WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Welcome to the weekend and your latest newsletter from Curve.
We hope this finds you and your family well.

We are gutted for everyone in our city affected by the continued lockdown. Leicester is a city built on resilience and community and our thoughts go out to all those in local businesses and organisations who have been hit by this extended closure. Whilst this lockdown is a blow for everyone working and living in Leicester, we have confidence our remarkable city will come back fighting and we will all triumph together once again.

As we wait for further news on the government’s £1.57 billion arts support package, it has been encouraging to see open air theatres given the green light to re-open this week, albeit with social distancing measures in place. We send our very best wishes to colleagues across the country who are preparing to present work in the coming weeks.

Although there are gentle glimmers of hope for the theatre community, we were saddened by the cancellation of the upcoming Six The Musical Drive-In Tour. This decision re-emphasises the devastating impact this virus continues to have on our sector and workforce, and our planning for the future. Everyone at Curve sends their love to the entire Six company following this disappointing news.

We begin this week’s newsletter with a reminder of the COVID-19 guidance from Leicester City Council. Below you will find links to the council’s dedicated page on coronavirus and the sign-up form for their weekly city newsletter, plus a link to book a test via the NHS.

Alas, the show is still confined to the virtual world and this week online we were heartened to see the company of our 2017 Made at Curve production of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Sunset Boulevard reunite for a digital performance of As If We Never Said Goodbye. We are truly humbled by this heart-warming and uplifting gift, and give our biggest thanks to everyone involved. We hope this beautiful tonic provides you with a few moments of much-needed musical theatre escapism.

Curve in Conversation continues this week with the incomparable Arlene Phillips, who choreographed our 2019 Made at Curve touring production of Grease. Speaking in conversation with Nikolai, Arlene discusses her formative years in dance and her glittering career in the industry. Don’t forget you can catch up on the full Curve in Conversation series here.

Community spirit has been a key driver in getting us all through the last few months, and that’s why we’re thrilled to be part of the Together In Hope social media campaign with figures across the city and county this weekend (‪17 – 19 Jul‬). Join us in telling the world how brilliant Leicester is in whatever way you see fit, using #TogetherInHope and #WeAreLeicester.

This sense of spirit also flows through our Curve-commissioned digital project Not Something That Other People Do, narrated with words by Leicester performance poet, Jess Green. If you missed the video following its release last weekend (it has already clocked up over 25,000 views!) you can watch it at the bottom of this week’s update, and please do consider giving it a share with your friends, family and followers.

Thank you again to each and every one of you, Leicester City Council and Arts Council England for your continued support.

Best wishes,
Chris & Nikolai