post-broadcast.

With just a week to go until opening night, rehearsals for Sleeping Beauty, the Marlowe Theatre’s spectacular pantomime are well underway…

Toyah said her love of pantomime and the shows by Evolution Productions, the creative team behind Sleeping Beauty keeps drawing her back to the theatre.

She said: “I like the history of pantomime, the concept and genre. The production team have brought it back to the original storytelling genre, that sticks to the story of good versus evil, and where good always wins. It is very funny and clever show. I can’t wait to open, I think it is a winner.”

• Continue reading at This is Kent. (Photo © This is Kent)

Exciting news from The Official Toyah Willcox Website: Exclusive multimedia material is coming soon to toyahwillcox.com to celebrate the end of two year’s worth of successful live concerts including brand new previously unseen images and live tracks.

The Resurrection Live Sessions: An occasional series of videos, filmed at Brighton Concorde 2, the final date of The Changeling Resurrection II UK Tour. First up is Danced. I think this was filmed and, brilliantly, edited by Ali Carron who is also making a Toyah related documentary that will air next year. NB: The gig footage won’t be released on DVD but more will feature exclusively at Toyah’s new Official Vimeo Channel. (Thanks to Michael)

• A new photo of Toyah was made available this week: View it at Toyah’s Official Facebook. For those not on FB a smaller version is also on the news page at toyahwillcox.com.

An advert for Sleeping Beauty at The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury aired last night on ITV1 in the Meridian region (Kent). It was shown in the ad breaks of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! View the full ad here or by clicking on the screen caps below. (Thanks to Michael)

• Unfortunately in the age of the internet negative news seems to attract far more attention and interest than positive (funny that!). The Herne Bay Christmas lights switch-on story has went “viral” and been “trending” over the last 24 hours, with even the big media guns giving it coverage, including The Sun, Daily Mail  and BBC News.

An interview with Toyah, from October, by The Weekender.

It’s that time of year already! Pantomime returns to The Marlowe Theatre this winter with a new production of Sleeping Beauty. Alongside former Pop Idol Gareth Gates, pop stalwart Toyah Willcox stars as the Wicked Fairy. Toyah has had a long-running musical career; her first album was released back in 1979 and she still tours with her band today. Having performed in numerous theatre, television and film productions she is also a panto veteran. Toyah tells Emma Featherstone why she is looking forward to hitting the Canterbury stage.

You’ve worked in panto since 1993. What makes you return to it?

I’ve learnt to love pantomime as a form of theatre, which is more successful than any other. In the last 20 years it has been completely reinvented, mainly by one man, Kevin Wood  (one of Britain’s top pantomime producers). His daughter Emily produces Sleeping Beauty.

• Continue reading at The Weekender.

Steve Lamacq’s Rock College is now available to listen to online at BBC iPlayer. It will remain there until 11pm next Thursday.

You don’t need books, there’s no detention and the common room record player works. Lammo opens the doors to his rock college, joined by Bernard Sumner, Toyah and Gideon Coe.

Toyah was Guest Lecturer: She talked about the moment that changed her life forever: First seeing, and hearing, David Bowie, specifically the album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’.

Toyah talks passionately about Bowie and the influence his music and imagery had on her life and career, as well as many other people over the years. She appears at approximately 44 minutes into the show.

Record ticket sales have been recorded at the Marlowe Theatre as thousands of panto fans gear up for their Christmas celebrations in Canterbury.

Next Friday will mark the first performance of Sleeping Beauty, starring pop idol Gareth Gates and punk princess Toyah Willcox, with predictions of several sell-out shows throughout the seven-week stint.

60,000 tickets have already been snapped up, more than 2,000 than was sold at this time last year, with bookings taken from as far afield as the USA, Australia and South Africa. Tickets have also been bought in France, Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Canada, adding a global flavour to thie year’s audiences.

Rehearsals for the production began last Monday with many making noises that it will go down in history as the city’s greatest ever pantomime. (Photo, below right © Canterbury Extra)

The Gigs page at toyahwillcox.com has been updated with Toyah’s forthcoming live/theatre activities: Sleeping Beauty and Hormonal Housewives. There’s also a new live track: Echo Beach live at Concorde2, Brighton on the final date of The Changeling Resurrection II Tour.

The artwork for both the Australian and American DVD releases of Doctor Who: The Legacy Collection (aka The Legacy Box) have now been made available. These go on sale in early January 2013. BBC Worldwide are releasing the DVD in the USA as Shada, but do still include More Than 30 Years In The TARDIS as an extra. No sign of the Region 2 artwork as yet. View much more info on this release at The Doctor Who Site.

A few more photos from The Changeling Resurrection II Tour, taken at The Horn, St Albans and Concorde2, Brighton, the final two dates. View these and numerous others from many of the tour dates at Dreamscape’s TCRII Gallery. (A huge thank you to Angus Turner)

• Toyah is currently featured on the front page of the Vintage TV website, advertising the forthcoming Toyah’s Christmas At The Zoo. There are now three showings of the new festive special in the schedules. See the air dates & times here.

• TCM Turner Classic Movies: Tempest, The (1979) — (Movie Ciip) The Goddess On Whom These Airs Attend.

• The Tempest is showing on TCM tonight at 11.15pm – The film reimagines The Tempest as a homoerotic romp with punk overtones (primarily courtesy Toyah Willcox, here cast as Miranda).

• Toyah’s short interview on Radio Verulam which aired at the end of October is now available as a transcript at The Toyah Willcox Interview Archive. Click below to view/read. There’s also a great Changeling Resurrection 2012 Tour Archive. View that here.