Blood Brothers is one of my favourite musicals and when I found out it was playing locally at The Regent, I jumped at the chance.
The showing I booked for was the one at 7:30pm on a weekday evening, however there are showings at this time at the weekend and also a matinee performance, depending on which show you are going to see.
I arrived at the city centre early so I had chance to have a meal and a drink before the show started. As is advised by the Regent Theatre, I parked on the John Street car park which is a multi storey not too far from the entrance to the theatre. This was a very reasonably priced car park which is open until 11:30pm daily, and costs £3.50 to park until the specified closing time. If you are not travelling by car however, there are plenty of bus routes coming into the city centre (including from Stoke-on-Trent station if you are arriving by train), and the Regent is a short walk from the bus station.
We decided to go for a meal at the rustic Italian Restaurant Roberto’s in Hanley. This is a great restaurant which is ideal for anyone who is looking for a quiet meal before they see a show at the Regent. It is ideally located just a few minutes walk from the theatre and offers a perfect pre-theatre meal, offering 2 course’s for £9.50 or 3 courses for £14.99.
After our meal, we decided to go for a quick drink at the bar inside the Regent Theatre, offering a selection of soft and alcoholic drinks. The ambience is great in the Regent, offering a buzzing and busy environment (especially when there is a big theatre show playing) with nice decor and very smartly dressed and polite staff who are always willing to help. We then brought a programme specific to Blood Brothers, and made our way into the theatre, where a staff member was waiting at the door to assist us in finding our seats.
The show was brilliant of course, with a fifteen minute interval splitting up the two acts and finished at approximately 10.30pm, which I found was in plenty of time prior to the closing of the car park. Overall, I would say the Regent Theatre is a great venue, showing a variety of hit shows throughout the year.
Some other shows that are coming up at the Regent in the near future are:
- The Rocky Horror Show;
- Priscilla Queen of the Desert;
- Cats;
- West Side Story
Stoke-on-Trent not only has the Regent Theatre, there is also a number of other theatres in the city including the The New Vic Theatre, which is a unique layout of theatre-in-the-round which shows a selection of plays, musicals concerts and more. There is also the Victoria Hall, a concert hall showing a variety of music concerts, comedians and wrestling events. The Mitchell Arts Centre is a much loved theatre space in the city which hosts a wide range of Arts and Cultural facilities to the community of Stoke-on-Trent.
To book tickets for events at any of the above theatres, either pop in or contact the Tourist Information Centre, based in the Victoria Hall or by telephone on 01782 236000. For a full listing of theatre events, visit our ‘What’s on’ page on www.visitstoke.co.uk
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